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Debate Info

13
21
Bigger than the PC Flop.
Debate Score:34
Arguments:16
Total Votes:43
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 Bigger than the PC (8)
 
 Flop. (8)

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bsong1(6) pic



How big will the iPhone be?

Great iPhone Debate

Bigger than the PC

Side Score: 13
VS.

Flop.

Side Score: 21
3 points
I think it's awesome but I don't want to switch to AT&T;.
Side: Bigger than the PC
2 points
Apple just announced that starting in June that the iPhone will be compatible with Microsoft Exchange Active/Sync and software developers will be able to create 3d party software. The most successful venture capital firm in Silicon Valley KPCB has established a $100 million fund to invest in innovative iPhone applications. Firms like KPCB that invested in Google and Amazon would not raise $100m if it didn't see incredible potential for the the iPhone market.
Side: Bigger than the PC
1 point
I agree, the world is heading towards 100% virtual, mobile, internetworked devices. The iPhone is a breakthrough technological leap that all future phones will be based off of.
Side: Bigger than the PC
puffdragon(17) Disputed
1 point

What exactly is the technological breakthrough are you referring to? YouTube on a phone? Cool man. Maybe if YouTube could stream quality video you might have something substantial.

The only breakthrough made from this device is how to properly market a product created from previously existing technologies.

Side: Flop.
derecola(47) Disputed
0 points
What exactly is that technological leap? Other than a blingy interface, what does it offer feature-wise that other smartphones don't?
Side: Flop.
-1 points
Most of IT is going to the computer in the sky model where all applications and data are handled by the internet. Nicholas Carr compares IT to what happened with utilities in "The Big Switch." If this is true, then the iPhone will definitely be huge because there's no other mobile device that makes accessing these applications and data so easy. The user interface on the iPhone makes mobile browsing/application use a pleasure to do.
Side: Bigger than the PC
5 points
It's not going to be nearly as big as the PC. It's just a step towards the future of computers, where a computer is within reach at all times. It's cool, but it's not transformative.
Side: Flop.
4 points
The iphone is meaningless! It's barely even a smartphone. The technology is so closed up and only just now are they barely opening it up. The PC was an incredible chance for an ENTIRE market, the iphone has no potential market openings involved. In fact it hardly is an advancement compared to some phones that HTC and other TRUE smartphone companies have made.
Side: Flop.
Time2Golf(288) Disputed
0 points
Can you give some specific examples of phones that you've seen that are technologically superior to the iPhone? I have looked at other "smartphones" and can't find anything close to as user friendly and sophisticated as the iPhone, but I'd really like to find some alternatives.
Side: Bigger than the PC
1 point

What is so technologically advanced about the iPhone that you are not able to find in another phone? User friendly is subjective to the user. All pieces of technology have a learning curve of some sort.

Sophisticated? Distinguished, maybe. Sophisticated? Based on the rate of change for technology the past 5 years, this product has no sophistication at all. If I were a teeny bopper or hipster wanna be, this would be the coolest of cools. But in relation to Real World applications and business work environments, this doesn't offer anything a Blackberry 5810 from 2002 would do, except YouTube, music and a camera, which is not productive in the work environment anyway...When I think about it, it still can't do some things a 5810 could do.

Side: Bigger than the PC
Sombersby(19) Disputed
-1 points
Windows made the PC big because it made computers easy to use. The iPhone, through its user interface and networking capability, makes smartphones even easier to use. You say there have been better breakthroughs by other smartphones but I have never used one that's made mobile browsing or computing that easy. I've tried the LG Voyager, Treo, various BBs but none of them compare to the iPhone.
Side: Bigger than the PC
3 points

Honestly, there are other cell phones out there from different companies that are cheaper and function better.

the only difference is the design and the fact that one is a complete touch screen while the other also has a keyboard and stylus.

Side: Flop.
2 points
The iphone is still a very closed device even after the recent changes in third party applications allowed. It lacks the power of a real computer and really just doctors up the interface to make it look pretty.
The interface design may be stellar and able to push better GUI down-the-line (seeing as some smartphone companies are already adapting and developing beautiful GUIs), but the true ability of smartphones is to match, sync, update, replace and any other word for interfacing of mobile device to computer/world. The iphone is really just skims the water of what it potential with smartphones. I've heard it called a semi-smartphone to an the even more derogatory term, pseudo-smartphone/smartphone-look-alike.
Capability is different than a beautiful GUI. There are hundreds of articles that can be found with a simple google search about the real lack that the iphone has. I have attached a cheeky advertisement comparison that just touches on the issues.
Supporting Evidence: Hi I’m an iPhone. And I’m a Smartphone. (www.istartedsomething.com)
Side: Flop.
puffdragon(17) Disputed
1 point

I tested the LG Voyager and it sucked. It is not a smartphone. It does not allow for third party apps. I found the iPhone to be very similar in terms of capability. The iPhone is pretty, and that's about it. Nothing smart about it.

I've been using my Blackberry for work to open PDFs, office files, print with bluetooth and true connection to our exchange through BES more than 2 years already...bluetooth printing maybe only for about a year and a half.

I understand they may have reinvented sexy, but I don't know why people act like they reinvented sexual attraction alltogether.

Side: Flop.
Sombersby(19) Disputed
0 points
I think 25% of all Bank of America mobile bank users do so with the iPhone. In about 6/7 months, iPhone already has 28% of the "smartphone" market. Google has reported that mobile web browsing is up 5 fold since the release of the iPhone. The reason so many people are connecting to the internet via iPhone isn't just because of the GUI. The iPhone has a full blown web browser that makes navigating around the www easy. Also, email, calendar apps sync...for now delayed 15 minutes but in a couple of months they will be able to sync instantly. Being able to connect 24 hours a day, anywhere is pretty amazing. This is why the iPhone can potentially be as big as the computer. KPCM has also reported that a lot of developers are making mcommerce software so that you might not even need to carry around credit cards in a couple of years.
Supporting Evidence: Support Link. (www.thestreet.com)
Side: Bigger than the PC
2 points

It will be as big as the container that it currently resides in.

See, the thing about Apple is that they take other ideas and technologies, then market them very very well. They are not a computer/tech company whatsoever, they are a marketing company that sells technology. There is no innovation to what they 'create' other than form factor (and even that gets upgraded by themselves every 4 months or so, read: Marketing).

I'll admit they make somewhat quality products that 'appear' innovative, but the price mark ups are ridiculous. More power to them for getting people to purchase them though. How they are able to market the sales of their own products that they make obsolete in a short period of time is genius.

The iPhone is pretty huge right now. It will get a little bit bigger as that industry continues to expand. But when the need for something new arises, or the next wave of technology occurs, Apple will once again take the back seat, let someone else do the driving and pay for the gas, get to the destination, then drive the car 2 more feet and say, 'We went the furthest'.

So far they have not shed any light to the moblie communication industry at all, only a sexy convenience. Blackberry has been pushing out emails to mobile devices since 97.

In terms of marketing and making money, it is not a flop. In terms of actual contribution and creativity, they have done nothing.

Side: Flop.