Steve has been thinking about the lure of Apple's iPhone to normal users. In this editorial he looks at screens and compares Apple's technology with that found in the N95 8GB. How important, for the average consumer, are screens in the all-important first impression period?
Read on in the full article.
The default backlight turn off timing on the N95 is not long enough to create a good impression for new users whereas the iPhone seems ready for action.
I think the explanation here is a little simpler. I just can�t imagine over the last year or so your sister and friend have not heard about the iPhone. It think the reaction you saw was more than likely from the media hype behind the device and the chance to finally get some hands on time with one of these things they�ve seen on TV and on the net all these months and to see what the fuss was all about and not really to bother with this other unknown device you were saying did more. Plus, something I had to admit the first time I got hold of one that had nothing to do with screen real estate and brightness�it�s a better designed device than the N95�it just looks better. I wouldn�t give up my N95 for one (I had a chance to do so last year and I declined) but I know that the factors you talk about are only a small part of the appeal.
I know some people who actively avoid all large screen devices because in their minds "large screen = very fragile".
There seems to be a "can I safely put it in my back pocket?" mentality in some quarters which scares people away from most smart devices, which is why it's so important to create a diverse range of form factors.
Hype definitely is a factor. In the case of iPhone, Apple primed the market with the iPod with a whole new approach to gadget interface. It was the new thing that normobs have fallen for. Nokia sold on what its phones could do more, but Apple sold on what you can do with the phone on a much basic level. Even without touch, those factors like "jumping colors", "screen size" "first screens" and "brightness" should weigh in future designs of Symbian phones. This edit is good:icon14:
My epiphany. Two weeks ago I dumped my N95, not for an iPhone, but for an old Nokia 6100 basic phone. Do I need all this smartphone rubbish? Do I hell, it's been joyous to be rid of it, not care about it and generally do interesting things instead.
Except that I'm errm, on here posting, but it's only to tell you all about it and it's gonna be the last time that I know.
iPhone schmiphone, get a life. Smartphone fartphone. Bye.
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"As a phone 'power user' I can see that the button-driven system is often more efficient and flexible"
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A little elaboration on this would be helpful
Steve. If the iPhone screen is 3.6 inches and the N95 8GB 2.8 inches then the former is not 30% greater in size than the latter. The area, not the diagonal length, is the key factor in a screen. The iPhone screen has a 3:2 ratio so has an area of 36.6cm�. The N95 8GB has a 4:3 screen so the area is 24.3cm^2. This makes the iPhone 51% larger - that's why it looks so much more impressive.
I recently switched to an iPhone. Previously had an E51, E61, and 3650.
I was with T-Mobile here in the US, and finally got tired of not having proper 3G. I was also beginning to travel to places where the coverage was rubbish.
So I switched to AT&T, and thought I'd give the iPhone a spin for 30 days while I wait for the E71 to drop a little more in price.
So far I'm not blown away. I do love that screen though. I don't 'hate' the "keyboard", but I'm certainly not enamored with it. I reckon it'll be a great phone for it's next owner.
My girlfriend on the other hand loves her "new" E51!! Says it's a night and day difference in usability from her previous Blackberry Perl. Getting the BIS working on it was a bit of a pain for her, but she figured it out all on her own, and she's not what I'd call a power user.
Intuitive I think she called the E51.
"As a phone 'power user' I can see that the button-driven system is often more efficient and flexible"
Elaboration was requested 8-)
By this, I meant (as I've mentioned numerous times in the past) that although the iPhone is super when you're stationary and have both hands free, a button-driven, one-handed interface is superior when you're on the move (walking, cycling, jogging, hanging from a tube strap etc) and/or only have one hand free (kid, briefcase or shopping on other, etc)
What's the difference between 1" and 2" screen?
The 2" screen is FOUR times bigger.
This is why some may perceive 0.2" difference as nothing but in reality is quite a bit larger and does make a noticeable difference.
Best to view for every mm in screen size is not linear but exponential!
I've had a chance to play with an iPhone once or twice and was not really blown away like I was when I first laid hands on my E90, or my new E71. That said, as an engineer and certified gadget freak, I'm always more interested in what a device can do than what it looks like, as long as it's not totally ugly. The iPhone really seemed to me to be more of a toy, something for a teenager, not something a business professional would carry around.
Mark
I totally agree with everything you've mentioned Steve. The look and feel of the iPhone is second to none. There is something extremely 'human' about it.
From my experience with showing people the iPhone, I would say that Apple (and the media) have been very good at communicating the additional features of the iPhone to the point where even Joe Public perceived it as something beyond the standard smartphone.
people here have made some very valid points.
To me it looks pure marketing genius.
What steve (jobs and not litchfield!) has done. He has simply divided the market into 'us' and 'them'. The touchscreen vs the phonepad people. He has made sure the touch interface of apple remains the best in class. (we know touch diamond is a good phone but its nowhere near an iPhone when you feel both.
And the marketing has given this product more of an aspirational value than the usability.
Ofcourse, to normobs, having multiple apps thru s60 platform will be more of secondary factor.
The look and feel of iPhone plus the desire of common people to join a niche community will definitely make it more attractive.
Come on nokia, your phones have been 'generalized' in the marketing world!
by the way, i found one of the comments little strange. 'smartphone fartphone'. Where the hell does that come from? Thankfully, he will not be here anymore!! Cheers to his absence now!
by the way,
Have you guys read this? HSBC intends to dump rim as its official phone for iPhone. They are supposedly going to order 200,000 iPhones to replace blackberries.
Stupid stupid decision if this is true. They should have ordered 50,000 innov8, 50,000 e90, 25,000 e71, 25,000 n 95 8 gig, 25,000 n82, 10,000 p1i, and 15000 e66. !!!! That would had made more sense for their employees and so much good for symbian!
As someone that uses both an N82 and an iPhone I can say that they both do what they are designed to do without equal. These "comparisons" are completely a waste of time and amount to little more than Apple/Nokia bashing, and entertainment. There is no real value in these comparisons. Does anything really get solved or opinions influenced? No. People that are going to use iPhones will continue, as will people who want to use Symbian devices. In some respects the iPhone blows the N82, while in others the N82 simply smokes the iPhone. What does it prove? NOTHING. It is all relative to you point of view and needs. Depending on my needs for a particular moment, I decide which phone I will take with me. For that particular moment, I am suited for the tasks at hand.
As for getting all hyped up about some company swapping out RIM for the iPhone. So what? HSBC actually thinks that the iPhone is a biz phone. They will see that it isn't when they can not send biz cards, do OBEX transfers. Apple sound them on a bill of goods that will come up short. The same can be said of Nokia. Their phones are lacking or missing features that others deem important but it does not stop the show. Nokia sells their millions of phones, and Apple will do the same.
All this hand wringing over the iPhone vs. Symbian is really simplistic and in the end amounts to nothing.
A keypad may be better for one-handed use whilst "on the go" but then, people who use mobile phones whilst walking along the street should be shot. Twice.
Bassey wrote:A keypad may be better for one-handed use whilst "on the go" but then, people who use mobile phones whilst walking along the street should be shot. Twice.
Don't interprete "on the go" to walking on the street. There are multiple locations where you can complete short tasks like checking email (POP3/IMAP), reply to a text msg, check some RSS Feeds, etc. I actually do a lot of these on occasions like walking to my car in the parking lot in the office, waiting for the lift in my building, a restaurant lobby, etc. And on such occassions, having a easy-to-use one hander is really, really handy. Trust me.
A cousin of mine has a HTC with a slider keyboard. He always complains that he needs 2 hands to use the keyboard (though he is able to manage small tasks on the touch screen with one hand)
sapporobaby wrote:
All this hand wringing over the iPhone vs. Symbian is really simplistic and in the end amounts to nothing.
Use what you like. Don't behave like kids and get into the mode of comparing toys and fighting on why mine is better than yours.
malerocks wrote:I agree. I simply fail to understand why we keep arguing so much on which is better. Each phone has its own set of features and let people decide what features they are happy with. So for some people having loads of options on a phone is important, while some will be very happy having just 5-6 options. I know people who are very happy using phones like the Nokia 1110.Use what you like. Don't behave like kids and get into the mode of comparing toys and fighting on why mine is better than yours.
Agreed. As I pointed out, both phones excel and fall short. I am a Nokia guy through and through, but I am also a Mac guy. My loyalties are to the specs and devices that fit my needs. Not just a "brand".
P.S. I will never go WinMobile no matter what though. 😊
I think the big thing about the iPhone really is the screen. GUI bells and whistles mean nothing in the long term (and generally tend to irritate) ... but that screen and the fonts! It's just beautiful, and the ebook reader applications I've seen blow the primitive Symbian reading apps out of the water. It's like reading on paper, the fonts are that good.
At the same time, the iPhone is large, heavy, requires two hands and there's no really useful implementation of multi-tasking (and in fact, apple's SDK prevents 3rd party apps from running in the background!) There's also no handwriting recognition (apparently apple has forgotten all about the Newton) so text entry is worse than using T9, and a virtual keyboard strips you of screen realestate when you write. So for everything outside of the display, the iPhone blows chunks. But that display is a winner, every single time ...
Hopefully, what the iPhone will do is force Nokia to increase screen size and screen resolution. There's no way a 240x320 screen can compete with a 480x320 screen. And also, hopefully, Nokia will keep the numeric keypad to allow one-handed operation, but at the same time include a touch interface to allow rapid selection of on-screen elements when you have two hands. That'd be my perfect phone.
I don't think the size of a phone is as important as the weight.
The mobile phone industry has spent the last few years bringing us smaller lighter phones and I have bought into that. I wanted a smartphone but not the weight; so I settled for the Nokia 6220classic.
My ideal handset would be a smartphone that is ultra thin but with a large touch screen and under 100 grams.