I don’t have an iPhone 4S yet, so I’ve been reading the first round of reviews from folks who got them ahead of the handset’s release this Friday. I don’t see any stunning conclusions. Everybody likes the phone either a lot or a lot, everybody’s impressed by the Siri voice assistant and likes the improved camera, and nobody’s overly traumatized by the fact that the case design hasn’t changed. As per Hallowed Technologizer Tradition, let’s look at the final paragraph (or two) of some of the reviews, which is the place where most reviewers finally tell you what they really think.
Tag Archives | Apple
Wait, Isn’t the iPhone 4S Supposed to Be a Disappointment?
Boy, does Apple’s iPhone 4S event feel like it happened a long time ago. In fact, it was less than a week ago, and as you may recall, many observers declared the new phone to be a disappointment. But now Apple has released pre-order data, and it seems to suggest that real folks are excited about the 4S. A million people pre-ordered in the first 24 hours, breaking the iPhone 4’s record of 600,000 in the same period.
Why the disparity in reactions? I can think of a few reasons.
Continue Reading →
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The Best iPhone 4S Plans by Carrier
With three carriers now selling the iPhone, your options have gotten a bit more complex as far as monthly service plans go. We’ll take a look at which carrier’s plans are best for cheapskates, big talkers, big texters, and those who want it all—voice, data and text messaging.
Before we start, some constants between all three carriers:
The iPhone 4S starts at $199 with a two-year contract.
Voice plans include unlimited minutes to people on the same network, so even if you have the 450-minute plan on Verizon, for instance, you won’t use any minutes when calling other Verizon customers.
Apple’s new iOS software features “iMessage,” which lets you send and receive free text messages (for now, at least) between other Apple devices that have the iMessage feature turned on as well.
And with that, let’s get started.
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A Strange Sort of Prison, a Strange Sort of Freedom
Free software advocate and GNU creator Richard Stallman has blogged that he’s glad Steve Jobs is gone. That’s, um, gauche. But it’s not why I bring up his post. He also calls Jobs “the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom.”
Apple products? Jails. Cool ones. Apple fans? Jailbirds. Foolish ones. Got that?
Eric S. Raymond, also a free software advocate, has also written about Jobs’ passing. He’s more dignified about it, but the gist is similar. He says:
What’s really troubling is that Jobs made the walled garden seem cool. He created a huge following that is not merely resigned to having their choices limited, but willing to praise the prison bars because they have pretty window treatments.
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Steve Jobs and Edwin Land
Over at the New York Times, Christopher Bonanos has a nice piece comparing Steve Jobs to the entrepreneur/technologist he resembles most by far: Polaroid’s Edwin Land. Bonanos says that virtually none of the Jobs obituaries mentioned Land, but I remembered to do so in my piece for TIME–in the third paragraph, in fact. And last June, when I wrote about Polaroid’s SX-70 camera, I found the Land/Jobs parallels so compelling that they threatened to take over the article.
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And So the iLine Begins Again
Having trouble <a href="pre-ordering an iPhone from AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint Hop on a plane and head to Tokyo. I'm still here, and the iPhone 4S, as in the U.S., has gone on preorder. It's available from wireless carrier SoftBank, and as I strolled around Harajuku and Shibuyu this past evening, the hoopla was underway and the crowds were forming, presumably to place orders in person.
A few photos after the jump. (The signs are hard to read, but they all make reference to the 4S.)
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iPhone 4S Pre-Order Fail
I don’t think Steve would be too happy with the way the pre-order for the iPhone 4S has gone so far. It took Apple until 3:41am to get the Apple Store up, and once up it was difficult to complete a transaction: for example, existing AT&T customers were experiencing issues in reserving a device. Sprint’s site crashed within minutes of the 3:01am opening, and on AT&T it said you could preorder the device, yet it’s nowhere to be found. Verizon’s the only carrier getting high marks so far for the process on Twitter and elsewhere.
Yes, I guess we should have expected this, but it seems like these pre-order events are getting worse rather than better. Wouldn’t you think these companies would figure out how to do it right after awhile? I guess not.
UPDATE (1:15AM PT): Apple’s site is still having issues, but AT&T seems to be working sluggish but half-decent. Sprint’s site is definitely slow, and Verizon’s still doing the best. Just anecdotal, but Sprint is definitely the slowest out of the group. Not surprising, considering these folks are completely new to the iPhone, and we’re likely seeing the pent up demand there.
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Steve Jobs, on the Cover of TIME Once More
My friends at TIME had just finished work on the issue that comes out this Friday when the world learned of the passing of Steve Jobs. They stopped the presses, called an emergency meeting–here’s photographic evidence–and put together a new cover story. (And what a cover that is.) I’m honored to say that the obituary I wrote for TIME.com became part of the print magazine’s coverage. (I also have another story in the issue, on Facebook’s new Timeline and Open Graph features.)
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The Day Steve Gave Craig a Porsche
Craig Elliott, who shared the Steve Jobs thirtieth birthday video with us, also sent along this delightful photo of him with Jobs. Here’s why Steve is presenting Craig with a new Porsche:
In 1985 Apple had a promotion called “Test Drive” where you could borrow a Mac for the weekend from your local computer reseller. At the same time they had a sales contest for reseller sales people. I had just finished my undergraduate degree (Animal Science/Microbiology) and needed to make some money for grad school, so I went to work for a local computer reseller in Ames, Iowa (I was always the computer guy in the lab). At the end of the sales contest I got a letter from Apple (I knew it was legit because it was done on a yet to be shipped LaserWriter) saying that I’d won and was invited to Cupertino (my first trip to California). There were other winners from other regions (but I sold the most 🙂 ) and I got to have dinner with Steve and Mike Murray (VP of Marketing). As a guy that had been playing with Apple II’s since 1978, it was more than a dream come true. I was 24 years old, having dinner with Steve Jobs. I personally understand the term “reality distortion field”. I also spent the week with other sales and marketing execs at Apple in interviews, a tour of the factory and meetings. at headquarters. Steve gave me the keys to a Porsche 944 and then about 3 months later, Apple called back to see if I would consider moving to California and work at headquarters. I stayed for 10 years. After my second sabbatical, I helped found a new networking and communications company called Packeteer as CEO, took it public in 1999 and retired in 2002 at 41.
Lots of people can rightfully say that Steve Jobs changed their life.
Me, too.
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To Steven Jobs on His Thirtieth Birthday
On February 24th 1985, Steve Jobs turned thirty. His Apple coworkers helped him celebrate by creating a short film for him. They set it to the wonderful song “My Back Pages” by one of Steve’s idols, Bob Dylan, and filled it with images from Jobs’ first three decades. You know some of them, but only some. And they include many ones of a happy, relaxed, even silly Steve Jobs that most of us never got to see.
And here it is. The tribute must have been deeply moving for Steve and his colleagues at the time it was made, and if you can watch it today without getting at least very slightly emotional–particularly as you listen to Dylan’s lyrics–you’re reading the wrong blog.