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November 9th, 2006
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"Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down." -- Natalie Goldberg |
I remember reading in the newspaper a few months ago about an cell phone executive who thought all this business about downloading music to a cell phone was baloney. He stated bluntly that he was planning to make big bucks by providing a good joke to download. And he gave an example of some fellow in a bar desperately looking for something clever to say, as I recall. His cell phone would save him by providing a witty joke.
When I think about all the cell phones I've had, I can see how cell phones have been driven by the sociology of the workplace. What started out as a communication device has, instead, become a device that caters to the social needs of the business professional. So while the modern cell phone can still be used to make a phone call, it's ultimate purpose is to satisfy the needs of the business community. That is, wrap business employees in an ever increasing frenzy of productivity and corporate agenda.
John Dvorak was right on the mark in his April 3, 2006 column at PC Magazine, Death to the CrackBerry. Basically, he observed on several airline flights that the business people around him were obsessed with their BlackBerries. You see, the BlackBerry can be characterized as a clever device that allows employees, in a generally peaceful and electronically isolated environment, to continue the company's business.
As Yakov Smirnoff would say, "What a concept!"
But it goes even deeper than this. The features of a cell phone are not only added in order to cater to businesses' desire to make their employees more productive, but they are also designed to generate revenue for the carrier. After all, we live in a free enterprise society: build products, create demand, and cash the checks. That said, there can be social problems when the technology marketed so weaves itself into our lives that it alters fundamental values for the worse.
Enter the iPhone.
Design by Buddha
One of my good friends on the Macintosh Web is David Schultz over at Applelust.com. Back in 2001, Dave, who is a philosophy professor at Creighton University, reminded us that Steve Jobs went to India in the 1970s with Dan Kottke and studied Buddhism. Dave weaves a short but compelling article about how this early experience by Steve Jobs influenced his personal philosophy in later years about what a personal computer should be like. Let me just quote a part of Dave's article.
So I think he brings a different set of principles to the table at Apple. For that matter, he brings them to the computer industry as a whole. (I mean really, has Michael Dell ever wrestled with Plato or Nietzsche?) I am not sure what they are (Buddhism gives us many clues), but I am sure they are there. What I am saying is that what distinguishes Jobs from Gates, Dell and the rest (all of them), is that he is the only philosopher in the bunch and this is what makes him, and Apple, different. If the others are philosophers in any remote sense, then they are bad ones. In fact, "Thinking Different" is a distinctively philosophical act, based in thinking about possibilities, and Jobs knows this. When Jobs urges us to "think different" I think he is urging us to think philosophically.
For several years now, we've all been swooning over the possibility of an Apple product we all believe will be called the "iPhone." Why is this? I believe it's because, deep down, we suspect, based on Apple's track record, that the Apple iPhone will be a very desirable product. It will blow away the competition. I will make us look cool just using it. It will be a work of design art. And we'll want one.
Let's look at some of the reasons why we just know we'll drop our Moto RAZRs and LG Chocolates for an iPhone.
Unspoken Design ValuesWe are accustomed to delving into the design principles of a computer. Expert Macintosh analysts and writers have clearly laid out what's different between, say, Leopard and Vista, and why we should care. To be sure, there are issues related to the design of the user interface and the security architecture. But a lot of the discussion is also based on how the computer treats us. For example, Microsoft went through a period when they thought their OS was a proper vehicle through which to badger the user into paying for an ancillary service (Passport). The attempt and service failed, but the basic psychology is still there: The user is a target and a source of revenue if only one can be clever enough about how to seduce, trick or badger him or her.
One of my readers pointed me to his very insightful Web site about how Buddhism fits into the competitive structure of American business. At the time, he was pointing me to the September 21, 2006 entry. In summary, many corporations pay lip service to caring about the customer, but in reality operate on the basest of instincts: devour the competition. "In this regard, Buddhism has taught Asian nations that a careless, greedy attitude -- in short, bad intention -- makes for some pretty nasty company karma which will eventually become its downfall." He goes on to cite the contrast between GM and Toyota. "Toyota uses reason trying to meet the specific needs of their customers in respect to a number of important niches. Toyota has reaped some good karma, in other words. It doesn't pretend to be like a lion on the Serengeti fighting for its survival."
With this preface, I think it's possible to make some predictions about the design of the iPhone with the principles of Buddha in mind.1. Fundamentals. A natural human desire is to communicate. That's what drove the technical development of the first cell phones. It's very likely that that human need will be foremost in the design of the iPhone. When we look at the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros, we see an iSight camera built-in. Apple facilitates communication with iChatAV, and the miniature iSight camera in the lid of a MacBook will easily fit into a cell phone. By extension, an Apple iPhone will excel at both audio and visual communication. It will remind us of the things we need and strip away the things we don't.
2. Agenda. The iPhone will be designed to be a source of revenue for its quality and looks. Unlike many other cell phones, which are given away and revenue is made up via contracts and bloated monthly charges, Apple will appeal to the aesthetic sense. But what we also expect is that the iPhone will be light on the agenda side. Apple won't be working real hard to sell us services, like stock quotes. Or jokes. If we're that hung up on geek toys, there are plenty of other devices to chose from. Apple will keep it simple: hold a lovely device in our hand, communicate with friends and listen to music. Trying to extract revenue streams from a free phone is where the rest of the industry has gone wrong, and Steve knows it.
3. User Treatment. When cheap phones are given away, the carriers aren't going to support very much research into how human beings should interoperate with a cell phone. The Western, as opposed to Buddhist approach, is to add features but not elegant functionality. That part is too hard and expensive. On the other hand, most of the more complex phones are a nightmare of menus and tiny keys. So I would look for some new ideas from Apple on how to operate the cell phone just as they broke through with the iPod. Scroll wheels, touch sensitive displays, finger gestures, voice input, and uncluttered and novel displays will rule. This may be the first cell phone with a five page quick reference card instead of a 200 page manual that weighs more than the phone.
4. The Apple Family. Many cell phone carriers have a service such that calls to family members are free. This is really intended to make sure everyone in the family has a phone: more phones in service means more revenue. But it's one of those services which nevertheless, seems friendly in its concept. I would expect Apple, since it's going to make a bundle on the hardware, to use some basic principles of taste and good will to introduce this phone. Just for example, calls made from one iPhone to another iPhone will be free for the first two years. After all, if you buy this phone, you're a member of the Apple family. Think of the jazz this would build in the Apple community and how such a personal touch would propel sales.
5. Clarity of Vision. Apple has gained enormous prosperity from selling iPods. After having sold 65 million iPods, they certainly expect to sell more because the emphasis of the iPod has been personal entertainment. From what I know about Apple, the stale and questionable thesis that no one wants to carry two devices around may not bear up to Apple's traditional approach of baby steps to first evaluate a new market. Trying to cram everything possible into an iPhone and possibly damage the iPod market, growing as a device for storing monstrous amounts of video, is probably too risky for Apple and would offend Steve's sense of design simplicity. My guess is that the iPhone will have flash memory, not a hard disk. It will store a modest amount of music. Remember, the Motorola ROKR didn't win us over because it didn't hold enough music. It failed because it was an expensive yet mediocre phone.
The iPod entertains. It's a solo device. The iPhone affords human communication. It may be premature to force fit these two activities until, at least, the iPhone has proven sales numbers. Whatever happens, we'll be struck by clarity of thought in balancing these two products.
6. Devouring the Enemy. Apple knows that it's new to this market, and I am sure many at Apple are nervous about this new adventure. One guiding principle, likely to be drawn from Steve's experience with Buddhism in the design, is not to try to outdo the competition. The iPhone may be missing features that some business people and PC magazines will cry out for. Not only do the frenzied business people want to spend all their time typing on a miniature keyboard, but they want to look busy and important. If we know one thing about Apple, catering to this particular crowd will not be a concern. In the style of iLife and Mac OS X, geeky features will be minimal and elegance and functionality will be maximal. It'll take a beating in comparisons to the Treos and BlackBerrys where checklists reign supreme, but when all is said and done, checklists won't matter to the iPhone customers.
The iPhone will fulfill needs we didn't know how to articulate. Conventional cell phones force poor design, excessive features, busy work, poor synchronization, questionable security and revenue extraction down our throat. The Apple iPhone will bring into sharp focus the difference in these two approaches.
John Martellaro is a senior scientist and author. A former U.S. Air Force officer,he has worked for NASA, White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Apple Computer. During his five years at Apple, he worked as a Senior Marketing Manager for science and technology, Federal Account Executive, and High Performance Computing Manager. His interests include alpine skiing, SciFi, astronomy, and Perl. John lives in Denver, Colorado.
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Observer Comments
Last year there was a report on NPR about cell phones. It said that a study had shown that something like 80% of all camera phones were NEVER used to take pictures. The representative of one of the large manufacturers said that in response they were working to put better cameras in their phones. I laughed out loud when I heard that because the problem was not that the cameras were poor quality. The problem was that a phone with a camera in it is something I need about as much as a vacuum cleaner with a built in hot plate.
This piece articulates very well, why I don't have a cell phone as of yet. The business model of all current phones I've seen; more gadgets, more features, more complexity, is not what I want. I want a well designed device that is a phone. I have a camera, I have an iPod, I have a computer to do e-mail with. I don't need or want a device that does those jobs poorly and oh by the way is also a mediocre phone. I want a simple, elegant phone that does its primary job, being a phone, well and doesn't cost a lot to keep the service running.
When Apple went into the portable music player business, they not only took most of the existing market, they grew the market to include people who didn't want the hassle of the kludgy players previously available. I would expect that something similar could happen if Apple were to get into the cell phone business with an iPhone such as that described above. A good number of people who don't want the added hassle, cost and complexity of all of these unwanted features will switch. In addition I believe there is a large untapped market of people who either don't have cell phones or never use the ones they received from their family or employer because they are just an annoying hassle. These people will flock to a simple well designed elegant device.
You make some good points, but the "Holy Grail" is an elegant, simply convergence device that CAN do all the basics... Elegantly. And whom but Apple could pull it off?
I would absolutely want web and email with an iPhone at least...
Quotegeoduck wrote:
Last year there was a report on NPR about cell phones. It said that a study had shown that something like 80% of all camera phones were NEVER used to take pictures. The representative of one of the large manufacturers said that in response they were working to put better cameras in their phones. I laughed out loud when I heard that because the problem was not that the cameras were poor quality. The problem was that a phone with a camera in it is something I need about as much as a vacuum cleaner with a built in hot plate.
This piece articulates very well, why I don't have a cell phone as of yet. The business model of all current phones I've seen; more gadgets, more features, more complexity, is not what I want. I want a well designed device that is a phone. I have a camera, I have an iPod, I have a computer to do e-mail with. I don't need or want a device that does those jobs poorly and oh by the way is also a mediocre phone. I want a simple, elegant phone that does its primary job, being a phone, well and doesn't cost a lot to keep the service running.
When Apple went into the portable music player business, they not only took most of the existing market, they grew the market to include people who didn't want the hassle of the kludgy players previously available. I would expect that something similar could happen if Apple were to get into the cell phone business with an iPhone such as that described above. A good number of people who don't want the added hassle, cost and complexity of all of these unwanted features will switch. In addition I believe there is a large untapped market of people who either don't have cell phones or never use the ones they received from their family or employer because they are just an annoying hassle. These people will flock to a simple well designed elegant device.
Each time I read one of Mr. Martellaro's articles, I become more imrpessed with the man's clarity, both of his perception of Apple AND of his ability to communicate that perception to me.
I've owned a fair number of cell phones now, currently using a RAZR, and I continually wonder _why_. I DO want the ability to communicate, but none of the units that I have owned/used have come even close to doing this task well. My current phone, for example, has all sorts of small "cute" buittons that seem designed more to get in the way of my fingers, such as the Volume control on the side of the screen portion of the case. It's seldom that I can even open the phone without hitting one or more of these. Why? Is it just poor Industrial Design? Most likely, as I read this article, I realized that it's simply a "convenient" spot to place a "feature", in order to take marketshare from other providers.
It's also poorly designed, even for its primary purpose. Many users, myself included, seem to have a problem holding the phone to the ear "just right", so as to actually HEAR the other side of the conversation! Move it a millimeter or two, and you may think that you've dropped the connection! How bad can they make one of these things? (Yes, I've got a headset, but that's not always convenient to use.)
As for wishing to have e-mail and web access from my phone, I have a small 12" PB now, and do NOT want to clutter my _phone_ with those "features"! If I have need of them, then I'll open the PB. I also have an iPod, and although I seldom bother to use it, except when travelling in my car, I would NOT want that "feature" on a communication device, either. Oh. The camera? I have owned this phone for about a year now, and don't believe that I've taken more than two pictures with it...but I DO use my digital camera frequently.
The scary side of this article, however, is to consider just how important that Steve Jobs truly is to Apple. Without his direction, where would the company go? Those of us who've been around for a while have had a good preview, I suppose...and we also had a scare last year, when he had a brief bout with a cancer scare. He's not immortal, and one day, we might have to face that question. Let's hope that with this time around, he's been able to better infuse the other members of the team with his philosophy, lest we wind up with "just another PC".
Another thought occurred to me after reading this article; since its a personal communications device maybe we will see a true picture/video phone after all. Be able to see who youre talking too. Think of the device as an integration of technologies, Quicktime, form factor, h.264, mobile ichat. Hmmm
To see the iPhone with a built in iSight. I don't think it's beyond reason to think that Apple may be including just such a feature.
I'm currently in the market for a new phone, and two things have been holding me back from purchasing a new one. First is that I want a "smart-phone", I want to be able to ditch one of my devices. I don't care if it's the phone or my Zire 72s, I want to be able to have my task list and appointments combined with my phone. If the iPhone could sync with my iCal events and tasks, and be even just a basic phone, that would be great. I don't need or want to do email and web-browsing from my phone; like the previous post here, I have a 12" PowerBook and it's just fine for that.
I would like to also have the ability to keep music on my phone. Not to be able to purchase and download songs, because if I want to do that I'll do it on my PB. I just want to be able to use it to listen to music once in a while. I would also like to be able to keep a few small photo albums on it as well.
If Apple comes out with a phone that is primarily a phone (without all the crap that Verizon and Sprint and Nextel and Cingular are trying to force down our throats, crap I don't need), and is also a good PDA, I'll be one of the first in line to buy one when it comes out. If I can also keep a little bit of music and a few pictures on it as well, and if it has an iSight, that will just be gravy.
Hmmm, many of the folks here are thinking of just what they've used and not what is actually on the market in other countries.
I have a video phone now. Sorry don't use it nor plan to but it does have that ability along with all the wonderful iMode services that it connects to.
The camera quality is pretty good and you can get some pretty decent pictures out of it as long as you don't have a shaky hand problem.
I use the camera more for reading in those modern bar code address and to grab sentences for translatation purposes. A pretty hand feature! Imagine be able to point it at a menu and then you OCR the sentence and bingo you can get a pretty decent word by word translation ... no we won't go into sentence translations.
I do agree with those dam buttons that activate every time you hold the darn thing... one truely pain in the butt experience.
I was thinking the other day actually about how many of the buttons outside of the actual numeric pad are linked to payed services. This has actually been increasing in the past years.
Ooops, forgot to add in that recently many phones that offer music ability now have the ability to max out your flash memory chip. On top of which they can also act as a memory stick. Sony might have gotten something right finally.
So, I hate to say it but I would imagine that Apple is going to look to the Japanese market and pick out the features that would best work.
- camera / isight
- ipod / sony does this now
- isync / hmmm, most iMode phones are very capable now
- finally a better OS that what is available now
- bluetooth / although already on the market in limited fashion ... I'd say just for the sake of easy data transfer
so, feature wise nothing special outside of bluetooth and a huge Apple on it 
I've been a Mac developer since '85. My detailed prediction for the specifics of the iPhone are here:
http://tinyurl.com/ymcwuv
A combo video iPod, GSM phone, Apple Remote Desktop device and more!
QuoteGuest wrote:
I'm currently in the market for a new phone, and two things have been holding me back from purchasing a new one. First is that I want a "smart-phone", I want to be able to ditch one of my devices. I don't care if it's the phone or my Zire 72s, I want to be able to have my task list and appointments combined with my phone. If the iPhone could sync with my iCal events and tasks, and be even just a basic phone, that would be great. I don't need or want to do email and web-browsing from my phone; like the previous post here, I have a 12" PowerBook and it's just fine for that.
I would like to also have the ability to keep music on my phone. Not to be able to purchase and download songs, because if I want to do that I'll do it on my PB. I just want to be able to use it to listen to music once in a while. I would also like to be able to keep a few small photo albums on it as well.
There are already such phones available, including the Palm Treos. You don't have to wait for Apple.
Just reading through the comments and the article, which by the way, I enjoyed. Both.
One thing that struck me is that Apple had spent a lot of time putting in place technologies that it can now implement in an iPhone. The iPod is essentially a compact computer with a limited functionality, but limited in a specific way - to achieve a particular effect. Take an iPod Nano, but looking at it as a compact computer with flash memory, add an iSight camera, which Apple had already successfully integrated into the Macs and add WiFi and Bluetooth connections. Keep in mind Apple already has iChat and that it wants to have as much control over ALL of the user experience as is possible. You may end up with a device that may or may not look like an iPod, uses Bluetooth for synching with your Mac's Address Book, iCal and iTunes, and either hooks into the cellular network as a "normal" phone or, more likely, uses WiFi to hook straight into Internet via hotspots and uses the existing functionality available through iChat to create "chats", audio or video, depending on the speed of the link.
My 10c worth.
MMK
Old gag:
"It's my new pocket camera"
"Nice, what can it take photos of?"
"Pockets"
That's my phone. The big button on the side cannot be locked, and works even when the clamshell is closed. So every once in a while, my pants will pipe up "Say cheese" and a cheesy shutter sound effect will play. Once again, Jaques Celphone has attempted to photograph the elusive one-eyed wonder weasel.
The fact that I have over 100 pictures in my cel phone of black is bad enough. Hell, if it was sensitive enough to take photos of pocket lint on loose change, I could at least have something to blog about. However, activating the camera sets both the internal color lcd and the external b&W lcd into a live preview video mode, and activates the useless little "Flash" provided with the camera. If I don't hear the camera go off, the live mode will drain the batteries from full to nothing in less than 10 minutes. Leave the house with a full phone, and hunt for change/payphone/intact phonebook to get back.
QuoteKitsuneStudios wrote:
Once again, Jaques Celphone has attempted to photograph the elusive one-eyed wonder weasel.
Oh that must go over well at parties.
One aspect of the 'easy to use' idea is that too many cell phones are just too damn small. Not all of us are 14 year old girls with hands to match. I'm 6'1" 215Lb and the last cell phone work gave me was so tiny that I had to use a pencil to key anything in. It had a way to lock most of the buttons but it involved a key combination that my fingers just couldn't do. As a result I just left the damn thing locked all the time and if it rang I used a real phone to call back. After about a year work exchanged my phone for a pager.
It would be nice to have a new technology that could be rural-friendly. I don't mean back-woods rural, but the problem with GSM phones these days is coverage in a not-so-urban area.
I had AT&T, a TDMA service, when Cingular took over. I still have it. Cingular has tried to get me to switch for 2 years now. The new GSM plans would cost me more, offer less minutes, have less coverage and lock me in for a 2 year contract. They're going to have to rip my phone from my cold dead hands... Or discontinue all TDMA service starting in 2007. Guess which one they recently sent me a letter about? [Hint: they're not going to off me]
So my hope? A phone that can work over IP (wirelessly or I'd even settle for hard-wired) as well as GSM. This will bode well for places that have marginal coverage. I know a lot of people whose phones don't work in their house. Also, if the phone is using IP for service, it wouldn't actually cost Apple much (or anything?) for the call, so it could mean unlimited minutes while on IP. Think a minute: unlimited calling from home. Good bye land line (not that I have one), good bye "I have to get a cingular/verizon/sprint phone because my girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse has one." Your minutes would only tick away when you were using it as a remote cell phone. It would be there for emergencies (if GSM is there) and I would actually have an excuse to tell my girlfriend to wait until I got home to talk to me (or give her the bill). I would pay full price for a phone that did that. Even without any other features. Add in iPod functionality, and I'll preorder.
I don't know if this is reality, or me dreaming. But I do just want a phone that I can rely on... without a 2 year contract. I just hope Apple's solution is what I am looking for... and it comes soon enough that my current service doesn't drop.
Fri Nov 10, 2006 4:53 pm Subject: Re: Rural-friendly?
[quote="brett_x"]I had AT&T, a TDMA service, when Cingular took over. I still have it. They're going to have to rip my phone from my cold dead hands... Or discontinue all TDMA service starting in 2007.[/quote]
you should talk to my Dad. They recently switched off the TDMA network here and he said pretty much the same thing. He went with the competitor of course! lol TDMA was such a BETTER network infrastructure! sigh wish I still had my TDMA phone.
My wife has a Treo 650, it's a piece of crap. I'm waiting for Apple.
Quotegslusher wrote:QuoteGuest wrote:
I'm currently in the market for a new phone, and two things have been holding me back from purchasing a new one. First is that I want a "smart-phone", I want to be able to ditch one of my devices. I don't care if it's the phone or my Zire 72s, I want to be able to have my task list and appointments combined with my phone. If the iPhone could sync with my iCal events and tasks, and be even just a basic phone, that would be great. I don't need or want to do email and web-browsing from my phone; like the previous post here, I have a 12" PowerBook and it's just fine for that.
I would like to also have the ability to keep music on my phone. Not to be able to purchase and download songs, because if I want to do that I'll do it on my PB. I just want to be able to use it to listen to music once in a while. I would also like to be able to keep a few small photo albums on it as well.
There are already such phones available, including the Palm Treos. You don't have to wait for Apple.
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