what is interesting for me to see in iPhone?

Nobody knows if iPhone will make a legend in its sales in the future as iPod did, or maybe it will ruin iPod or iTV. but one thing interesting for me to wait and see is not about the iPhone itself or the technology, it is about the business strategy for the industry, or for the spirit of this particular industry.

Here is my understanding, we can discuss more if you understand differently, i will be interested to listen to your thoughts :p:

IT product is just a tool. People need not only the tool, but also the content, the service and the experience (both technically or non-technically, including personal style, community, identity, ownership, show-off....), and those make people want to buy the product.

E.g.: It is not iPod sales, it is iTune and all the other songs, tv shows, movies and audio books earning money for Apple. I agree that technology of iPod is not that cool, even the interaction design for the wheel is not that innovative. But the point is that iPod and iTune finally find a beautiful /fashionable way to make digital music/movie/shows downloading earning money, which many other companies tried, but could not really make a big hit. Now, most of iPod users have no problem to pay for songs they like and they even feel good to pay them. It is not about the product itself, it is also about the content and the service that users can easily and proudly get through the product. it is the bigger picture beyond the product itself. Since steve jobs is also a stakeholder in entertainment industry (Disney, ABC...), he has the ability to combine them well.

Well, i am not saying that he will win, or make a big big money comparing to other IT companies. To be honest, I think Apple will still have troubles competing with MS if they really want to. MS has another kind of business strategy that Apple is not able to use at all. I am just saying that Apple has a different view of designing their products, and it does make some users crazy about it, and it is not so evil.

About iPhone, I haven't put too much thought into it yet since my experience with mobile phone is only limited to calling and messaging for the last 4 years. I guess there could be a bigger picture bridging Telecoms industry and phone manufacturing. My understanding is iPhone is not a smart phone and Apple does not want it become to a smart phone either. I hope iPhone is just a phone, a communication tool that people can use freely and comfortably.


Of course, i do not totally understand why this keynote is made 6 months before they ship it.... It seems a gamble to me. Well, many decisions look like gambles to people if we do not know the reasons behind it. Just like you said about the luck. But as always, I like the way of Steve making the presentation, simple and clear, well designed, and everyone can understand him. :) though it is not that technical - which is exactly the point to Mac users.

Well, my understanding may still limited within the frame of product development, i do not know so much about the Wall Street opinions. It was inspiring to see some though. :)