Commentary
Wasting time with the iPhone
- by Sean , June 28, 2007
Don't get me wrong: I'm absolutely thrilled that my two favorite tech companies are playing well together. [Apple + Google] But some of the features Google is offering up for the iPhone seem a little questionable to me.
First, there's Google Maps. This is one of the features I think is absolute genius. I have the same app on my BlackBerry Pearl. It becomes real handy when you're stuck in the TriBeCa district of lower Manhattan and you're trying to find your way around. (This may or may not have happened to me last Monday night.)
But do we really need full access to YouTube on the go?
"Hey, Bob, check this out. The bunny rabbit is eating cereal! Yeah, it's Lucky Charms! Isn't that cute?! What do you mean you don't give a damn?"
Apparently, not only will you have access, but it will "sync to Wi-Fi networks," whatever that means. Sounds nifty, though, doesn't it?
Is the iPhone going to be just another thing we as a nation become addicted to? How many marriages you think the iPhone will end? Personally, I think the iPhone has a bit of a haul to catch up to the BlackBerry in that department.
Ultimately it's about the freedom of portable access that can be consumed when and where it's needed. Workers can be productive on the road rather than the office. Individuals can be entertained / informed outside of the living room (the kitchen, garage, back yard or even the bedroom). But I don't know when or where the bunny video would be of much use, so I'm in the same boat with your friend Bob.
"full access to YouTube"? SInce when did the iPhone have that? It does not have Flash installed in the browser and so cannot access, fully, the YouTube web site. Only specific videos, reencoded using Quicktime, are available. Speaking of Quicktime, I tried to watch Live Earth on my iPhone this weekend while I was out and about. I thought it'd be a perfect test case. Unfortunately without Flash the web site was very difficult to navigate (I had to find the absolute path on my computer first then type it in) and once I found the page to stream the show guess what I got? I missing plugin icon. That's not the punch line, the plugin was Quicktime!!!!!