What do you think of the new commercial for the Verizon iPhone? I’m digging it! Verizon has always had strong marketing. The company ran a series of fantastic commercials that criticized AT&T’s network. The commercials seemed even cooler when AT&T countered with Luke Wilson. Hell, there are hundreds of thousands of people that think Google’s mobile operating system is called Droid, which is a testament to how effectively Verizon has marketed that brand.
Anyway, check out the spot and let me know what you think (please)!
I think that Verizon will do a good job with the marketing and advertising here, just like you mentioned they did with the Droid. People will be disappointed though when they get the iPhone 4 on Verizon's network and it doesn't do everything they thought it would be able to (like use data while in a call).
Personally I am more interested in what people think about the Dead Space 2 advertising campaign. (Your mom hates Dead Space 2). I think it is a great ad idea, in a way it forces the game to appeal to people- but at what cost? In my opinion that campaign is horrible for the gaming industry because it only proves that gamers only thrive on senselessly violent video games and only continues to help people be able to stereotype us. I'm glad this game wasn't coming out when Roger Ebert had his entire "video games are not art" public outburst that garnered a fair amount of media attention. If this Dead Space 2 campaign were running at that time it would have been the perfect opportunity to prove his point in a pretty undeniable way. While I think the concept is great and I'm sure it will work well- that does not make it good for the industry or the consumers as a whole.
I think that whole data/call thing will not matter. Droid users on average use more data than iPhone users. Doesn't sound like there is a hindrance there. My 2 cents.
I don't think it is a huge deal, and those numbers about the Droid users over iPhone users is helpful as well. But people think that they would use it, so it is their perception of what they would do with an iPhone more than what they would actually do with the iPhone. The only hindrance is people thinking that there is one (whether it would exist for them or not).
And I'm only giving 1 cent for that comment, no more. lol.
eh, it's okay. everyone already knows that verizon is getting an iphone. all of our local news people talked about it for a week leading up to the event.
I just still don't see why this phone gets so much press time. The commercial isn't very good. It actually bugs me. The random order of the clock times doesn't make any sense. I get what they are trying to convey but the times are dumb.
You don't understand why the most popular consumer smartphone on America's biggest network gets so much press? Really?!?
Yeah pretty much. I also don't understand is why it is the most popular consumer smartphone.
It's pretty obvious why it's popular. I don't think you're being objective about it.
No I seriously don't understand it's popularity. I just don't find it to be as special as it is made out to be. The phone specs aren't anything to gawk at and the OS limits your functionality at every corner and the iTunes market restricts a lot of stuff.
There are many more phone out there that do so much more than the iPhone. I never understood the whole iPod thing either.
The iPad I can understand since it nearly alone out there, but with everything else out on the market as far as phones go I don't understand why Apple's always float (see what I did there) to the top.
@Slicky
all phones get the update as long as the hardware isn't too old? That's a huge thing
I know that, but I assume that most of the people that buy the phone don't or even care about that. Most of the people I know that own an iPhone have no business owning technology. They don't know how to use it but they bought it because they saw it on TV. The funniest thing in the world is being at the AT&T store listening to people come in with iPhone questions.
But you'll enjoy this
http://designdare.com/how-to-buy-an-iphone-at-the…
It's a powerful phone that's easy to use. The entertainment options are unmatched. You really don't get that?
I don't get it because I never saw that in it. I had the first one and loathed it. The battery on the phone made anything that was fun to do on it very short lived. The UI is easy to use if not TOO overly simplified to were power user have no control. And as for it being powerful, each model is always less powerful than its competitors. It says something about how the phone sells, when they focus more on the aesthetics of the phone and less on the hardware going into it.
The iPhone4 is the first iPhone that had anything to brag about hardware wise.
Power is more than just specs. You're too caught on that. I prefer Android for my personal use because of how I use various Google products, but more people can get more out of iOS than Android. It's also completely wrong to say that Apple focuses more on the aesthetics of the phone than the hardware. Yes, Apple makes products that look better than most of the competition, but the software is also more intuitive and elegant. You're discounting that far too much.
Ultimately, I think you don't get it because you don't like it. Like I said before, I don't think you're being objective.
I bring up the specs because until recently they lagged far behind and that includes software. They put out a phone that because super popular even though it was several steps backwards in terms of functionality. I ultimately got rid of my iPhone because of the lack of features that I had grown accustomed to on many other devices I had owned. MMS was the biggest one. I don't care who is to blame for the phone not getting MMS for the longest time but it doesn't rwally matter since the phone was incapable of getting it. Also the tech support I got from Apple concerning the MMS was the biggest bunch of BS EVER. "Well some phones will get the e-mail saying they have MMS and some won't, yours apparently doesn't" What kind of answer is that?!? Cut and paste seems like a trifle thing but I had grown used to it coming from my Windows devices. There is still a lack of multitasking to this day. This is VERY important to me. Until recently if you were doing something on an iPhone and got a message you had to fully exit what you where doing to check the message then start back over.
Apple made the UI so a child can use it. And that is fine, it works, I like it, but don't take away everything else to just keep people from shooting their eye out.
What I don't get is how a phone that was so crappy out of the gates has made it this far. I have no idea about the usefulness of the newer models because I gave up on Apple when the made that first piece of trash that could have been bested by an old FREE phone on the market.
I'm sorry, but that's just terrible analysis. The iPhone was crappy out of the gate? Compared to what? Symbian? BlackBerry OS? Windows Mobile? Palm OS? At the time of its release, what consumer smartphones were better?
It's also erroneous to say that it "lagged far behind"? Sure, it lacked some features the competition had, but it also offered things that nobody else did. That's just discounting the platform. MMS, while important to you, has become less relevant every day. Apple's cut-and-paste solution was late, but it's better than Android's. The multitasking is there now and it's okay. Most of your arguments don't really work.
One area you could successfully argue is that iOS has a horrible notification system.
Yes the iPhone was horrific compared to just about all of those OSs. It would be ignorant to ignore the HUGE drawbacks the iOS offered or in this case features it didn't offer. Who comes out with a phone that has less features and capability than current phones or phones that are a year older and makes it successful. Apple does/did. My point is that that shouldn't have happened.
Just what are the things that is offered that no other phone did. Pretty sure that would be NOTHING.
How has MMS become less important? MMS is used to send just about everything. Not every phone out there has e-mail and therefore to send files to less than smartphones requires MMS. I would find it hard to believe that ANYONE doesn't use MMS…..EVER. So yes it is a very important feature.
I never said copy and paste on Android was anything to behold, hell I never had an Android until recently. But Windows mobile and Palm had it down for a long time and it worked well.
As far as multitasking. It may be there but it is still limited as to whether applications support it. Also the fact that it just finally arrived doesn't do the Apple OS any justice in my eyes.
Here's one for you lack of customization on ringtones and such. On the first iPhone you were stuck with whatever shipped and the only way to alter it was through Jailbreaking.
I have no clue what you are referring to on the 'horrible notifications'
@SlickyFats Yeah, you just can't be objective about the iPhone. Despite its initial shortcomings, nobody in their right mind would say that Symbian, WIndows Mobile, BlackBerry OS, etc. were better for consumer use. Saying it brought nothing new to the table is just laughable. No mobile web browsers were on par with the iPhone's at the time.
MMS is still important in third-world countries where smartphones haven't taken off. In other places, as I already said, it's less relevant every day.
You don't know what a notification system is? You know that drop-down menu on Android?
I do know what a notification system is. I am insulted by your remark about that btw. I am questioning your highly in-depth and telling explanation that went like this: "iOS has a horrible notification system". I have no clue as to what you are talking about in terms of it being horrible.
And seriously the iOS browser is still a joke to me. The checkered boxes is the most annoying thing I have ever encountered in a mobile browser in my life. I would rather the browser just work.
Is this the only thing 'new' that the iPhone brought to the table????
I guess I live in a 3rd world country then, because I either get or send at least one MMS each day. YOU need to realize that not everyone has the same income as the people in your area and not everyone lives in big cities and not everyone needs a smartphone or can even afford it. And just because someone doesn't have a smartphone doesn't mean I don't communicate with them. Many of my friends cannot even afford to have SMS on their phones. Many more can't afford MMS on their phones. So you need to consider the fact that a lot of people still use MMS and probably used it even more frequently during the period that the iPhone was completely unable to use it.
I didn't think I needed to explain to you how bad iOS's notification system is compared to Android or WebOS. Again, that should be obvious.
I never said that people don't use MMS. I said it's becoming less important each day. Tell me how I'm wrong.
And again, if you don't see what the iPhone brought to the table or how huge it was to get a good webkit browser on a phone then I don't know what to say to you.
You're just not being objective. I don't see the point of this conversation when you can't admit basic things.
I don't see the point in the conversation when I can very clearly point out specifics and you remain vague in your assessments.
Clearly it is not obvious to me why the notification system is horrible or I would not have brought it up. I did state that I used an original iPhone, which if I do recall came out quite some time ago and I have had at least 5 different phones in that time.
The original argument about MMS was that the iPhone didn't have it at launch. The fact that it becomes less relevant each day is completely irrelevant since I was referring to the phone initially lacking the feature. Also the fact that they clearly added the feature later is proof that it was relevant enough to add to the OS.
Also I do think MMS will stay relevant for a long time, especially since it gets harder and harder to be able to pay for the added data packages that includes full use of internet. I have a hard enough time paying for internet on my phone currently, but I keep it because I have the unlimited and know I will lose if forever if I change. I make more than a lot of the people I know and I didn't even clear 20K last year. So I assume that to you this would be 3rd world.
I have no idea what a what EXACTLY a webkit browser is (most of the people with a smartphone would know either). You have to stop thinking in terms of fully knowledgeable people. I know a lot about cell phone and technology in general, and I have heard of webkit browser but have never taken the time learn what exactly it is and what benefits it offered over whatever there was before. I just use them and I know what works for me and what doesn't. Like I said I want a web page to work when I scroll down or up and not disappear into checker boxes. Now whatever underlying program cause that is no step forward to me. My WinMo 6 phone browsed the web just fine when I had it. When I went to the iPhone I was highly disappointed in the web browsing and I ended switching back to a WinMo 6 phone.
Also your "well just because" answers are not exactly objective. They sound more like a blow-off without ANY explanation for your 'justifications'.
I'm sorry, but your specifics are really difficult to understand. I can't debate with someone that thinks the browser in WinMo 6 was better than the iPhone browser. To me, that's just a laughable argument. Your entire premise of the iPhone bringing nothing new to the table is also hilarious to me. If you don't see it then I can't help you. It should be obvious.
Again, you're not being objective about this. Your basing everything off your personal preferences. If you don't see how the iPhone was an easier and more attractive option for more people than the competition at the time, well, yeah, you don't get it. It's so basic that I really don't understand why it needs explaining.
Wow. Thanks for taking the time to help me out there.
Why would it matter if I was being objective or subjective, I have nothing more to base my PREFERENCES on than my EXPERIENCES. This is all what lead to the original post that started with "I".
My point was the iPhone was lacking key features that were a big deal at the time. No other phone maker would have gotten away with that an been so successful.
It's difficult to help you because your starting point is completely wrong. You claim that the iPhone offered nothing new. That's preposterous. At the time, it was the only mobile OS specifically geared towards consumers. The entire approach was new.
Yeah. Problem is that was not my starting point. That comment I made was several deep into the conversation after you brought it up.
I was taking about the starting point of your argument, not the conversation. Your poor arguments all stem from not understanding that basic idea.
Really you call mine poor arguments???? Thank you for automatically dismissing anything I had to say because you refuse to believe the original iPhone had flaws.
I will agree with Slicky in some of his regards…and I am an iOS fan. I agree with the method used to do Copy and Paste is "ok". My old blackberries did it far better…but maybe that was because of the trackball. In fact it was. So it wasn't iOS being bad necessarily just a hardware barrier.
I think MMS isn't as relevant because even feature phones can post pics to Facebook or send to Flickr which is probably more popular than MMS. Just my guess though.
The notification system is bad because it interrupts what you are doing to notify you as opposed to having a little light and a pulldown bar like in android.
What the iPhone did in terms of allowing user control over a device that seems common just a few years after the introduction is huge.
The better browser argument is kinda relative to the user. I don't miss Flash support honestly so I can't say the browser(s) on Android are leaps and bounds better or worse.
One lagging point of Android is that you are quite dependent on the manufacturer for OS support as opposed to how Apple treats iOS. That is just a function of Apple making both components though.
@SG
I agree with you on the OS support NOW, but I was talking about the original iPhone, and there is no way people could have known how the updates would roll out on the first model.
And the MMS was in reference to the first model also, and MMS was evidently much more significant back then.
Thank you for explaining the notification thing though. I think I remember that now.
Copy/paste was excellent on my WinMo phones, best I have ever used to date, nearly as easy as using an actual mouse. My BB bold had an excellent one also.
@Slicky
Yeah if the context is limited to the first iPhone then not having MMS was a pretty big deal since not everyone was buying a phone that had html supported email clients.
yeah trackballs help a lot with copy/paste. I still have issues with copy/paste in iOS honestly. Sometimes I can't get it to just copy the text I want and give up. I assume that is the fault of the webkit though seeing some blocks of text as an image as opposed to just text.
I know a few ppl who preached WinMo. They hacked their devices to do a lot of functions so I can see why they liked them. I always felt they were too laggy and RIM had a better product.
If you want my opinion as to why the first iPhone was so popular: build quality, looks, integrated iPod, iTunes, html mail client, best browser on the market at the time, and it was chic. Maybe the bundled text played a part in it…idk.
@SG
Thank you yet again. I can see that. I never used the iPod feature on mine, I hated having to pick and choose what songs to put on my phone. To this day I use a 16Gb sd card that I never change the music on. I put it on there once and I'm done on every phone I use.
But yeah I the combo of all of that makes some sense. especially the chic part (imo)
@Smartguy
I know a lot of people at ball state (I knew a lot of people who got the first iPhone right away) got one not because they have any interest in new tech (especially phones) but because it was an Apple product and they love the iPod's and macbooks that their parents bought them.
@Slicky
Webkit is simply the code that allows a browser to render a webpage for a mobile device. Like on mobile Safari or Android browser when you click a field that has a dropdown it changes it to a scroll wheel or something. That's all webkit is…a mobile page renderer.
@SG
Ah thanks again. I read the wiki on it a minute ago, but it didn't clue me in to anything significant about it being better or different, just said what it is. When you have no frame of reference as to where you came from knowing how far you have come is arbitrary.
@slicky
any time my friend.
@SlickyFats Wow. You're really taking this personally and also very wrong. I never said that the iPhone didn't have flaws. So you're wrong there. What I'm saying is that since you can't admit that the iPhone brought anything new to the table, most of your other arguments are flawed. Your starting point is faulty and things just crumble from there.
Anyway, I'm getting uncomfortable with how personal you're taking this, bringing up things like income levels (which has nothing to do with anything) and me dismissing you (which isn't the case). If you want to debate and exchange ideas, that's cool. Just relax.
I am not upset in any way. I am perfectly calm and just attempting to have a conversation that I might have with anyone.
I only said that you said the iPhone didn't have any flaws because you denied all of my comments in regards to the flaws I mentioned.
BUT your inability/unwillingness to explain your stance feels very much like a dismissal. Telling someone they have poor arguments and they they don't understand the topic which they brought up in the first place isn't dismissing them???
Income has tons do with it when you say that MMS is important in 3rd world countries where smartphones haven't taken off. I was merely attempting to convey to you that smartphones aren't super popular everywhere in America. We don't make nearly the same money as most people and our cities are rapidly becoming ghost towns. In the office I work in my boss finally got a cell phone last year and beside him and me no one else even owns a cell phone. Sounds crazy but this is the office that doesn't have internet at all and most of the computers run Windows 95.
Most of you arguments have been pretty bad. Again, it's based off your notion that the iPhone didn't offer anything new. Again, show me what mobile operating systems were geared towards general consumer use.
Secondly, I didn't bring anything up. You did. You said you didn't understand why the Verizon iPhone is getting so much press. Then you said you didn't understand why the iPhone was so popular. I tried to explain it you, but I've realized that you're never going to understand it. Again, this is because your starting point is flat-out wrong and you can only see things in the context of your preferences.
Lastly, I maintain that MMS is getting less relevant every day in America. Over the next five years, smartphones will become the norm in first-world countries. This is another case of you only considering your personal experience. Think on a broader level and you can't logically argue that MMS is not as important as it was and is getting less important with each passing day.
The MMS argument has nothing to do with what MMS is now. I was referring to what MMS was.
The original iPhone lacked MMS support. <-FACT.
Don't know why you brought up how irrelevant MMS is becoming, that doesn't change how the iPhone launched and how many people wanted MMS.
I am not quite sure what you mean by "Secondly, I didn’t bring anything up. You did." I was saying i brought up the entire topic and you are telling me I don't understand the topic I brought up.
"I tried to explain it you, but I’ve realized that you’re never going to understand it. "
And have you seriously read what you've written. From the get go there was no attempt to explain anything. With replys like:
Really?!?
It’s pretty obvious….
I don’t think you’re being objective about it.
You really don’t get that?
I don’t think you’re being objective.
you just can’t be objective about the iPhone
You don’t know what a notification system is?
I didn’t think I needed to explain to you….
Tell me how I’m wrong.
…then I don’t know what to say to you.
You’re just not being objective.
If you don’t see it then I can’t help you.
It should be obvious.
…you’re not being objective…
…well, yeah, you don’t get it.
It’s so basic that I really don’t understand why it needs explaining.
flat-out wrong
That's complete garbage. I tried to explain it to you. You just don't get it. I've come to the conclusion that you never will. Your quoting is awfully selective. Why don't you try to look at other things I've written?
"It’s a powerful phone that’s easy to use. The entertainment options are unmatched."
I was actually shocked that you didn't get this point, which you admitted.
"The iPhone was crappy out of the gate? Compared to what? Symbian? BlackBerry OS? Windows Mobile? Palm OS? At the time of its release, what consumer smartphones were better?"
Your reply to these questions was laughable and you never answered the last question. You honestly think that more people could get more out of Symbian, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile than iPhone OS (as it was called at the time)? No sane and knowledgeable person would agree with you.
The same goes with your preference for browsing on Windows Phone 6 over iPhone. That one just made me laugh.
You also admitted that you never used the iPod feature of the phone. That reminds me of how you don't understand the usefulness of Google Voice. You don't use all the features, so of course you're missing the point.
Finally, I don't see how I'm being vague. Read that first quote again. That's completely straightforward, but you don't get it.
How is it I didn't answer the other OS question. The entire next comment was directed at how the others had better features.
“It’s a powerful phone that’s easy to use. The entertainment options are unmatched.”
I guess I am the only person that actually cares about some substance to answer besides, this is what it is, but i won't explain it. How are the entertainment options unmatched? Every phone I have owned could do what the iPhone does. Now there is a good chance there are features I don't currently know about since I quite using one a long time ago. But without some sort of clarification….then of course I don't understand.
Are you ever wrong btw?
Again, you're missing the point. I don't know any sane person that would say BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile were better for general consumers that iPhone OS. Symbian isn't even a real smartphone OS. So you're wrong there.
Secondly, I answered the question appropriately. It didn't require an essay.
"Every phone I have owned could do what the iPhone does."
Really? Everyone phone you've had prior to June 2007 had full iTunes syncing out of the box, Webkit browsing, and dozens of apps? I don't think so.
Finally, I'm wrong all the time. In this case, I'm not. I'm the one that understands why the iPhone is popular.
1)I never mentioned Symbian because I have never used Symbian and have absolutely no opinion on it.
2)And again you answer is like saying something taste good just because it tastes good.
3)I don't use iTunes, so yes every phone could play music. iTunes has never appealed to me, I used it and it is too invasive. iTunes never goes on to any computer I build.
Again Webkit browsing means nothing to me as I told you before (and you laughed at me) browsing was fine on my WinMo phones. Now if you were to put them side by side today and let me see the actual difference I might have a different opinion, but until that point I don't recall there being all that much of a difference.
WinMo had a ton of apps that I could get from anywhere and not just from a pre-approved store.
WinMo 6 was universally panned. Pocket IE was universally viewed as garbage. For whatever reason, you liked both. For consumer use, they were awful.
Okay and that was my comment about I only have my own knowledge to go off of. I don't pay nearly as much attention to the industry as you and I have no idea what general consensus is about the various OSs by consumers.
I liked them because they worked well for me.
I am glad every answer I gave was laughable to you.
The Google Voice thing: I have explained to you numerous times why I have not continued to use Google Voice.
You never fully used it in the first place.
Correct. I haven't gotten a Google number because of the long distance thing. I do however use Google Voice each day and meant to say I have not continued any farther into it.
You're also completely wrong saying that I haven't explained my stance. I have. You admitted that you don't get it.
You act like everyone works in the same field as you and has the same interests and knowledge of technology that you have. So not everyone can just get what you are trying to convey by you just saying something IS THIS.
My initial explanation did not require any sort of technical knowledge. "It’s a powerful phone that’s easy to use. The entertainment options are unmatched."
No matter how many times you say it, it doesn't change the fact that you are just making a statement.
I like turtles smashed between my toes while sitting on my roof.
^Makes perfect sense to me and needs no explanation for anyone else to understand that.
You didn't understand something. I tried to explain it. People usually trying to explain things with statements, not questions. Furthermore, my explanation was in the context of the topic, not some random sentence about turtles.
Anyway, you don't get the iPhone's popularity. You're not even trying to. So what's the point of this aside from increasing my page views and drowning out other conversations that could be had by others?
I am trying. Smartguy actually made a very reasonable point by explaining his thinking on the subject.
"drowning out other conversations that could be had by others?"
Wow okay, not cool. I was still having conversations with others. I have never seen talking be a problem when y'all talk about football or wrestling all day and push out conversation by those who don't comment on those.
Again, you misunderstood. The last 50+ comments have been by you and me on a matter that you don't understand. I'm happy to discuss, but you're not really trying. On a normal day, a reader can see a variety of discussion on a variety of topics. If a reader goes to the site right now, it's just you and me on this conversation that isn't really going anywhere.
"Okay and that was my comment about I only have my own knowledge to go off of. I don’t pay nearly as much attention to the industry as you and I have no idea what general consensus is about the various OSs by consumers."
It has nothing to do with paying attention to the industry. It has to do with looking beyond your own preferences and experiences, and realizing what works for other people. That's your problem here. For example (again), I prefer Android. It works better than IOS for what I need. BUT, I understand that iOS works better for most general consumers than Android.
@Ray
Sorry, not being nosey I just can't sleep and just caught up. Do you consider Android to be specialized since you mentioned the general consumer? I see that as BB OS honestly. Simple, sweet, secure.
@Slicky
Nonsense. keep posting.
Not nosey at all. It actually looks better to have you add something to the conversation. So thanks for that!
I'm not sure I would go as far as saying Android is specialized, especially since phone manufacturers can tweak it in different ways. Specific would be a better word for what Android offers. To get the most out of it, you need to use different Google products. If you're not a heavy Google user, I think you're better off with iOS.
@Ray
Yeah I would agree with that. I don't utilize Google Docs which I think would be the most benefit for me on Android. The iOS email client uses my gmail seamlessly in fact. I'm also not a big calendar guy. I have a pretty good memory so I'm able to remember important times and dates. In fact the only calendar event I have is on repeat and it is there for me to order my dog's heartworm prevention.
Did you see that Xoom might actually have full Motoblur on it? Damn tweaks.
Multiple Gmail accounts on Android is pretty sweet. The Google Voice implementation is unmatched. Those are the two massive ones for me.
Motorola cleared that up and said that the Xoom will not have Blur. It's supposed to be a flagship "Google Experience" product. I think it was Phandroid that confirmed it will not have Blur.
@Ray
Ah that's good news for the Honeycomb early adopters. GV integration I know is nice. I did use an Incredible for a few weeks. Now with the official GV app on iOS the integration is pretty good on that platform.
Damn stimulant I started taking won't let me sleep.
I wonder if the Verizon iPhone will allow 3G calling? I've been using that more and more and more.
I played with the GV iOS app. It's good — and certainly better than nothing — but it's not as integrated as it is on Android. If it improves, that would be a big reason for me to go back to iOS.
What did you mean by 3G calling? On Skype?
@Ray
Yeah, will it eat minutes?
Would they be able to know if it was from the Skype app on the App Store?
@Ray
No clue. Good question indeed. So skype isn't available on the Google market via Verizon phone? Preloaded only?
@smartguy That was the case when Verizon had the exclusive. It should be on the Android Market now.