What Will the iPhone Do To Us?

Blow me down, Moses, the new iPhone IS here. And, depending on who you are: current iPhone owner, Apple shareholder, or the anti-AT&T activist, your reaction could be anywhere from

–slightly pissed

–self-congratulatory & smug, or

–that’s it, i’m moving to Canada. (Though, our friendly northern neighbor is no longer an artful escape from Americana.)

Let’s break it down, shall we?

Here is what the new iPhone will bring to our media-hungry souls:

• The long-awaited high speed "3G" wireless internet connection. Music to the ears of online marketers who sat up at night designing mobile phone interfaces, websites, and media campaigns, hoping fervently that someone, somewhere, would love them for this.

• GPS technology, seamlessly integrated with Google Maps, so you can always know exactly where you are, and where you are going. (Putting quite a dent in the GPS market.)

• 3rd party apps that are really going to change the face of the game. One, for example, would help you locate your friends in a crowded concert. But can you imagine what this opens us up to? Stalkers R’ Us. And Annoyances R’ Ss. Remember what happened with Facebook? For the last time, dear friends, I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHICH SEX AND THE CITY CHARACTER I MOST RESEMBLE. Or hug a green plant, or donate $1 to the save-the-plastic-bag foundation.

*Note also that Mobile applications for the new iPhone are going to set a whole new bar for mobile advertising. Current growth rates for integrated media use on cell phones will explode, as they’ve started to do on the global level already, and there will be even more platforms for advertisers to explore as they begin to really reach this huge new audience.

• Integration and synchronization of work email, contacts, and other information to the iPhone’s memory. I already can name one CEO whose life this is going to improve. Or rather, the life of the person who heroically attempts to organize his life for him. (Do you think he might get her a pretty new iPhone as a thank-you gift?)

• Cheaper sticker prices – $199 for the 8GB model, $299 for 16GB – mm, just the right chunk of your federal income tax rebate.

So, these are all the pluses. What is the downside? Is there one?

How about all the poor little iPhone "1.0" owners. Aren’t they going to be foaming-at-the-mouth jealous? (If you were unfortunate enough to have bought one in the past week, though, you can totally return it. Whew.)

Also, the lower sticker price comes from somewhere: AT&T, which has raised its data plan fees from $20/mo extra to $30, which over the course of the two-year contract is – you guessed it – a bit more than the $200 "discounted" price of the new model. Clever girl.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.