(image found at 43 folders, originally uploaded by x180)

I didn’t think it was going to happen, but it finally did. The iPhone is a reality, and come June will be an exclusive on the Cingular (read: AT&T) network for the next two years. During the MacWorld Expo keynote speech earlier this week, Steve Jobs got on stage and put to rest the subject of some of the fiercest discussion and more ravenous anticipation for any product ever by announcing the Apple iPhone, a convergence device that functions as a cell phone with a world of new features, an internet-connected personal media device, a widescreen iPod, all running a slimmed down version of Mac OS X. Apple describes the iPhone like this:

iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.

All of which is absolutely true. The iPhone takes a lot of existing ideas, like a widescreen, no-button display, the long-desired widescreen iPod, a touch-screen personal media and internet-connected device, and more, and puts all of that into a package that’s elegant, easy to use, running a slimmed down version of Mac OS X, and most importantly is small and beautifiul. The iPhone runs about the thickness of a closed Motorola RAZR cellphone, and is about as tall as a RAZR when unfolded, and features a beautiful, high-resolution touch-sensitive screen. It truly is a device to be reckoned with, and it packs in so many features into an elegant package that other cell phone manufacturers will be racing for years to catch up to it. So far, cell phone companies have only started to effectively make phone/music player hybrid devices, and now they’ll have to compete with a phone that does both of those things better than any phone on the market now, but also browses the internet, integrates email and RSS functionality, has bluetooth and wifi, and more. I’m not the only one who thinks that the iPhone will be the device to revolutionize the cellphone industry in America either, and it’s about time-cell phone manufacturers in Asia and Europe have been churning out remarkable products, and the phones available in the United States pale in feature and functionality in comparison.

[ PC World :: IPhone a 'Wake-Up Call' for the Industry ]

It’s a glorious device, without a doubt. But that’s not to say that there aren’t problems with the device. The fact that the device is so incredibly expensive, $500-600 with a 2-year contract, and the fact that it’s a Cingular (AT&T) exclusive for 2 years, definitely locks out a lot of consumers who aren’t planning on switching cell providers just to pay hundreds of dollars for a high-end phone. The iPhone just doesn’t have broad appeal at this point, and that’s on purpose. Apple’s aiming at a very high-end market willing to spend a lot of money on a mobile device, and even during the keynote Steve Jobs said that Apple’s only aiming at something like 1-2% market penetration for the iPhone. I think PC Magazine’s mobile phone maven, Sascha Segan, is on point with his analysis of the iPhone’s strengths and weaknesses, he points out it’s definitely a revolutionary device well worth the attention and fawning praise its getting, but there are some significant, and in many cases deal breaking issues yet unresolved. And the sad part? Many of those issues are a matter of choice, not a matter of necessity.

[ PC Mag :: iPhone Analysis: Apple's Revolution for the Few ]

Some analysts are hoping for the same things I’m hoping for, that Apple chooses to come down from the ivory tower and bring these technologies to the masses, by either/or integrating the accelerometer and widescreen touch-sensitive functionality into the iPod (the accelerometer is a killer feature-the Zune desperately needs something like this, that detects whether I’m holding the device upright or to the side for widescreen display, but it doesn’t have it. The iPhone can tell which way I’m holding the device) or releasing lower-end versions of the iPhone, although I’m not totally sure how they’d do either of those. I can just hope that, like Apple is so good at doing, they find a way to make the impossible possible. We were all stunned at the price of the iPod when it was introduced, and now they’re affordable and popular. We can only hope that the iPhone will be the same in several years, and that competing companies and device manufacturers get their photocopiers started and bring out cheaper devices with some of their own takes on the iPhone’s features. Until then, the iPhone is where its at, from a technological and innovative perspective, and thank goodness for Apple for bringing it all to the table.

[ MacWorld :: Apple Unveils iPhone ]

I’d say that about sums it all up, though. Hilarity courtesy of PVP Online, one of my favorite webcomics.

[ Apple :: iPhone ]