You're viewing an article in iPO's historic archive vault. Here, we've preserved the comments and how the site looked along with the article. Use this link to view the article on our current site: The iPhone View From The Other Side

Editorial

Editorial - The iPhone View From The Other Side

Not every journalist is fawning over the Apple iPhone. Some view the gushing praise for and attention to the iPhone as some kind of trance that sucks the objectivity out of the journalist's brain. It's a seduction, according to Slate on Wednesday.

The news corps loves Apple, and Jack Shafer at Slate didn't like it. "So calculated is Apple's launch that it got news bumps early this week with the announcement that the iPhone battery will last three hours longer than originally promised and that it will play YouTube clips," Mr. Shafer wrote. "No drop of milk oozes from the Apple teat without a crowd of journalists gathering to swallowing it up."

Turning to the quantitative side, the author pointed to the Hellio Ocean which was first to market, has a lot of nifty features, and received a positive review from Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal. It is also less expensive than the iPhone.

Journalists who pass over these objective and quantitative specifications must be in a stupor, the author observed. "Phone tech and design are moving so fast these days that the media freakout over the iPhone indicates a press in need of imagination—or swift kick in the ass from some editors."

What's worse, the author lamented, is that when some stories downplay the hype or point out iPhone deficiencies, they still end up increasing the anticipation for the iPhone.

What's even more interesting is that one could go through the article and replace "Ocean" with "Mac OS X" and "iPhone" with "Vista" and the article would sound a lot like Macintosh rants of the past. It seems to be fairly simple, and yet so subtle. When a product wins, the losers get very grouchy. Technical specifications get lost in the melee. Journalists point it all out. Readers generally get it.

And life goes on.

Note: Slate Magazine was founded by Microsoft in 1996, but is now owned by the Washington Post Co.

7 comments from the community.

You can post your own below.

+ show options

Your current settings, click to change: Sort Oldest First, Show Guest Posts, Hide Community Stats

A guest said: (hide)

Visited the Helio site. Wasn't impressed. Slide this. Poke the keys with tiny button arms. "We're not a phone company", but their product is similar to other Samsung/Ericson products... There's a reason the iPhone is gaining buzz/traction, IMHO, and that is that there is perceived to be a true innovation here that could make phone/media use friendlier. We'll see in 8 days.

Quote this post ↓

Paul Johnson said:

member since 21 Jun 2007 with 1 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Helio Ocean better? You've got to be kidding. See http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/poll/snap-judgements-helio-ocean-vs-apple-iphone-258700.php

Also, T-Mobile makes AT&T look good.

Quote this post ↓

A guest said: (hide)

Saying the Hellio Ocean is cheaper and was first to market compared to the iPhone is like saying the Razr is cheaper and was first to market compared to the Hellio Ocean. There just isn't a phone on the around that offer both the hardware (no moving parts, multi-touch screen) AND the software features in the same price range. Even the Prada phone, which is more expensive, is a monochrome screen with out the refined software that will be available to the iPhone yet it costs 800 US. Sure, there will be better, cheeper phones out there. Apple may even drop the ball on call quality on their first forи out. However, anyone complaining that the iPhone is not deserving of the buzz, well, show me anything on the market, hell... even on the horizon in the north american mobile market offering what apple is. Not just features (text email) but in a compelling execution, THEN your argument will have a leg to stand on.

Quote this post ↓

Sir Harry Flashman said:

member since 08 Feb 2007 with 792 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Hmmm, the Hellio Ocean:

  • Syncs with Yahoo, AOL and Hellio Mail, doesn't synch with OSX Address Book and no word if it even syncs with Outlook (unless I am missing seeing that)

  • Takes MPEG-4 video, but not QuickTime

  • It does support a variety of audio files including H264, but doesn't sync with iTunes

  • Features a "unique" browser. Fair enough I guess, Safari is pretty unique

A keyboard with tactile feel has its pluses, but overall I am not as excited about the Ocean as I am about the iPhone

Quote this post ↓

Bosco said:

member since 03 Jun 2002 with 1002 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

To paraphrase Billy Walsh on Entourage, show me a reporter who doesn't like the iPhone and I'll show you an iPhone that's screwing someone else.

Quote this post ↓

A guest said: (hide)

Paul Johnson wrote:
Helio Ocean better? You've got to be kidding. See http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/poll/snap-judgements-helio-ocean-vs-apple-iphone-258700.php

Also, T-Mobile makes AT&T look good.

Of the nearly 6000 votes at that page, 55% currently are for the Helio, only 34% for the iPhone.

Quote this post ↓

A guest said: (hide)

Paul Johnson wrote:
Also, T-Mobile makes AT&T look good.

T-Mobile? What's that have to do with anything?

Quote this post ↓

Post Your Comments

  Remember Me

Not a member? Register now. You can post comments without logging in, but they'll show up as a "guest" post.


Please enter the word exactly as you see it in the image above. Registered users aren't prompted for this. Having trouble reading the image get a new one.