[Sigia-l] Decent exposure

[Ziya Oz]

Arthur Fink:

> Give me some productive models that feel.

One of the most interesting trends that came out my reading of thousands of
reactions to the iPhone was the unmistakable sense of relief that this
gadget seems to provide to years of pent-up demands/wishes of current mobile
users. Everyone wants to see/project his/her long-repressed peeve resolved
via the iPhone.

And yet the iPhone is clearly a version 1.0 product. The designers made a
series of compromises to fit Apple's business model for a 1.0 product. For
instance, Jobs says in an interview that when G3 networks are prevalent in
the U.S., they'll adopt it. Their plan to introduce the iPhone into the
Asian markets is later in 2008. There, they'll definitely have to deal with
faster networks, so we can do the math on version 1.5/2.0. An Apple VP has
also said that the 3G would be a software update.

So iPhone is pregnant with possibilities. When a product is so full of
possibilities that everyone projects their own wishlist it becomes a hit.

Take yours, for instance: Apple has a patent on video screens that can also
act as an embedded camera, without the need for a dedicated camera
lens/apparatus. The iPhone has a huge (3.5") screen. The iPhone has a
multitasking OS underneath it. Imagine a visual pattern recognition app that
constantly monitors the user's facial expression, looking for the small set
of clues (a la Malcolm Gladwell's Blink accounts) that detect human
expression/feelings. Imagine that this can detect minute muscle arrangements
on your face to determine that you are anxious, hurried, etc and thus
modulate various related iPhone actions on your behalf. Imagine that it can
at least warn you before you make an expensive purchase because your facial
expressions indicate you are stoned silly. Imagine that it can detect your
fingerprints and couple it with an analysis of your speech as well as the
unique signature of your finger-typing behavior to provide a hitherto
unimaginable level of security/authentication. Imagine that it knows through
GPS and a Google look-up that you are inside a restaurant or a library and
modulates its response to calls on your behalf. Imagine in version 3.0 Apple
opens up the API to serious 3rd party applications.

In 1984 I saw a pre-release copy of Aldus PageMaker running on a Macintosh.
I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew right then what exactly I wanted to do
and essentially changed careers within a month and the rest is history for
me. Many people do in fact feel similar things regarding the iPhone. I'm
giddy. :-)

Ziya
Nullius in Verba