[Sigia-l] It's started

[Will Parker]

On Jun 4, 2007, at 9:49 AM, Nancy Broden wrote:

> I agree it is a feature, but a very important one because it is on
> the idle or home screen (the top level screen on the phone). I am not
> saying the T-Mobile has revolutionized the mobile UI paradigm by any
> stretch, but that they made a giant leap forward in an industry that
> is extremely resistant to change.
>
> Slowly, slowly the shift will take place. Apple and the iPhone will
> nudge it along considerably (I hope).

Amen to that!

BTW, it just occurred to me that regardless of what one thinks of  
AT&T (or Apple, for that matter), the exclusive 5-year partnership  
between the two companies is going to present a near-insoluble  
problem for other mobile phone manufacturers and telecom providers,  
should those companies try to continue in their old promiscuous ways.

This agreement recreates in large part the closed hardware/software  
design environment in which Apple thrives. (Feel free to insert  
'garden of pure ideology' jokes here whenever you like.) The current  
mobile phone development model is a struggle to get the best possible  
compromises adopted, not by the customer, but by competing factions  
within the product design stake-holders.

Meanwhile, as long as AT&T doesn't decide to throw off the yoke (at  
severe risk of losing access to its meal ticket), the iPhone will  
presumably have five presumably fruitful years to evolve in a semi- 
protected environment -- approximately the same length of time it  
took Mac OS X to evolve from Puma to Tiger.

Something tells me that a number of phone manufacturers will be  
silently hoping that the iPhone stays in its protected AT&T reserve  
for a good long while.

- Will

Will Parker
wparker at ChannelingDesign.com

“I wish developing great products was as easy as writing a check. If  
that were the case, then Microsoft would have great products.” -  
Steve Jobs