iPhone's missing app?

Excerpts from
http://petersmagnusson.com/2007/07/0...ial-networking


Apple can only do really interesting products if Steve Jobs
understands the end user. And Jobs does not understand the 21st
century computer usage paradigm.

At it’s heart, the iPhone is a projection of the original vision of
bringing clunky desktop applications like email, contact databases,
to-do lists, telephones, note taking, and web browsing to the palm of
your hand. That is essentially Steve Job’s generation - transitioning
from the mainframe office environment to the PC-based office. Jobs
can’t quite get rid of the notion that a mobile device is nothing but
a really small personal computer.

Apple seems to fundamentally not understand social networking, and the
potential that a brand new mobile platform could have for that. It’s a
generational thing, I guess.

I was actually in the room when Steve Jobs first announced the iPhone
at Macworld earlier this year. I was immediately struck by his
emphasis of desktop/iPod-oriented features - using the telephone,
using the calendar, todo lists, listening to music. That’s the stuff
the 1990s generation did, and they do it on their desktops.

The 21st century kids - and workers - have other frameworks. They
chat; they blog; they share their music playlists; they listen to
internet radio; they play text RPG-like games on wikis; they argue on
bulletin boards; they exchange pictures and phone/webcam videos; they
post video responses to youtube.

The new generation doesn’t use the phone. They don’t call somebody to
discuss a document. They just change the wiki entry and they know any
subscribers to changes will be notified. They chat. They update their
emo trackers with mood and location like “wd market, nw” and so forth.

You can’t post to youtube from the iPhone. Even if you could post, you
can’t make a video with the iPhone. You can’t even leave a friggin
comment on the youtube service.

So why was the iPod different? Very simple - Steve Jobs actually
understands music. He’s an artsy guy. That’s why the iPod was awesome.
Jobs actually understood the target customer.

Ah well. What could have been…




--

When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.

....Marquis de la Grange