Thursday, June 28, 2007

The iPhone will be the Wii of Mobile Phones

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Last week I posted the chart comparing the iPhone to a few Smartphones that caused me to receive a lot of comments back saying the comparison doesn't include all of the features of the iPhone. As everyone is awaiting the public release of the iPhone tomorrow some say it is the next big thing. Others say it will fail and be an afterthought. I propose to you that the iPhone will be as successful for Apple as the Wii was for Nintendo. Apple doesn't need the iPhone to re-make its company as Ninentendo needed with the Wii, but the similarities of the two devices are there.

There are plenty of people who are underestimating what the iPhone will do for the Mobile Phone Community. Even the naysayers would likely admit that the iPhone interface is at the minimum very cool and I would propose it is somewhat revolutionary. The large, touchscreen interface is user-friendly enough to move the entire mobile phone industry towards at least some sort of touch screen functionality. It might even be enough to drive more touchscreen interfaces for other devices such as games, home theater PC's and other devices.

When the Wii was first announced, it was widely talked about as silly and gimmicky to have the motion-sensing wii controller. Today the naysayers are far and few between and even the die-hard Xbox and Playstation fans would admit that the Wii has added a special something that appeals to a larger demographic then typical gamers. I believe the iPhone will have that same impact on mobile phone buyers. Today, there are many who are just fine with a plain old phone. "Why would I want to browse the internet with a clunky, small-screen phone?" asks my coworker. I think those people will be won over by the iPhone's interface. It is easy to use, you don't have to read the instructions to figure it out and it looks like it will be downright fun. Time will tell, but I think in a year from people will look back at the iPhone as the first of a new breed of mobile phone. It will help sell mobile internet in a drastic way to a large demographic just as the Wii has done for dedicated game machines.

The Wii was lesser than its competitors in graphics, sound, storage and many other things that seemed to be crucial for gamers. Still the success of the console can be credited to the Wiimote and Wii Sports. Despite its many shortcomings, it succeeds where it counts. Gameplay and appeal to the masses. The iPhone will be similar. It is lacking in network speed, it has no removable/replaceable battery, there's no keyboard; but still it will appeal to the masses and even a good number of power users will want one.

I've been thinking of whether I would buy one and just can't justify it at the moment despite my intense desire to get it because its cool. Add 3g to the iPhone & I would buy it as soon as I had the cash to spend. To get a feel for how others feel about the iPhone, I've added a poll to see how many of you will be buying an iPhone in the near future. Feel free to participate in the poll and let us all know how you feel about the iPhone. This poll is a new feature available to blogger beta testers using blogger-draft.