Sometimes this is just too easy. Galen Gruman in InfoWorld:
The iPad makes the iPhone—Apple’s game-changing technology of 2007, whose impact still reverberates through the wireless, mobile, and computing industries—obsolete. And as the iPhone fades away as a short-lived marvel, so too will disappear the mobile Web.
So, instead of a smart phone which fits neatly into pocket or purse, we’ll saddle our mobility ambitions with a 1.5 pound device that isn’t a phone?
The iPhone is a bad phone and a brilliant but now-old-school media device. The iPad doesn’t make or receive calls. So what? Face it: As cool as it is to use an iPhone to surf the Web, check e-mail, play games, and run apps, it’ll be cooler and more productive on an iPad.
Except for not being as mobile, of course. Oh, and not being a phone. Hang on. It gets worse:
I suspect most iPhone users won’t renew their current data service plans with AT&T when they expire. They will instead get a cheap, reliable regular phone—and won’t miss the iPhone.
But consider how quickly the iPhone changed the paradigm for the Web and for smartphones. I believe the iPad will have just as dramatic and short-term effects. Only this time, it’s the iPhone that will look out of date. And forget about the wannabes like the Palm Pre and the various Android devices. They’re walking dead now.
They didn’t get very far. Let me recap. Galen is saying that the iPad is so cool that we’ll give up our iPhones (which fit in the pocket) and jump on board Apple’s newer gravy train because, well, the iPad is cool. Oh, and the iPad with 3G is less expensive than the iPhone. Is that it?
You may think I’m nuts to expect such a dramatic change in the iPhone’s position. But I’m serious. It was only three years ago that the iPhone up-ended the mobile market, making once-vaunted devices like the BlackBerry suddenly look like creaky old DOS systems.
You’re right. I think you’re nuts.
As usual, the Comments section of Galen’s ridiculous premise is where the real thinking is:
- I’ll ditch my iPhone for an iPad just as soon as my grandmother finishes sewing 12 inch pockets on all my shirts.
- Either sales of “manbags” are going to skyrocket, or Apple has missed. Invest accordingly.
- I will never ever (ever) use any device that requires me to carry a man-purse.
- Has anyone dropped this thing yet? This thing may be a little too large for everyday/mobile use.
The whole idea is laughable. Galen’s an idiot. Shame on InfoWorld for publishing the nonsense. It must be a slow news day. More of Galen’s idiocy here.