I’m over the iPhone. For real.
For the weeks and months leading up to the release I was getting more and more convinced that my life would be pointless without the Jesus-phone in my hands.
Between the hype, the growing excitement, the slow leak of information and the tremendously in depth interaction videos released just days before it’s launch, the iPhone broke new ground all over the place.
I could blame the fact that I’m a designer or blame that fact that I have Golem-level desires for ‘precious’ objects, but I wanted this phone more than any other object in recent memory. It was getting unbearable to be without one in my possession.
But the weirdest thing happened. I got a chance to finally play with one the day after the launch, and I found myself realising a few things.
1. It’s amazing.
2. I don’t need it.
3. It’s amazing.
And then I took a breath and found myself totally over it. Honestly, I think that because I’d read and seen everything about it for so long the final meeting strangely held no more surprises for me. Somehow I’d over cooked my own enthusiasm for the damn thing.
I tried flicking my finger through iTunes album art, flicking my way through contacts, pinching and prising my way through photographs and Google maps. I even tried typing. They were all as amazing as I expected.
And while my argument for wanting it so bad, ‘it’s the most seamless integration of devices ever’, I realised that I just couldn’t get excited enough to replace all my current, separate devices. I have a phone. I have a music player, I even have crappy access to email through my phone too! Clearly with the iPhone the subtle, restrained industrial design makes it a pleasure to hold, but it’s really in the interaction design that makes this device come to life in your hands. But for me, $600 is a lot for me to pay to improve the ‘experience’.
While there has been a lot of research white papers and experimental prototypes shown of multi touch technology, more notable by Jeff Han from NYU, it was Apple who were the first to show how it could be really used and where the benefits were immediately obvious.
Let it be said, this is a totally landmark device here. It makes all other products that come anywhere near this category look so… pre-iPhone.
So while I happily recognise it’s immense awesomeness, for me I feel freed from its grasp. I’m over the iPhone. At least for the next few months…
ps.
Posing for me here is a friend’s iPhone. He was kind enough to let me take these closeups of this beautiful object. The full gallery is here. Enjoy!
