Tom's Hardware on the iPhone

[Lord Blackadder]

Tom's hardware posted an article speculating on the future of the iPhone. While they can't help be impressed, they predict doom and gloom for Apple based on the iPhone's price, use of Linux (possible intellectual property dispute - I disagree), and trademark issue with Cisco.

Mini Rant -

Tom's Hardware is perennially anti-Apple, because they can't get their heads around the concept that many people prefer their computer to be an appliance that just works, not an overclocked, liquid cooled, quad-SLI gaming machine with RAID-0 Raptor arrays and a computer case shaped like a Transformer's head with blue LEDs in all the fans and wires.

Sour grapes. But I think Apple's approach is particularly suited to phone design, so they have the upper hand. And the market talks. People WILL buy the iPhone, and nobody will care about Cisco.

 

[aristobrat]

... and a computer case shaped like a Transformer's head with blue LEDs in all the fans and wires.

ROTFLMAO!

I have a few friends that are very much like what you described, but what I'm noticing is that when they hit a point in their life where their computer ISN'T their number one priority, they eventually get tired of having to maintain their oddball rigs.

In the last few months, two of them have "switched" their wives (getting them Macs), which I think is just the first step in them switching. "Well, since she has one and I have to give her support, I might as well get one too".

 

[clevin]

its better to post a link so i can read the article b4 making statement.
generally, Tomshardware is a good review website, and pretty respected, for hardwares, cpu, graphic card, etc.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

I think they are wrong, lets face it there are a class of people who like the best of something and thats what the iphone will be. Sure its priced high and thats how Apple operates. There not going after every phone user they are going after every I want the best kind of guy or gal. We heard the same kind of arguments when the pods came out.

 

[clevin]

I think they are wrong, lets face it there are a class of people who like the best of something and thats what the iphone will be. Sure its priced high and thats how Apple operates. There not going after every phone user they are going after every I want the best kind of guy or gal. We heard the same kind of arguments when the pods came out.

see, i just could find the article OP referred to, u got a link?

also, the problem is how many ppl are the ones u described "want best of kind disregard the price". not to mention when ppl get the real thing, the shortcomes will begin to surface.

 

[twoodcc]

Tom's hardware posted an article speculating on the future of the iPhone. While they can't help be impressed, they predict doom and gloom for Apple based on the iPhone's price, use of Linux (possible intellectual property dispute - I disagree), and trademark issue with Cisco.

Mini Rant -

Tom's Hardware is perennially anti-Apple, because they can't get their heads around the concept that many people prefer their computer to be an appliance that just works, not an overclocked, liquid cooled, quad-SLI gaming machine with RAID-0 Raptor arrays and a computer case shaped like a Transformer's head with blue LEDs in all the fans and wires.

Sour grapes. But I think Apple's approach is particularly suited to phone design, so they have the upper hand. And the market talks. People WILL buy the iPhone, and nobody will care about Cisco.

i agree with some of your points.....but like others said, a link to the article would be nice

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I'm going crazy, I thought I included the link. Fixed in original post.

I read Tom's Hardware Guide all the time, and I think they are very good for PC hardware reviews and bechmarks. But they are pretty biased towards home-built gaming computers. They're generally neutral about OEM PCs, except "gamer" laptops, and have never taken Apple seriously becuase it was a closed platform.

Now that things are changing, it seems they take a dim view of all of Apple's new products. They are usually slow to report new Apple products (and do so briefly), while they are usually quick to report lawsuits involving Apple, Apple hardware recalls, and other negative news (like the Greenpeace thing).

I disagree with most of what they say about the iPhone - I don't think the Cisco thing willbe a big problem in the long run, though I do agree that the high price will limit sales to a certain extent (though they sell plenty of $350 iPods).

As someone who likes to tinker with hardware (both PC and Mac), it irritates me that Tom's are so dismissive and negative towards the whole Apple platform. They used to base all of their rhetoric on the inferiority of the PowerPC, but now they just attack Apple with whatever negative news they can get their hands on.

Actually, the article on the iPhone is far more approbatory of the product than usual for Tom's Hardware Guide. But it's still a negative overall review with weak arguments IMHO.

 

[MisterMe]

Tom's hardware posted an article speculating on the future of the iPhone. While they can't help be impressed, they predict doom and gloom for Apple based on the iPhone's price, use of Linux (possible intellectual property dispute - I disagree), and trademark issue with Cisco.

....

I have yet to read the whole article, but I don't see the degree of negative bias that you seem to see. So far, I have read nothing that would make a person who intends to buy an iPhone change his/her mind. To the contrary, the article seems to make it fairly clear that the iPhone is a revolutionary device.

 

[killr_b]

…snip…
Tom's Hardware is perennially anti-Apple, because they can't get their heads around the concept that many people prefer their computer to be an appliance that just works, not an overclocked, liquid cooled, quad-SLI gaming machine with RAID-0 Raptor arrays and a computer case shaped like a Transformer's head with blue LEDs in all the fans and wires. …

This is so right on the dot that I actually had to bust out my phone and tell my PC friend to read this article and prove it wasn't only my view of PC Gamers!
ROTFLMAO!

 

[tknelson]

Enderle is an idiot.

This article appears to have been written by none other than Rob Enderle, the most bigoted pro-MS analyst on the planet. This guy has made a living with his nose up Microsoft's behind since the days of OS/2. That said, it is more fair than I would have expected an Enderle piece on the iPhone to be. However, there are many places where he fails to make any sense in the usual Enderlian fashion. For example, on page one he makes a big deal about how this is not a cell phone, but much, much more. On page two, he says the price of the iPhone is a problem because it is more expensive than most cell phones. Huh? This guy is about as "fair and balanced" as Fox news and just as full of nonsense.

 

[FleurDuMal]

I refuse to read any article on a site whose forum consists of spoilt teenagers shouting "OMG!!!! ATi sux! ROFL!!LOLzz!!!!!!1" at each other.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I have yet to read the whole article, but I don't see the degree of negative bias that you seem to see. So far, I have read nothing that would make a person who intends to buy an iPhone change his/her mind. To the contrary, the article seems to make it fairly clear that the iPhone is a revolutionary device.

Read the whole thing - the beginning of the article is relatively positive, but the author tears the Apple and the iPhone a new one further on.

I didn't notice the author, tknelson...Rob Enderle, I might have known.

 

[michaelsaxon]

I have a few friends that are very much like what you described, but what I'm noticing is that when they hit a point in their life where their computer ISN'T their number one priority, they eventually get tired of having to maintain their oddball rigs.

You've just described me very well.

 

[clevin]

This article appears to have been written by none other than Rob Enderle, the most bigoted pro-MS analyst on the planet. This guy has made a living with his nose up Microsoft's behind since the days of OS/2. That said, it is more fair than I would have expected an Enderle piece on the iPhone to be. However, there are many places where he fails to make any sense in the usual Enderlian fashion. For example, on page one he makes a big deal about how this is not a cell phone, but much, much more. On page two, he says the price of the iPhone is a problem because it is more expensive than most cell phones. Huh? This guy is about as "fair and balanced" as Fox news and just as full of nonsense.

i won't attack messenger, what he said is right
1. its much more than a phone
2. its expensive
in real world, they are both true. and they are not contradict with each other.

 

[timswim78]

I refuse to read any article on a site whose forum consists of spoilt teenagers shouting "OMG!!!! ATi sux! ROFL!!LOLzz!!!!!!1" at each other.

So, you refuse to read anything posted on Macrumors?

(Just replace ATI with MS, M$, Microshaft, Microsux, etc.)

 

[gnasher729]

see, i just could find the article OP referred to, u got a link?

also, the problem is how many ppl are the ones u described "want best of kind disregard the price". not to mention when ppl get the real thing, the shortcomes will begin to surface.

ppl can buy as many Dells and cheap stuff as they like, but lots of people will by iPhones and be happy with their purchases.

 

[Counterfit]

So, you refuse to read anything posted on Macrumors?

(Just replace ATI with MS, M$, Microshaft, Microsux, etc.)

Most of us use proper grammar though.

 

[FleurDuMal]

So, you refuse to read anything posted on Macrumors?

(Just replace ATI with MS, M$, Microshaft, Microsux, etc.)

To be fair, the ratio of spoilt teenagers on here is far lower than on Tomshardware.com

 

[timswim78]

To be fair, the ratio of spoilt teenagers on here is far lower than on Tomshardware.com

Well, I don't frequent Tomshardware.com, so I cannot make any comparisons. However, there do seem to be a fair share of the whining, spolied younger folks at MacRumors.

How many threads have I read about a teenager who is unhappy with the 24" iMac, MacPro, or MacBook Pro that his parents purchased for him/her?

In any case, this is still a fun Web site.

 

[shrimpdesign]

I'm surprised that they think that Apple is using Linux ... Apple made Darwin, which is a decendant of NEXTstep, with Mach kernal and BSD userspace. It's not Linux.

Unlike the GPL, the BSD licence does not require derivatives to be opensourced.

 

[tknelson]

i won't attack messenger, what he said is right
1. its much more than a phone
2. its expensive
in real world, they are both true. and they are not contradict with each other.

Enderle does more than simply make these two statements. He says that (2) creates a problem in selling the iPhone, already having recognized (1) which nullifies the issue entirely. That's a contradiction, or at the very least lacking in simple logic.

This is like saying:
(1) a laptop is much more than a PDA.
(2) a laptop is much more expensive than a PDA, and therefore it may be difficult to sell laptops

The point is, it doesn't matter that it is more expensive than a cell phone, since (as he points out) it is not simply a cell phone (or even close) and won't therefore be in direct competition with other cell phones. Is it really that complicated to understand? If you want a device simply to make and receive calls, you aren't in the market for an iPhone. If you want a device that does everything an iPhone can do, you won't waste your time looking at cell phones.

 

[RedTomato]

Well, I've read the article, and I think it's quite a good writeup.

I agree with the point that at the moment, it's indeed a vapour product.

I disagree for the moment with his assertion that Apple has goofed by releasing this early, as Apple have claimed they are forced to send the specs to the FCC, who will make them public.

However, as of yet, I have seen no release by the FCC of the iPhone specs yet. So we're still in the land of vapor and dodgy cover stories here.

He says it is the right price for a UMPC product, and his only complaint with the price is that it will seem expensive since it will be sold next to other phones, and not next to other UMPC products. (who knows how Apple actually plan to sell this?)

He addresses this by saying he believes Apple will release cheaper versions in the future.

I think he's talking out of his ass on the Linux IP thing. Does he not know that Apple's been working on this iPhone interface for years?

Possibly his intent was to throw in a dig at Linux, a passing slander on behalf of his MS masters who are keen to show Linux as suppressing and blocking innovation.

Overall, he does agree that this is a world-shaking device and has massively scared half if not all of the competing global tech companies.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Hi
There assessment seems very well but a few items could have been rethought. I feel it was a pretty fair article. Most importantly, these analysis mean extremely little right now. Apple has months before this product ships and it hasn't even passed FCC approval. What does this mean?..

• There are plenty of things Apple hasn't told us ( posted on their product page )
• Things can change significantly before than, bringing back my point of above

Let's not get too carried away just yet. I feel much more will "come to light" in about three months and I'd guess Apple will post more thorough specifications / features once the product is approved and legal to sell.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Another Tom's article on the iPhone. To be honest, they've been much more positive about this than any other Apple hardware I can remember. Although the numbers they quote about profit margins are obviously flawed - they account only for materials cost and not R&D, among other things.

But they're not talking at all about the Apple TV...

 

[iShak]

Another Tom's article on the iPhone. To be honest, they've been much more positive about this than any other Apple hardware I can remember. Although the numbers they quote about profit margins are obviously flawed - they account only for materials cost and not R&D, among other things.

But they're not talking at all about the Apple TV...

Considering the predicted market share of Apple iPhone of 10 million iPhones at its first launch or 1% market share, i don't see how a profit margin of 53% can be justified by R&D alone, add marketing, production, shipping and overheads still its about 20% too high.

i feel Apple is holding the trump incase iPhone fails to hit target so they can offer much needed price reduction on iPhone 2G and take the market by storm.

let face it, iPhone offers zero attraction for the buisness users, forcing its phone on people who only want ipod and vice versa thus losing customers who cant afford both, and there arent many in the world who can actually afford $499 price tag for a fully subsidized phone that has nothing so 'new'