Why iPhone Matters
- Posted October 19th, 2007
- Filed under: Technology
I went apartment-hunting this week. It’s tough. But it’s not as difficult as it could be. I’ve got craigslist in my pocket. Thanks, iPhone.
iPhone is not the first web-enabled phone I’ve used. But it’s the first phone that makes it seem natural. It’s not a matter of “Gee, look, I’m browsing the web on my phone.” I need answers, and the iPhone makes it easy to get at them, wherever I happen to be. And when I’m looking for an apartment, that’s all over the place.
The iPod wasn’t the first MP3 player, or even the first high-capacity MP3 player. But it was the first high-capacity MP3 player that people found usable. The iPhone presents a similar case.
There are plenty of gadgets that do what iPhone does: Not just browse the web, but send and receive email, manage your date book, and map out the neighborhood. Many of them are even phones. But up until now, they haven’t made it easy. They made it possible, but possible isn’t enough. Possible is for gadgets. And gadgets are for geeking out, not for getting things done.
Jason Fried of 37 Signals came to Providence the other day to speak to the Business Innovation Factory Summit. 37 Signals produces the Ruby on Rails software that powers BatchBook. We’re fans. Talking about 37 Signals’ design philosophy, Jason said that they try to avoid cluttering their applications with gratuitous functionality just to be “cool”. “Useful is cool” is their watchword.
