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.
This is an idea whose time has come. The decision to use information technology to get things done is no longer a matter of tech for tech’s sake. It’s not about image. It’s about usefulness, and as gains in usability put databases, search engines and networking — traditionally the province of large institutions with dedicated IT staff — within the reach of individuals and small businesses, it has become a no-brainer.
When Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984, touting its usability, most computer users were using computers because it was their job to do so, or simply because they liked computing. They were experts, or they aspired to become experts. “The computer for the rest of us” wasn’t for them.
But if you’re reading this blog, it’s a fair bet that things largely unimaginable back in 1984 — email, eBay, MP3s, google, Wikipedia and YouTube — are part of your daily life. And not necessarily because you especially like computers.
The age of computing for “rest of us” has arrived. The advent of the iPhone shows that Apple hasn’t forgotten their mission. And its popularity means that we can expect more hardware and software makers to pay more attention to usability in the design of their products.
