1. ...and Creative had better/cheaper mp3 players when the iPod came out. As did a few other companies. The iPod still took off.

Sure RIM's business market is safe but the 14-34 yr old market is another game altogether. Think about it... all those older iPods, you want to upgrade to a new it one it will cost most of the iPhone price but then I get a phone too. I can easily rationalize that $600 ;)

Posted at 3:26PM on Jan 26th 2007 by Jesse

2. RIM, like Palm and Microsoft, have no reason to fear this device. It will be targeted initially at consumers, there isn't a business in the world looking for the iPhone. No third party applications, no removable memory. This is strictly for the iPod crowd.

That same crowd is also being targeted by the likes of BlackBerry with Pearl and MS with their latest slim smartphones, however. The upper echelon of phone buyers who seek a more capable device but not quite PDA territory. In this area they have reasons to fear Apple's first handset.

Aside from that, it's the FUTURE that counts. We're not to seriously believe this is Apple's only phone, are we? No upgrades, no refinement, no expansion of the iPhone lineup? They raked their toes across the surface of the pool with Motorola and the ROKR. Now they've dived in with iPhone.

From here it's a matter of making Apple a legitimate manufacturer of cellular handsets. iPhone will become like iPod with various form factors and prices meant to reach a range of customers. There will be an iPhone nano, an iPhone shuffle. And there will be something that paints a bullseye on the PDAs and smartphones of the world. Looking at iPhone RevA, we can see that they wouldn't have to reach very far to get there.

Posted at 4:13PM on Jan 26th 2007 by CTG

3. CTG....do you have any idea how many people own an iPod? You are grossly underestimating the "volume" with which this phone (the iPhone) will hit the market. It will be huge, and it will be backordered in a serious way. Keep in mind, and I love my 8700g, RIM has done a crappy job servicing the Mac world. They have not even created a desktop manager for these users. They cannot even do a software upgrade except by connecting their BB's to a Windows machine. Silly.

Every Mac user that has a Blackberry will jump ship, if not right at first, then very soon after. The simplicity one experiences in syncing their iPod is now going to sync their contacts, schedule, music, audiobooks, tasks, notes, email, and on and on. And this goes for all Windows users, too!!New features like "Visual Email" is an instant seller to almost everyone. Get ready, as June will be here before you know it and all the conjecture will be irrelevant.

Posted at 4:32PM on Jan 26th 2007 by RS

4. I agree about the SDK, and it will be fascinating to see what happens with widgets, if at all?
I’m just not anxious to sign on to Cingulars pricey data plans.
I’ll def get it for the mp3, movie, photo, contact and everything else, non web-related.

Thanks for the insights.

http://www.iphone-converter.org/

Posted at 8:02AM on Mar 12th 2007 by smith