Comments on: Shh… Don’t tell anyone the iPhone is actually a UMPC

By: Apple Fever - Today’s Top Blog Posts on Apple - Powered by SocialRank

Apple Fever - Today’s Top Blog Posts on Apple - Powered by SocialRank — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:23:18 +0000

[...] Shh… Don’t tell anyone the iPhone is actually a UMPC - The Apple Blog [...]

By: Honza

Honza — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:08:02 +0000

@Matt Sharpe

“any sense you were making was lost right there.”

It’s obvious what was meant by my statement, but just for a Thurrot fanboy - I was pointing at industry standards that curb innovation.

By: Lordmike

Lordmike — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:31:21 +0000

That’d be like saying my HTC Wizard is a UMPC and my HTC has more applications and more functionality then iPhone with probably some exceptions that I can’t remember atm. I have windows in my HTC, and it’s a phone so it’s called a pocket pc, so iphone should just be called pocket pc (as in personal computer and not related to an intel PC) or just pocket mac. But it’s not a UMPC. HTC Advantage X7501 is more of a UMPC then iPhone is at the moment.
http://www.htc.com/product/03-product_x7501.htm

By: Matt Sharpe

Matt Sharpe — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:52:19 +0000

@Honza

“who cares about industry standards” - any sense you were making was lost right there.

By: Honza

Honza — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:00:43 +0000

I agree with nfoo. Too many designers focus on trying make a device that’s unlimited in every way, too many features, not many (any) of them done well. Apple don’t do this, they at least try to give you what you need, keep it simple, and make it the best at what it’s supposed to do, without bells and whistles that you never need. And who cares about industry standards, and industry ‘definition’. Phooey! Rules (definitions) are made to be broken.

By: Danny

Danny — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 03:29:06 +0000

@D. Clark

No, you are off your rocker. Paul is using the industry’s definition of UMPC. This blog is using a definition of UMPC that they just made up. Paul’s argument is sound because it relies on the generally accepted industry definition. The iphone is pretty sweet, but UMPC it definitely is not.

This blog’s article is like me saying that an apple is actually a banana because my definition supports my argument.

By: nfoo

nfoo — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:44:56 +0000

Well … I don’t really know that Thurrott guy … but I think he is too narrow minded.

The UMPCs are a joke. And that’s partly because of narrow mindedness like this. USB ports to attach a mouse?

The iPhone needs no mouse. An ultra mobile device needs no mouse.(And I wonder what Apple does with those rumored new MacBook.)
As all these old fashioned input devices, and yes, I mean hard keyboards, too, were never meant for such a form factor and shouldn’t have been put in there in the first place … and where put in there because of narrow mindedness and lack of ability to innovate. Lack of creativity.

And that’s the reason why Windows Mobile and Symbian devices always suck, too: they try to turn those small devices into PCs that can do everything.

This makes no sense in the first place and never got anyone anywhere.

Apple is doing the right thing and really shows how super mobile mini computers should be:
-Internet communications device, that has the phone features you heed to have left when you have internet everywhere and all the time - that means a reduced phone is enough.
That means a real browser with a new ui that makes sense on a smaller screen: multitouch, zoom.
-A suite of smart applications that make sense on such a form factor.
-Media Player

The biggest mistake all techies always do is the: put more, more into it. Just so that you can spend your time by playing with your device. The device becomes the content.

I’m glad Apple stops this non sense and started this big experiment. And it turns out to be right. Now they will figure out if they will open it to 3rd party software … and I’m still not 100% convinced that we need this. They should just add some more functions by themselfes … PDF reading … maybe Office file viewer …

An ultra mobile device should never be set to replace a notebook computer. That’s the big mistake.
And that’s why the iPhone is the beginning of the new ultra mobile computers.

By: Bie Kipper

Bie Kipper — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:16:50 +0000

Shh… Don’t tell anyone the iPhone is actually a UMPC

Don’t worry, we won’t, because this version of the iPhone isn’t an UMPC especially with how Apple persists in locking out and locking down its functionality.

By: D. Clark

D. Clark — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:08:53 +0000

Paul Thurrot is off his rocker. Who says you *need* the total desktop interface to be a portable pc - you don’t. Why do we need cut and paste - we don’t. Why do we need a mouse - we don’t - we have our fingers. It does not surprise me that many people don’t get that. The iPhone can be a UMPC given proper app support. Is it a shrunken Mac with a mac os x dock, cut/paste etc… - no and that is what will make all the difference. Apple has a adapted the ui and its apps for the purpose - instead of the m$ way of trying to wedge a UI built for a 21″+ screen onto a 3″ screen.

By: b

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:20:17 +0000

Mr. Cuclillas also has a gift for mis-attribution. He never said anything about cash registers.

By: hg

hg — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:27:47 +0000

The debate is over matter of degrees. It’s also a matter of authoritatively defining what a UMPC is.

The iPhone is no less a UMPC than the rest, since there is no sustained history in the society with the form factor yet.

Maybe a better description for the iPhone is to call it Apple’s proto-UMPC. I have no doubt that this stealthy device is Apple’s intended public introduction to its UMPC. Once the confidence with the consumer is established, you can expect this device will evolve into Apple’s definition of a UMPC–a device that’s always connected, associates disperate bits of information, and unlike the competion’s devices, does it easily and joyfully.

By: John McDaniel

John McDaniel — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:21:55 +0000

Jaun Cuclillas states “to say that the iPhone is like a cash register is the ultimate proof that someone doesn’t understand….apple.” This statement is the ultimate proof that Mr. Cuclillas doesn’t understand English. No one said the iPhone is like a cash register. The point was made that comparing an iPhone to a UMPC is like comparing a Windows PC to a Windows based cash register. They are simply not the same. The iPhone is, however, a remarkable and awesome product, like most products that Apple offers.

It should be noted that I have enjoyed voice command, wireless peripherals and a plethora of new software for several years now on my WM device(s).

By: Juan D. Cuclillas

Juan D. Cuclillas — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:12:29 +0000

Paul Thurrot doesn’t understand consumers;

To say that the iPhone is like a cash register is the
ultimate proof that someone doesn’t understand
the digital lifestyle that Apple is creating for next
generation consumers in the twenty first century.

All this pontification from last century tech pundits
that believe a Windows desktop is the definition of
what a computer is will be seen in a few years for
the stone age mumblings they really are.

Voice commands, wireless peripherals, and a whole
new generation of applications por Apple’s hand
held computers will leave these traditional and
biased views of computing in the trash where they
belong.

By: Matt Sharpe

Matt Sharpe — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:10:09 +0000

I agree with Paul Thurrott 100% on this one. Calling the iPhone a UMPC is nonsense. You could say the same about any Windows Mobile device, and you would still clearly be wrong, even though WM devices are arguably more like PCs than the iPhone.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:30:24 +0000

It’s not often that I agree with Paul Thurrot, but I think you jumped the gun.
The iPhone is a UMPC in the same way that a cash register running Windows is a “Windows Computer.” Mac users for years have been saying that these specialized devices that happen to run Windows shouldn’t be counted as “Windows Computers” because it’s not like they can be used for anything other than a cash register.
By the same token, just because the iPhone runs a variant of OS X does not make it a personal computer.

By: Diego

Diego — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:54:29 +0000

Hear Paul answered to you:

http://www.internet-nexus.com/2007/09/iphone-is-not-umpc-sorry.htm

By: Tom B

Tom B — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:21:01 +0000

In fairness, the iPhone is not a full-functioned computer (one could argue, neither is any Windows computer full-functioned, but that would be smarmy). But maybe full-functioned isn’t what we REALLY WANT in an ultra-mobile device. Or maybe iPhone 2.0 will have a lot of added capabilities (and 3rd party apps?). It should be an interesting could of years. It is with no small amusement that I watch the hammer coming down on TWO adiitional product lines (phones and UMPC’s) that MSFT spent YEARS and billions developing! Also, don’t forget that the iTunes Store more-or-less obsolesced any notion MSFT might have had that their Windows-only DRM system was ever going to gain traction.