What is the iPhone?
John Gruber, in his recent article Complex, uses the evolution of the iPhone’s OS to shed some light on Apple’s successful software design philosophy.
Most interesting in the article, however, is the subtle ontological conclusion that one can draw about the iPhone from the following passage:
Consider that none of the major new features in the iPhone OS 3.0 software is related to the telephone. MMS comes closest, but even that doesn’t pertain to phone calls. The “phone” in “iPhone” is much more about ubiquitous always-on wireless TCP/IP networking than it is about the 20th century conception of telephony.
The implication here is that the iPhone is not a phone as we might think of it in any traditional sense. Thinking back to the initial unveiling of the iPhone, it’s easy to see that Apple itself understood that it wasn’t merely releasing a new device, but that it was in fact defining an entirely new category of device. And we see this in the crowds reaction to Jobs’ three pronged description of the product.
“A widescreen iPod with touch controls.”
Applause and cheers from the audience.
“A revolutionary mobile phone.”
Explosive applause. A moment Apple fans have been long waiting for. And finally:
“A breakthrough internet communications device.”
Subdued applause. Apple’s ‘internet communications device,’ the importance of which is demonstrated by it’s third place in the presentation after the widescreen iPod and the phone, elicited more confusion from the audience than joy.
Despite its name, the iPhone is no more a phone than a television is a radio, or a radio a newspaper. Apple knew this and the iPhone 3.0 software proves that they still do.
