Forget the Blackberry. Forget the Sidekick. There’s a new device in town. Five years ago, the iPod changed the way we listen to music. Now, Apple may have done it again.
Apple cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPhone on Jan. 9, an all-in-one mega-device that combines an 8 GB iPod with a two-megapixel digital camera, a cell phone and a handheld computer with Internet capability.
It might change the way we think about cell phones, or at $599, it might prove to be an overpriced flop.
The iPhone ““ which will be released mid-year ““ will not be the first cell phone to play MP3s. Like MP3 players before iPods, MP3 phones have existed for years without becoming enormously popular. The most apparent reason is the lack of hard-drive space, with most phones holding only 50-200 songs. The iPod shuffle, one of the smallest iPods, holds 240.
Feelings about MP3 phones are mixed. Danny Langa, a third-year history student, recently upgraded to a Samsung V-Cast phone that holds up to 50 MP3s.
“I used the iPod, then switched to the (MP3) phone because it’s easier to carry around than an iPod,” Langa said. But he still complains about the low storage capacity.
“It should just hold as much as an iPod,” Langa said. “The more (music), the merrier.”
With public opinions like these, Apple’s competitors may have trouble keeping ahead in the mobile device industry without increasing storage capacity. Many iPod owners, who are accustomed to keeping their entire music libraries on their iPods, will not be satisfied with only 200 songs, so the iPhone ““ with eight times the storage of most in-phone MP3 players ““ could be just the innovation the tech-savvy MP3 generation needs.
In addition to a low storage capacity, MP3 phones lack the user-friendliness that people have come to expect of products like the iPod. Existing cell phones with MP3 capabilities use programs like Windows Media Player to upload music. But, like the iPod, the iPhone will use the more popular iTunes program.
“I’d rather upload music through iTunes since I organize my music in iTunes, and it’s simple,” Langa said. “I hate having to move everything to Windows Media Player if I want to listen to it on my phone.”
Besides storage, students’ main concern with the iPhone is the price.
“If the price came down, I’d consider it, but $600 is a little unreasonable,” said Brad Taconi, a third-year political science and history student. “I just use my iPod nano and a cell phone.”
Some students are also wary of paying so much for such a delicate product.
“I wouldn’t pay more than $300 because I’d probably break it,” said second-year undeclared student Chris Bastian.
But these same sentiments were felt at the beginning of the iPod craze. It was hard to imagine that so many people, especially young people, would be willing to shell out $400 for a tiny, fragile iPod. But today, when an iPod breaks, the owner often buys a new one without considering much about the price. Once people are accustomed to the iPod lifestyle, they’re hooked.
So will the same hold true for the iPhone? Will the iPhone replace the RAZR as the phone of choice at UCLA?
Only time will tell. The price might deter some, but the iPhone’s innovations could attract enough people to make it the “new” iPod.
“It’s $600,” said second-year biology student Kent Blakely.
He added under his breath, “But it has a web browser … and a camera … and a phone … and eight gigs.”