iPhone vs. Netbook: iPhone Wins!

By zxmacman
zxmac8384@yahoo.com

About a year ago when Apple CEO Steve Jobs was asked how the company was planning to respond with a product to compete with the growing netbook category, his response was along the lines of, "Essentially, the iPhone is a netbook."

As an owner of an iPhone, I scoffed at the notion my cell phone cradled in my hand could be thought of as a netbook. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my iPhone. It is one of he most revolutionary computer devices I have ever owned. But it took me purchasing a netbook to convince me that Jobs might just have a point.

The Dell Mini 10 I purchased had a nice build and didn't seem to be cheap at all. It came loaded with Windows XP and Microsoft Works, which seemed adequate for light duty web surfing, word processing and such.

However, after a week of testing, installing software, configuring and re-configuring, I was pretty much a frustrated netbook user. XP is clunky at best, and I had constant problems with the small keyboard. I boxed it up and returned it to the store.

Now I think I understand what Jobs meant. If a netbook is designed to provide a user a highly mobile device that’s always accessible, he’s right on. What’s more, I found the small keyboard on the Dell Mini hard to used and made lots of typing errors on it. While the “virtual” keyboard on my iPhone has its challenges as well, I must admit it compares well with the cramped "physical" keyboard on the Mini.

And here’s an important point. My iPhone has something that most netbooks don’t possess…always on email and Internet access. That’s huge. In the end, returned to my 15-inch work-issued MacBook Pro and having mostly gotten the “netbook fever” out of my system.

When I need something highly portable for light word processing or to make a “to do” list or look up something on Google, I don’t have to packet anything additional. I just reach in my pocket for my iPhone. No netbook today has that feature.

Steve Jobs Statement to Apple Community

Chief Executive Steve Jobs revealed Monday that a hormone imbalance is at the root of weight loss that has prompted rumors about his health. Following is the full text of his statement:

Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I'm getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I've decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause -- a hormone imbalance that has been "robbing" me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment. But, just like I didn't lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple's CEO during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continueto fulfill my duties as Apple's CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I've said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.

Steve

Oh, That Windows Feeling!

About four years ago my mother decided she wanted to buy a new computer and asked me what I would recommend.

Since she lives in a rural area of Missouri - though I really wanted to recommend a Mac - I decided to help her with the purchase of a Dell (www.dell.com) running Windows XP. At the time she bought the machine she also purchased Dell's extended warranty which provided telephone technical assistance and on site computer repair. I also made certain she bought virus software after the 90-day free trial version expired.

For the first year or so, all went fairly well with my Mom's Dell. Since e-mail, light Internet browsing, and an occasional game of Solitaire was all she used the computer for, XP worked for her.

Then it happened. Despite my warnings, she accidentially downloaded and opened an attachment that contained a virus. The computer ended up having to be taken to the local computer repair shop where technicians were happy to clear the machine up and charge my mother handsomely for their services (which was about a 15 percent of the original purchase price of the computer).

More time passed. Last week, Mom told me she was unplugging her computer for a few days while the current Windows virus threat blew over. I told her that unplugging the computer wouldn't keep the computer from getting the virus, as the machine could only be infected when she was connected to the Internet (she's on a slow dial-up connection).

Finally, I told Mom she might want to consider buying a Mac. She agreed but said she really doesn't have the money to do that right now.

The moral of the story is that I should have recommended a Mac from the beginning of my mother's computer experience. I thought at the time that her limited use of a PC running Windows would work okay, but I was sorely wrong.

You live and learn. She definitely is experiencing "that Windows feeling."

Apple, Be and Bill Gates

If you have been a Macintosh user for long, you know why Apple Computer is such an easy target for criticism. Up until Macintosh clones began appearing, Apple was the sole hardware supplier for the operating system that it invented.

With Mac compatibles now flooding a market that was exclusively Apple's domain, this situation is sure to change. What remains to be seen is if the Mac operating system can stand up to the challenge of multiple vendors building boxes to run it. The PC-compatible market has gone through years of upheaval due to incompatibility issues and the lack of plug-and-play features.

Hopefully, the present Mac architecture is solid enough to answer the challenge until Apple delivers a new operating system.

Though there is still no doubt that Mac is still the easiest to use personal computer, everyone must admit that its lead has been seriously eroded by Windows. The public at large does not see the difference and Apple has essentially acknowledged this in recent months.

As hard as it is to admit, Microsoft has forged ahead on a number of fronts with Windows 95...particularly in the most important arena, public opinion. Getting a modern operating system to market is perhaps Apple's greatest challenge as it competes today's personal computer market.

This situation is ironic as Apple has finally licensed its hardware business. With that out of the way, Apple must keep its technology ahead of the competition. By not delivering on a new (and revolutionary) OS soon, it could seriously hurt the clone market which it so hesitantly started in the first place.

It can be argued at what point Apple should have licensed its OS in the first place. The reality is that licensing the operating system was only part of the problem for Apple. It still takes a special hardware configuration to run the Mac OS. This is where the next generation PowerPC platform holds so much potential. Gone will be Mac's proprietary hardware specs. The new platform is supposed to result in clone manufacturers being able to build cheaper machines. However, it will also usher in an era when the Mac OS will literally be going head-to-head on its own merits with the predominate operating system that the rest of the world uses.

It may be during this time that the realities of Apple not allowing the creation of a healthy clone market years ago will come to haunt it in full form.

Think of it. Had the Apple OS gone head-to-head with Windows 1.0 or even Windows 3.0, there certainly would been a different outcome than competing against Window 95 which is being peddled "as the most Mac-like ever."

Will Apple buy BeOS and merge it into what was to the System 8? Could a second revolution be on the horizon? I only hope Apple gets to Jean-Louis Gassee, Be Inc. founder and former Apple president, before Bill Gates does.