'Time' names iPhone 'invention of the year'
And lo, it was foretold in the fall of 2007, that a mobile telephone would lead humanity out of the New Dark Ages and into a better future free from roaming charges and buttons.
Time, which likes to anoint things, has named Apple's iPhone the "Invention of the Year," following such recent IotYs like YouTube and SpaceShipOne. The number one reason why the iPhone is Time's Invention of the Year? "It's pretty." Further: "An example: look at what happens when you put the iPhone into 'airplane' mode (i.e., no cell service, Wi-Fi, etc.). A tiny little orange airplane zooms into the menu bar!" Cool!
You'd think the Invention of the Year could at least cut and paste text.
(Credit: CNET Networks)In all seriousness, the article accompanying the award lays out several reasons why the iPhone is indeed very important to the computer industry. The relentless buzz around the iPhone, as well as the sales figures, are signs that the general public is starting to really think about what they want in a mobile computer. The iPhone has made the wireless industry sit up and realize that the bar has been raised. And it's also setting the stage for a future in which your mobile computer gradually occupies a larger part of your world.
We're a technology publication, and were we to pick a tech product of 2007, the iPhone would definitely wind up as one of the final three choices and would probably win. But Invention of the Year?
Shouldn't Time, a general-interest publication, really consider that a broader category that includes extremely important and noteworthy advances in other areas of science and technology? Breakthroughs that might one day have a far more profound effect on the planet than a consumer product?
I guess not. After all, this is a publication that named You, and your user-generated, Web 2.0, no sense of buzzword-irony selves as Person of the Year for 2006, joining other odd PofY choices such as 1966's "Twenty-five and Under," 1969's "Middle Americans," and 1975's "American Women." Sometimes, it's just easier to pick something that will make everybody happy rather than to actually put some thought into the person or the thing that helped change the world that year.
Besides, science is hard. Look at the shiny thing! Isn't that the shiniest thing you've ever seen!
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
You would not say that if it was a Microsoft product - I'm sure - Mickey mouse journalism.
But hey it would allow 3rd party apps, 3rd party virus's, 3rd party trojans, 3rd party spyware.
L:ets not forget micosofts wonderful activation "features" lol but your right if it was a microsoft product it wouldn't be considered for any of those awards.
Vista- The most reviled OS upgrade yet unleashed on man. Kind of a disappointment.
Zune- The iPod killer that wasn't. Zune 2 looks weak in comparison with a more full-bodied iPod line.
Office- Microsoft's "killer-app," it's fast, powerful, easier-to-use and better looking.
Windows Mobile 6- AKA Mobile 5.5, not exactly a phenomenal upgrade.
Xbox 360- Red Ring of Death, anyone? Although it's pounding the PS3, and Halo 3 was a great game, the Games Division is still having some trouble.
While Office and the Xbox/Halo are both good, are they invention of the year material? Nope. Microsoft's "iPhone" are any of the phones that run its OS, and the only wannabes out there right now can't match the iPhone. I'm actually pretty sure CNet wouldn't choose a Microsoft product at all.
Deal with it.
Apple
Microsoft
Google
Cheddar Cheese
I find it silly because it doesn't matter what the topic is, someone will claim CNET is biased against it because they might find their choice of hardware or OS to be criticized. I have seen articles pretty balanced across the spectrum, both pro and con over time.
But with all that said, I do have to say that their cheddar cheese bias is pretty mousey at best.
someone has to come up with this 'the're against Apple' thing? I
love my mac too, but I never noticed this!
Anyway, I would not call a new phone an invention either. It's
more of an evolution I think. But that probably is not what Time
is about. I do totally agree with them that it' s agreat product,
and I think that Steve deserves some credit for not letting apple
build a cellphone before they could actually do it in the way he
wanted it: totally different from all other phones.
I think this is truly (as the previous poster said) 'Mickey Mouse Journalism'.
It's best attribute is that it's prodding all the other companies into action. That's a good thing.
When Apple puts some "smart" into that phone, then maybe...when it's unlocked.
We all invented an Iphone type device 10 - 20 years ago. Nothing new.
Maybe if the iPhone actually provided something "New" in function. I'll bet there are a substantial number of actual inventions, just in the "Green" tech market alone.
thin and light as the iPhone, let alone boast an attractive interface
(software and form factor). Someone else said because it utilizes
existing technologies such as a phone, a portable music player,
web browser, etc. that it doesn't qualify as an invention... I
disagree. The definition of an invention is a creation or design that
has never before existed. I don't recall a pocket-sized, cellular and
wi-fi enabled, video and music playback capable, multi-touch
input device ever previously existing. Do you?
Second, Apple didn't even do it first.
Third, its not even the best at achieving this all-in-one approach to mobile devices.
Apple should get "Advertising Campaign of the Year" though, and that in itself is actually a fairly nice award. Selling a product is all about advertising, and when you can hawk iPhones like Apple has, thats saying something about your marketing department, and especially so when its something as lack luster as an iPhone.
As far as "firing the editor", why? Because they disagree with you?
Who cares what you think.
begrudgingly reported, criticized, and belittled? Strange, but I don't see
you reporting Microsoft accomplishments this way. Hmm. Perhaps Steve
"Monkey Dance" Ballmer and Company pay you more advertising dollars?
Or is it just that you're all afraid of what Redmond will think if you dare
simply report an Apple product, award or whatever with the dispassion
normally required of journalists?
An invention is an object, process, or technique which displays
an element of novelty. An invention may sometimes be based on
earlier developments, collaborations or ideas, and the process of
invention requires at least the awareness that an existing
concept or method can be modified or transformed into an
invention.
Notice the part that says an invention may be based on "earlier
developments?"
The iPhone's user interface is a true invention.
Use one, and you will understand
problems? More than likely, you are just in left-field.
Was the TV a great invention? Well, yes and no. But its impact on
society is obvious. The iPhone will not have that impact, but it is
the most incredible piece of technology that I have ever bought.
Year'. you always love mocking other writers don't you.
you cannot let Apple have any credit, if it was M$, it would be
different
"you". Were people invented last year? Not exactly, so stop
being so literal about the term.
Yes smart phones have been out and there are phones that do
more. The difference is the simplicity, they are bringing it more
mass market. Sure plenty of ppl have smart phones, but unless
they're technical, they primarily use only a few functions: phone,
email, text, camera. Most don't even bother with the internet
because it is so limited on the average smart phone.
The iPhone is going to get consumers acting differently. It's web
experience, although slow, is 1,000 times better and the other
features are much simpler to use as well. That means people
will use them. That's what makes this product a game changer.
I am a fan of Apple's products and an iPhone owner, but I don't
think the iPhone is going to dominate the industry..actually I
think that's a little ridiculous, but it changes the whole game.
The big guys, Moto and Nokia, etc. are going to have to step
things up big time, because there is now going to be a demand
that never existed before. The iPhone is getting REGULAR
CONSUMERS, not the geeks, to use and expect advanced
features that are simple to use. It is creating a new dynamic and
demand for the palm top computer because it is causing mass
market demand instead of business and geek user demand. A
few years from now, there will be no phone or smart phone.
They will truly be one and the same.
The iPhone is the product that created that demand and it's why
it was named "Invention of the Year". And for us geeks that
have had a smart phone for the past 3-5 years, it means cooler,
more powerful products coming soon!
better technology in other countries than the devices they sell
here...I know that. The problem was in part the carriers and the
perceived demand in the US. Apple changed the demand in the
US. Since we live here, that's what matters, the products that are
here...
Last quarter alone, Nokia sold 111.7 million phones. Even fifth ranked LG Electronics sold 21.9 million phones.
Like to throw stones, huh?
Sooner or later the CARRIERS are going to have to "unlock" phones.
The move is on...
- What a Joke! Time who?
- by WJeansonne November 1, 2007 7:50 PM PDT
- My family cancelled their subscriptions to that liberal rag long ago. Who cares what Time thinks and the iPhone is no marvel of invention or technology. Maybe innovation, but certainly not invention. Touch screen tech has been out for years on Pocket PCs that are mobile phones.
- Reply to this comment
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- Pocket PC Touch Screen Not Close
- by vegamanfraud November 2, 2007 1:24 AM PDT
- Sorry, But the touch screens on the relics you mention are not even
- View reply
Processing -
Showing 1 of 2 pages (82 Comments)in the same reality as the MULTI-Touch Screen on the iPhone.
It is like comparing a mouse to a digital pen-based tablet for fine
art illlustration.
Let me repeat: Pocket PC Touch Screens are not even close to the
touch screen on the iPhone. Use one and you will understand.