Comments on: 'Time' names iPhone 'invention of the year'

Apparently, nothing really important was invented this year in biology, space travel, health care, personal safety, economics, nuclear research, disease control, or transportation.

[drumby04]

ATTN invention doubters

I'm not shocked about Time naming the iPhone invention of the
year, nor does it surprise me that so many people disagree. The
fact is, most people do not understand what software is all
about, and definitely don't grasp the idea of a user interface,
much less an operating system. In all reality, Apple did not
invent the cell phone, mobile e-mail & web browsing, or the
iPod (oh yeah, they did).. they didn't create SMS, calendars,
digital cameras, or widgets (ah, did that too).. Apple, Inc. didn't
originate ANY of the Features that are contained in the iPhone..
they didn't claim themselves to have invented anything, but to
"re-invent the phone." --that they definitely did. There is
nothing that does what the iPhone does in the manner in which
it does and I doubt many will grasp this concept anytime soon,
much less the design.. and there definitely won't be an "iPhone
killer" until anyone does. So there.

[WJeansonne]

You are confusing innovation with invention.

Look it up. Nuff said.

[Joe Blow]

in·ven·tion \in-ˈven(t)-shən\

From Webster's: "a device, contrivance, or process originated after study and experiment"

From the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO):
a patentable invention is "any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof".

Apple has been granted (and successfully defended) thousands of patents, some of which apply, in at least some way, to the iPhone. It's pretty obvious that the iPhone more than meets both of these definitions as an invention, in terms of both a "new and useful device/machine" (e.g., the iPhone hardware) and "process" (e.g., the iPhone software), as well as "any new and useful improvement thereof", which it achieves in spades.

Anyone who has actually tried to surf the Web on a PDA or, (God forbid) a cell phone, knows that it's painful, at best, and worse than an extraordinary rendition to Uzbekistan, at worst (and I'm sorry to offend Uzbek individuals by dragging them into this, but, their government sucks rocks, and needs serious spanking because of their slide back into Stalinism). Multi-touch is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the amazing functionality in the iPhone version of the Safari web browser, which is a full-function browser running on a subset of what appears to be OS X Leopard. Hence, Leopard developers being pulled off to help get the iPhone launched on-time - it's the only reason Steve Jobs would have allowed/mandated that happen.

Tap-zoom, where you tap on a column or text block to expand it for improved readability is an ingenious and obvious (after anyone uses it) true invention. After a couple of days of practice, the context-sensitive keyboards (the keys displayed depend on what kind of data is being typed) are sheer brilliance, and they can be selected in Web 2.0 server-based apps. The tiny, slippery, convex buttons on PDAs and phones (a 10~12-button keyboard???) have finally been relegated to the pre-Cambrian era, where they have always belonged. A programmable user input interface will always be vastly superior to a hardware-fixed one.

Try Google Maps on an iPhone with the traffic status turned on, and you get green/yellow/red stripes along the edges of the highways in the current view, showing where the bottlenecks are - where is this on any other PDA or phone, much less readable directions and beautifully annotated maps?

Visual Voicemail's inventions of both overview and random access to any v-mail messages has not, and would never, have come from any other cell phone manufacturer or "service" provider (and I use the latter term in its loosest possible connotation) - nothing else even comes close.

Configuration of the e-mail app makes the same task on anything else look like it was designed by Erk the Caveman's great-great-great-great grandfather, Urk. The entire Settings app is a work of art in the spirit of Da Vinci and Frank Lloyd Wright (form follows function).

Flash is a resource pig on any platform, and rather than subject iPhone users to what would have undoubtedly been a disaster, Apple got Google/YouTube to add a server-side, on-the-fly converter, so that YouTube videos are streamed to iPhones as QuickTime clips - this is insanely great taken to new heights, and is yet-another invention of the highest order. It's a Captain Kirk meets Kobayashi Maru no-win Starfleet Academy simulation training scenario, that Apple turned into a complete victory for the users - as the Guiness stout cartoon-cutout puppets say in their commercials, "Brilliant!"

Now, go into your local Microsloth Store (oh, yeahhhh, where _is_ that?) and get your free in-person tutorial for hours on how to make the most of your "smart" phone's/PDA's "inventions" (yeahhh, let me know how many years that takes).

When individuals are free to evaluate and choose what information devices and software they use, they overwhelmingly choose Apple products. IT departments have been both the major cheerleaders and benefactors of Microsloth and its partners, and have maintained a stranglehold over corporate information device and software selection criteria, in addition to IT acquisition decisionmaking itself. However, users are finally beginning to realize that this has not been in their best interests, and are quietly instituting a revolt from within. I'm currently working in an office that used to house scores of IT user support weenies in a Fortune 500 company, but, no more. The company's users got tired of being told what was best for them, having to wait forever for even the simplest tasks to be performed, suffering through repeated security problems, etc. There are now two (2) people providing a vastly better level of support, partly because they finally have time to, thanks to the superior technology in Apple products and not having to undo continuous damage by viruses, trojans, etc. (and user error), and they know that they will go the way of their former co-workers, if they don't provide stellar support.

IT departments are shaking in their boots, as users have started walking into the office with iPhones, because not only do the IT weenies not know how to integrate the iPhones into the corporate infrastructure hell of their own making (they would if they knew anything about real software), but, how to even use the iPhone apps that are designed for users, not techno-dweebs.

Apple has simply invented a Much Better Way, in yet-another market segment, and given the empty spots in the bottom row of app icons on the iPhone, more great software is apparently on the way (the recently-added iTunes can be used to load much more than music onto the iPhone, not to mention iPods - there is no doubt that rich multimedia documents are next, after Leopard's post-launch support requirements have subsided).

Oh, and for those stuck in MarketShareLand, the iPhone is now AT&T's second best-selling phone, is the fourth best-selling phone overall in the U.S., and by mid-2008 will be the best-selling phone in the U.S., regardless of carrier, at the current uptake rate. Add to that its imminent introduction in Europe (and one thing that the unlock hacking has proven is that the iPhone will easily work on any compatible network) and doubtless launch into Asia by late 2008/early 2009 (where they are made, ironically), and you have one very impressive tsunami rising along all shorelines - surf's up, on the Web via the iPhone. As for compatibility with other networks, I'll bet you dollars to donuts that the sim card interface and transceiver on the current iPhones are modular, and can be swapped out to allow swapping-in of support for any other cellular network technology, including G3 when battery technology can better cope with its voracious appetite for power.

The most interesting aspect of all of this is that the other manufacturers are literally a decade behind Apple because of the investment in software development that will be needed to match, much less best, the software in the iPhone. Look at all of the resources that Microsloth has, and it has barely matched Tiger on desktops/laptops with Vista, and that's still years behind Leopard, which just launched. The hardware-centric cell phone manufacturers don't stand a chance - the 10~12-key texting craze will die the ugly death it so rightly deserves, soon enough. Microsloth's insistence on trying to somehow squish the grandson of Windoze CE (WinCE - I love how they continually step on their own cranks, even naming their stuff) into PocketPC, I mean Windoze Mobile, or whatever it will undoubtedly be called next week, is a lost cause. Even the Windoze Mobile users are sorely torqued off at the glacial pace of new feature development (much less bug fixes) on that moribund platform that was primarily crowned by those aforementioned IT weenies.

Apple's recent addition of developer tools for both Web 2.0 server-side, and on-board native iPhone apps has already attracted a huge number of developers, and there are some very interesting iPhone-specific and Web-distributed tools and apps in development, now (as a developer, I've seen them, and the best are going to blow the doors off what now remains of the PDA/"smart" phone market).

This isn't to say that the iPhone is perfect. Including a notepad app, and then not having any way to copy/cut/paste text, is at least criminal (other than the clever invention of recognizing phone numbers and URLs on Web pages, and allowing them to be captured by the phone and web browser bookmark app code). However, I'm guessing that copy/cut/paste got yanked until Leopard launched due to at least one show-stopper bug, and will show up in an upcoming update to the iPhone software. Pulling copy/cut/paste completely out of the iPhone (actually, turning it off - the code is probably still there, but, disabled) without completely crippling the rest of the software would be an amazing achievement in software modularity that is almost unheard of in the industry (outside those of us who do it for a living on a daily basis).

There is also no way to draw anything on the iPhone, due to the over-riding nature of the scrolling/zooming of the entire screen during finger drags. However, feature requests have been filed to allow regions of pages to be designated scroll/zoom-free (i.e., locked), so that other gestures can be accommodated in them. It's probably just a matter of time and priorities before this kind of new invention (mine, in this case) becomes available.

Stay tuned - the future's so bright, you're gonna need to wear iShades (TM ME).

All the Best,
Joe Blow

[Weezuldk]

Where do I begin....

It's an innovative device based on previous inventions. Exactly what is the "invention"? Besides, the Patent system is flawed, we all know it. This "invention" if you want to call it wouldn't pass the "obviousness" test if it really came down to it. How many people out there remember seeing multitouch interfaces in sci fi movies before the iPhone came out? *raise your hands?!?* Anyone? Anyone? Prior Art. Gee...

First of all, multitouch is flawed like ou said, but it's still neat, I'll give you that.

Second, you're an Apple fanatic, so anything not made by your god "Jobs" is not worthy. Try being unbiased. Use both products and see what they are good for.

Third, Get a grip. If Apple truly was that great, we'd be using Mac OSX instead of Windows in the business world. Apple is out of their league in a corporate environment, and they know it. Do they lead the market in Servers? Office applications? NO. Microsoft had to make office FOR APPLE so that they wouldn't be left out! Microsoft even INVESTED in Apple!

So Apple markets overpriced hardware to the computer illiterates of the world with their "It Just Works" methodology of (allow me to use your own communistic reference) Fascist dedication to a monolithic platform that denies users the freedom to choose hardware from whatever vendor they choose. Does Microsoft do that? I think not.

Try booting up an OSX install DVD on any comparably designed dual core Intel pc, and tell me what happens. Then try getting OSX to work on a non-Apple hardware after a little hacking and tell me about compatibility and stability. They know they can't compete with Microsoft because they just aren't THAT GOOD.

Sure, I'd have the most stable platform on earth if I only ran on hardware I bless and sell. If it were up to Apple, we wouldn't be in an information age, because people would not be able to afford PC's, and the entire market wouldn't have proliferated like it did. If your "god" Jobs was smart, he'd start opening up OSX to be allowed on non-Apple hardware like Windows, that would make him a lot of $$.

But the real problem with that is you'd find out really fast that your touted stability, reliability, and "compatibility" would fall horribly short.

Take it from someone who knows: Apple isn't all that and a bag of chips. They're just good marketers and cater to people who really don't want to know how a PC works, just how to use it. I for one find the Mac vs PC ads incredibly childish and inane. I found a picture on the net of the PC guy holding a gun on the Mac guy saying "Shut up", and laughed myself to tears. Why? Because that's exactly how I feel.

Maybe South Park will do a "Smug Alert! II" centered on Mac users instead of Hybrid drivers. THAT would be worthy of Time's "Of the Year" moniker....

[J.G.]

An excellent analysis

One reads and hears so much nonsense about the iPhone that
it is refreshing to read a comment from someone who knows
what he is talking about. Just last night, I had to disabuse a
person about the denigration of the iPhone he was hearing from
a salesman in an AT&T store. The store was a franchise and the
salesman was desperate to sell his small stock of mediocre
phones. There were not even any real phones to try. The would-
be customer decided not to buy a Nokia N-75 after trying out my
iPhone.

[Dirk_D]

Apple should win HOWEVER...

not for the iPhone but for their MARKETING! Their marketing campaigns have society by the throat, it's quite genius. In their eyes they can do no wrong. Face it, the iPhone is not THE killer smart phone (not yet at least), Leopard is plagued with issues (they don't even commercialize what Leopard does, they just bash Vista.. I mean "PCs"), and now the iPod just keeps changing colour and shape (except for the Touch which is just a slimmed down iPhone). I give them credit, their products usually work well but their marketing is what makes them who they are.

[Sea of Cortez]

Time magazine = Lies, after Lies, after Lies

Time names "iPhone" invention of the year!
Amazing. What is innovative about iPhone?
Hand held phones with crappy access to the Web have been available for years. I mean who the Hek but a bunch of loosers and Apple share holders would want to look at the web via a 3 inch screen?

But what do you expect from the Big Media in USA?
Anything but lies & mis-information?
Certainly not. After all look at their lies, after lies, after lies, about the War on Iraq about
lack of Universal health care & education in US which are impoverishing American people whole scale while a few in Silicon Valley making Billions of worthless products such as iPhone,

About impoverishing American whole scale: all you have to look at is the US Dollar which has fallen an astonishing 50%+ against Euro or Canadian Dollar. Which means the market (World) is saying life in US (as a whole) is 50% less valuable than Europe or Canada.

[vegamanfraud]

What Tripe.

Nice Critical Theory Rant but it is completely off topic.

Bottom line: a 3 inch screen is great for the web and not just for
apple fanboys. It is useful for webdesigners to show off wares to
clients, and so much more.

[ellis feigenbaum]

Calm Down a bit

product of the year - invention of the year its a harmless bit of fun.
It has no great meaning in the greater scheme ofthings and its designed to sell newspapaers.
As to the diatribe about the meaning of press coverage about iraq and the current value of the us dollar vis avis the canadian dollar or the euro- it might do you well to remember the candian dollar languished behind the us dollar for well over a decade, and the euro nearly crashed within a week of its creation, so much so that the uk had to remove itself from the erm concept totally and has yet to seriously consider returning.
The weakness of the us dollar has more to do with the strength of oil and less to do with impoversished us citizens than a harmless bit of fun in a newspaper.

[The_happy_switcher]

Steve Ballmer

Was awarded the man most in need of deoderant.

[pjhenry1216]

not an invention

innovative? absolutely. but everything they did was really just enhancements. nothing truly new. yea, it was the first to bring it all together, but thats not a real invention. its just very innovative. and why is it that every time someone says Apple doesn't deserve the award, someone responds with "well, what has microsoft done?" This has nothing to do with the MS/Apple war. There were plenty of inventions in just the medical world alone that will have a greater impact on humanity in the long-run. Maybe it's cause it wasn't all hyped up or didn't have a bunch of people preaching about it as if Apple wasn't a corporation out to take as much of your money as possible. Apple and Microsoft are both the devils. Just MS is the ugly one with the horns while Apple is that sexy one that you can delude yourself into thinking that getting screwed over by it isn't so bad. The iPhone was innovative in some areas, severely lacking in others. I'm in no means an Apple-hater (my new computer is going to be a mac), but the phone isn't THAT great.

[timber2005]

You think AT&T did it?

I've got one for ya... its 45 acres of prime ocean front property in Arizona for ya. Apple got a deal with AT&T to be PAID for every iPhone on AT&T's service. And you think AT&T would be able to push Apple around?

That property is callin your name. Send me your offer.

[The_Decider]

Time is out to lunch as usual

The iPhone has absolutely nothing new to offer.

Other phones have the same features, plus a whole lot more.

The smudgy piece of crap touch screen is a large step back.

[ackmondual]

any chance Apple bribed Time with a few dozen iphones?

And perhaps for extra kick, AT&T threw in a few months free on the service plan?

[AESappJr]

Of the Year?

The year aint over yet. Other vendors will flood the market with competitive products for the holiday shopping season. These vendors have had plenty of time to evaluate the iPhone's flaws & will provide enhanced versions of it's features. The iPhone was just the 1st of it's kind, and so I'm looking forward to the next several months.

[matte989]

ROFL

Wow. I'm not Mac hater but this is to funny. I can't believe 'Time' would select a freaking mobile phone for invention of the year.

[llucyy]

How much did Apple pay Time?

They seem to pay every other media outlet to publicize their outdated technology!

[chainstrainer]

A cell phone is a single tree - Apple gave us a forest!

Why the fixation on the cell phone? Is it a a tree or a forest? The
iphone, despite its name, is not just a cell phone. It's design and
engineering are unprecedented in a truly usable, portable
communication/entertainment/information/(choose your own
description) device. That's innovation, folks - an invention for all of
us that didn't exist before (don't even compare it with
"smartphones" only a geek could love). That's my view and I'm
sticking with it.

[fordnfishin]

Pocket PCs Not Close?

I'm sorry that windows left at the cool technolgical designs, filled with flowing colors and beauty. But my new iPod,which does everything the iPhone does minus phone capabilities, scrolls extremely similiarly to my htc touch, and lacks the firmware issues. The not very close is very close, and is very close without the same issues.

[fordnfishin]

Do you really have one?

If you had one you would know why AT&T are pushing other phones. Did you hear about the price cuts and rebate incentives? They were nothing more than a meer apology by apple for introducing a product they were not fully backing up. AT&T wants a product they can sell and not have to support every customer who purchases one.