[leon (Unverified) Posted Jun 28th 2007 9:33AM]

I would like to propose the argument that the iPhone is revolutionary because of all the fighting it has caused. Blogs and forums have become battlefields, where comments are the blows and news reports are the propaganda machines.

I would also suggest that haters and fanboys are very similar, just fighting for their respective team. Individuals who dislike the iphone or even the hype surrounding it, still seem to find these forums compelling because they can argue their negative points with a willing audience to feed back into them. The irony is they need fans to supply them interaction. fanboys are similar because they see the same opportunity to argue a point they believe is valid and worth caring about.

Another point about these pseudo battlegrounds is that the loser is often characterized by reverting to insults over argument. The winner is the fighter that continues to use facts until the loser relinquishes technical argument for insults. A good example of a "loser" would be L. M. Lloyd who states [anyone with your]idea [about]....[is]asinine, and childish." whereas, an alternate example of a winner could be Sean, who responds to Lloyd with long responses filled with facts he thinks are relevant and support his opinion or claim. Another key sign is the rating we give them. Comments that are negative due to tone, rather than their like or dislikes of a product often get a bad rating. whereas, polite but informative comments about the negative features of a product generally get better ratings. One might say that this is because fanboys vote down anything anti-apple. I would suggest that this is more indicative of emotional tenure than who's side you are on. If you are fueled by negative emotions, then people will generally act negative towards you and vote you down. If your emotional state is positive you will get more positive votes. The suggestion here is that if you want to be critical, it is more compelling to be polite and use well thought out reasoning.

I would also like to add my opinion of the iPhone. I like the attractive design with its thin body and very nice large screen that is touch controlled. I think the user interface is very compelling because it looks very friendly and simple while managing to include multiple devices. The visual voice mail is my favorite feature as it is a needed innovation that has been sorely missed up til now. My second favorite is the ipod with its wide screen and seamless integration. I never liked other phone attempts at music, but this seems really good. The wifi mixed with a very nice browser could prove nice enough to get me into browsing the internet over a phone. Before now, I would never consider it because of a smallish screen size, poor browser or a generally clunky form factor that looked ugly. The price is not that outrageous considering new technology comes with a premium, especially when its just released. Yes, I think multitouch, orientation sensors, built in 8g of memory in a super slim design is worthy of being called cutting edge or new tech. I am not a corporate user, and I do not like pda's because they are too menu driven and often times confusing or complicated. however, I am a computer tech who would not have any trouble figuring out how to use all available phone devices. Yet, I still never liked or wanted pda/smartphones because they are complicated. I believe a phone should be simple, and iphone looks just simple enough to get me to use its advanced features.

On a negative stance, I see some flaws. They are the single carrier, poor network, lack of a2dp, possibly the keyboard for some but not me and other missing technology like mms and ringtone freedom. I do not fault them for not using 3g because battery life and price is very important along with a slim design. I think wifi is good enough for me, but may not satisfy others. I also think that the single carrier was likely a sacrifice needed to get concessions that make the iphone unique. An example would be signing up online and keeping carrier branding or OS control away from the product. To counter this, Apple has introduced their own controls over the device that I find less than appealing. It is in the end a business venture. I am sorry my comment was so long, but I do not want to post alot. I prefer to read the battle.