Jobs not sure iPhone will meet demand, is subtly targeting the suits

USA Today wasn't the only publication to get some alone time with Steve Jobs and Randall Stephenson yesterday, Wall Street Journal has an interview of its own up this morning, with Jobs at his most candid -- which really isn't saying a lot. Most pressing on the mind of hundreds of uber-fans across the country is the kind of supply Apple will have available today. Steve didn't spill any numbers, but he confesses that "We're building a fair number of them, but we may not [meet demand]... We've taken our best guess but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it ain't enough." Let's just hope it's not the riots in the streets brand of not enough. Mr. Jobs and Mr. Stephenson also touched on some other interesting topics, with Steve talking with a particular bent toward corporate America, comparing the EDGE speed of the iPhone to a BlackBerry: "You know every (AT&T) BlackBerry gets its mail over EDGE." He also expects a slew of third party corporate apps, saying: "I think the majority of applications people are going to write for the iPhone are going to be things that corporations like." Steve and Randall also seem to be particular fans of WiFi-based VoIP, and while the iPhone certainly isn't supporting that out of the box, it seems like it could be a big thrust for Apple and AT&T going forward.

[Via InfoWorld]

[Scott @ Jun 29th 2007 10:06AM]

C'mon - the interview was with the WSJ. Of course he's pandering to the suits.

[sasquatch @ Jun 29th 2007 10:07AM]

Does steve jobs have eyes? really? Or are those just slits into the darkness...

[Scott @ Jun 29th 2007 10:10AM]

Eyes are a feature of his iGlasses. Lol - I kill me.

[Bee Hatch @ Jun 29th 2007 12:07PM]

No, he has iEyes.

Eye eye.

[MS @ Jun 29th 2007 10:11AM]

I don't understand why AT&T would be even slightly excited about VOIP over WiFi...

[Justin @ Jun 29th 2007 12:01PM]

At&T also sells high speed internet access. I can totally see AT&T enabling VOIP if you are using their broadband service AND an iPhone.

[ItsTheOMGShow @ Jun 29th 2007 12:38PM]

It all depends how well informed your customer base is. For instance, Time Warner sells 'Digital Phone' for $40, but the Cable-Internet customers could easily save some bucks with Vonage for $25.

So ATT rolls out their own VOIP service and charges a $15 monthly fee for 'unlimited' VOIP minutes while at a hotspot.. It's a win/win.

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 29th 2007 1:05PM]

"I don't understand why AT&T would be even slightly excited about VOIP over WiFi"
Cause they get their monthly money anyway, and it would only mean less strain on their servers.

[Brian Abbott @ Jun 29th 2007 9:08PM]

A WiFi/VoIP mobile communications infrastructure would cheaper to maintain. It's also easier to send much larger amounts of data via WiFi than CDMA or ASM.

[Xavier Gill @ Jun 29th 2007 10:11AM]

Its funny that Jobs stated that they made the iPhone due to frustrations with current phones, but the majority of the criticism stems from its phone features - the mediocre call quality, no voice dial, cant search contacts, no MMS, no 3G etc. The only thing they're bringing to the table is Visual Voicemail. What the hell is that?! Hardly anyone uses voicemail anymore because of SMS/MMS. When was the last time you missed 3 or more calls in a row and they all left voicemail messages?

The actual iPod functions (pictures, music, video) look fantastic and i really dont understand why they didn't just release a widescreen, wifi iPod. Surely they would of sold 10x more because people wouldn't have to sign a contract or be unable to purchase one because of being locked into a contract with another carrier.

What do Apple stant to gain from adding the phone features? Do they even get a slice of the $70 a month?

[Monekywrestling @ Jun 29th 2007 10:22AM]

Because they would die in the market as all the phone manufacturers continue to produce multi media offerings. Who wants two devices when one will do the same, the phone is the one you will not leave home without. I have been happily using my sony phone for calls, photos and music, Ive hardly taken my ipod or my nikon out of the house since I got it.

[Eric @ Jun 29th 2007 10:26AM]

Apple stands to gain market share and convergence. If The iPhone can gain ground on the blackberry then execs will start looking at Apple. If you've ever worked in IT, you know where this is going...

CEO: I want us to switch to Macs cause it looks nice next to my shiny iPhone
SysAdmin: But we'd have to switch everything and it would costs us hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars.
CEO: But... it's shiny.... and I like it...
SysAdmin: You know it's completely different from Windows? You would kinda have to learn the computer again.
CEO: Shiny...
SysAdmin: We'd have to send people to training..
CEO: Steve Jesus Jobs, this is so Shiny...
SysAdmin: Whatever.

5 months later

CEO: You ran us into the ground with that Mac switch
SysAdmin: I quit.

[Justin @ Jun 29th 2007 1:00PM]

Sys Admin: you know that by switching to Macs you will save tons on IT costs and labor due to Mac's stability, ease of use, and reduced security threats?
CEO: No, I didn't why did no one ever tell me this?
Sys Admin: because if I did then you would realize IT professionals been pushing this ridiculously complicated system in order to perpetuate the need for an IT department, which by the way I happen to run.
CEO: Nice to know, ship out all of this junk, and when you are done switching to Apple you are fired.
Sys Admin: :(

[barry @ Jun 29th 2007 1:47PM]

Xavier Gill - in the corporate world it is not uncommon to have not 3 but 6-7 voicemail messages. It is also completely possible that you would have about 10 you need to work through over 2-3 days.

[Paul @ Jun 29th 2007 10:11AM]

Speaking of demand issues, check out this iPhone prank:

http://www.techconsumer.com/2007/06/29/how-to-punk-an-apple-fanboy-the-week-of-the-iphone-release/

[loci @ Jun 29th 2007 10:13AM]

"You know every (AT&T) BlackBerry gets its mail over EDGE."

does EDGE also provide a keyboard that allows a fast response to those emails on the i.phone :)

[Ominx @ Jun 29th 2007 10:24AM]

Right. And BlackBerry emails are text NOT HTML. The amount of data skyrockets with HTML.

Bad comparison Steveo.

[Andy @ Jun 29th 2007 10:25AM]

Yeah, and how about... small, text based email messages are not the same thing as full HTML websites. We're not even talking WAP which is a bit slow on EDGE, we're talking FULL HTML websites.

[Andy @ Jun 29th 2007 10:26AM]

Great minds think alike Ominx, haha.

[Scott @ Jun 29th 2007 10:19AM]

Ha ha - the only people commenting are us complainers. All the fanboys are in line!

[EbonyDad @ Jun 29th 2007 10:21AM]

"Steve and Randall also seem to be particular fans of WiFi-based VoIP"

You mean the same thing that T-Mobile just rolled out on Wednesday?

[Greg @ Jun 29th 2007 10:26AM]

Thanks for the mixed signals, Steve.

First the announcement that stores would stay open until midnight to sell the thing tonight, which would imply a huge supply. (If you only have 60 units, and it takes 3 minutes to ring the thing up, you'd be sold out in an hour with 3 registers). Plus the fact that Apple stores will open all summer to sell these things. Sounds like there's going to be a lot, huh? Sounds like you'll be able to just walk into a store on a lazy July morning and grab one, huh?

Steve, I love you. But you make me want to hit you. I hit because I love, Steve.

[Chris Moroz @ Jun 29th 2007 10:32AM]

I thought part of the iPhone name deal agreement was that it would somehow work with VOIP like the originally named iPhone...

[Kristian @ Jun 29th 2007 10:42AM]

What apple is creating here is revolutionary for the mobile industry. Even tho it doenst meet all market demands im sure it beats every phone's feature thats out there today. Especially with their new mobile version of OSX and the amazing touchscreen.

Hey.. this is v1.0. What did Nokia, SonyEricsson or Samsung look like at v1? or even v5?? iPhone is going to take everything to a new level.

Go apple go!

[MatthewJ @ Jun 29th 2007 10:53AM]

are you serious? Have you even compared the specs to mobile phones that are currently available on the international market? It quite clearly lags behind in nearly every single feature.

[Greg @ Jun 29th 2007 11:00AM]

I don't know about EVERY feature...

But come on people... In every product category (ESPECIALLY Consumer Electronics), you're going to be hard pressed to find a perfect product that is everything to everyone.

For many of us, the iPhone in it's current state, meets our needs for a phone, DMP, and internet device. For many people, it does not. That's fine, if it doesn't meet your needs, don't buy it.

If you're pissed about all of the "revolutionary" hype, too bad. It is a revolutionary device- it's the first time a manufacturer has put interface first in mobile phone design on a scale like this. That's a huge step.

If you need the 3G, and don't like the touchscreen, then the iPhone is clearly not the phone for you- no reason to get pissed.

If, for some reason, you're just pissed at the rest of us for being excited for it, well, then you're just a dick.

[I.M. Yerpappy @ Jun 29th 2007 12:27PM]

Oh come on Kristian, you should know better than to reason with ass-hats. Those are the people who swore the earth was flat and man wasn't ever meant to fly. They wouldn't admit to state-of-art if it bit them in their asses. Please let them remain ass-hats so they'll feel safe and secure. We haven't even seen a version 1.0 iPhone since there haven't been any retail versions sold yet. Speculation doesn't mean fact.

[Jon @ Jun 29th 2007 10:42AM]

I don't think "the suits" will embrace the iPhone until Apple offers a cameraless version.

[SHOpkins @ Jun 29th 2007 11:12AM]

I don't think alot of "suits" are relogated to only cameraless phones... I work in comercial aviation maintenance where security is pretty high (airline maintenance facilities servicing large aircraft on-site at airports). I have FAA/TSA security clearance to access these facilities. The camera on my phone has never been an issue... I also see alot more Treo, Dash, Q, and Blackjack users than Blackberry users. I have to wonder if the camera-phone security issue is as pervasive as some like to think it is in corporate america, or if it's really only something you'd see in the federal government or millitary?

[beanspants @ Jun 29th 2007 11:16AM]

you can't take camera phones into any data center i've ever been in, so there are non-military/nonfed where cameras are not allowed.

[Erik @ Jun 29th 2007 11:18AM]

Wait a second...is this before or after they give one to everyone that works for Apple? If you give away your supply, of course you can't meet demand (if there actually is one).

[Ellianth @ Jun 29th 2007 11:25AM]

Awww. You were four minutes ahead of me. :(

He gave them all away yesterday so that he could have headlines "iphone sold out." I bet Engadget is going to post that headline. The lines look pretty short to me, why are people even camping?

I bet Sony is pissed. Americans are willing to pay more for less. I'd be pissed, there's no reason why this should sell and the ps3 shouldn't.

[StupidIsAs... @ Jun 29th 2007 12:10PM]

@ Eric:
CEO: I want us to switch to Macs cause they are easier to use, get less viruses and are more stable
SysAdmin: But they didn't teach me about Apples or Macs when I did A+ or MOUSE certification
CEO: Can't you learn it on your own?
SysAdmin: They didn't teach me about Macs, therefor, they are not good. I won't even look at one.
CEO: If you were a mechanic, would you only work on Fords if that is all you were taught?
SysAdmin:We don't like Macs, they make things much too easy, they expose us for the frauds most of us are.
CEO: Whatever, we're getting Macs

5 months later

CEO: Your useless, you're fired.

[Brad @ Jun 29th 2007 3:13PM]

CEO: I'm going to spout marketing messages at a technology specialist because my magazine told me how I should spend millions of dollars.
SysAdmin: Don't you pay me to make informed, intelligent decisions, rather than just purchasing whatever looks cute or has the most expensive commercials?
CEO: Whatever. I can do this myself! We're getting Macs. You're fired.

8 months later

BoardOfDirectors: So let me get this straight: You spent millions upon millions of dollars replacing perfectly functional computers, invalidated our entire support and infrastructures because you believed a commercial over the opinions of the people you pay to know more than you about this?
CEO: But...but...iMovie! iChat! They're cuter and easier!
BoardOfDirectors: You caused a nearly six-month halt to production while everyone learned a new OS, had to repurchase all of our corporate software licenses, purchased from a vendor which doesn't volume-license, and fired the one person who might have been able to make it work.
CEO: Yes, but doesn't the built-in camera look cool? And they're shiny!
BoardOfDirectors: Your(sic.) useless, you're fired.
-------
I'm guessing you've never worked in any kind of management position for a company that has a half-billion dollars invested in hardware.

[Miguel @ Jun 30th 2007 2:56AM]

I call false-modesty on Mr. Jobs, or at least subtle way of patting himself on the back and building his (well-deserved) megalomania: "there is such an amazing demand that we'll probably sell out. We make the best products ever, and no one can say otherwise. This device is revolutionary." "But, um, it doesn't allow 3rd party applications, doesn't do some standard phone functions and even lags behind current-generation phones in data coverage." "Hush, it's revolutionary, and the iSheep will buy it. We may not meet demand. We create the demand."

Apple is sort of the prime example of Reagonomics: if you build it, they will buy it.

[bonaccij @ Jul 18th 2007 10:01AM]

You can compare the Moto Q, BlackJack, BlacBerry, Dash and Wing all you want. The bottom line is, show me another phone that gives you 8GB of on-board RAM (included - not separately purchased), Email with fully integrated HTML mail, native browser support for real HTML and CSS, H.264 video playback, FREE PUSH MAIL (if you subscribe to the service) all wrapped up in a package that is less than 5Oz. There just isn't one.

People can complain about all of the "standard" features the iPhone is missing, but the fact remains that if this phone had been released with 3G support nobody would be complaining. I find that people hunt and hunt for things to say about this phone, but truth be told, it's just pretty amazing.

And, I gotta tell ya, coming from T-Mo, I think this service is great. Haven't had a dropped call yet and I have about 3 times as much coverage as I did with T-Mo.