A brilliant tribute to one of my all-time heroes RIP Steve

iPhone - a 3rd revolution?

Now that it is one week since all the hoopla of the WWDC and the launch of the iPhone Version 2, I've been reflecting on this and also thinking whether this is the time for me to switch.

The new iPhone answers some of the questions that I had in terms of allowing 3 G and GPS and also for its future if it is going to really tackle the corporate market - dealing with CIO's queries about working with their systems.

The main point was the price point - numerous bloggers felt that iPhone 1 was really aimed at the first adopters and the price in the UK of £100 for the 8GB version is within peoples pain threshold especially as in the European market - most phones are free and subsidised by the supplier.

The main thing was that although some of Apple's work in this area is a slight sense of catch up technologically - what no one does better than Apple is in ist very high standards in terms of design (the wow factor) and more crucially the ease of use for people. Talking to users of the iPhone 1 they said that even with it's limited offering they found it easy to use a significant number of the functions as well as the music (remember this doubles as an iPod also).

A number of commentators highlighted that Steve Jobs looked unwell (even though he is 53 - he did have surgery 4 years ago for pancreatic cancer). He also delegated a lot more of the key note to other speakers than he has in the past.

Maybe the iPhone is Steve Jobs 3rd revolution in the field of technology in terms of computers. He 1st did this in 1984 with the original Macintosh by utilising the GUI we all use today. Then the 2nd revolution was the developmenht of the iPod and iTunes and now the iPhone with it's attendant app Store which makes it into a handheld computer with software.

Apple have always tried to make using the technology not only a triumph of design but also an easy to use for those of us who aren't computer geeks.

Simplicity uber alles would summarise the Apple technology for me and why I will continue to use it.

If the iPhone is to Steve Jobs last major contribution to consumer technology, then what a way to bow out - most of us never have the opportunity to be revolutionary - he may have achieved three revolutions in his career in consumer technology and interestingly bought them closer to what Bill Gates wanted in terms of a computer on everyones desk. Jobs may have liberated that to one in everyones hand.

Keynote Speech from WWDC - announcing iPhone

Here is the link to the keynote speech at WWDC from last night. First reaction looks promising to the new version - presses most peoples buttons, though a few would want a better camera and the ability to MMS - though I think the second will be answered via App store - anyway enjoy the performance. Note also how Jobs crafts his message and does his presentations - very simple but very effective.

(PS - this will also be on iTunes as a vodcast - so that you can download)

iPhone 2.0 with 3 G announced today.

Here is the video of the new iPhone for people to look at. I think that Apple have come up with an offering that every IT manager will be looking at over the next 12 months and may have a queue outside their door for tomorrow morning especially as major firms in the Fortune 500 have been using it and finding it completely satisfied with the way it integrates into their enterprise system. 

Apple for me have answered every question that has been posed at it - in terms of price point etc and features that make it a no brainer for me - even the ability to post a blog entry and to twitter.. 

Just hope that o2 don't queer the pitch in the UK with the 3G option by poor pricing. No doubt this will all be sorted by launch date of 11th July in the UK.

For those of you interested and with pictures here is the link to Appleinsider

Enterprise 2.0 Conference & WWDC - some pre-thoughts.

This conference is in Boston next week and I wish I was there to listen to people like Andrew McAfee talk about it. He basically has given E 2.0 some academic kudos as well as being a thoughtful blogger.

From what I'm reading around in the blogosphere, there is some guerilla infiltration in to the enterprise of Web 2.0 softwarebut as of yet security conscious IT departments are trying to block usage.

Whereas new entrants when confronted by legacy systems are wondering why the companies they work for haven't got the tools they are using as students.

I think also that there is still the perception by senior management as there was in the early days of the Internet that having Twitter, Face book etc is a slackers charter.

So next week I will be looking at what is posted out of the conference and be making comment for people to view.

Also next week - is the WWDC (developers conference for Apple.

The big player here will be iPhone with the 2nd generation likely to be launched. I think that this will be big as Apple launched a development kit for people to develop extra applications for the iPhone.

A bit like enterprise 2.0 will we see people over the next 12 months using these rather than the ubiquitous blackberry - probably not but I wouldn't want to be like one dinosaur sounding IT manager who is quoted as saying we are a blackberry shop and that's the way we are going to stay.

Be interesting to see how and if that starts to change as more enterprise friendly applications are developed in the near future and what is announced at WWDC. Though I do realise that IT Managers do have a number of issues such as compatibility that they need to consider - I don't think that you can just write off the iPhone especially if the enterprise element is sketched out in more detail next week.

UPDATE - the quote in full which I referred to is as follows.

"I have nothing against iPhone. It's great," says Manjit Singh, CIO at Chiquita Brands International Inc. "But we're a BlackBerry shop, and I don't think iPhone brings anything new to the table. It has a great user experience, but that's all."

Results of a Mac trail in IBM.

Many thanks to Mac Rumors who have posted the results of trails carried out inside IBM to see whether they should try Mac within IBM. They've just carried out the first pilot and I thought that readers might be interested in the results which I've copied in full.

The first phase of the pilot program was conducted between October 2007 and January 2008. During this phase, 24 MacBook Pros were distributed to researchers and used as the primary notebook, with the employees' existing ThinkPads acting as backups if needed.

Of the 22 of 24 who responded, 18 said that the Mac offered a “better or best experience” compared to their existing computer, one rated it “equal or good,” and three said the Mac offered a “worse experience.”

Seven reported having no or marginal prior knowledge of using Macs, while 15 reported having moderate or expert knowledge of the platform.


Other highlights:
- 86% of pilot users requested to keep the Mac
- More new hires are requesting Macs
- Research and Academic clients have a growing Mac community
- IBM internal software made for Mac was easy to install
- Some key software was unavailable for Mac, including DB2 and Websphere Application Server, Rational Application Developer IDE for J2EE apps, WebSphere Integration Developer SOA development tool, and Microsoft Visio. (which can be got round either with boot camp or Parallels (my italics)

Some Comments:
- "When presenting at customer or external meetings, I have been greeted with the 'wow factor.' 'Where's the ThinkPad, IBM uses Apples now?'"
- "This can free us from the Windows stranglehold."
- "It has been easier learning the Mac than learning Vista."
- "The ability to run Windows XP in a VM under Parallels is a great feature."

Personally I know that I work about 10 to 15% faster using my Mac at home, though it is always getting the IT boys to go for a trail - though I do see a large Mac community at work and maybe it might be worth a trial other than in the ubiquitous graphics department being the only ones in a large corporation to use it.