Well the iPhone has finally landed here in the UK.

I must admit I like the look and feel of the iPhone and just because I am a Microsoft MVP does not mean I would not purchase one.

But a few things niggle me, enough to stop me making a purchase just yet!

Firstly, you have to “activate it” through the iTunes software from Apple. WHY? No other phone manufacturer forces you to do this.

Secondly, the iPhone is being touted as a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets you enjoy your content — including music, audiobooks, videos, TV shows, and movies — on a beautiful 3.5-inch display. It allows you to sync the content from the iTunes library on your PC or Mac and access it all with the touch of a finger.

Mmmm… glad I have a massive 8Gb of memory for all my content then! What were Apple thinking? A measly 8Gb?

Thirdly, its going to cost how much?

In the UK the iPhone costs £269.00 and then you are tied into an 18 month contract, the cheapest of which will cost you £630 (Ouch!)

Fourthly, has anyone read the small print? …here it is:

Your O2 tariff for iPhone allows you unlimited use of O2 UK’s Edge/GPRS networks and The Cloud’s UK Wireless LAN network, for personal internet use, email and Visual Voicemail (VVM) on your iPhone only. All usage must be for your private, personal and non-commercial purposes. You may not use your SIM Card in any other device, or use your SIM Card or iPhone to allow the continuous streaming of any audio/video content, enable P2P or file sharing or use them in such a way that adversely impacts the service to other O2 customers. If O2 reasonably suspect you are not acting in accordance with this policy O2 reserves the right to impose further charges or disconnect your tariff at any time, having attempted to contact you first.

If I purchase this phone as a business owner are you telling me I am not allowed to use it?

If it’s a multimedia phone, why can’t I have continuous streaming of any audio/video ? Never heard of YouTube? …having said that the next point kind of means I won’t be able to have a meaningful audio/video experience over the net!

And coming in at number five, NO 3G ???

In summary

So Steve Jobs forces you to activate the iPhone using HIS software, so if you do NOT already have iTunes installed you now have to get it - So much for consumer choice (hey wait a min, don’t die hard Apple fans complain that Microsoft removes customer choice by forcing its customers to use Windows software applications?)

Then Steve is making me pay a minimum of £899.00 (plus VAT charges) for a “state of the art” multimedia experience that can’t use a modern 3G network!

…and wait for it, now I am being told that you can’t use it as a business user and unlimited internet access means not streaming audio/video as I may wish!

Mmmm….. does Apple not know they are not the only kid on the block when it comes to a great phone?

Sure it is great iCandy - but when you drill down to the facts I think I will pass until it’s 3G and has a 30 GB memory for my videos and music tracks.

UPDATE 11th Nov:

Looks like I am not alone in not rushing to ques for a phone on opening night…. seems the “hype” was just that.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/11/iphone_uk_flop/

http://www.dialaphone.co.uk/blog/?p=750

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

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Like many folks I use the Google Alert service to keep me informed of any “online activity” releated to my topics of interest.

…well when this email arrived in my inbox it certainly had my instant INTEREST!

Microsoft are now advertising for a Product Manager (PM) for “building a next-generation photo and video sharing service…”

Here is the blurb from their website posted on the 11/09/2007:

“Come make Windows Live the best place to share your digital memories! Heard of Flickr? YouTube? How about. Mac? This role will work across the new Windows Live division with teams like Spaces, SkyDrive, Messenger and Hotmail to construct a winning strategy for Microsoft in photo and video sharing. This role involves leading the team to design the strategy then build and implement a winning solution that will be loved by millions of customers. This feature team is building a next-generation photo and video sharing service that will compete with flickr, smugmug and other photo web solutions today. This is a “v1” opportunity.”

“This role requires a strong PM with several product cycles of consumer experience. Successful candidates will have strong strategic thinking, outstanding cross team leadership and a proven track record of shipping. The right candidate for this position has an entrepreneurial streak - and functions well as part of a team. The ideal candidate has experience shipping consumer web solutions.”

…can’t wait to see what they have planned!

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

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I was asked this question the other day:

“Marc, why did you start your website www.updatexp.com?”

Then I just read Ken Evoy’s blog post: Advertising Technology, Today’s VC Game?

And that got me looking back over my “Internet Life”…initially UpdateXP.com was just a place to host the odd article on using Windows XP.

I used to “patrol” some of the XP newsgroups a few years ago and instead of providing an answer within the post, I would link to the answer on my website.

But a strange thing happened….

Because I was creating a website with in-demand content, the site started to pull in a lot of traffic from Google.com

The when Google released their AdSense program (the ability to place their adverts on your site, then get paid per click) I found I was earning some good money In fact things just grew and grew….

I even have an online case study of my success here: http://case-studies.sitesell.com/webmaster-marc.html

Fast forward to the end of 2007 and I have a few websites and LOVE what I do - writing about Microsoft technology!

I am even now creating software myself: http://www.databucketpro.com

SiteBuildIt gave me that early opportunity to succeed online and I am so glad I took it!

If you have a hobby or passion for a subject - perhaps you too should start a profitable website?

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

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