It’s possibly the most hyped gadget of the last decade. The Apple iPhone launches today in the U.S. to widespread excitement. Digital Journal seeks out the perspective of a company that works in the mobile industry for their perspective on pros and cons.
Digital Journal — With reviews of the iPhone spilling headline ink all around the world, there’s no shortage of people who say the iPhone is the most remarkable gadget they’ve ever used. It’s Apple. All the company has to do is put its logo on a piece of plastic and fans will flock to it.
Indeed, the iPhone is a unique gadget. It’s an incredibly powerful phone filled with features not found in many other handsets; it’s far more intuitive than most handsets, allowing you to tap the screen to flip and zoom into photos or contact info with ease (and common sense); and it’s the Holy Tech Grail, the “next iPod” that is expected to lead Apple to more years of incredible business success. Either that, or an expensive flop.
But what about the cons? Indeed, there is no shortage of damning criticism of Apple’s choice to launch this AT&T’s slow network; disappointment about the phone being locked to the network, meaning you can’t buy the phone and pop in a SIM card from a AT&T competitor; and the phone has a frustrating learning curve to use the virtual keyboard (it’s just not the same thing as tapping physical keys).
To help you understand more about the pros and cons from the perspective of a company that lives and breathes in the cellular industry, Digital Journal was contacted by Action Engine.
Action Engine designed a technology in 2000 for creating online portals. Today the company’s technology allows media comnpanies and network operators to build and run mobile applications. Their software has been used by MSNBC.com, TiVo, Verizon Wireless and more.
In an effort to understand the iPhone from a usability perspective, Action Engine president, Scott Silk, gave us his pros and cons about this much-hyped gadget.
What sets the iPhone apart?
Scott Silk: One look at the mobile data features of the iPhone reveals that Apple took many of its usability cues from the on-device portal (ODP) companies that have been optimizing mobile application usability for years. The first thing users see when they turn on an iPhone is an ODP into a handful of widgets, the mobile applications that deliver pre-packaged rich content. Widgets set the iPhone apart, and they will be key to the iPhone user experience.
What are a few noteworthy features of the iPhone?
Silk: The iPhone homepage establishes one central on-device portal for accessing all of Apple’s rich content and standalone widgets. By establishing a consistent look-and-feel across all of the iPhone widgets, Apple elevates its brand. No matter which widget they use, users get the same user experience, navigation, and look and feel. The on-device portal approach enables Apple to “own” the end-to-end user experience on the phone.
What makes it feel different than your typical mobile?
Silk: Fewer keystrokes: By letting users drag-and-drop-and-touch, Apple eliminated as many keystrokes as possible to discover and access rich content. This, I believe, is a smart move, considering a simple music download from a carrier portal can take 18 to 39 clicks to execute. That’s a huge usability hindrance as most people abandon such activities after six clicks.
The iPhone also remembers recent requests. Search for stocks using the stock widget, and the requests will be stored, eliminating the need to reenter the same information later. Similarly, by offering personalization features in the widgets, Apple prevents repeat data entry.
What is a major usability difference from other handhelds?
Silk: [The iPhone] encourages action. When the iPhone displays content, an “action bar” at the bottom of the screen provides further options for using the content. (e.g., find an address for a restaurant, then map door-to-door directions to the restaurant, then get current traffic conditions.)
iPhone will [also] offer music, streaming video, podcasts, movies, YouTube, and more. Nobody does multimedia better than Apple, and dedicated applications are the best way to deliver these services.
So what are setbacks of the iPhone?
Silk: Despite its engineering and design capabilities, Apple still needs to address a number of key issues.
[First of all], the Safari mobile browser may be the best mobile browser ever. But unless users are near a WiFi hotspot, Safari doesn’t solve the fundamental problem facing Apple – and everyone else – namely, every click is a connection over the cellular Internet. Worse, the iPhone uses AT&T’s slower EDGE network rather than a 3G network. While the slow speeds are not Apple’s fault, they reflect poorly on Apple’s brand – making the quick-click widgets an even more important part of the iPhone experience.
Everyone has raved about the touch-screen capabilities, but you are skeptical. Why?
Silk: Apple’s gone out of its way to simplify data entry, but users browsing the Web on an iPhone will still wind up tapping in URLs on the touch screen keypad. Related concerns are the screen’s user-friendliness and scratch resistance. Touch screens have, historically, proved to be good in concept but often flawed in execution.
iPhone competitors and other wireless carriers have been downplaying the impact of the iPhone’s launch saying it’s not a revolution. However, analysts believe Apple’s name and marketing power pose a significant threat.
What kind of usability drawbacks are there?
Silk: Limited widget integration: Beyond its PIM integration, widget integration on the iPhone is limited. For example, after looking up a city’s weather in the weather widget, that city should appear for mapping in the map widget. It should, but it doesn’t. Similarly, the widgets could be beefed up with more offline content options, letting consumers narrow down their search criteria offline rather than connecting to the network every step of the way.
[Also], Apple may limit third-party developers to building browser-based applications. Why not offer a software development kit and encourage third parties to contribute to the users’ experience? Obviously, Apple has been paying attention to third-party developers to see what was and wasn’t working in mobile. Shutting them out now is clearly a mistake.
So what is the future for the iPhone?
Silk: More than a product, the iPhone is an event in the mobile applications industry. In that capacity, the success of the iPhone means success for the market. The industry is holding its collective breath, waiting for feedback from iPhone users who immerse themselves in the Apple-branded experience.
Expect to see all the major brands looking for ways to replicate Apple’s on-device mobile applications experience. While Apple may be late to the mobile application party, there is no question that they came to the party with a credible offering.
