Why The iPhone Web Browser Is Kicking Ass
Whether you believe the statistics in detail or not, there’s no doubt that the iPhone (and iPod Touch) web browser is doing amazingly well. That is, iPhone owners are making regular and substantial use of their browsers. This high level of mobile browser usage has never happened before. For sure, then, the browsing experience on iPhone is one of its killer features. Herewith, the reasons why…
Almost a year ago to the day (Dec 8, 2006), I wrote that the mobile web was poised for a step-change in usability. That was because some key ingredients for success had, at that time, just been put in place: specifically high-quality mobile web-browser software (e.g. WebKit-based browsers); and low-cost “all-you-can-eat data” packages. While these were necessary ingredients for success, however, I also wrote that they weren’t sufficient. I said that there were two more ingredients that were needed for the mobile web to start to see mass adoption: firstly, high-resolution screens on phones; and secondly, usable QWERTY keypads (as opposed to numeric keypads). What happened during 2007 was that Apple was the first company to get its ass into gear, and produce a mobile phone that had all these necessary key ingredients. iPhone has:
- Great web-browser software in the form of Safari (based on WebKit)
- An all-you-can-eat data plan included with every phone
- High-resolution screen (at least twice the resolution of almost every other phone on the market)
- QWERTY keypad, implemented in software on a touchscreen interface
Additionally, they put a CPU into the phone that is pretty much twice as fast as any other phone on the market; so pages render really fast too. Now, is the iPhone browing experience perfect? No. Not even close. But Apple did what was needed to make it good enough for the mass market adoption; and they were, quite simply, the only company to do it. Now, they’re reaping the rewards.
Of course, the iPhone browsing experience could be better; the main problem being the keyboard. It’s really only just good enough. To be honest, it’s much worse in practice than I had thought it would be from looking at the interface design (and I had thought it would be pretty bad from looking at the way the software was designed). Still, the mass market doesn’t need to be able to type super-quickly (most people can’t type super-quickly on a full-size computer keyboard) - so it’s power-users that will feel the most pain with the iPhone keyboard. There’s definitely room for improvement here, though.
The good news for Apple is that the iPhone keyboard is a software feature; so it will be easy to roll-out improvements to all owners, as and when they become available. When Apple adds 3G to iPhone in 2008, they will have addressed pretty much the only major technical weakness in terms of hardware… all the other remaining major technical problems are software features.
Of course, there’s also the business model to address - it’s too expensive to own an iPhone right now, and there are no third-party applications, which limits innovation. However, it’s starting to look that customers may finding ways around the business model problems, by purchasing iPod Touches instead if iPhones. The iPod Touch is essentially an iPhone minus: microphone; mobile phone; camera; e-mail. And, of course, Apple has already admitted its mistake with third-party applications - we should see that addressed in 2008.
All-in-all, you’d have to say it’s pretty much a given that Apple is well-poised to accelerate its sales in 2008 - whether with iPhones directly, or with iPod Touches (as customers work around Apple’s mistakes with iPhone). The question now is: will Apple’s competition respond in any meaningful way in 2008?
Asam Bashir wrote:
If Apple had produced a phone that was more appealing to the market it just would not have been able to produce them in quantity to ship. iPhone rev 1 was Apple getting it’s foot in the door, now that it has a firm grip on the variables it can go all out in 2008 - based on solid foundations it’s only a matter of time now for it to become the market leader in terms of global sales.
Development on iPhone rev 2 should go full scale post the MacWorld Jan 2008 expo release of the ultra-compact SSD based device. I don’t think we’re going to see just one device though, the touch-pad technology combined with SSD will see the arrival of a new ecosystem of devices that should represent a paradigm shifting moment for consumers, who are now firmly educated into what a well thought out human interface should look like.
Posted 08 Dec 2007 at 2:36 pm ¶
Mr X wrote:
I have seen hacked iTouches running all the non voice iPhone apps - email, google maps etc. Also seen them running terminal ( v cool ) and arcade emulators! These people have 3 full screens of apps ( you swipe sideways to see the next page of app icons ).
So while it’s true to say they lack official third party apps they actually have loads of unofficial ones!
Your right on the iPhone costing too much - there are 4 or five touch owners in the office but no iPhone owners - although I suspect that may change on 3G.
On the point on web browsing - tried it over wireless on a touch - impressive. The bottom line is the touch interface actually is very well implemented - and the screen is fantastic - movie quality is very good for example.
Everyone who tries one is impressed - if your in the market for that sort of device - which not everyone is - then I’d say the touch is actually a real must have product - though a little too expensive at the moment to be main stream - you could get two nano’s and change for the price.
So just as the zune was getting close to the iPod on design and features ( if not on quality of software - I hear syncing isn’t straightforward ) Apple have taken cool gadgets to another level.
Posted 14 Dec 2007 at 9:25 pm ¶
simon wrote:
Yes - it seems that iPod touch sales have exceeded Apple’s expectations; they’re selling millions (I think). There are some obvious lessons there for Apple in terms of sales of touch vs iPhone. I wonder if Apple will learn them.
And yes, you’re right about the third-party apps. Of course, because you have to hack the touch to get these apps on the phone, it’s for geeks only. BTW, you can even do voice apps on the touch with a little hardware hack. Right now, probably the majority of touch owners are geeks… but going forward, it has to be a mass-market device. There’s another lesson for Apple there - one of the things that makes the touch/iPhone interesting to people is the fact that you can install lots of apps on it. We’ll find out whether Apple understands that one, when they release the official SDK, and explain their business model for third-party apps. If it’s not possible to distribute free apps at no cost to developers, there will be a problem e.g. if Apple decides to charge developers a few hundred dollars per app to certify it for the touch/iPhone.
On your point that “everyone who tries one is impressed”; I’d qualify that with “everyone who tries one is impressed, except for the keyboard.” This is really close to being a totally killer device… if they fix up the business model and the keyboard problems, they’ll sell a hundred million of these things.
Posted 15 Dec 2007 at 7:31 am ¶
justin kilpatrick wrote:
i don’t see the the problem with the i phones keyboard i am typing this on a iphone without any problems at all. Once you learn to use the auto correct it is just fine. I really don’t see what you are complaining about
Posted 23 Dec 2007 at 12:54 am ¶
simon wrote:
Justin, I can see plenty of problems - and I’d suggest that your own iPhone-typed message supports my case. I notice:
o Two “i”s not capitalised
o Two “p”s not capitalised
o One spelling of iPhone as “i phone” i.e. with an erroneous space inserted
o AutoCorrect spelt as two words instead of one
o Sparse use of punctuation (missing commas and periods/full stops)
So, quite a few errors in just a few words… and we don’t know how many mistakes you corrected as you typed the message (quite a few, I suspect). In other words, the text of your message doesn’t suggest that the typing experience on the iPhone is all that great, even for someone that says it’s good.
Now, having said that, I’m quite prepared to believe that people get better at using the iPhone keyboard with time. But, and it’s a big “but”, there’s no getting away from the fact that the iPhone keyboard software needs an “autocorrect” feature. That is - pretty much everyone who uses the iPhone keyboard hits the wrong keys by mistake a high percentage of the time. By definition, that makes it a bad user interface. As I say, though, it’s “good enough” - after all, it’s not like people can’t type on it. Nevertheless, I think it’s one of the weak points of the device.
Posted 23 Dec 2007 at 9:05 am ¶
Juice wrote:
I really can’t think of any good reason for buying an iPhone now, or an iTouch EVER.
The 2nd generation iPhone will definitely use the 3G network (and hopefully 3rd party apps) and will be coming out in 2008. It was rumored to be released as soon as January, but Apple’s fear of losing sales this past Xmas made another rumor of a summer release. It’s all on this article’s link:
http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97322
The iTouch in MY opinion was a waste, because for the full day that I owned one, I kept thinking how much better it would have been to have the iPhone. The added features of the phone, speakers, and camera are worth the sacrifice of paying $100 more (if one compares the 8Gb iphone with the 8Gb itouch). When comparing with the 16Gb itouch, I don’t see how taking away all those features justifies paying the same (around $400) for merely having a storage capacity upgrade. I see it as a way to milk money from people who aren’t At&t cellular customers and who don’t have the iPhone readily available to them. Whatever, if that’s ok for some, then great for them. After deciding to return the iTouch, I am going to wait patiently for the new and improved iPhone.
The keypad. I am not going to make baseless assumptions about a majority of user’s opinions(*AHEM, Simon), and instead will simply give my two cents. I did have to backspace a few times, but it wasn’t irritating. I never used a qwerty pad on a phone, and I thought using it was refreshing and quick compared to using tactile number pad. I can’t say much for previous smartphone or pda owners. If it’s a big issue and a problem for you, then you’re probably looking for another product that gears more towards business applications such as document editing. The thing is really for fun and for people who don’t give a damn about a few grammar errors.
Posted 31 Dec 2007 at 6:48 am ¶