Steve Jobs Hanging to be Captured, Uploaded to Internet With New iPhone
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. unveiled an eagerly-anticipated iPod mobile phone with a touch-screen on Tuesday, priced at $599 for 8 gigabytes of memory, pushing the company’s shares up as much as 8.5 percent. Chief Executive Steve Jobs said the iPhone, which also will be available in a 4-gigabyte model for $499, will ship in June in the United States. The phones will be available in Europe in the fourth quarter and in Asia in 2008. Apple said Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless network, will be the company’s U.S. cellular partner. Cingular said the contract is “multi-year and exclusive.”
Ooooh…yet another gadget I want and will likely convince myself I can’t live without. Damn….
Like a lot of y’all, I have an iPod. It’s a couple years old (the U2 “How To Build An Atomic Bomb” promotional model), and it doesn’t get as much use as I’d like, but I’m hooked. Currently, I have about 2200 songs downloaded onto it, some of which I will never, ever listen to. My entire CD collection is on there, plus I’ve probably spent about $900 on music. Throw in my MacBook, and it’s pretty clear that I’m a Believer. Now I get to fuss over the new iPhone. Though the idea and the design intrigues me, I can’t help but wonder if I really need to spend $500 on a new phone (I don’t, obviously) or switch carriers (I like Verizon, and I don’t want to break my contract to get an iPhone).
There was a time when Apple and Steve Jobs seemed destined to be consigned to be a niche market composed of unbalanced geeks and those with an undying hatred of all things Microsoft. That time has long since passed. Not only has the iPod given new life to a company that was practically moribund, it’s spawned all sorts of auxiliary products- iEVERYTHING, if you will. Yes, it would seem that American ingenuity is indeed alive and well.
Without a doubt, Steve Job really is on the road to total world domination…and I don’t see any reason to be complaining about it.
If you’re puzzling over just what an iPhone is, check out some facts about the new latest “gotta-have-it”:
The phone is 11.6 millimeters thick with a 3.5-inch-wide touchscreen, a 2-megapixel camera, and integrates functions of Apple’s popular iPod music and video players.
The iPhone will cost $499 for a version with 4 gigabytes of flash memory, and $599 for an 8-gigabyte version. It will be available in the United States in June, in Europe in the fourth quarter, and in Asia in 2008.
It runs a version of OS X, the same operating system that powers the company’s Mac computers. It also has Apple’s Safari browser for Internet surfing.
The phone will operate exclusively in the United States on the network of AT&T’s cellular unit, Cingular Wireless, as part of a multiyear agreement.
The iPhone can also connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi wireless technology, and has Bluetooth, the short-range wireless technology used to support wireless headsets or link to other devices such as printers.
Damn…and Christmas is still 11 1/2 months away….
