iPhone This, iPhone That

July 11th, 2007 by Lars Johansson

Steve Jobs has inspired me and Apple is a brilliant company, but is the iPhone really all that?

I have used mobile Internet and PDA phones for years.

Analysts echo my view when they’re saying that it’ll be harder to impress Europe where up to a quarter of cell phones already are smartphones.

Top row, from left to right: Sony Ericsson P800 (2002), Neonode (2004), Sony Ericsson P900 (2003), Sony Ericsson W950i (2006), Meizu & HTC Touch.

Bottom row, from left to right: Neonode N2, Sony Ericsson P990i (2006), LG Prada, Nokia 770 & Nokia N95.

I have no doubt that the iPhone will help accelerate the use of mobile Internet and expand the market for mobile Internet marketing, but I don’t care much for all the hype or for the national monopolies promoted by Apple.

Windows Mobile is not the best operating system and some Symbian systems are better than others. I think that Apple’s chance of becoming successful in Europe lies in how easy it is to use compared to the alternatives.

More reading:
New Device, Old World: The iPhone in Europe
Muscling in on the mobile market
Meizu Looks Awfully Familiar
Is the Neonode Europe’s iPhone?
AT&T Has Five-Year iPhone Monopoly