Apple phone wish
So we're going to get a cell phone from Apple. After so much leaks on the net with no denial from them, it seems obvious that there will be this "one more thing".
All glad I can be that a mobile phone could one day reach the quality of Apple products, I hope this is going to be something else than an iPod with a chip in it to access a phone network and a nicely designed interface to dial or access your contacts. What we can wish for has to go beyond the tech specs and form factors. Apple products are all about an experience, a story where simplicity, flow and quality are the main characters. Let's dream a bit here before it's too late.
During a recent keynote, Jobs said something like "Apple is in your home, Apple is in your office, Apple is in your pocket, Apple is in your car, Apple is in your den,..." Well, from a mobile phone call point of view, if I can get to Apple products, I can reach the user where ever he is, whatever he does at any moment. The only thing the phone call has to know is which product is actually used by the person to reach, and once it's done it chooses it.
You're working on your laptop, the call is directed to your iChat interface. You're listening to your iPod/phone while running or driving, the call is sent to your ear buds or car stereo (even if you should avoid that, seriously). You're calling another Apple phone owner who's at his computer : the call could switch from phone network to audio chat to save you money (mobile phones are mostly used at home or at the office anyway, so the context of use is ready for a phone/computer convergence). You could listen to your voice mail from your computer or send text messages from a comfortable keyboard.
Speaking of comfort, what about sound quality ? Isn't this one of the obvious features we look after when using a phone that no one has been able to improve since... well, decades ? A phone call without any background sound, just two voices, this alone would be alone a good reason to get a new phone, wouldn't it ? This feature would be the Exposé like feature of a mobile phone, the "duh why didn't we think of this earlier slap slap". Let's slide a bit more on the comfort slope : picture yourself calling Quicksilver, hitting "Sandra" + tab + "call" + enter, et voilà. This is what we want !
Is Apple strong enough to partner with a phone carrier so they can design together a better way for people to reach each others ? That's the key to this better product experience. I have no precise knowledge that I could use to evaluate the possibility of these scenarios, technically or economically, but the positive would give 2007 a very nice start. Best wishes, Apple.
