So we get the opinions. Some say "bonkers" or "idiot" or "rude" and "disrespectful" or "blaspheming" or an "iPhone pusher". Others say it is "interesting" or "provocative" while still others call it "great" and "insightful" and "high quality thoughts" and "not to be missed" and "best post this week"
Last Friday we blogged about the launch of the iPhone (Entering iPhone Era) and how we expect that to change not only mobile handset design, but perceptions around the internet going wireless, advertising discovering mobile, media and cellphones, the Silicon Valley IT industry waking up to wireless, and so forth. We compared it to the PC business and the launch of the Macintosh, and labeled it as a Before iPhone (BI) era and After iPhone (AI) Era. Over the weekend and through Monday the story was reported and spread in the blogosphere. The blogs and related comments make some fascinating reading.
10,000 here, another 10,000 at Gizmodo
On the metrics. We normally get a couple of hundred unique visitors per day, something like a thousand on a day with a good story. This BI Before iPhone and AI After iPhone story has already brought us over 10,000 visitors during the weekend (please random visitors observe, that we have no advertising on our blog, we don't aim just to drum up traffic for the sake of it). Some of those visitors arrived no doubt simply because the iPhone is getting to be that hot, that people will click on any fascinating new story with iPhone in it.
That was not our intention with the blog (to draw iPhone buzz). Alan and I have always been advocates of creating new market space - we discuss new market space as one of the topics in our book, Communities Dominate Brands. We both are huge fans of Apple, for example the iPod and iTunes example is a case study in our book. We are not Apple fanatics, we see the reality, have for example chronicled the ups and downs of the iPod at this site.
On the iPhone, its been a recurring theme for us. We've anticipated an Apple mobile phone - we discuss the iPod vs mobile phone clash already in our book - so we did not recently jump on this Apple/iPhone bandwagon. In fact right after the iPhone was announced, we made a deep international analysis of how the iPhone would do in its battle against the entrenched smartphone makers in North America, Europe and Asia in our blog entitled Handicapping the iPhone. Many heralded that January blog as the best business analysis of the iPhone's chances. We are not fanatical about Apple but we greatly admire the company.
So we have studied this space, written about Apple, the iPod and the upcoming "iPod Phone" and now since it was launched, the iPhone, in deep, insightful, fact-filled and widely acclaimed blogs.
We are serious, in making the comparison to how the Macintosh computer totally changed the PC world. And that the iPod totally changed the portable music industry, in a pre-iPod Era of Walkman portable cassette players, and a post iPod digital MP3 file Era. We then examined how the upcoming iPhone could cause a similar definition of a new Era, now in mobile telecoms. Many would agree that at least in the handset manufacturing industry (they sell almost a billion handsets per year) this is very clearly a landmark moment. We analyzed it further, examining what other industries would also be influenced, from the IT and PC industries to the internet to media and advertising etc.
So our story is long, considered and well supported with facts. We also attracted 20 comments here at our blogsite by Monday night. But far beyond our site, the electronic echoes continued about the iPhone Era
ONTO THE ECHOES
Several sites mentioned the iPhone Era story from Macrumors to Digg.com to Buzztracker to Wireless Watch to the Motley Fool to Slashphone to Mac Daily News, Forum Oxford, Macbytes, Techmeme, Applemania, Ycombinator, to Investorshub and so forth.
The story has been covered in national forums and sites in France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Brazil, Bulgaria, Malaysia, and so forth, including several languages I can't identify ha-ha. It has clearly "echoed" in the blogosphere and even beyond. Lets examine major blogs and news sites who covered the iPhone Era story and their take on it:
ZD Net: Great post today by Tomi Ahonen
Marc Orchant at ZD Net was one of the first to report on our story in a long piece, 16 paragraphs in length with picture, entitled "Does the iPhone "change everything"?" which Marc starts off with "Great post today by Tomi Ahonen, one of the authors of the Communities Dominate Brands book and blog about the sea change in awareness of how mobile computing will change after the release of the iPhone."
Marc writes very kindly of us and our blog and our vision with several quotes from our blog. He then gives his concluding view on the story:
So… does the world change with the release of the iPhone? Are we (metaphorically) looking at the same kind of before-and-after demarcation as the Western calendar’s B.C. and A.D. or the computing world’s “before Macintosh” and “after Macintosh” as Ahonen suggests in his opening? I think so. I’ve seen Apple pull this off four times already. The introduction of the Apple II completely and irrevocably changed the way we looked at personal computing. The introduction of the Macintosh is inarguably one of the most significant events in the history of computing. The launch of the Newton (flawed device though it was) ushered in the PDA era which evolved into the smartphone era. And the iPod ecosystem singlehandedly redefined the music industry (at least in terms of popular awareness). Given that track record, why would anyone believe the imminent arrival of the iPhone represents anything less than a similar watershed moment?
LOTS OF ARGUMENT AT GIZMODO
Gizmodo: How bonkers (or not) is Tomi?
Matt Buchanan on Gizmodo's Analyst Antics wrote his story entitled "Analyst: The iPhone really is the Jesusphone". Matt quotes from our opening paragraph and in a five paragraph story with picture he then gives the Gizmodo take on the story:
For all of his hyperbolic bombast, however, he's more than likely spot on in one respect: mobile advertising will probably become more aggressive post-iPhone and iClones, given the range of content that will ostensibly be viewed on them, and to nod his way, the size of the screen. What do you guys think? Dawn of a new era or over-hyped blip on the gadget radar? How bonkers (or not) is Tomi?
The story had been read by over 10,000 viewes by Monday and had attracted 87 comments by end of Monday.
Some of those commenting clearly had not read our blog, such as quickboy who wrote "I hate how this guy refers some "smartphone" as something that can be directly related to Jesus and Christianity. I think that comparison is very stupid. The more I here about the iPhone mentioned in ways like this, the more I hate it."
When you get so many comments, of course there will be some extreme ones. Good example from Collins1990 who wrote "3G experts shouldn't be allowed to express their opinions on the iPhone in public"
Some of the comments suggested we were wrong because the whole iPhone and Mac Eras metaphor is wrong such as protozoider who wrote: "This guy is an idiot. iPhone is nothing like Mac OS. I hate to break it to the guy but this isn't the 80s either and it's not going to wow us having a phone that can multi-task. To be honest, iPhone is a little late. iPhone is overhype just like Mac OS was hype."
And among the Gizmodo comments were valid analysis of our blog, if violently opposing to us, such as jaiku who wrote "Jeez, Tomi, tell us what you really think... This dude is not just a fucktard, he's the Crown Prince of Fucktardia. Calling him a Fanboy is like calling a nuclear warhead a bullet. He is so in violation of the first commandment that god has prevented him from ever hiring a native english-speaking editor. How he managed to type as well as he did while blowing the entire Apple executive team is a true mystery. There are so many problems with his "analysis" that I don't know where to begin, but first..."
Inspite of the hostile intro, jaiku goes go on to argue several points of our blog very intelligently, including that the capabilities of the iPhone already exist on other devices, that networks have issues, that unsolicited advertising won't work (and as a comment - obviously we never wrote anywhere in our blog that we expect unsolicited ads on phones, our whole premise in our book and blog is engagement marketing - with the express approval of the recepient) and in the end of his arguments, he does find some agreement that yes, the iPhone will help bring about some better user experiences.
Later the same jaiku responds to another commenter with a rather funny (obviously still hostile) comment to that writer, saying: "I truly hope... that your marriage be blessed in Tomi's Church of Apple Porn, and that one day the two of you can hire a native english-speaking editor." Here again, jaiku does then admits to hoping the iPhone's launch will be good for everyone.
And equally there are comments at the other extreme, finding our blog valid, such as XtremeCamera who wrote: "The fact that many people here feel about Apple the way John Kerry feels about the Swift-Boaters doesn't negate the very-probable-future that the iPhone will be a hugh success and will start another revolution in the cell industry and because of this in 3 years time every consumer will benefit from the iPhone introduction whether they own the latest-and-greatest iPhone model or some other iPhone-inspired cell. Seems to me that the "jesus phone" was so named because of the potential to inspire, as did the real jesus, who of course didn't even have a decent internet connection, not to mention very few cell towers back then. Say what you will about how expensive it is, how it lacks 3G, or whatever. The iPhone is the best thing to happen to the cell phone industry, ever. Apple is once again showing the world how something should be done. Not everyone will want one, but I'm willing to bet Apple sells more than even they think they will."
And many also felt that the hype is totally uncalled for, that the iPhone is just another phone, not more, such as treetrunk who wrote: "Much of what it does has been done before, a few things haven't. There's nothing magic or revolutionary about it, it's just another phone."
And then obviously my writing style has some very upset, with Sockatume's comment perhaps best capturing this emotion: Okay, now I suddenly want the iPhone to fail. Miserably. I want it to fail so badly that the entire Smartphone concept dies on its arse. I want it to bankrupt people and leave a great swathe of destruction in its wake, just to make this guy's hyperbolic predictions look as stupid as possible.
And on the love him/hate him scale, Manuel gives one view as: "As for how crazy he is, well, on a scale of one to ten, he's an eleven."
Also quite revealingly for Gizmodo's readership MacManiac commented: "I love this place. I predict that iPhone will be a phone, and that some people will love it and other people will hate it. Then, they will argue forever over it. I'm so buying one."
Gizmodo had some of the funniest lines in the comments. dna added to our predictions with this wonderful one: "I also predict another new trend: giant pockets! (to hold your iPhone of course)" and yoshi quoted George Carlin who said "Jesus was a cross dresser."
The Gizmodo article itself had 10,700 views by Monday
MOBILISTS SEEM TO LIKE IT
Several of the major bloggers in the mobile telecoms space have commented on the story.
Open Gardens: "Very good and insightful"
Ajit Jaokar at Open Gardens (ranked 10th best read blogs on mobile telecoms) wrote "This is typical Tomi Ahonen post .. very good and insightful .. Tomi talks of a BI(Before iPhone) and an AI(After iPhone) era looking at all the ways our lives will change from the Era Before the iPhone (BI) and in June entering the Era After the iPhone AI. Not only handset makers but media, advertising, the IT industry etc will all change."
AORTA: insightful
Chetan Sharma writes at his Always On Real Time Access blog: "Check out this insightful post from Tomi regarding iPhone’s impact on the mobile industry. As always, his posts are thought-provoking."
M-Trends: great post
(M-Trends by Rudy de Waele is ranked 15th best read blog on mobile telecoms)
Symbian in Motion: Favorite post this week
Zach at Symbian in Motion writes: "One of my favorite posts this week is this great post by Tomi Ahonen about his views on the effects that the iPhone will have on the mobile industry. The dialog found within the comments after the post is just as riveting!"
Symbian Guru: Is a highlight
Ricky Cadden at Symbian Guru briefly mentioned liking the blog saying it is a highlight and "is worth the read"
Mobile Things: Very provocative
But not even all mobilists share that enthusiasm to our story and point of view. Grouchal at Mobile Things writes in his story entitled "Another iPhone article: the time after iPhone" in a six paragraph piece that: "This article is very provocative." Grouchal doesn't quote from the story but gives his opinion: "My reaction: I like the dream you have - it is a pity reality will soon be faced by both you and Apple." He then goes on to discuss at length various faults with the iPhone.
Smart Mobs: So much high quality thoughts
Marshall Sponder at Smart Mobs (Ranked number 1 in most-read blogs on mobile telecoms) wrote a long 13 paragraph analysis piece with lots of related thoughts, entitled: "Coming of the iPhone ... Dell, HP, Intel, IBM, and any IT company will suddenly need a cellphone strategy" with the subtitle: "How to Recognize The Future When It Lands On You"
Marshall starts off writing: "There's so much information in and high quality thoughts in Tomi Ahonen's recent post Entering iPhone Era: Marking Time in Mobile that I don't know where to start ... since it's just worth it to read Tomi's post - see what you make of it for yourself." He then quotes several times from our blog
Carnival of the Mobilists 74: An article not to be missed
Martin Sauter at Martin's Mobile Technology Page hosted the Carnival of the Mobilists this week , featuring the best blogs around mobile telecoms for the week. Martin's thoughts on our story: "The World Before And After The iPod: I very much like Tomi Ahonen's thoughts about mobile on his "Communities Dominate Brands" site. This week he features an exciting article in which he postulates that soon mobile history will be seen as a time before the iPhone and a time after the iPhone. An article not to be missed."
APPLE PEOPLE OPINIONS
iPhoneHacks: Could usher the iPhone era
The iPhone Hacks blog wrote about other iPhone related stories and mentioned our blog in one paragraph writing: "The significance of this event as we all know was the announcement of the Apple iPhone which could usher the mobile phone industry into the iPhone era. "The Era BI: time Before the iPhone, and the ERA AI: time After the iPhone" as predicted by Tomi Ahonen of "Communities Dominate Brands" blog."
Talk iPhone: Analyst hails dawn of new era
Talk iPhone reports in story entitled: Analyst: iPhone hails dawn of new era. They write: "Tomi T Ahonen a 3G analyst has spoken out on the iPhone hailing the device as a revolution in mobile communication and one that will mark "the new dawn of the computer age." They quote briefly from our blog.
And a funny comment by AAPLman puts that in context at Talk iPhone: "Tomi T Ahonen seems like a very excitable young man."
My Own Reality: Pretty stirring stuff indeed
Don McAllister's blog, My Own Reality works in screen design (?) or something like that around the Apples (sorry Don about the Hollywood thing, I misunderstood). He says he "stumbled upon this post... about the impact that the iPhone is likely to have" and quoted a little over a paragraph from our blog and concluded: "Pretty stirring stuff indeed! The future looks bright (but not necessarily Orange)!"
OTHER VIEWS
Kelly's World: Second coming of Jesus?
In a nice writing style of satire, Kelly Adams of Kelly's World - a site which looks at gmaing - wrote five paragraphs and his theme is captured here: "The iPhone is being developed by Apple using Macintoshes, and its developers probably were listening to iPods at the time. It goes without saying that it will be the most supremely innovative portable phone ever invented. It will change everything we know, everything we have known, and everything we will know about personal communication. Truly, those who carry an iPhone will be blessed. Those who carry an iPhone while listening to an iPod on their way to or from working on a Macintosh will carry within them the genius of the ages. Their very breath will stir the soul and elevate the mind: their brilliance will be without peer."
Kelly goes on to add the personal zinger to us: "For more clarification regarding the beginning of the new era of communications technology, see this article by some genius with a Macintosh named Toni Ahonen." (and for those of our readers who do not have English as their first language, yes, Kelly means sarcastically that I am NOT an genius)
But Kelly too does get our point, am happy that she found some agreement really with the biggest point in our blog when he concludes: "Toni is right in at least one respect: regardless how stupid some aspects of the iPhone may be, it is already focus of a near-religious fervor."
SO ARE WE BLASPHEMING?
iPhone Matters: You will not get disagreement from me
Gregory Ng at iPhone Matters wrote 5 paragraphs and called it "Will the iPhone be as important as Jesus Christ?" He does immediately explain that we didn't quite mean that in our blog, saying "Ahonen certainly does not claim directly that the iPhone will be as important as Jesus Christ" - thank you Gregory. He then continues with a quote from us and gives his take on the story:
The idea of defining Eras of time based on new technology and the way people interact with them is interesting. After all, generations have started to become defined that way: Baby Boomers were named for the sheer amount of births and then were later defined by their actions, but Generation Y’ers were named for an attitude. You will not get any disagreement from me on the significance the iPhone will make on popular culture and the way people think of personal phones. But I am very skeptical that people will realize the impact in the present day.
Wittenburg Blog: Proclamation by consultant as Jesusphone
Our story then starts to get off tracks. Wittenburg blog reports not on our original story but on Gizmodo's story and claims that we have proclamed the iPhone as the Jesusphone. In a short 3 paragraph story with picture, Skippy R posts at Wittenburg blog under the heading "Telephono Blasphemioso" and gives first a definition of presumptious (accusing us obviously of being:) "Overstepping due bounds, overconfident or venturesome; impertinently bold; audacious; rash; taking liberties unduly; arrogant; insolent, rude and disrespectful."
The short blog entry comments on our writing: "The gadget blog Gizmodo reports a proclamation from Tomi T Ahonen, self-proclaimed "world's leading 3G strategy consultant," that the Apple iPhone should be seen as the Jesusphone." and then gives a one-paragraph quote, and ends with this final thought: "You can see the original post here, if you, uh, really want to.
(Tomi's comment here - I do resent those bloggers who don't bother to refer to the original posting. I obviously never made a proclamation that the iPhone is anything like a "Jesusphone" so this Skippy R is definitely putting words into my mouth)
Macitt: As important as Jesus Christ so says author
At the Macitt site the story has now mutated rather badly. They also labeled it "Will the iPhone be as important as Jesus Christ" and then the story continues "so says author of Communities Dominate Brands" Tomi T Ahonen. And just to be very clear - no, I did not make that comment anywhere in my blog. So this Macitt contributor is now fanning flames to this fire.
However, that entry had 25 reads and 10 comments, ranging from GeorgeK who wrote "Well, you've just lost all the Christians' business with this remark" to majicman who countered "I'm a Christian, and I find this rather humorous." Thank you majicman. But it is important to note that the Macitt site does not refer to our original blog, it refers to the iPhoneMatters blog where the story was called "Will the iPhone be as important as Jesus Christ"
FROM ANTI-JESUS TO DRUG PUSHER
PMP Today: "The iPhone Pusher: A new breed of techie"
The PMP Today site (Portable Media Player Daily News) had another take on the story, suggesting we are similar to drug pusher, in peddling the iPhone story. PMP reports accurately on what we wrote in a 3 paragraph story (with picture) and starts off with:
Tomi Ahonen is the world’s foremost 3G guru has written a rather provocative article titled “Entering iPhone Era: Marking Time in Mobile.” Just how provocative it is. Here is his premise: Mobile phones will be chronologically measured based on BI and AI or “before iPhone” and “after iPhone.”
PMP Today continues with good coverage of our basic forecasts but then adds their analysis to the end. Not on whether the iPhone will itself change the world, but rather on an emergence of new tech pundits, the iPhone pusher (and we are the obvious example to PMP Today) and they write: "(The iPhone pusher) will play up iPhone’s attributes (big screen, multi-touch interface) and play down or totally ignore its shortcomings (poor camera and battery life no 3G and). The worst characteristic of an iPhone pusher is that he will constantly ignore market demands, e.g. for cheaper cellphones (mobile growth in China and India are the fastest in the world) and invent markets that do not yet exist and perhaps never will, e.g. mobile networking."
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED
So we here at Communities Dominate Brands are both "bonkers" and "idiots" on a scale of 1-10 we score 11 on the idiotometer, and we are "rude" and "disrespectful"
We are "blaspheming" and we obviously work for Apple as "iPhone pushers".
But we are also "very good" and "great", "insightful" who offer "high quality thoughts" in a story "not to be missed" considered "best post this week"
That is it, folks. The Community has spoken. Yes, some like our story, others don't. That is what it will always be like in a "Communities Dominate" world. Get used to it. You cannot please everybody.
What we do love, is that this story sparked discussion about changes both within the telecoms space and beyond it, into IT, internet, media and advertising. That is what we hoped to achieve now, in May. We do want to wake up the sleeping giants of American Media, American IT, American advertising etc and we hope that the hype around the iPhone will finally wake up the big American corporate HQ's to the biggest digital media and technologoy innovation of their lifetimes which is already barnstorming the rest of the world - mobile (the 7th Mass Media channel).
We'll return to this story for sure later to see if any of our "outrageous" predictions did in fact come true. But we greatly appreciate the discussion by "the Community."
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