iPhone 3G: Apple hype machine trumps reality again

The Apple cult once again has received word from on high: You will bow down at our altar, and you will buy. The Apple hype machine has gone into overdrive about the new iPhone, and the zealots have responded, even though the device is packed with plenty of "me-too" technology.

There's no doubt that the new iPhone is a great phone, with great features, at a great price. But the hype and praise, as with anything by Apple, goes far beyond the actual qualities of the product itself.

Along with a lower price, the iPhone was given high-speed 3G capabilities (in fact, it's now called the iPhone 3G), and GPS features.

Shocking! Amazing! Revolutionary! In fact, though, plenty of phones already have 3G and GPS, and have had them for quite some time. Apple is late to the party here.

The iPhone also has new software that will allow it to work with Microsoft Exchange.

That's old hat as well. The Blackberry has done it for years. So has Microsoft's Windows Mobile software. So has the Symbian operating system, used on countless smartphones. Once again, Apple is merely announcing "me-too" technology.

By announcing the ability of the phone to work with Exchange, Apple hopes to crack the enterprise market. But as a Computerworld article points out, it's got a long way to go. Multiple IT managers interviewed for the article said they wouldn't be using the iPhone any time soon. Among other issues is that iPhone applications will have to be distributed via iTunes.

Manjit Singh, CIO of Chiquita Brands International, told Computerworld he wouldn't be beta testing the phone, and explained:

I don't want to be carrier-locked [to AT&T], and I don't want to be forced to distribute apps via iTunes. What if my enterprise needs to develop my own app? It won't be realistic to need Apple's permission to have it hosted on iTunes to make it accessible.

Apple also makes much of its plan to sell 10 million iPhones this year, as if that's some remarkable feat. Considering that Nokia sold 435 million phones last year according to the Boston Globe, 10 million sounds pretty pitiful.

Once again, Apple has shown its mastery of the hype machine. It lags behind Microsoft in market share and much else, but when it comes to hype, it leaves Redmond in the dust.

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