What is it about the iPhone?

Few phones have intrigued us as much as the iPhone... I mean, why is it so hyped? Why is it so popular? What is it about that phone that makes people want it? Or hate it? Or generally makes people talk about it so much?

... I think I found out what it is, that "thing" about the iPhone, awhile ago. It's all about "loyalty".

A couple of friends and I were havin brunch the other day, and the talk turned to phones, and their opinions about them. Those who already own an iPhone wanted to get the new one, and those already owning a nokia wanted the new n97, and those with the blackberry will probably get either the G2 or the upcoming Storm 2 this 4th Q.

I think the impression that I got.... generally, is that people (if they had a choice) wouldn't want to change that much. Especially if they're already comfortable with the device they have - why mess with a good thing, right? Of course, on the other hand - there are those who do change, some even change often. Some say that these people - are nerds or 'gadget freaks', those who absolutely must have the latest in everything, and is willing to spend for anything that's new. Then there are so those who change - because they're unsatisfied. Like a person wanting a touchscreen because he's so bored with keypads, or those wanting a new phone because he's done everything he could do with his present device - he wants something new.

What would make a person interested? The "thing" about the iphone is that, coz of the hype, the ADs, the fans - mostly the fans, it exerts a certain charm, a certain "pull" that makes you want to be loyal to it.

Just read a couple of forum posts at mac forums, or at mac sites, and you'll see hundreds of posts defending "their" phone to death. It doesn't matter if they're reasonable or is uttering nonsense - the question that comes to your mind is, WHY are they acting this way towards this device in the first place?

Here's an example. a guy posts that he doesn't need a camera, he doesn't mind that his iPhone has no flash, or no video. He "doesn't use them anyway, they're useless", and goes on that "if he wanted good pics he would bring his digicam or his camcorder, blah blah blah"...and he almost always quotes steve jobs saying that "nobody uses video that much anyway". This same guy also posts that he doesn't need mms, doesn't need copy-n-paste, doesn't need stereo bluetooth - in fact, he DOES NOT NEED almost everything the other phones have. (Sounds ridiculous, I know, but believe you me - it does happen.) This guy seems to think that his phone is perfect - that the UI in his phone makes up for everything the phone lacks.

Then last week when the iPhone 3Gs was announced - he suddenly woke up, and is now posting that it is the "greatest phone ever" because it has ALL the things that was added. Things that a few weeks ago - he's so adamant in saying that he doesn't need. Hehehe :D

It kinda makes you ask, doesn't it? What would inspire someone to behave like that? To be loyal to a device like that? To be blind to everything else like that? So what then, would generate all this 'loyalty'?

Apple is the 'underdog' in the mobile phone business, when it entered the market, it had only one phone to sell. One phone with 2 aces up its sleeve - multi-touch and the appstore. And this 'aces' are what transformed apple from being an underdog to what is probably one of the biggest players in the smartphone market.

As is with human nature - we are always pleased to see the "underdog" become a giant, pleased to see david slaying goliath, pleased to see one man (luke skywalker) bring down an empire. This concept that we are pleased to see something small become big - and deservingly of course, is what Apple uses to inspire loyalty.

Like in the first keynote... he could've just said that "the touchscreen that we are offering is different from all the other TS's before"... but no, steve jobs actually posted examples of a samsung, a palm, a nokia - and said that "having a keyboard is unflexible and bad". He outrightly challenged the 'giants'...it was the classic case of the underdog slugging it out with the giant.

And the appstore - noone even thought about making one before. But when they found that it was the "key" to the iPhone's success - they are now head over heels in a hurry to bring out their own.

Those 2 aces is what's so inspiring about the iPhone. For the first time since the phone got popular - it was not about the camera, it was not about the battery or the screen, it was now about the apps. "What app or game do you have now and what does it do?" are the questions being asked. Whereas before, people were asking "How many megapixels does your phone have? "Or does you phone have email?" - nowadays, its taken for granted that your phone already has a camera and email, the main buzz now is about 'what apps are you using?".

This inspiration is what Apple is. This is the thing that makes people loyal. To be part of a group that wasn't there before. To be a part of 'apple world'. Some place they have never been before but was right under their noses.

Anyway... to prove this theory of 'loyalty'...we talked about this one guy. We analyzed his story and discussed its relevance to the theory.

This guy, an officemate of my friend, had started working in their office a couple of months ago. And he was an "apple fanboy" as much as anyone. His whole persona is about apple - has a macbook, has an iPod, has an iphone 3G. But as it turned out, he's the only one with an iPhone 3G, in that office. Almost everyone - either had a blackberry, a samsung, a motorola, or a nokia.

And in times of 'tech talking" as me and my friends call it... he couldn't cope. "Hey rick, could you pass me that ringtone you heard this morning, kinda like it, its catchy"...all he could do was stare. "John, buddy... could you send me that pic of that babe you met last night".... again, all he could do was stare. There was this one time when he got a funny picture and text joke on his phone email and he showed to all of his friends. All of them wanted a copy. Then he remembered - that his phone had no copy-n-paste so he had to retype everything word for word - by the time he finished, and was ready to send it to email, noone wanted it - coz the moment had passed, it wasn't funny anymore. But the final blow came that one time when we all had a picnic, an informal office outing down by the lake, and their office (a sister company) was invited too. It was nothin formal - kinda like a spur of the moment thing, just us employees and no bosses. The affair was going nicely, and he was even showing off his GPS from his phone. Then when nighttime came his phone died out. The timing was lousy coz they were in the middle of discussing something - a place they wanted to see next week. Fortunately, another guy had a 5800 - and he had a spare battery as well. They fired the GPS and continued their talk there.

The iPhone guy felt a little sad. He didn't mind that he lost out on the talk that was going on 0 but what he minded was that, all his friends had spare batts. One even bought a 'mobile charger' (powered by Double A's), and they can continue to enjoy their phones. All he could do was stare. Since noone cant lend him a battery and there was no outlet to charge his phone.

The end to this story was... after about a month or two, frustration after frustration, he sold off his iPhone and bought a blackberry instead. He found out that no matter how 'good' he wanted to feel, no matter how much compensating he does (to himself), telling himself that it's okay to now have this or that feature - in the end, he couldn't make himself feel better. The phone, no matter how pretty it looked, just couldn't do the things he wanted it to do.

Now, with his new phone, he's so "IN" with his officemates - some are even looking up to him for 'tech' advice. :)

Do other brands (of phones) have this kind of "loyalty"? Do other brands make you interested? With nokia, yes - up to a point maybe. But other than apple - I dont know if they can inspire the same kind of passion that fans have for the iphone. And unless apple does something monumentally stupid - it will probably be a long long time to either prove or disprove something similar or something quite like it, in other brands.


cheers!