By Dr. Philip Baczewski, Director of  Academic Computing and User Services

The Convergence Beat Goes On

Recently, Apple Inc. announce a product they are calling the iPhone. This new product has raised a number of questions. Is it a phone or a media player? Is it a camera or an Internet browser? What's the name of Apple's choice for its cellular service? And, is it an iPhone or isn't it?  

Is it a phone?

OK. Let's take one question at a time.  Is it a phone or a media player or a camera or an Internet browser? The answer is, yes. It is all those things, and true to Apple form, is all those things in a rather spiffy design package. Apple bills the iPhone as a "revolutionary mobile phone." The revolutionary part is that they've done away with the keypad in favor of the touch screen. The hardware technology has been around for a while to enable such a change, but it may take Apple's software technology to finally pull it off. They've provided a phone keypad and even a qwerty keyboard on the screen, but have built in a number of features that allow you to take advantage of shortcuts or avoid the keypads altogether.

Way back in 2004, I posited that my  next phone would have more characteristics of a PDA, with Bluetooth to sync with my Macintosh OS X system, and the ability to support a portable Bluetooth keyboard and headset. About a year ago, I made the commitment to a Palm Treo 650 which almost meets all of those goals. My other wish was for "reasonably fast Internet service via my cell phone provider would pretty much relegate my WiFi use to eliminating one more cable to the computer on my desk." The "reasonably fast" part has come true and I can read my e-mail and browse most web pages on my Treo. But, the "native" cellular network data speed still leaves much to be desired.

The Treo 700p supports EvDO, enabling much faster Internet access. The Treo, however, still comes with warts, such as rebooting at the drop of a hat due to poor memory management and an easy-to-use, but screen real estate-eating thumb keyboard. The iPhone can access WiFi as well as high-speed cellular-based networking. So, it would appear that the iPhone is my dream device, except for one thing. Apple chose Cingular (or did it?) as their exclusive cellular service provider. For one thing, this is a disincentive for me and maybe many others because of an established relationship and a preference for a different service provider. Also, Cingular supports the EDGE rather than EvDO protocol for broadband networking. According to Wikipedia, "Compared to the GPRS and EDGE networks employed by GSM networks, the 1xEV-DO feature of CDMA2000 networks is significantly faster."

Is it Cingular or isn't it?

After spending millions developing the artificial name "Cingular" and spending more millions to be sure we didn't pronounce it "kingular," it appears that the name is being dropped in favor of the "AT&T" brand. You'd think they could have either waited a few days or finalized this decision sooner, so that Apple's iPhone info wasn't immediately obsolete. Cingular came back to AT&T when its acquisition of Bell South became final.  AT&T had spun off its wireless service, which was acquired, in part, by SBC, which later acquired AT&T and adopted its name, but didn't fully control Cingular until it acquired Bell South which owned the rest of Cingular which is now being renamed back to AT&T. I fully expect to see Pan Am flying again any day now.

AT&T isn't the only one playing the name game. Apple, while announcing their foray into phone and home entertainment technology (the much unreported AppleTV), dropped the "Computer" from their name. They are now to be know simply as Apple Inc. This is not surprising, since they've probably had more volume of sales in music and music players over the last several years than in computers. It's also perhaps a recognition that computers are a means and not an end and can come in many forms these days.

Is it an iPhone or isn't it?

For years, everyone has talked about the possibility of an Apple iPhone which would combine the best features of a cell phone and Apple's iPod and iTunes technologies. Motorola did introduce something with Apple-endorsed iPod functionality called the "ROKR" which never quite caught on as well as the iPod. In the mean time, in spite of everyone's assumption, it turns out that Apple doesn't hold the rights to the iPhone name. Cisco, the network device company, does, having acquired it when they acquired Linksys who acquired it when they acquired Infogear Technology Corporation (when you get big enough, you don't have to invent any more - you just eat smaller companies). At least Cisco claims to own the rights to that trademark.

Trademarks are not as solidly owned as copyrights. Apple has a number of strategies it could use to attempt use of the name, other than paying Cisco a bunch or money.  They can claim that Cisco has not adequately defended the trademark, although, Cisco suspiciously released its own iPhone last December (at least the timing is suspicious). Apple could claim a general trademark on their i-stuff usage, with a stable that includes the iPod, iTunes, iMac, iLife, iPhoto, iMovie, iSteve?, etc. Whatever the strategy, other than showing up with a wheelbarrow full of money, it appears that we'll be treated to a protracted legal battle over this issue.

It's a Convergence

The one thing the iPhone does represent is a further convergence in  mobile communication devices, and possibly computing in general. The iPhone runs Apple's OS X, so with it's 4 or optional 8 gigabytes of storage, you might make the case that this is a mobile computer and not just a phone. We'll have to wait and see to what extent applications are made available for it. With it's ability to talk over WiFi or cellular protocols, it is an adaptable Internet access point. And it's a phone.

Convergence is happening without the iPhone. When was the last time you saw anyone with a pager? The ubiquity of cell phones has pretty much done away with the pager market. Likewise, do you take more photos with a camera or with your phone? Serious photographers will still want the better technology found in camera-only devices, but for the occasional snapshot, phones are pretty handy. Apple hasn't invented convergence, but they've made it even easier with a better camera and really pretty package. So, those who wish to converge can't wait until March when they can get their hands on a Cingular, or whatever it's called, Apple Computer, or whatever it's called, iPhone, or whatever it's called.

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