Sorry for stepping in so late! Am 22.01.2010 um 11:54 schrieb Michael S. Hart:
On my planet "Microsoft did" NOT "put a computer on every desktop."
Not even on earth! Apple, IBM, Commodore, and Atari started. MS had a sort of monopoly far as OSes went so it is now the most widely distributed one.
Or on any desktop, for that matter.
Even though I switched from CP/M to DOS at a moment's notice.
Just the same, "the iPhone" DID NOT "put the web in our pockets." Nope sure did not. Had a phone tat could use the internet for years before the iPhone came out but could/would not afford the connection prices. The iPhone was the first requiring internet and sold exclusively with a data rate.
Unless, of course, what you mean is on YOUR PLANET they made it a fad.
While Apple gets too much credit for iPhones, which are, after all, only a VERY small percentage of all cellphones sold in their times, Apple also gets too little credit for bringing us the PC, period. True, but with one of the highest ratings for internet usage as compared to other makers!!
The iPhone GUI is what is making the difference and ease of use.
So, perhaps on your planet this makes it all balance relatively.
I prefer a balance just slightly closer to the facts.
If you've been on this list long, you've seen my references to the Nokia Communicator 9000, as shown in the movie "The Saint" [1997], and therefore in existence when it was shot and set in 1996. . . .
Such phones were commonplace in Europe a decade ago, I saw them.
Like I said had one.
The US has always been way behind in cellphones, and still is, iPhones notwithstanding, cuteness notwithstanding.
I would not say that. But, the hype around the iPhone got the common people to spend big bucks for such phones. regards Keith