Is the iPhone overhyped?

[skier666]

My brother is a HTC smartphone fanboy...just thought I'd share.

[jibij]

This is the first phone to make me waffle:



Intriguing...

[Woodsy]

ring ring ring ring
BANNANAPHONE!

[jibij]

Weird... Jobs says it'll be released at 6pm on the 29th. Wonder why 6pm?

[wi3dzmin]

Wonder why 6pm?

iWonder..?

So that on your way from work to Apple store you've got enough time to hit up Starbucks... Duh.

[Odin]

for an Ilatte, double foam, half-caf, non fat, iced with extra isprinkles.

[jibij]

After the all-day news hype, the lines are going to be freaking HUDGE. There's not going to be enough time to get to the Banana Republic after I get my Starbucks and iPhone.

[skier666]

http://www.apple.com/iphone/usingiphone/guidedtour.html

http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/ap...me_848x480.zip

Ok, the thing looks pretty rad. However, the data useage on that thing is going to pricey.

[cj001f]

And you can walk out the door with one for only $175 more than the list price (contract cancellation fee)

[The Jackamo]

apple is banking hard on the iphone too - apparently they've bought up most of the flash contracts the next 3 months or so from all the major memory manufacturers (samsung, hynix, micron, intel, et al).

they'll probably end up reneging on some of them though. just like they did with IBM and the G5 orders.

[cj001f]

eh, they'll just sell it on the spot market. Flash prices are still falling so demand hasn't gotten that strong.

[Sensisnow]

apple is banking hard on the iphone too - apparently they've bought up most of the flash contracts the next 3 months or so from all the major memory manufacturers (samsung, hynix, micron, intel, et al).

they'll probably end up reneging on some of them though. just like they did with IBM and the G5 orders.

I can't believe it took them this long to reach M$ standards.

[The Jackamo]

eh, they'll just sell it on the spot market. Flash prices are still falling so demand hasn't gotten that strong.

True that. It's still a pain in the ass for other companies though to have to deal with having a more limited supply for the time being.

That and I suppose it doesn't necessarily make them happy to see that Apple has practically carte blanche when it comes to this kind of stuff, especially companies that are longtime clients of the suppliers.

I can't believe it took them this long to reach M$ standards.

From what I understand, and it's been a while since I read about it, Apple pulls this kind of "we're special and we expect special treatment" shit all the time. For instance, with IBM they'd demand custom prototyping of the processors as well as essentially custom silicon (little changes from the established POWER spec) for the end product. Granted, IBM is a giant company and should have the resources to pull off special requests like this easily, some people thought that Apple was being too demanding and picky. Not only that, but Apple as a company is small potatoes compared with the rest of IBM's business strategy, so some people were asking why they were bending over backwards for what was essentially a boutique (in comparison to the rest of their business) operation. Then, Apple would put in huge orders in anticipation for a new product launch, causing IBM to increase capacity and ramp up production. But inevitably Apple would sell a lot less than they had predicted so they would have to essentially say "whoops, just kidding."

That's what I can recall, anyway. There was a great article about it a couple years back, but I can't find it for the life of me.

[cj001f]

I suppose it might; I've no real experience in dealing with commodity markets (and memory, be it DRAM or Flash, is a commodity)

[The Jackamo]

(and memory, be it DRAM or Flash, is a commodity)

Oh, no argument there.

[cj001f]

Oh, no argument there.

a weird/amazing/kindafrightening stage of human technological evolution, no? The product of multi-billion dollar fabs is sold the same as wheat.

[wi3dzmin]

omigod it's released in four days...

+++++hypes++++++

[fonixmunkee]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...oneside25.html

I can't buy music *through* my iPhone? Er, what the fuck?

And I can't make VoIP calls over my wifi connection, OR sync my data with my computer over it? OK...talk about taking a robust device and cutting it's balls off.

The iPhone will only be available for AT&T...for at least 5 years? Wow.

[gamma]

I suppose it might; I've no real experience in dealing with commodity markets (and memory, be it DRAM or Flash, is a commodity)

Im a commodity trader and the market for flash and ram has always been an interesting thought, but the technology changes make it hard to standardize..

maybe there should be a market in silicone? thats what they make the ram and flash chips from right?

[gamma]

a weird/amazing/kindafrightening stage of human technological evolution, no? The product of multi-billion dollar fabs is sold the same as wheat.

am I missing something? is the RAM / Flash a standardized market? dont they cram more data onto smaller chips like every six months or something?

[cj001f]

am I missing something? is the RAM / Flash a standardized market? dont they cram more data onto smaller chips like every six months or something?

for given qualities it's standardized - there's no premium attached to any one producer.

http://www.dramexchange.com/

[gamma]

hmm.. sounds interesting.. want to buy some call options? ... hehehehe..

are u in the ram business CJ? I still think it looks very fragmented as there are like 20 different kinds of ram. commodities markets need standardization to function properly where they can provide a service for a hedger be it a producer or consumer in the form of a forward or an option.

[f2f]

at this point in time i would like to answer to the thread title with a firm "yes".

[cj001f]

are u in the ram business CJ? I still think it looks very fragmented as there are like 20 different kinds of ram. commodities markets need standardization to function properly where they can provide a service for a hedger be it a producer or consumer in the form of a forward or an option.

no, I used to work for an equipment supplier to the manufacturers.

yeah, compared to other things like wheat it's still quite fragmented. hedging in the memory markets is an interesting idea though - the producers, and I imagine big consumers like Dell would love being able to manage that.

[The Jackamo]

there's no premium attached to any one producer.

That's the big sticking point – quality is essentially the same across the board (sure there're some bad apples in the bunch, but those are few and far between), so the only ostensible reason to go to any one producer is because of great customer service or something.

Like it always amazes me how some companies (the fruit-themed one in particular) still manage to charge such a premium on memory that is the same crap that you can get on the after market for half the price.

Prime example:
A 1GB FB-DIMM kit for the Mac Pro from Kingston is $148 direct. From Apple it's $300. Do you think there's any difference in quality between the two?