MANILA, Philippines—So just what is it that gets people crazy about the iPhone?
I don’t know the answer, even if I’m about as crazy as everyone else. (Even crazier: I actually got one last year, against my better judgment. I couldn’t wait; terminal early adopter syndrome.)
Of course you know—and how could you not—that it’s finally coming to the Philippines for real. Not some covertly-bought units spirited over from the US by “balikbayan” relatives, or units bought at atrocious markups in Greenhills and unlocked by some snotty Mac fanboys. The iPhone 3G release is the real deal, with product support and all the frills—and the Steve Jobs stamp of authenticity. It’s a legally recognized, honest-to-goodness iPhone, courtesy of Globe via SingTel, the official regional distributor.
Before the rates were officially released by Globe last week (high and prohibitive, to no one’s real surprise), every tongue was wagging, wondering how the (in)famous phone would be launched in our country, and for how much. It was a phenomenon public relations firms could only dream about, the sort of stuff that doesn’t happen in real life.
That was a unique Apple invention, a marketing creation as solid and phenomenal as any Mac or iPod. Until the official product announcement at a keynote speech or event, everyone involved was tight-lipped, gagged or silenced by an NDA-a non-disclosure agreement. Gossipy Filipinos are suckers for these things. We love a good cover-up.
As a result of Apple’s cloak-and-dagger stuff, the gadget-obsessed, uniquely cellphone-crazy Filipino multitudes went crazy with anticipation. The local technorati were holding forth about the iPhone’s virtues, stoking the fires on TV and for anyone who cared to listen. The collective global zeitgeist and the unflagging attention the international media had been giving the iPhone didn’t help much.
The rumors were rife, like earthquake predictions via SMS. Yes, they said, the iPhone 3G will be released sometime August-September-October and cost more than a car. That it’ll have this feature, but it won’t have that, or that the GPS feature won’t work here, or that the 3G will be completely useless anyway, so just buy an old model and just have it unlocked and jailbroken.
Crazy talk. And all this for a …phone?
You don’t see this sort of madness when a new fliptop, slider or smartphone from someone else debuts (then again, it’s hard to get excited about incremental upgrades). It’s odd that the ones that do command attention these days are the iPhone look- or work-a-likes. It’s further testament to how gargantuan the Reality Distortion Field is the iPhone can generate by itself. I mean, how cool is it that another device can become semi-cool just by association with it?
In the US when it first came out over a year ago, people lined up for days to get one, and when the new version was launched last month, similar mayhem ensued, and queues formed around the block at many outlets.
When it does come out here, can we expect the same frenzy and manic devotion? Will lines form around Globe Business Centers all over the metro on Aug. 22?
But still, after all of that, it’s just a phone. On steroids, to be sure, but still just a phone. But it’s not as if other phones can’t do the same things. What is the fuss about, really?
I think it’s like how the Macs and iPods manage that elusive, self-generating buzz, the kind that money can’t buy. That elusive Apple-ness of the thing.
To use the cliché, it’s more than the sum of its parts, although the parts alone are formidable: the large, bright touchscreen, the multi-touch control, the stable operating system, ease of use, intuitive controls, the accelerometers, plus its concurrent duties as a wireless Internet device and an iPod video to boot.
More than that, the consistency of the device as a whole is what seems to set it apart. It does something other manufacturers never get right. Simply put, the iPhone, like the Macs and the iPods, just work. As a tech reviewer who has the latest gadgets cross his desk all the time, that’s not something I see everyday. Apple tends to know how to dot their I’s and cross their T’s. They did it with the first iPhone, and now the new and improved version is coming to our shores in a few days. What’s not to get excited about?
There are two major improvements: 3G functionality and Global Positioning System (GPS) features. The other minor ones are “push e-mail” and under-the-hood improvements, along with some largely cosmetic changes. What a lot of Mac users will appreciate is the ability to purchase apps (and ostensibly music and video) from our own local online iTunes Store, a service which has been limited so far to countries where Apple has more of a secure foothold. For a month now, Filipinos can open iTunes accounts with local credit cards, but are limited to buy apps only.
Recently, the usual suspects managed to unlock and jailbreak the iPhone 3G and the original model to work with the new firmware that lets all the magic happen. Droves of early adopters of course took the plunge and dove in, this author included. One Saturday night a couple of weeks ago I was busy checking out my old iPhone, and you know what?
It’s cool, but not as much as I thought it would be. I don’t have the 3G and the GPS, but I got the apps and the other improvements, and now I don’t have this overwhelming need to line up for an iPhone 3G next week anymore. Sure, I’d love the new hardware functionality and an extra 8GB of storage, but I can hold off. I’m fine with my iPhone 2.5G for now.
But who knows, you might see me queuing outside of a Globe Business Center sometime later this year anyway.
![Zoom Image](javascript:popwin("http://images.inquirer.net/media/showbizandstyle/you/elife/images/pic-08150808110077.jpg", 410, 565))
Zoom
Read Full Story
