Monday, June 30, 2008

Is the Apple still Adam's?

That's how the Apple India homepage looks. They could rewrite it as: "The phone you've been waiting for a year. Keep waiting. Or smuggle one from North America or Europe and have it unlocked." The homepage on the global site apple.com reads: "iPhone 3G. Twice as fast. Half the price. Coming July 11."

While I am (and other Indians are) eagerly waiting for the iPhone, and love it already even before we know when would it be officially launched in India, there is an entire community of iPhone haters out there. A majority of these haters are feminists, and someone might just sue Apple for being misogynistic.

A very important feature of the iphone, the multi-touch screen, allows sliding to scroll, pinching/unpinching to zoom, and whisking/dragging to flick/flip, apart from all other operations working by touch. But many women with long fingernails find it difficult to use the virtual QWERTY keyboard to type text. iPhone loves skin and does not work with fingernails and hence it becomes technically infeasible for people with long fingernails to provide bare skin for contact with a small key on the screen.

iPhone does not come with a stylus; it is not designed to have one, it responds to electrical charge emitted by fingertips. However, few companies like Ten One Design claim to have come up with aftermarket iPhone styli even though it disturbs the very essence of the smart phone. In the past, Apple has said that it is more natural to use the pointing device you are born with: the finger.

There is another set of companies that manufacture phone fingers to keep your touch screens smudge-free. These phone fingers are made out of very thin latex, and have obvious sexual uses, and can go as another component in the misogynous claims against the manufacturers of iPhone, even though they do not produce or encourage the use of any such protective sheaths.

Long-nailed ladies have been complaining of this on several forums on the web, including one on Apple's own site, but there are few who are compromising enough to have their fingernails trimmed or use the side of their fingers, whereas there are some who do not have any problems even when they have French manicures.

I've already registered for an iPhone. Let me see when do I get my hands fingernails onto it.

17 comments:

Shailendra said...

It's not an IT prof cell phone.. The features for which it is famous are - storing/viewing pictures and music...

A gud asset for a professional photographer or true music listener .

By professional photographer i mean..who is trying to have a full time career in Clicking.. he may store his/her best clicks n show to ppl for getting consignments ....

N a true music lovers....those genres of ppl who believes in listening quality music rather than just music..

N to avail that features u need to have BOSE headphones..

Try that.. it awesome... :).

I was willing to buy it for the second reason.. but thought otherwise...

moreover now it's a new status symbol. just like having a mERC :-)

Rishabh Makrand said...

I am not really sure why its given a name of "phone"(iPhone) rather one should say the "best storage & handy device" for any kind of data.

Also, I second Shail on this point that iPhone is going to be a new status symbol.. at least for couple of months or years...

Amiya Shrivastava said...

I think apple should have taken care of this! In my opinion, this is basic error in its design but then how are American Ladies enjoying the same?

I do not like Apple Products because of their high costs and also apple's uncompromising attitude. I bought I Pod Classic and invested nearly as much as its cost on its accessories. Apple provides very less for very much. Considering this I dropped the idea of buying Mac Air Notebook (I found that it has 1 usb and 1 firewire port and no CD drive..what's the use of such a laptop specially when you are paying a whooping amount for the same).

Anadi Misra said...

Funny post...You seem to be developing a knack for picking up interesting stories...I think women can access it still, but they probably have to approach at an angle, rather than vertically...You might also ask how do women with long fingernails type afterall....Lets wait till a woman comments on it...Then, we'll know.

What is its price in India?

Anadi Misra said...

Oh, sorry, I just skimmed through the latter half of your post coz I have to go leave for work...You did mention what I just said!

Unknown said...

Shailendra:

Pictures and music? I thought it also has excellent browsing capabilities, the 3G version more so.

Yeah, it might be a status symbol now, even though there are hundreds of other phones available, even more expensive than the iPhone...

Unknown said...

Rishabh:

Well, I never thought of that but I have an answer. It is called a phone because it is a phone with other devices integrated into it. There is no device as of yet which is something else and also functions as a phone.

Unknown said...

Amiya:

I disagree that this is a flaw in design. The reason they did not allow dead objects like fingernails to activate the touch-sensitive screen is that you don't end up calling random people while you slide the phone in your pocket, or it accidentally brushes some other object. There are some other smart phones whose users complain of such unintentional operations.

A remarkable feature of the iPhone is that it distinguishes between finger-touch and accidental touch of ear/cheek while talking on the phone.

I disagree on the cost factor also. A smart phone, an iPod, great touch sensitive user-interface, capability to email and browse, everything for just $199! What else can you get that cheap?

An iPod without accessories is much more functional (provides you almost everything) than a car without accessories, if you know what I mean.

I agree about the Mac Air though. Not only one USB port and no CD ROM, it has a meager non-extensible 2Gb RAM and a fixed 80Gb hard disk. However, the target is not you and me, we might not want to buy it, but there are people out there who'd buy it only for its sex appeal (Amitabh Bachchan has one...) And most people do not even use one USB port. It is the thinnest laptop in the market and has a touch screen like iPod and iPhone. And yes, $1799 is too high a price, but that is what people buy it for. Mahenga hai to achchha hai, class hai.

Apple had to make a lot of sacrifices to get the device this thin. Now that it's that thin, people complain it doesn't have enough features! You need to revisit your priorities. :)

Unknown said...

Anadi:

Thanks yaar.

Yeah, women can access it at an angle, I don't know why any woman is not commenting :) After all, I am supporting their cause against Apple. :)

No idea about the price yet. No one has. I've heard remours of 14K to 24K.

Amiya Shrivastava said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amiya Shrivastava said...

Ashes,

I was not updated about IPhone and its cost. When I was considering to buy it, it was 499$ and so therefore I dropped the idea. But still I'll not buy it due to my bitter experiences.

I agree with you on the design thing but I disagree with you on IPod facts.

I bought IPod Classic 160GB for $375 and found that I could enjoy almost everything the IPod offers on any other mediaplayer @ a lot cheaper price provided I have good speakers(I could have invested on speakers instead).Now a days, I am using my IPod as a portable Hard Disk. The only thing I could purchase with that amount is the sobriquet 'IPod Owner'. I credit this loss to my bad research and to my craving to own an IPod just for the heck of it.

Consider this, Microsoft Zune is available almost @ same price. Why don't people prefer it over IPod. I think it's only the Brand Name Associated with the IPod.

Previous versions of IPod could be easily integrated to any other electronic device by a third party cable but in the newest version you gotta buy Apple's own cable to achieve the same. Why did apple change the design? To acheive something superior? In my opinion when apple saw that the IPod accessories market is as big as apple's own it eyed on it to make it its own.

Just as I don't find meaning in buying Armani and Gucci,I find no meaning in buying Apple Products.

Dimple said...

So, the most awaited comment from a woman/girl ;).

Hey, we do face some problems due to long fingernails but can manage very well now that we are used to them. I have long fingernails and even you noticed them ashu, when I visited B'lore after marriage. You asked me why do I type with the edge of the fingers and not straight and I had kept quiet then.

Now, I think you have got the answer ,haven't you?
:)

Unknown said...

Roli:

Thanks for representing the woman community and giving us a first hand experience. :)

I remember this now, but had totally forgotten, that women with long fingernails have this problem even on rubber keypads :)

Anonymous said...

क्या स्मल किया हुआ आई-फोन भारत में चलेगा? क्या उसकी सेवायें ली जा सकेंगी, कौन फोन कंपनियों वाले यह सेवायें देंगे?

Unknown said...

उन्मुक्त जी,

स्मगल किया हुआ आई-फ़ोन पिछले एक साल से भारत में चल रहा है...लोग आराम से उसे crack कर पा रहे हैं, और उसमे कोई भी जीएसएम सिम कार्ड लगा कर प्रयोग कर सकते हैं...सितम्बर २००७ तक आई-फ़ोन ३२ देशों में crack किया जा चुका था, यहाँ देखिये.

Vikas said...

A perfect balance of style and aristocracy ..... in perfect agreement to the merger of human essence in a PDA.... I would say a much awaited gizmo in Indian nailess society/

Unknown said...

Vikas:

Style I agree, but would not want it to be aristocratic. I believe iPhone to be a great invention, and wish Steve Jobs comes up with an iPhone in every pair of hands dream a la Bill Gates.

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