Apple to delight - or disappoint - with the 3G iPhone?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 10 April 2008 16:45

Your IT - Mobility

The 3G iPhone could well be the maker or breaker of Apple in 2008 – and beyond.

With a share price that still reaches into the stratosphere, and competing mobile manufacturers quickly coming up with iPhone-esque devices, if not actual clones of the unique iPhone multi-touch interface, Apple must shine with the 3G iPhone in ways that it has never shone before.

Clearly I speak not of where the sun don’t shine, for that is parlance far too crude for iTWire and our dear readers, despite occasional outbursts from some commenters who may have started finishing school but never actually finished it - or skipped it altogether.

Instead, I speak of the expectations of the world, and the stock market, in wishing to see a 3G iPhone that overflows with useful technology, rather than ripping it away, as was seen in the spectacular, but still slightly disappointing, MacBook Air – not from the point of view of what it included, but what it didn’t include.

There will always be a third generation of iPhone to fix any issues missing from the iPhone’s second generation: a 3G model. For those that are unsure, the first generation of the iPhone was the 2G model. All these generations can be potentially confusing.

But any third generation iPhone (to come after the 3G iPhone) would be at least one year away, and likely longer.

Apple can’t afford any missteps, its reputation – and that of Steve Jobs – is at stake.

Given Apple’s ability to create masterful technology, it’s very likely that the 3G iPhone will be all that we could have desired and more.

But if it comes with too many features restricted or unavailable, there will be much wailing.

Apple will, if history is any guide, sell millions anyway and further solidify its place in the world as not only a major manufacturer of music and media devices, but as a telecommunications powerhouse that rose like a Phoenix from the mid 90s ashes of near collapse.

Oh 3G iPhone, we await thee, whether in locked or unlocked form, to transform the world of handheld computing and communications once again. Please Steven P. Jobs, shock and awe us with overwhelming delight and technological sophistication.

June and July can’t come soon enough!