iPhone 3G: all your Internet parts are not belong to us

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 27 August 2008 07:31

Your IT - Mobility

The ASA’s assessment continued: “We considered that, because the ad had not explained the limitations, viewers were likely to expect to be able to see all the content on a website normally accessible through a PC rather than just having the ability to reach the website. 

”We concluded that the ad gave a misleading impression of the Internet capabilities of the iPhone.”

The ASA further explained that: “The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.2.2 (Implications).”

The ASA then ruled that: “The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form”, which in my opinion was the right decision.

Hopefully, Apple modifies its advertisement so that it can continue to advertise the iPhone’s otherwise incredible Internet browsing capabilities.

After all, the Mobile Safari browsing experience is still arguably the very best available on a handheld mobile device, although the Opera Mobile 9.5 browser (beta) for Windows Mobile devices is certainly getting quite close to Mobile Safari’s lofty standards.

The sad part of all this is that Apple never needed to make such a sweeping claim. It didn’t need to say “all” of the Internet. It could have avoided having this decision made against it, while still showcasing the iPhone’s superior mobile browsing experience.

I guess it simply shows once again that, while Apple and Steve Jobs are geniuses in many ways, they are not perfect.

And as for Flash and Java being missing from the iPhone? I can’t honestly say that I’ve missed them for a moment, especially when browsing on the run.

If I really want Flash and Java that much, they’re available in full on my full-size computer, whenever I need them.

But that doesn’t mean that Apple shouldn’t find a way to accommodate mobile versions (at least) of both programs at some stage in the future, as we know that Adobe and Sun would love to see happen.

Until then, having “almost” all the parts of the Internet are on the iPhone are more than good enough, and a heck of a lot better than most competitive efforts until now!