Monday, February 26, 2007
Apples all around
Apples all around
Apple Computer and Cisco have completed what I believe to be a landmark agreement in the two company’s history. Cisco held the rights to the name iPhone and Apple Computer is planning to create a phone and label it the iPhone, follow the long withstanding “I” prefix to many of Apple’s products. The agreement states that both companies will be able to use the name and states that the companies in the future may work together to fuse the two iPhones together into one product.
I think this is the best proposal Apple has made in a very long time, at least since the time when Microsoft stole their whole design. 
See, the Cisco iPhone had many, many different functions and abilities that if added to the Apple iPhone would create the best smart-phone on the market. Cisco’s iPhone is meant to be used with the free computer to computer chat program Skype which is owned by Ebay.
Skype is chat software similar to that of AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger or Yahoo Instant Messenger. Skype though, offers unparalleled clarity in its voice chatting. Skype users can use headsets or phones hooked to the internet via landline, fiber or even wirelessly and chat to other skype members who are connected in the same way.
Why is this the greatest thing since sliced bread?
Free wireless internet is all the rage. Companies such as Google are purchasing unused fiber by the ton to allow access to the internet anywhere within wireless range. Google plans to make whole cities wireless hotspots so that people anywhere within range can access to internet for free with no restrictions. Some Cities have also caught on and are offering free wireless for their inhabitants. My city in particular has made Main Street wirelessly connected to the internet and cities like Philadelphia now offer city-wide wireless coverage as one of the many benefits of living there.
So who cares? Wireless has been around forever. Imagine though, that if every place in the world was covered by a giant wifi hotspot. (This isn’t that out there, I can see it within 10-15 years as technology races ahead.) Now imagine that you and everyone else you know has a phone that can connect to wireless hotspots and access the program Skype. You would essentially be able to log onto your skype account and call anyone in the world for free! The voice functions would be sent wirelessly to any other person you would like who is currently in a wifi hotspot. All your communications would be made over the internet in real time, much like cell phones minus the monthly charges.
This new iPhone could essentially be a free phone for life. Your correspondence will be dispatched over one of the many internet hotspots offered by your city, or even in your own home to another person hundreds of miles away who is also connected in the very same way. You, as the consumer, would incur no extra data charges and you could kiss that terrible monthly bill goodbye.
Am I a buyer?
Of the phone, yes. The companies involved, no thanks.
Apple and Cisco are both overpriced in my opinion. Apple represents a company lagging that of its cost cutting competitor. Its software is largely unused in the corporate world which represents a large portion of the overall market and only 10% of people actually own a Mac. Apples core businesses, software and hardware for computers is slowly falling out. The iPod and iPhone lines are two very profitable lines that will completely eclipse the sale of computers and computer parts.
The rapid expansion of Apple, in my opinion is less than positive. I cannot expect the same growth rates from a company now showing its age. Increased product lines do ensure a stable company but can also bring gloom if Apple can’t keep on top of its core businesses. It is important to note that Apple has increasing competition from its superior in computers, Microsoft, in the mp3 market. The iPod is king, but only if the price is right.
In the end, neither company is worth purchasing. Stick to the phone, it will probably save the consumer $300-$1000 per year in cell charges if the product is created as I have envisioned. This new phone will quickly become THE phone, but only if these two companies allow it.