Walt Mossberg promises 3G iPhone in 60 days - Engadget
The “3G iPhone in 60 days” is one of the least interesting topics in this video. My 14-month-old daughter could tell you Apple is releasing a 3G iPhone soon! She loves flipping through photos on my wife’s iPhone, by the way. My prediction, however, is closer to 1Q 2009, since that’s when early adopters’ 2-year AT&T contract will be up and they’ll be looking to upgrade.
What is more interesting is his call for more standardized broadband, better advertising, and a better way to bring internet-delivered media to TV sets. You tell ‘em, Uncle Walt!
While I’m not starved for bandwidth (I don’t always use what little I have anyway), it would be nice to have a fat pipe for data when I want to use it. Scandinavia has better broadband than we do?!? Sure, our urban sprawl and expansive land mass make it a little difficult to lay high-speed fiber all over the place, but still…
I’ve ranted about advertisements before. I may have even written about an acceptable dynamic advertising method, although I can’t find where the article went. Basically, like Walt, I don’t care about E.D., tampons, or trucks. I accept the fact that if I want free content from a media provider, I may have to view advertisements. I’m fine with that. I can go get a snack, use the restroom, or whatever while the ads are playing. If the ads are entertaining or informative I may even watch them. However, most ads don’t cater to me, are boring, and are completely biased (although most medications do give some of the downsides, yuck). How about letting your product speak for itself? Give your product to an unbiased reviewer and let him review it. If your product is good enough, the review will be good, so use that as your ad! Hmm…Walt does reviews. I’m not sure exactly how unbiased he is, but if I saw Walt giving a minute long review of something showing features, benefits, and maybe even a few drawbacks, I’d probably watch. I’d be even more likely to watch if what he was reviewing was 1) something I was interested in, 2) related to whatever show I was watching, 3) or closely related to a product I had previously purchased, rated, or showed interest in. Amazon’s suggestions are some of the best I’ve seen, but even those aren’t perfect.
AppleTV and TiVo are currently the best options for internet-delivered media. I would have bought an AppleTV already if I didn’t want even more features (like those that a Mac Mini can provide). Content just isn’t quite there yet. I already pay for cable and I can skip past commercials easily, so I’m not going to subscribe to a season pass on iTunes for a single show. Video podcasts are great, but there are few with good production value, and the content is limited. Most are tech/news/current event-centric. I need some fiction…sci-fi, action, fantasy, drama, comedy, etc.
