LOL- Meredtih Viera stumped by iPhone on live TV!

[npincus]

OMG- anybody see that on NBC Today Show this morning?

Meredith Viera was supposed to introduce the iPhone representing herself as the average, non-tech savy person who would be able to use the product with ease, as it was so simply designed and user-friendly! Not for Viera! Lauer called in from England to Viera's iPhone, but she couldn't get it to work... they ended up having the interview with Viera speaking through the unconnected iPhone, and Laeuer holding a telephone that dumped into a voice mail! It was very awkward and, in my opinion, a PR disaster for iPhone. Viera, stumped by the phone operation, presented the product to millions of Americans as something the "average" person could not use with ease. Really, really awkward and Lauer tried to conceal his contempt (poorly). There's got to be a video of that somewhere!

LOL- Steve Jobs must be spitting mad. :rofl:

[SpiralHawk]

1. republicon Black Ops !!!!!

fer sure


Actually, Apple was DUMB to roll this new product out while Mercury (communications) is Retrograde.

Why, oh why, didn't Apple do the republicon THANG and hire a good astrologer like Ronald Reagan?

Republicon occultists -- excepting the Skull & Boner Cabal -- are so much more SAVVY about these THANGS.

[stellanoir]

7. Somewhat still stationary Uranus as well.

Reminds me of the time Wesley Clark launched his campaign under Mars retro in Sept '03. A war hero running under that. . .?
Shot himself in the foot right out of the gate he did. He's one of our brighter ones too.

[annabanana]

2. That's what happens when you spend your good advertising bux

on "news" stories...

Just buy the advertising time Steve. . .

[acmavm]

3. Why would anyone want one of the first ones out anyway? They

still have a brazillion bugs to work out of it. And in six months they'll cost half of what they do now.

Stupid to jump on the old iPhone bandwagon so early. Plus, and this is a big one, they're partnered with AT&T. That's a deal killer for me, even if someone gave me one (which is the only way I'll be getting one).

[soothsayer]

5. They won't come down in price in the next iteration,but they will begin

to work out the bugs. My Treo cost more than the iPhone is going for, and IT has competition (from blackberry).

[MuseRider]

19. Love my Treo.

Lost my last one out in my pasture :(. Thankfully I bought the insurance, probably one of the only times I have ever said that!

[MUAD_DIB]

6. Sage advice, acmavm.

[Atman]

16. The price won't change much

Apple has a history of just upgrading features but not lowering prices. The iMac, for instance, still has the same basic price points as when it was introduced, but now the same money gets you a 20" screen instead of 17", etc. It'll be the same with the iPhone for the foreseeable future. They don't lower prices until much later in the product's life cycle, if at all.

.

[SteelPenguin]

30. That's incorrect

The iPod gets cheaper by abotu 33% per Gig of space each generation.

http://www.applematters.com/index.php/section/comments/how_much_cheaper_is_the_ipod_going_to_get/

The first iPod was 5GB for $400. Today I can get a 80 GB video iPod for $340.

I can go get an 8 GB iPod nano (arguably the true comparison to the initial non-video ipod in a much smaller package with 3 GB more space for $200, half the cost of the initial iPod, in a much better package.

Forecasts show that the base iPod will drop 20% in cost within a year based on Apple's previous pricing models.

[Atman]

33. Pretty much what I was saying...the first iPod was many years ago.

The OP was saying wait six months and it will cost half. I'm just saying, no way. Not the way Apple prices hot products. And your example pretty much confirmed what I was saying; the current price point is very close to the original -- just $60 difference, not a big deal -- but the features have grown dramatically.

.

[SteelPenguin]

37. Well cutting by half is obviously not going to happen

Though I disagree with I guess the semantic word choices you're using. The iPod Nano 8GB is better, smaller, has over 50% more capacity, more refined, etc, than the original iPod and it's half the cost.

We aren't talking an overnight shift here obviously, but a five year one, dropped the price in half for something argually twice as good. Your implication that the price point would generally stay the same for better features is correct yes, but the same featured device they do drop the price on, as the newer ones come out.

That's all I'm saying. The price of the iPhone itself will experience a simliar fate, just not in 6 months. Five years from now, however, after years of knock offs and competition, and an opening to all different networks, I would be shocked if you wouldn't be able to buy an open iPhone with simliar data storage specs to the current release for less than half the current price.

[Atman]

38. Yeah, we're talking semantics

I was referring to the original iPods and iMacs, the ones that are ostensibly the same as the original with some upgrades. IOW, Candy iMac to Candy iMac, not Candy iMac to 22" Intel iMac (although that price comparison is still pretty equal, too...I spent about $1900 for my first iMac, I think). Also, the original white iPod to the click-wheel, not the original to the shuffle or the Nano. More like the original to the video, I guess.

But yeah, we're basically in agreement, just off by a few degrees.

.

[SteelPenguin]

29. I'm not touching it

I work with technology, and sometimes I'm tempted but as a rule I never buy the first iteration of anything. I don't care who is making it. It doesn't mean I think it's impossible to release a perfect piece of technology right out of the gate, but I can't recall one, nor am I willing to take the risk.

I'm an AT&T customer currently, but my contract is up in October and I was planning on changing carriers, because AT&T just totally sucks. Not just for their whole complicity in the spying thing, but also just their coverage sucks. Apparently there are a few places in the country, such as the North Central, where they're ok, but in 27 of the 30 biggest markets they're last or next to last as far as coverage and customer satisifaction. I was on the phone most of the day yesterday sitting or standing in my office, and my connection went from full, to nothing, and I dropped about 10 calls, back to full, etc. I've been talking to a business partner about confidential company matters when in MID CALL I got switched over to someone else. One second I hear my collegue, the next second I hear "hello? hello?" from an old woman's voice. "Uh...Hello?" I say, to which they respond "Is this Cingular 411?" to which I reply "Uh....no?" and she swears and hangs up. beep beep beep. Another time the phone switched over to me listening to someone else listening to their voicemail. I couldn't even make a call. My point is that even if I would have considered getting one, the fact that Apple has partnered with the company with one of the worst records as far as a cellular company is concerned, is a big problem for me. I plan on switching to another carrier in October, so no iPhone for me, for at least 5 years the length of their agreement with AT&T.

Also my understanding is the battery isn't replaceable. IE, like the iPod's when the battery runs down, and it will, you have to mail them your phone for them to replace it. That'd be a fun few weeks with no phone, or a replacement with none of your contact information, etc. It's a pain to lose your iPod for a week, but you somehow manage. Without your phone though? That'd be a big problem, even with a loaner. My current Nokia beater phone I can replace the battery in it. I can go online, or to the store, get a new battery, slap it in, done. I don't want to ship my phone off to do that. In an older phone (an Erickson) the battery stopped recharging out of nowhwere, I ran to the store, and got a new battery, slapped it in, charged it back up...off and running, the whole time not missing any work calls.

If the iPhone were in it's 2nd generation, say next year sometime, available on any network, and with a replaceable battery, I'd probably go out and get one. It's got some really cool features that I would immediately make use of. Too bad.

[Mend]

4. how did she get one...they don't go on sale until 6pm today? She must

have a fake, an iFone, and that's why it doesn't work.

[WinkyDink]

9. This is sarcasm, right? Because surely the company wouldn't have provided one?

[WinkyDink]

8. Hee hee! Not that I care, but MEREDITH for this gig? WWTT?!

[pimpbot]

10. Its just part of the BUY BUY BUY propaganda

Obviously Apple's marketing department is in overdrive with all the news outlets. "ooh look how cool it is!" Barely a mention of the $500 pricetag + 2 years of $60 minimum cell plan payments. I know there are tons of apply fanboys here but to me they've become just like any other money loving corporation.

But hey, if you got half a g to drop on one, more power to ya! :)

[lpbk2713]

11. Is Steve Jobs in the Cardiac Care Unit yet?

High Larry us.

:rofl: :rofl:

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. It was a shameless advertisement that went astray

I watched it, and I was laughing my ass off. She was pointing to the buttons, saying "Isn't it easy?" while being utterly unable to accomplish even the simple task of answering the phone. Meanwhile, the other news reader was desperately trying to save the segment by insisting, in increasingly hysterical tones, that its user interface was a snap, and Matt Lauer sounded like he was lecturing a three year-old on fundamental problems of metaphysics. It was truly hilarious.

These news/advertisements are truly a disgrace, but that it the world we live in, so that's that. It is funny, though, when one of them "gan oft aglee," as it were.

[npincus]

17. LOL- now NBC's unenviable position:

Either NBC defends the iPhone and throws their own investment, Viera, under the bus or acknowledges the product is not quite so simple to use:

NBC, Choose one:

(a) Viera is a nitwit. It's a truly user-friendly device for the "average" person, but Viera is below average. Risk: NBC damages Viera's credibility, which hurts the program PLUS risks alienating the millions of viewers who might identify with Viera's inablility to conquer those high-tch gadgets.

(b) iPhone not quite what it's cracked up to be and piss off Apple, save face for Viera.

(c) Ignore, a stain on both Viera and the iPhone. Leave it up to the viewer to decide if Viera is a nitwit, or the product isn't quite what they're telling us it is.

[mondo joe]

18. They'll just ignore it and no one will care.

No one expects Meredith Viera to know anything.

Early adopters won't be impressed that she couldn't use it - they may even get a happy smirk out of it.

People who think MV is worth anything aren't in the market for in iPhone anyway.

[npincus]

21. agreed, but the huge marketing roll-out

is targeted for a much wider audience-- hence, the live demonstration by a self-professed everywoman. jobs is not spending bazillions of $$$ on impressing people who have already made up their minds.

[mondo joe]

25. I still don't think MV will even be a blip on the radar. NT

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. That's true

It's just a small bit of humor in an otherwise endless series of propaganda and message-control.

It has no consequences other than amusing some number of people for a short duration.

[npincus]

27. yes, laughs are in short supply these days.

so I really appreciate the efforts of NBC to lighten my morning with the antics of Meredith and her disobedient iPhone. Thanks to her, Jobs, and the folks at NBC who made this comedy experience possible! :rofl:

[Supersedeas]

40. "a" probably is the correct answer

[Ian David]

13. Meredith Viagra is so, SO far below average in intelligence she makes Bush look like a genius

[mondo joe]

14. I don't think a single early adopter is going to change his or her mind because Merdith Viera's

inability. In fact it might just encourage them.

[peekaloo]

15. Bwah. A stump could stump MV. Every other commercial on NBC last night

was an iPhone ad (seriously) and they use her for the product test run. :rofl:

[bananas]

20. It's the VCR for the new generation

They should put a blinking 12:00 on the display.

[npincus]

23. LOL

I remember my Dad trying to teach me how to use one when it first came out... it was way way complicated.

[Jacobin]

24. Can't change the battery out. That kills it for me

I was very interested in trying one out. I like the fact that it appears to be able to browse the web like a normal computer. But when I found that if the battery goes haywire you have to send it off to get it repaired? That tanked it for me. (I'll call you back in a couple of weeks when my phone gets back from the factory)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

28. This thing about the battery is completely insane. I didn't know this. Is someone supposed to buy a

back-up phone just in case?

[SteelPenguin]

32. Yeah that's a killer for me too

I posted above. I'm assuming you'd have to go to the store and be able to get a 'loaner', but if not that's just insane. Many people don't have any phone other than their cellphone, and can't just give it up for two weeks, even if they get a knock off beater loaner phone.

The fact that Apple is persisting with this same model of an irremovable battery in it's iPhone and iPod really really irritates me.

[cwydro]

26. I thought it was hilarious...

especially when she said, "I told you never to call me here." Then Lauer deadpans, "Um, it's still ringing." Viera cracks me up. I think she has a blas t on that show and really doesn't give a rat's ass about her "image". So different than Katie.

[DS1]

31. PR disaster? Some clown on TV can't run it, and you think that's going to stop anyone?

:rofl:

[npincus]

34. Jobs not spending bazillions on marketing to preach to the choir

he's pitching to a much wider market, the general public, so-called average man/woman who doesn't consider himself/herself a master of new technology and innovation. Hence, the demonstration by a nitwit like Viera-- soemone whom his target audience is suppposed to identify with. The humor is it backfired big time.

Of course, some news reader on tv mastering the iPhone is not an issue for the DU crowd. But Viera basically demonstrated the opposite of what she was supposed to be doing- showing Moms, pops, Grandmas and Grandpas out there that the iPhone was something they had to have, that it was a cinch to use.

Humor is subjective- that did it for me! :rofl:

[EOTE]

35. I so want to see this video.

I've taken the guided tour of the iPhone, and all you have to do is hit a fairly large and brightly lit "Phone" icon when a call comes in, in order to answer it. Surely someone has this on their DVR to upload to youtube. I'm still hoping.

[Javaman]

36. I'm a mac addict but I'll stay with my razr. nt

[npincus]

39. VIDEO here: (MSNBC)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19499360

(not on youtube yet)