iPhone home…

I spent the last few weeks shopping for a new interactive agency at my day job. Throughout the process, each of the candidate agencies has talked about their capabilities addressing the mobile market, all taking about the promise of the market overall. But a change occurred this past week. Each presenter, during their mobile segment, digressed to talk about Apple introducing the iPhone. And each one told us why the iPhone was doomed to fail. They included the same reasons you’ve probably seen lots of places: no 3G, restrictive network options, closed system, limited battery, etc. And then each one told us the same thing. “Still, I’m going to buy one.”

The point here is simple. If you load your product with enough positives, enough folks will overlook its negatives to buy it anyway. The iPod lacked a number of things that later – as well as earlier – MP3 players included: FM tuner, larger screen, Wi-fi “squirting,” whatever. But the iPod continues to outsell them all. It does its job well and folks want it.

The dialogue around the iPhone reminds me of the Apple Newton. If you remember the Newton, it was a portable device, the original PDA. Lot of folks wanted one. No one bought one, mind you. But everyone wanted one. The iPhone brings back that memory for me. Lots of cool features, lots of negatives. While it’s too soon to make a call, its limitations may outweigh its benefits enough to kill its sales. Still, I’m going to buy one.