Apple iPhone 4 is like a Leica

Poisson Du Jour · Jun 8, 2010

Very typical Apple/Jobs spin. And an affront to Leica (no, I'm not a Leica owner), which does not churn out rubbish to a gullible public.

lxdude · Jun 8, 2010

Most in his audience only know Leica's reputation, not Leica. If they don't know Leica, they'll accept his pronouncement, and figure Leica is something special. It's an easy way to use a product of legendary reputation and quality to promote his product. Maybe he believes it.

Leica's not making money hand over fist while some foreign company actually producing the stuff is having a "problem" with employee suicides.

I'm willing to bet no Leica employee is dumb enough to have ever left a Leica prototype behind on a bar stool in a beer garden!

I've always really liked Apple's products. But the whole carefully cultivated cultishness leaves me cold. I guess if you've got the fan base you might as well use it, but it puts me off.

Michael W · Jun 8, 2010

All he was saying is that Apple aspire to the highest standards of design & engineering. Which sounds like a good thing to me.

removed account4 · Jun 8, 2010

cult ?

people who want apple computers use apples,
and have no problem not wanting a PC.
people who want leicas use leicas
and have no problem not wanting a slr ...

i don't have an iphone but know plenty of people who
do cause they are fun.

if using something like to use is "cult-like"
i guess everyone is in one sort of a cult or another ..

hoffy · Jun 8, 2010

I don't use apple because its so cult like that it has now become mainstream......

apconan · Jun 8, 2010

i love leica so much please send me more leica links so i can gloat more about my multi-thousand dollar purchase

removed account4 · Jun 8, 2010

hoffy said:
I don't use apple because its so cult like that it has now become mainstream......

lol mainstream with only 20% of all computer users using them,
up from maybe 10%

i guess i've been part of the cult for 26 or 27 years
and i listen to college radio too ...

Kevin Caulfield · Jun 8, 2010

wotalegend said:
Hmm, there is a group on Facebook about the incorrect usage of they're, there, and their. Also we're, were, wear, and where.

Wear is there group?

Lee L · Jun 9, 2010

jnanian said:
lol mainstream with only 20% of all computer users using them,
up from maybe 10%

For computers Apple is about 6%-7% in the US currently (mid-2010), double the 3% market share of 2003. Probably significantly lower numbers worldwide.

It's really iPods and iPhones (and huge product margins) that have buoyed up Apple's bottom line recently, and where they have much larger market share. The iPhone isn't restricted to a single carrier in many countries as it is here in the US. Many countries require Apple to allow a choice of iPhone carriers because of restraint of trade / monopoly issues. AT&T has an exclusive on iPhones in the US, just recently extended until 2015 or so IIRC. That alone will likely restrict Apple's market share going forward. Android phones in the aggregate outsold iPhones first quarter 2010 in the US, with something like 30 Android models across any carrier you want, and no "walled garden".

Choice is good.

Lee

Athiril · Jun 9, 2010

Shaggysk8 said:
He is very true, lots of people don't get apple, but for those of use that use there stuff for commercial work, there build quality and reliability is spot on

I specifically avoid Apple for commercial work because of it's unreliability and inflexibility in workflow.

firecracker · Jun 9, 2010

Lee L said:
The iPhone isn't restricted to a single carrier in many countries as it is here in the US. Many countries require Apple to allow a choice of iPhone carriers because of restraint of trade / monopoly issues.

I thought the U.S. wasn't, but I guess I was wrong.

However, in Japan it is: It is monopolized by a company called
Soft Bank, and its service sucks!

Sean · Jun 9, 2010

At 23 minutes in he even stated the cohesive community that forms around iPhone 4 users is almost APUG like.

Karl K · Jun 9, 2010

You're missing the point.

2F/2F said:
Like a Leica, except made in.............by.............for the wage of......................and shipped over here, creating ...................fuel demand and air pollution. A Leica? Really? You're such an asshole, Steve. I don't want your stinking iPhone. I want my countrymen to have jobs making them.

The bulk of the money that is made on Apple products, including the iPhone, does not come from manufacturing the phone itself. It comes from useage and the apps, most of which are developed right here in the USA. All the app developers, software engineers, designers, and and creative artists...some of whom follow Apple products religiously, make their living by providing the content.

Similar to Gillette and HP, both of whom practically give you a razor or a printer for free, but make their profits from selling blades and ink cartridges. Apple and AT&T lose about $30.00 on every iPhone they sell, but they make their profit by selling time (AT&T) and apps + iTunes+iBooks (Apple).

I posted the video of Steve Jobs and pointed out his reference to "a beautiful old Leica camera" as the "closest kin to the iPhone 4 in terms of beauty and precision."

Guys, that doesn't mean that we should compare an iPhone 4 to a Leica. What it means is that someone who is so passionate about his brainchild dared to compare it to the finest product he could think of...a product that is beautiful, precise, and functional....a Leica.

I'd say that is an incredible compliment to Leica, whether or not you love Apple, Steve Jobs, or any iPhone.

And by the way, both products are overpriced, and both have long waiting lines of ready buyers.

removed account4 · Jun 9, 2010

SNIP-SNIP-SNIP

Lee L said:
For computers Apple is about 6%-7% in the US currently (mid-2010), double the 3% market share of 2003. Probably significantly lower numbers worldwide.

Lee

there you go ... 7%

now THAT's mainstream !

Lee L · Jun 9, 2010

Karl K said:
You're missing the point.

Although I do understand your original point, we can't control the direction our internet threads take.

Perhaps the one way in which Leica and Apple are most alike is that both are polarizing topics for internet discussion, and there's often more heat than light in the resulting threads. I have yet to see a Leica or Apple/Jobs internet thread in which the arguments dissuaded anyone from their original take on the topic.

Lee

Robert Budding · Jun 9, 2010

Why is it that 'smart phones' make people so dumb? It's difficult to walk in New York because people have their noses in the blasted things. And the roads are no better with people texting while they drive.

Thomas Bertilsson · Jun 9, 2010

I must be really smart, then, because I have a dumb phone - the kind you can make calls on and not much else.

Robert Budding said:
Why is it that 'smart phones' make people so dumb? It's difficult to walk in New York because people have their noses in the blasted things. And the roads are no better with people texting while they drive.

ndlshootsfilm · Jun 9, 2010

Just for giggles...

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

zumbido · Jun 9, 2010

Mainecoonmaniac said:
Iphones in general are not like Leicas. Can't you imagine a 35mm camera where all film has to be approved by Leica? If a Leica is like an Iphone, you can't photograph naked people with it. The only similarity between a Leica and an Iphone is that they're both expensive. However, a Leica won't be obsolete in 5 years. I'm not anti-Iphone. I use one and I think they're great. It is useful in analog photography. There's the Dev Chart app that I use for souping film which I love using.

I'm pretty sure millions of people take naked pictures and use any unapproved web application under the sun form their iPhones.

David Brown · Jun 9, 2010

jp498 said:
Constant texting seems to weaken the understanding and ability to differentiate between what's urgent and what's important.

Reminds me of this thread ...

mhcfires · Jun 9, 2010

Howcum my Verizon phone works in places where AT&T doesn't have coverage? That is the main reason I don't have an iPhone. One of the previous posters hit the nail on the head. Apple could give away the iPhones for what they (AT&T and Apple) are making on connect charges. I sometimes think we were better off when we were using two tin cans and a string.

CGW · Jun 9, 2010

Hmmm. I don't recall Leica workers killing themselves due to stress and low pay. What about recent reports of suicides among workers at the Shenzhen Hon Hai Precision Industry-owned Foxconn Technology plants--a major maker of Apple products like the iPhone and iPad. So much for Apple chic...

zumbido · Jun 9, 2010

CGW said:
Hmmm. I don't recall Leica workers killing themselves due to stress and low pay. What about recent reports of suicides among workers at the Shenzhen Hon Hai Precision Industry-owned Foxconn Technology plants--a major maker of Apple products like the iPhone and iPad. So much for Apple chic...

... reports that failed to note those rates, while they sound high to Americans, are much lower than both the overall Chinese average and the applicable income/gender/location demographics.

Don't believe the hype, as a wise man once rapped.

Robert Hall · Jun 9, 2010

ndlshootsfilm said:
Just for giggles...

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

That guy's a local. His pages just kill me. Way to accurate.

CGW · Jun 9, 2010

'reports that failed to note those rates, while they sound high to Americans, are much lower than both the overall Chinese average and the applicable income/gender/location demographics'

Not very reassuring--or credible. Have a look here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100526/wl_time/08599199162000

Too bad you can't/won't document your claim.

It's a sweat shop product, like it or not.

Apple iPhone 4 is like a Leica

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