Submitted by Chad Shmukler on
So claims John C. Dvorak, Marketwatch columnist and Podcaster for TWiT (This Week in Tech). Referencing the claims of insider reports from a Cingular tester, Dvorak claims "you run 20 minutes and you’re using up half the battery power. You get 40 minutes total talk time. And the interface fouls up constantly."
Dvorak suggested in his recent column on Marketwatch that Apple bail on the iPhone before it even releases the product. According to Dvorak, the shortcomings of the iPhone as a product combined with the fierce competition in the mobile industry makes the launch of the iPhone a far to risky proposal for Apple. He continues, "What Apple risks here is its reputation as a hot company that can do no wrong. If it's smart it will call the iPhone a 'reference design' and pass it to some suckers to build with someone else's marketing budget. Then it can wash its hands of any marketplace failures."
Given that Apple has kept the iPhone so well under wraps (the iPhone was unveiled for only a few brief moments at the recent CTIA conference), what are the chances that Dvorak's claims about the iPhone's technical blunders are correct? Only time will tell. In the meantime, the skeptics and Apple faithful will certainly continue to butt heads.
Comments
olivia replied on Permalink
Dvorak is an idiot. He says this kind of crap constantly to get people to read his column. He has no idea what he's talking about.
Pheaky replied on Permalink
Dvorak is the Drudge of Tech News... and should be ignored for that very reason.
The iPhone does not ship for several more months, so quite obviously his source is using a beta piece of both hardware and software. Having worked in QA for many years in a past life I can say without a doubt that a beta of a product not set to roll out for months does not in any way represent the performance of the final product.
KingOfAllBrowns replied on Permalink
His "source" could be a complete sham, anyway.
tino replied on Permalink
don't listen t a thing dvorak says ... he doesn't have an ounce of credibility
whats more is the iphone isnt even 3g ... no reason it would sap power like that
Kevin replied on Permalink
Keep in mind that dvorak was spot on about apple going Intel. Leo was the one that said that wouldn't happen.
I believe that the battery life will suck since look at how small the package is... there is not enough room for a super high capacity battery.
The big problem is NO user replaceable battery.
Watashi replied on Permalink
This from the guy who complained about apple's inclusion of a mouse in '84 by saying "who would use these things?" and later called the ibook "girly." A name to trust, indeed.
Aaron Jones replied on Permalink
Dvorak is an idiot; and his claims are based on little evidence.
There have been people who've spotted Steve Jobs using the phone (evidence of usable battery time).
Also, along with the comment about the phone not being 3G, it's also running off of NAND Flash Memory, which doesn't take near the battery power. The only part of the device most likely to be sucking down power would be the touch-screen interface, an unlikely candidate for battery consumption.
Stephanie replied on Permalink
And with the power preservation features the touch screen has, it's unlikely even it would kill the battery so quickly.