iPhone is here

Today is the day the iPhone goes on sale in Britain. It can’t go unmarked. I almost expected to see a Google doodle, there has been so much anticipation. A small queue set up camp outside the Regent Street Apple Store yesterday, undaunted by the foul weather and prospect of paying a minimum of £899 for their phone (£269 purchase price plus a minimum O2 contract of £35 for 18 months).

So what is it people are buying?
- A beautiful object, sure.
- A chance to be ahead of the pack, yes.
- Functionality they need? Ah, maybe not but we’re not talking about need here: this is a luxury item, and when did most of us buy just the functionality we needed? Indeed the phone’s a little impractical in some ways (note the Phone Finger accessory you can buy to protect your phone display from smudging).
- Notwithstanding the smudging, a product with usability at its core. Certainly it’s both promoted and endorsed for its usability.

And for those lucky enough to find it in their Christmas stocking there will be something more. There’s a link with the personalities that have now become part of Apple’s marketing message: Steve Jobs, of course, and designer Jonathan Ive. Unlikely celebrities, but celebrities they are. If you can have one of their phones you can also have a bit of their success.

This is a very specific element of Apple’s marketing which, perhaps with the exception of the fashion industry, I rarely see elsewhere. In the UK, John Brown, former CEO of BP had a similar status; so did the late Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop; for James Dyson the halo became a little tarnished with his decision to manufacture outside the UK. The dotcom boom brought flashes of celebrity (I’m thinking, for example, of Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Fox of LastMinute.com). Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page probably sit alongside Jobs; I think the jury would be divided on Bill Gates’ relationship to Microsoft’s market.

I’m not sure Steve Jobs would relish a parallel with Donatella or Miuccia (ironic given his determination to appear publicly only in t-shirt and jeans, and when his elegantly understated products are among the few acceptable to no-label advocates). But as Apple raises the bar for phone/PDAs, providing an experience that many want to share, there’s no doubt that those doing so are also succumbing to the cleverly packaged glitter of a star entrepreneur.

Add comment November 9th, 2007