ez.spikesource.com — January 2007

It's been about 12 hours since Steve Jobs' keynote to MacWorld 2007 was delivered, and the whole world already knew about the incoming iPhone.

I was following the keynote by the minute, and I certainly was not alone. Soon after the announcement, some of my coworkers had gone beyond talking about the gadget it self, but goes so far to talk about when their cellphone contracts end.  The conversation was not about if we are buying the phone, but it was about when.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'd be getting one of the very first few iPhones. My Cingular contract expires just a few months after the release date, so I'd have to wait until the renewal date.

I've been expecting for an iPhone for a while now, since I first heard the rumor in Google financial forums.  There was some good analysis and rumors over there. But the phone as Jobs described it still blew away everyone's mind.

To me, however, Jobs biggest feat was not in the phone itself. It is in the perfect ecosystem surrounding the phone that Jobs managed to arrange.

I couldn't believe when Jobs mentioned Yahoo mail. Having Eric Schmidt on it's board, anyone would bet that if Apple was going to work with a mail provider, it will be Google with it's Gmail. But Jobs knows better that Yahoo Mail's user base is much larger than Gmail. And Gmail with it's large storage space and rich web client demands less of a thick(er) POP client.

For mapping, however, Jobs chooses the rightful leader, Google Map.

The selection of Cingular is natural, for it is our largest GSM-based phone provider. Going with any other providers would not be optimal.

So here is Jobs' feat: gave birth to an amazing baby and pulled together a harmonious ecosystem to ensure its well-being. Only few can pull together competing giants, Yahoo and Google, to orbit around  a project.

Kudos Jobs!!