Steve Jobs took to another dark stage to announce the “7 tent-pole features” for the next iteration of the iPhone operating system.
Here’s my reaction these features:
Multi-tasking
It’s about damn time.
It’s not true multi-tasking in my book, but if developers use it well, I have no doubt that it will greatly increase the usability of the iPhone.
I’m not convinced that this is a better or worse method than the truly open multi-tasking of Android, but it’s certainly a good thing.
This is a big win for anyone with an iPhone in his/her pocket.
Unified & Encrypted Email
Basically this is rendering the Blackberry obsolete. Those were the two advantages that Blackberry had, and they are gone.
People in the financial services industry have to use Blackberry’s because nothing else can be properly encrypted. Now they will be able to use an iPhone.
With regards to the unified email… Personally I would hate to have my work, and personal email in one inbox. I like keeping the two completely separate.
Folders
You can now make folders on your iPhone!
This is a “tent-pole” feature!? Really?
Folders are super basic computer function… Kind of like “copy & paste” (which iPhone users had to wait a year to get).
My only thought when I saw this coming in was, “How the fuck is this a ‘tent-pole’ feature Stevo. Stop wasting my time and move on.”
And with that, I will move on.
iBooks
Yeah, yeah, yeah… eReaders are the new black. This is an obvious feature, but nothing new or special.
Game Center
This is cool.
Basically Apple has made their own version of XBox Live for the iPhone. This feature is a clear shot directed at Nintendo and Sony. The battle for the hand-held gaming market is afoot.
If this works as advertised (and it probably will), it will be great for the iPhone gamer.
If I cared about hand-held gaming, I would write more, but I don’t.
iAd
As soon as I saw the graphic for this, I knew what it would be.
Apple is taking the Google model of advertising, and offering an ad service for iPhone apps.
If an app’s developer wants to include advertisements in an app, they just use iAd. The feature drops targeted ads into the app based on, well, whatever Apple chooses to base it on.
In turn, the app’s developer makes money from the ad sales. However, Apple takes a rake of 40%. That number seems extremely high to me.
This is a guess, but I bet that Apple won’t approve apps that use non-iAds advertisements. I’m pretty sure they will exercise heavy-handed control to maximize their ad sale revenue.
Wrap-up
Most of these “tent-poles” are pretty underwhelming. The multi-tasking and game center seem like they will be very strong features, but they rest are pretty blah.
There is nothing here that is really new, or game changing.
The Geek Whisperer 
I cannot WAIT for some freaking multi-tasking on my iPhone… summer can’t come soon enough!
who doesn’t like these stuffs. i’ve always dreamt about having these stuff for myself.