All Your Contacts Are Belong To Apple

While the iPhone is just one of Apple's products, it's obvious they are giving it more and more focus. So much, in fact, the interior of the Apple store is starting to look like a cell phone emporium. The newest addition to the Apple Store is the Cellebrite UME-36Pro. The Cellebrite is a device which can transfer contacts, videos, images and text messages from one phone to another. The binders seen next to the machine are the adapters needed to connect every major model consumer cell phone. While cell phone companies have had similar devices in the past, these are a recent addition to Apple stores. Why now? Here's how ZDNet puts it:

"In 2007 most people that bought the original iPhone were existing, brand-loyal Apple customers. They were people that purchased most products that Apple made and, well, Newton owners. In 2008 the iPhone 3G was purchased by all of the above, plus technology-lovers fascinated by all the hype surrounding touchscreen phones and people whose contracts finally expired. In 2009 the iPhone 3GS was purchased by all of the above plus late adopters, Luddites plus a few Windows/Unix zealots in denial. In 2010 the iPhone 4 is being purchased by all of the above plus 9-year-olds, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, very late adopters and completely non-technical people whose old-school Nokia freebie finally gave up the ghost."

Original iPhone owners were the kind of people who had stored contacts in their computer and knew that syncing was not just something the Titanic did. Newer iPhone buyers include those whose contacts are only on their phone and don't want to lose the pictures they took 2 years ago. Obviously this ability to move data off of "dumbphones" and other smartphones to the iPhone is something some people may expect. But, will it really attract people to the iPhone?

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