What would you have done with the iPhone if you were Steve Jobs?

With the iPhone having been out for 4 days now, and estimated 500,000 iPhones shipped since Sunday, many people have had plenty of time to spend with the iPhone. This means that most people have formed their opinions about what Apple did right with the phone, and what could be improved. The things that most people have wished for are Flash and Java support. Blogger Peter S. Magnusson takes a look at what he feels is the iPhones missing killer app, social networking.

Peter takes a very in-depth look (I’m talking a 3000 word in-depth look) at how Apple sort of missed the whole Social Networking when debuting the iPhone. One of the main reasons that Peter lists is that Steve Jobs doesn’t understand the end user.

Here’s my theory. Apple can only do really interesting products if Steve Jobs understands the end user. And Jobs does not understand the 21st century computer usage paradigm. In this century, people don’t send memos to each other. And that’s what email is – electronic memos.

I don’t think the iPhone necessarily needs some of the things that Peter listed, but I do agree with some of the points he brought up. One great argument that Peter made was related to the iPod:

Steve Jobs actually understands music and related technologies. He’s an artsy guy. He’s even known to have a real good musical ear. That’s why the iPod was awesome. Jobs actually understood the target customer.

After reading the post, it gave me more ideas as to where Apple could take the iPhone. A simple software update can redefine any aspect of the phone, and that is one of the greatest things about it. Do you have any thoughts on what should be included in the iPhone down the road? The post is a great read for anyone interested in the iPhone.

Read [Peter S. Magnusson]