苹果公司(Apple Inc.)首席执行长斯蒂夫•乔布斯(Steve Jobs)通过电子邮件回答了《华尔街日报》(THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)科技专栏作家莫博士(Walter S. Mossberg)关于iPhone手机的一些提问。

莫博士问：iPhone手机准备面向什么用户群？是目前使用“智能手机”的用户？还是希望一机多能的iPod铁杆用户？

乔布斯答：我们接触的几乎每个人都对他的手机颇有怨言。糟糕的界面使多数用户与其手机的大部分功能失之交臂。苹果愿意帮助所有人改变这一现状。由于绝大多数手机的音乐播放功能并不强，因此许多用户都想既能有一部手机又能有一部iPod。这样算来，对于集iPod于一身的iPhone而言，如果刨去iPod的200美元成本，它的价钱仅为299美元。

问：为何苹果会决定在iPhone手机上取消物理键盘？这是否会让那些因为需要频繁使用电子邮件而花大价钱购买黑莓(BlackBerrys)之类手机的用户望而却步？

答：iPhone拥有所有移动通讯设备中最好、最先进的键盘系统。就象所有其他小键盘一样，用户只要花三到四天就能适应，而且很快就能学会信赖其智能自动纠错功能。迄今所有使用过iPhone的人都很喜欢这款手机，并表示他们用iPhone的打字速度能与黑莓、Treo及其他智能手机媲美，甚至更快。通过iPhone的键盘系统，用户能使用更高级的软件来提高拼写准确性，并能够根据功能需要设置快捷键，当然也可以在不用时让键盘消失，从而腾出iPhone的大屏幕来阅读邮件、浏览网页、查阅地图、看照片或是电影，或是使用一些目前尚未发掘的新功能。公司认为，iPhone的键盘系统是这台设备最宝贵的财富、也是最具竞争力的一个卖点。

问：为何iPhone只能在速度相对较慢的手机数据网络上运行？这要比其他一些智能手机使用的网络慢很多。

答：iPhone内置Wi-Fi功能，使用的是EDGE高速数据网。后者覆盖全美地区，在满足电子邮件、电子地图、股市行情和天气查询等多种功能时，其速度也够快。一旦iPhone感应到Wi-Fi网络时，它便会自动切换到该网络中，Wi-Fi网络的数据传输速度要比3G网络快好几倍。如此一来，iPhone使用的网络就像三明治，3G网络在中间，上面是比它快的网络，下面是比它慢的网络。

问：苹果何时会推出使用最快的“3G”网络的iPhone？

答：你要明白，我们现在谈论的并非一款未来产品。我要再次强调，Wi-Fi要比3G快很多。

问：为何iPhone只能使用美国电话电报公司(AT&T Inc.)一家运营商的服务？苹果是否会推出使用其他运营商服务的iPhone？

答：AT&T是美国最受欢迎的移动运营商，最近几年投资了数十亿美元用于网络建设。该公司在使用GSM技术方面具有优势，而目前全世界超过八成的移动网络在使用该技术。iPhone是一款面向全球使用四频GSM技术的手机，该项技术在欧美及亚洲大部分地区的运行情况都很好。

问：苹果公司是否将按照iPod的模式来经营iPhone，是否会推出低端的iPhone？如果会的话，是什么时候？

答：我这次不打算讨论未来的产品。

问：首款iPhone缺少了其他智能手机拥有的某些功能，如录像、即时信息传输和实时GPS导航等。苹果是否会为现已购买iPhones的用户升级上述功能？如果会的话，又是什么时候？

答：我这次不打算讨论未来的产品。苹果为iPhone打造了迄今为止所有手机中最为复杂的软件平台，我认为未来几年公司将在丰富软件功能上下功夫。请继续关注。

Apple CEO Steve Jobs answered some iPhone questions via email from Journal technology columnist Walter S. Mossberg:

Walter S. Mossberg: Who is the intended customer for the iPhone? Is it for current 'smart phone' users? For iPod fans who want a combined device?

Steve Jobs: Almost everyone we've talked to hates their phone. The terrible user interfaces keep most users from discovering or using most of the features. We'd like to change that for everyone. Many users want both a phone and an iPod, since most phones are not good music players. When you subtract the $200 cost of an iPod, which is included in the iPhone, the rest of the iPhone costs just $299.

Mossberg: Why did you decide to omit a physical keyboard? Won't that turn off people who pay a lot for phones like BlackBerrys because they are heavy email users?

Jobs: The iPhone has the best, most advanced keyboard in any mobile device. Like all small keyboards, it takes three or four days to get used to. IPhone users will quickly learn to trust its intelligence to correct their mistakes automatically. So far, everyone who has used it loves it, and reports that they are typing as fast or faster than they did on their Treo or BlackBerry or other smart phone. The iPhone's keyboard lets us use far more sophisticated software to improve accuracy, customize the keyboard for specific applications, and of course remove the keyboard when it's not needed, freeing iPhone's entire large screen for reading email, browsing the Web, looking at maps, enjoying photos and movies, and doing things we haven't yet invented. We think the iPhone's keyboard is one of its greatest assets and competitive advantages.

Mossberg: Why does the iPhone only run on a relatively slow cellphone data network, much slower than those used by some other smart phones?

Jobs: The iPhone has built-in Wi-Fi and uses the EDGE high-speed data network. EDGE is pervasive throughout the U.S., and for many applications like email, maps, stocks and weather, it is plenty fast. The iPhone automatically switches to Wi-Fi whenever it senses a known Wi-Fi network, and Wi-Fi delivers data several times faster than 3G networks. So the iPhone sandwiches 3G networks with something a bit slower on the bottom and something far faster on the top.

Mossberg: When will there be an iPhone that runs on the fastest, so-called '3G' networks?

Jobs: Walt, you know we don't talk about future products. Again, Wi-Fi is far faster than 3G networks.

Mossberg: Why does the iPhone only work with a single carrier, AT&T? Will there be iPhones for other carriers in the U.S.?

Jobs: AT&T is the most popular wireless carrier in the U.S. and they have been investing billions of dollars in the last couple of years to create a great network. They also have the advantage of using GSM technology, which is used by over 80% of the world. The iPhone is a world phone with quad-band GSM technology that works great in the U.S., Europe and most of Asia.

Mossberg: Will you follow the pattern you set with the iPod and bring out less costly models? If so, when?

Jobs: We don't talk about future products.

Mossberg: This first model is missing some features some other smart phones have, like video recording, instant messaging, and real-time GPS navigation. Do you plan to upgrade iPhones purchased now so they have these features? If so, when?

Jobs: We don't talk about future products. I will say that the iPhone is the most sophisticated software platform ever created for a mobile device, and that we think software features are where the action will be in the coming years. Stay tuned. （实习编辑：顾萍）