What are people commenting about the new iPhone?
So I’m reading Gizmodo to catch up on the iPhone event, because frankly, I haven’t been able to gather a lot of enthusiasm today. Aside from all the leaks we’ve had the last month that pretty much told us everything we’d hear today, today’s my best friend’s (from, like, 6th grade) first birthday after her sudden death in July, so I’m kind of “blah whatever” today.
Back to the subject, though. I’m reading through the Giz articles, and what’s the one comment that multiple people make that catches my eye?
“It looks like the {Nokia} Lumia. I smell lawsuit!”
Lo, how the mighty have fallen!
Then I look at the pictures of the new iPhone, the new Touch, and the new iPhone-and-Touch-form-factor Nano. You know, they really DO look like the Lumias, don’t they? And the iPhone, Touch, Nano, and Shuffle (remember that one? Yeah, we hardly talk about that little thing, don’t we?) all are looking the same now. So much for design innovation.
And the Touch’s lanyard-thing. A wrist-strap? Yeah, we all know how those turn out; just ask Sony (when Wii became “Wheee!” SMASH!).
Apple does do one thing right, though: no waiting around once the announcement is made: pre-orders start on the 14th, with delivery on the 21st. The iPhone 5 will have 16Gb, 32Gb, and 64Gb flavors, and will price (on contract) at $200, $300, and $400 respectively. Again, no surprise there. The 4S will drop to $100, and the 4 will be free. That’s actually a pretty good move: it might hook some people in the lower-price point brackets. They’ll show up on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. Sorry, T-Mo subscribers, you’re shafted again.
Oh, you’re looking for NFC? Fuggetaboudit. Apple’s Passbook will use QR codes. Yeah, QR codes. So you have to get the camera just right – the angle, the lighting, the focus, GAH. Apple’s attitude is, oh we’ll wait and see and wait for infrastructure. Hey, Cupertino: it’s not like you can’t BUILD IT YOURSELF with your BILLIONS of dollars.
Hmmm. Now that I’m writing, I’ve gotten a bit hot under the collar, huh?
Ah yes, I forgot about the Lightning adapter: that dongle you’re going to need to connect your iPhone5 with your current accessories. The regular adapter will cost you $29 and won’t be available for another month. And if you want a flexible, corded one, add another $10, costing you $39.
So that’s what I’ve caught up on. I’ll be interested to see what my non-tech friends think on Facebook. And maybe I’ll go read a little Harry Potter, because it was my friend that introduced me to them. That’s a fitting tribute, I think. Maybe I’ll go read it on my Kindle Fire, just be spite the fruit.
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About The Author
martim
GIS C++!>$ And if you can translate that, you've been around as long as CompuServe. IT is now just a hobby, and shares my time with cross-stitch and knitting. High-tech, low-tech, and everything in between. I keep these guys in line and roll my eyes at Simmons. Come on, ladies, celebrate your love of technology! "Tech should be black. Colors are for cases."
people are NOT happy!
I really don’t blame them, either! I mean, the differences between the 4 and 4S were negligible, and now they’ve gone and barely made changes for a second year. FB & Twitter in the notification center? Yeah, we’ve had that for 2 years. @BenThePCGuy tweeted he supposed they were tired of being #smokedbywindowsphone. LOL.
I think you guys are missing the point here. Last time I checked Apple was in business to make money and why on earth would you mess with a winning combination like they have now? They are anticipated to sell over 100 million of these puppies. Why would you change the recipe to that wining combination. Almost every internal component is smaller and better making it thinner and lighter. The screen has been upgraded to a 4 inch display and yet completely staying within Stevie’s mad playbook of one handed operation as the demonstrated. They added LTE, and improved the camera. And seriously, who really gives a rip about NFC? The one thing that I thought Ben the PC Guy nailed was the late introduction to panoramic pictures. Something that has been out for a while now on WP. however, the iPhone 4S camera is so much better than anything else it’s not funny.
iOS 6 pisses me off, but they really did do a nice spit and shine up on an OS that is optimized. It works every bit as good as WP except battery life. I never have a hang up with my iPhone. The twitter integration will be nice. I have used a WP Titan 2 all week and this thing works amazing. Not one problem, fast,, LTE Fast, not bugs, email heaven, but it is just not where it needs to be for a daily driver phone for me. I use too many apps WP does not have. And slacker sucks on WP. I’ll be in line on the 21st. Don’t be hatin!
Oh no hatin’ will be going on Doug. In fact i’m sure my wife is thinking the same thing as she’s gearing up to replace her iPhone 4 with the iPhone 5. I’ll be too busy being all giddy with my Lumia 920 to give a second thought about my iPhone purchasing friends.
Consider this though. Those who purchase iPhones for the next year will be locked into devices for two years that does NOT support NFC or wireless charging. As accessories and retailers start to support these technologies iPhone users will either be left out of the fun and have to endure the social embarassment of being a have not or cough up large amounts of cash to break contract and upgrade.
My point was that Apple’s always been “innovating,” and both the 4S and the 5 seem to be something of letdowns in that department. The iPhone is now a “mature business” – they have to be careful that they don’t start losing customers because they can’t keep up with what the Consumer wants/expects. THAT’s the danger that Apple faces now: Complacency.