I don't disagree with you on the cost issue. I guess that nobody is surprised though, since Apple adaptors and cables have never been cheap.
In all fairness, we should note that Pogue does end his review with -- after making a term paper analogy in a design class -- the following statement: ".....if you wanted to conclude your term paper by projecting the new connector’s impact on the iPhone’s popularity, you’d be smart to write, “very little (sigh).” When you really think about it, we’ve all taken this class before."
I don't understand Pogue questioning the connector change. Does he really think Apple should the same, long ago outdated 30-pin connector it had almost a decade ago? Does he expect Apple to use it for another decade or want Apple to use a vastly inferior in very way micro-USB connector?
The whiners from the '90's are calling. They want their 3.5" floppies, PS/2 ports, Serial ports, parallel ports, and now... the 30-pin connectors back.
Really. At what point does it get old?
Case in point: Here's what our favorite Samsung copyists did with their connectors in the last 10 years:
Let's see how the Fandroid/Samsung lapdogs spin this little tidbit of information.
[" url="/t/152708/review-roundup-iphone-5s-screen-shines-battery-life-impresses#post_2192679"]I don't disagree with you on the cost issue. I guess that nobody is surprised though, since Apple adaptors and cables have never been cheap.
The way I read his criticism of the new connector, it was solely related to the cost of the adapter. If Apple had included one with every new iPhone (anybody remember how a basic dock came with the original iPhone?), Pogue might have been a bit kinder since the connector change was obviously necessary for a variety of reasons.
While it is true Apple's dongles have never been cheap, I am used to Apple's inflated profit margins, but I was taken aback at the $30 price tag on the adapter. The camera kit doesn't even cost that much, and it comes with two adapters!
Seriously, if Apple wanted the new dock connector to go over smoothly, they would have priced it much lower and at a minimum offered a free one to any iPhone 5 customer who asked for one, if not including one automatically in the box. They've all but invited this criticism themselves. But Apple knows the frenzy over the new phone will mitigate any anger its customers have over the pricey adapter -- not to mention when they find out it likely will not be 100% compatible with many of their docks.
By the way, are these adapters bi-directional so old iPhones can use them with new docks? Obviously the connectors would be opposite of what's needed, so either gender changers or another set of adapters when 9-pin docks start appearing on the market.
How about someone mentioning all the old peripherals that will now go to landfills due to the reluctance of users to get a $30 adapter for the new connector.
Did you complain when all the old SCSI, AGP, Parallel port, PS2 connector, and ADB peripherals gone to landfills because something new came along???
I can buy a new iPhone for $6-700. I can sell my 4S for $4-500, so my net cost is $200. Considering that I'm saving $800 per year by using Straight Talk instead of an ATT subsidized phone, I don't see how upgrading every year is a dumb idea. For $200 a year, I always have the latest product.
And who are you to dictate what people spend their money on, anyway?
I don't understand Pogue questioning the connector change. Does he really think Apple should the same, long ago outdated 30-pin connector it had almost a decade ago? Does he expect Apple to use it for another decade or want Apple to use a vastly inferior in very way micro-USB connector?
"Waaaah! I can't run Mac OS 9 software on Mac OS X. Let me stay in the 90s so I can run Mac OS 9."
Way I see it, you can ride this train into the future, or you can stay here at the station. Choose now.
The whiners from the '90's are calling. They want their 3.5" floppies, PS/2 ports, Serial ports, parallel ports, and now... the 30-pin connectors back. :)
Really. At what point does it get old?
Case in point: Here's what our favorite Samsung copyists did with their connectors in the last 10 years:
It's really a non-issue. Most people don't need an adapter and the ones who need it can get one for $30 (or less if they buy a third party adapter). I would guess that the number of people who are going to be affected is only a few percent.
When the 3.5" floppy replaced the 5.25" floppy, you couldn't get an adapter. When USB replaced serial and parallel ports, you could get an adapter, but it didn't always work - and the price was considerably higher than $30. When USB replaced SCSI, there was no adapter. The only one where the adapter was really cheap was USB/PS2.
The way I read his criticism of the new connector, it was solely related to the cost of the adapter. If Apple had included one with every new iPhone (anybody remember how a basic dock came with the original iPhone?), Pogue might have been a bit kinder since the connector change was obviously necessary for a variety of reasons.
While it is true Apple's dongles have never been cheap, I am used to Apple's inflated profit margins, but I was taken aback at the $30 price tag on the adapter. The camera kit doesn't even cost that much, and it comes with two adapters!
Your choice is simple. Buy or don't buy. The price is what it is.
Apple has a reason for charging that price. Reportedly, it's because it's not a simple, dumb adapter - it has electronics inside. Expecting Apple to offer everyone in the world who buys an iPhone free adapters is unreasonable, IMHO.
I like the new iPhone 5. But I just don't see any reason to upgrade to the 5 from the 4s. If I had money to burn, maybe. But my iPhone 4s is gonna run the new iOS6 with the new SIRI. I just don't have the motivation to upgrade right now.
Have you considered selling your iP4s? You might come close to breaking even with the cost of the new iP5. Otherwise, nothing wrong with upgrading every other model. I'm looking forward to upgrading from iP4 to iP5.
Agreed. But the adapter could have been priced lower (given what it likely costs to produce), or one included with the new iPhone. Especially considering that many iPhone users have iPods and iPads that still use the 30-pin connector.
Given that it needs to embed a Digital-Analogue Converter (DAC) for backwards compatibility to analogue devices (all of those hotel-room clock radios), it may actually be a sophisticated piece of electronics. This is analogous to how it turned out the Thunderbolt cable is expensive as it has microchips at each end to manage the throughput. My guess is there'll be after-market options soon enough that will support charging only without the DAC, but Apple wouldn't sell one that didn't meet user expectations. For charging-only, people will buy the cheaper Lightning cable.
My guess is there'll be after-market options soon enough that will support charging only without the DAC, but Apple wouldn't sell one that didn't meet user expectations. .
Well it does say it's an "intelligent" adaptor. But my guess is user expectations are already not going to be met, since it doesn't support video out.
I guess my point is that Apple should not be pricing this particular accessory with their usual markup. Time will tell once somebody gets their hands on one and tears it down, how much it's actually costing Apple. And while Apple could easily afford to give one away with purchase, I'm not necessarily advocating that. But at least give early adopters of the 5, who will actually need them during e transition, a discount. But if they choose to bite the hand that feeds them, then they have to live with the criticism. It's the price they pay for creating a "standard". Imagine if the TV industry unilaterally decided to change the ubiquitous HDMI connector overnight ... which is pretty much what Apple has done.
Fair complaints about Mail but I personally don't care about those shortcomings. What I want from Mail are twofold 1) iCloud having server-side rules so that they are synced across all devices (unless I choose a rule and say it's only for one device or device type), and 2) let me change my goddamn default Mail app (This goes for browser and maps, too).
The server side rules being borked is one of the things driving me crazy lately too. I really think that now their market is so much bigger, that Apple should revisit their reluctance to put settings in so the user can actually change things (using a different email is one of them of course although for me, I've never seen one as good as Apple's yet). Being able to get rid of all the built-in apps is another one. I would bet that only one out of a thousand iPhone owners has a stock portfolio or gives a rat's behind about the stock market, but we all have that stupid stock app!
I find myself being bugged an extraordinarily large amount by all the little things that I can't change like the new "VIPs" in mail. It's a feature I will never use, it's ugly ("stars" of any kind are just tackiness personified), it's right at the top of my folder list, and it can't be removed. It's the kind of feature a tech blogger or Apple employee would love because they get an ocean of email and want to separate out the "good" ones only, but the average person just doesn't get that much email. It's something that I could really use in my work email but something I will never, ever have a use for in my personal email (which is what I use on my iPhone). A simple setting to say use/don't use this feature would be really practical, but it goes against Apple dogma so it probably won't happen. I have to stare at that stupid ugly star every single time I use my email now for at least a year, possibly many years. Why? Dogma.
Let's face it, Apple has become quite a different company than the one we knew when they were in the wilderness and in danger of going under. They are quite different from *any* of their previous incarnations and their market is different too. I think they should try changing some of their rigid, dogmatic policies on this kind of stuff as a result of that. One simple setting to allow the user to change the paper colour in Notes from Yellow to White, would be childsplay to implement and would stifle a veritable chorus of complaints from many quarters about the "ugliness" of Notes. How many articles have been written on he aesthetic failure of Notes? It's no secret that Notes replacement apps are one of the hottest items in the store. One setting and all that negativity disappears.
Yet they don't do it. Why? Dogma that's why. They are scared to move on from Steve Jobs perhaps.
Agreed. But the adapter could have been priced lower (given what it likely costs to produce), or one included with the new iPhone. Especially considering that many iPhone users have iPods and iPads that still use the 30-pin connector.
On the subject of old iPods / iPads what do folks reckon the odds are of a lightning to 30 pin connector the other way round? ie one that allows me to plug my old iPod classic into one of the many lightning connector equipped docks that are about to flood the stores....
Personally I'm not holding my breath as no doubt Apple would rather I bought a new lightning equipped iPod, but as the seemingly forgotten Classic is still available new and with the old 30 pin connector I can see a market for it as people with old iPods update their speaker docks..
there is no way Apple would include an adapter in the box with the iphone. That would be saying that they do not expect anyone to start using the new connector, and slow the adoption of new peripherals using the new connector. And cut down severely on margins.
I don't understand Pogue questioning the connector change. Does he really think Apple should the same, long ago outdated 30-pin connector it had almost a decade ago? Does he expect Apple to use it for another decade or want Apple to use a vastly inferior in very way micro-USB connector?
I guess the main complaint is that Apple has changed the connector without it benefiting the consumer in any way. For example, if the iPhone 5 supported USB 3.0* or Thunderbolt then I don't think the complaints would have been justified.
(* Does the iPhone 5 support USB 3.0? I saw a lot of rumours but not confirmation from Apple.)
I wish the Verge and ArsTechnica were given review units. I think those sites are so much better than CNet and Engadget. But I suppose its because CNet and Engadget get more page hits.
Question: after getting the new iPhone, will I be able to run a 802.11n WiFi network on the 5GHz band? (20MHz narrow I presume) I use:
Mac Pro 5,1 MacMini 5,1 iPad 1st Gen iPad 3rd Gen Apple TV 3rd Gen
No problem if the old iPad can't connect; I'll just pass that one on to someones kid. All info point me to a 'yes' but I'd rather hear it from the pros on this site.
I guess the main complaint is that Apple has changed the connector without it benefiting the consumer in any way. For example, if the iPhone 5 supported USB 3.0* or Thunderbolt then I don't think the complaints would have been justified.
(* Does the iPhone 5 support USB 3.0? I saw a lot of rumours but not confirmation from Apple.)
I don't know about the capabilities of the port itself, but the current Lightning to USB cable would appear to be USB 2...
This USB 2.0 cable connects your iPhone or iPod with Lightning connector to your computer's USB port for syncing and charging or to the Apple USB Power Adapter for convenient charging from a power point.
As far as consumer benefit goes apart from being much smaller - allowing for thinner, lighter devices - this is an all digital and seeming pretty adaptable connector which should allow for a lot more flexibility and range of peripherals to be connected to it... there aren't many immediate benefits because nobody has released any peripherals yet, but once acccessory makers start utilising it I think it we will see a much wider range of useful stuff we can plug into the bottom of our phones.
The 30 pin dock connector is around 10 years old and starting to limit progression because of all the legacy stuff in it... change has to happen at some point and it is always painful for those invested in the old way but if change didn't happen we'd still be programming on punch cards...
The problem with including an adaptor is that it gives no incentive to move to lighting, people can say "OK, why not wait another year before ungrading our tech". Also it dosn't do much for new users. By making it clear that the 30 pin is EoL, 3rd party OEM's should move faster to upgrade their tech to lighting while also producing 30 pin to lighting adaptors. For new owners this is a better solution and if the new iPhone followes the same sales pattern of the older models, that is it sells more than all the previouse models combined within a year, it's the right choice for the majority of owners.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
I don't disagree with you on the cost issue. I guess that nobody is surprised though, since Apple adaptors and cables have never been cheap.
In all fairness, we should note that Pogue does end his review with -- after making a term paper analogy in a design class -- the following statement: ".....if you wanted to conclude your term paper by projecting the new connector’s impact on the iPhone’s popularity, you’d be smart to write, “very little (sigh).” When you really think about it, we’ve all taken this class before."
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I don't understand Pogue questioning the connector change. Does he really think Apple should the same, long ago outdated 30-pin connector it had almost a decade ago? Does he expect Apple to use it for another decade or want Apple to use a vastly inferior in very way micro-USB connector?
The whiners from the '90's are calling. They want their 3.5" floppies, PS/2 ports, Serial ports, parallel ports, and now... the 30-pin connectors back.
Really. At what point does it get old?
Case in point: Here's what our favorite Samsung copyists did with their connectors in the last 10 years:
Let's see how the Fandroid/Samsung lapdogs spin this little tidbit of information.
http://allappnews.com/cult-of-mac/samsung-changed-cellphone-cable-designs-18-times-in-the-last-ten-years-photo/
While it is true Apple's dongles have never been cheap, I am used to Apple's inflated profit margins, but I was taken aback at the $30 price tag on the adapter. The camera kit doesn't even cost that much, and it comes with two adapters!
Seriously, if Apple wanted the new dock connector to go over smoothly, they would have priced it much lower and at a minimum offered a free one to any iPhone 5 customer who asked for one, if not including one automatically in the box. They've all but invited this criticism themselves. But Apple knows the frenzy over the new phone will mitigate any anger its customers have over the pricey adapter -- not to mention when they find out it likely will not be 100% compatible with many of their docks.
By the way, are these adapters bi-directional so old iPhones can use them with new docks? Obviously the connectors would be opposite of what's needed, so either gender changers or another set of adapters when 9-pin docks start appearing on the market.
Originally Posted by sflocal
post
Here's what I like to use for that:
It's bigger. Why Huddler won't at least size images as wide as the entire post, I'll never know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by delete
How about someone mentioning all the old peripherals that will now go to landfills due to the reluctance of users to get a $30 adapter for the new connector.
Did you complain when all the old SCSI, AGP, Parallel port, PS2 connector, and ADB peripherals gone to landfills because something new came along???
Didn't think so.
Says who?
I can buy a new iPhone for $6-700. I can sell my 4S for $4-500, so my net cost is $200. Considering that I'm saving $800 per year by using Straight Talk instead of an ATT subsidized phone, I don't see how upgrading every year is a dumb idea. For $200 a year, I always have the latest product.
And who are you to dictate what people spend their money on, anyway?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I don't understand Pogue questioning the connector change. Does he really think Apple should the same, long ago outdated 30-pin connector it had almost a decade ago? Does he expect Apple to use it for another decade or want Apple to use a vastly inferior in very way micro-USB connector?
"Waaaah! I can't run Mac OS 9 software on Mac OS X. Let me stay in the 90s so I can run Mac OS 9."
Way I see it, you can ride this train into the future, or you can stay here at the station. Choose now.
It's really a non-issue. Most people don't need an adapter and the ones who need it can get one for $30 (or less if they buy a third party adapter). I would guess that the number of people who are going to be affected is only a few percent.
When the 3.5" floppy replaced the 5.25" floppy, you couldn't get an adapter. When USB replaced serial and parallel ports, you could get an adapter, but it didn't always work - and the price was considerably higher than $30. When USB replaced SCSI, there was no adapter. The only one where the adapter was really cheap was USB/PS2.
Your choice is simple. Buy or don't buy. The price is what it is.
Apple has a reason for charging that price. Reportedly, it's because it's not a simple, dumb adapter - it has electronics inside. Expecting Apple to offer everyone in the world who buys an iPhone free adapters is unreasonable, IMHO.
Have you considered selling your iP4s? You might come close to breaking even with the cost of the new iP5. Otherwise, nothing wrong with upgrading every other model. I'm looking forward to upgrading from iP4 to iP5.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
Agreed. But the adapter could have been priced lower (given what it likely costs to produce), or one included with the new iPhone. Especially considering that many iPhone users have iPods and iPads that still use the 30-pin connector.
Given that it needs to embed a Digital-Analogue Converter (DAC) for backwards compatibility to analogue devices (all of those hotel-room clock radios), it may actually be a sophisticated piece of electronics. This is analogous to how it turned out the Thunderbolt cable is expensive as it has microchips at each end to manage the throughput. My guess is there'll be after-market options soon enough that will support charging only without the DAC, but Apple wouldn't sell one that didn't meet user expectations. For charging-only, people will buy the cheaper Lightning cable.
I guess my point is that Apple should not be pricing this particular accessory with their usual markup. Time will tell once somebody gets their hands on one and tears it down, how much it's actually costing Apple. And while Apple could easily afford to give one away with purchase, I'm not necessarily advocating that. But at least give early adopters of the 5, who will actually need them during e transition, a discount. But if they choose to bite the hand that feeds them, then they have to live with the criticism. It's the price they pay for creating a "standard". Imagine if the TV industry unilaterally decided to change the ubiquitous HDMI connector overnight ... which is pretty much what Apple has done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Fair complaints about Mail but I personally don't care about those shortcomings. What I want from Mail are twofold 1) iCloud having server-side rules so that they are synced across all devices (unless I choose a rule and say it's only for one device or device type), and 2) let me change my goddamn default Mail app (This goes for browser and maps, too).
The server side rules being borked is one of the things driving me crazy lately too. I really think that now their market is so much bigger, that Apple should revisit their reluctance to put settings in so the user can actually change things (using a different email is one of them of course although for me, I've never seen one as good as Apple's yet). Being able to get rid of all the built-in apps is another one. I would bet that only one out of a thousand iPhone owners has a stock portfolio or gives a rat's behind about the stock market, but we all have that stupid stock app!
I find myself being bugged an extraordinarily large amount by all the little things that I can't change like the new "VIPs" in mail. It's a feature I will never use, it's ugly ("stars" of any kind are just tackiness personified), it's right at the top of my folder list, and it can't be removed. It's the kind of feature a tech blogger or Apple employee would love because they get an ocean of email and want to separate out the "good" ones only, but the average person just doesn't get that much email. It's something that I could really use in my work email but something I will never, ever have a use for in my personal email (which is what I use on my iPhone). A simple setting to say use/don't use this feature would be really practical, but it goes against Apple dogma so it probably won't happen. I have to stare at that stupid ugly star every single time I use my email now for at least a year, possibly many years. Why? Dogma.
Let's face it, Apple has become quite a different company than the one we knew when they were in the wilderness and in danger of going under. They are quite different from *any* of their previous incarnations and their market is different too. I think they should try changing some of their rigid, dogmatic policies on this kind of stuff as a result of that. One simple setting to allow the user to change the paper colour in Notes from Yellow to White, would be childsplay to implement and would stifle a veritable chorus of complaints from many quarters about the "ugliness" of Notes. How many articles have been written on he aesthetic failure of Notes? It's no secret that Notes replacement apps are one of the hottest items in the store. One setting and all that negativity disappears.
Yet they don't do it. Why? Dogma that's why. They are scared to move on from Steve Jobs perhaps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
THAT IS SO GOOD! Man's (and woman's) two best friends, a dog and his iPhone(5)
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
Agreed. But the adapter could have been priced lower (given what it likely costs to produce), or one included with the new iPhone. Especially considering that many iPhone users have iPods and iPads that still use the 30-pin connector.
On the subject of old iPods / iPads what do folks reckon the odds are of a lightning to 30 pin connector the other way round? ie one that allows me to plug my old iPod classic into one of the many lightning connector equipped docks that are about to flood the stores....
Personally I'm not holding my breath as no doubt Apple would rather I bought a new lightning equipped iPod, but as the seemingly forgotten Classic is still available new and with the old 30 pin connector I can see a market for it as people with old iPods update their speaker docks..
I guess the main complaint is that Apple has changed the connector without it benefiting the consumer in any way. For example, if the iPhone 5 supported USB 3.0* or Thunderbolt then I don't think the complaints would have been justified.
(* Does the iPhone 5 support USB 3.0? I saw a lot of rumours but not confirmation from Apple.)
[IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/12655/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]
Question: after getting the new iPhone, will I be able to run a 802.11n WiFi network on the 5GHz band? (20MHz narrow I presume) I use:
Mac Pro 5,1
MacMini 5,1
iPad 1st Gen
iPad 3rd Gen
Apple TV 3rd Gen
No problem if the old iPad can't connect; I'll just pass that one on to someones kid. All info point me to a 'yes' but I'd rather hear it from the pros on this site.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichL
I guess the main complaint is that Apple has changed the connector without it benefiting the consumer in any way. For example, if the iPhone 5 supported USB 3.0* or Thunderbolt then I don't think the complaints would have been justified.
(* Does the iPhone 5 support USB 3.0? I saw a lot of rumours but not confirmation from Apple.)
I don't know about the capabilities of the port itself, but the current Lightning to USB cable would appear to be USB 2...
Quote:
From http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD818/lightning-to-usb-cable
This USB 2.0 cable connects your iPhone or iPod with Lightning connector to your computer's USB port for syncing and charging or to the Apple USB Power Adapter for convenient charging from a power point.
As far as consumer benefit goes apart from being much smaller - allowing for thinner, lighter devices - this is an all digital and seeming pretty adaptable connector which should allow for a lot more flexibility and range of peripherals to be connected to it... there aren't many immediate benefits because nobody has released any peripherals yet, but once acccessory makers start utilising it I think it we will see a much wider range of useful stuff we can plug into the bottom of our phones.
The 30 pin dock connector is around 10 years old and starting to limit progression because of all the legacy stuff in it... change has to happen at some point and it is always painful for those invested in the old way but if change didn't happen we'd still be programming on punch cards...
The problem with including an adaptor is that it gives no incentive to move to lighting, people can say "OK, why not wait another year before ungrading our tech". Also it dosn't do much for new users. By making it clear that the 30 pin is EoL, 3rd party OEM's should move faster to upgrade their tech to lighting while also producing 30 pin to lighting adaptors. For new owners this is a better solution and if the new iPhone followes the same sales pattern of the older models, that is it sells more than all the previouse models combined within a year, it's the right choice for the majority of owners.