I can't make up my mind about yesterday's new IPhone launch.
On one hand, I am actually quite relieved by the iPhone 4S's relatively lacklustre update. Apple has been on such a breakneck course of new product launches since 2007, you couldn't help wondering how long they could keep it up. Everyone at Cupertino has been working at 100% capacity for some time. Those that fall by the wayside get fired; those who succeed get promoted. Without some kind of regular update timelines returning, i.e. bi-annual new product launches like everyone else, I feared the pace was unsustainable and it was only a matter of time before the rush to market produced a major failure. More than that, having to replace not only your Mac, but also your iPhone, iPad and IPod every 12 months was also getting to a tad expensive. I now feel under less pressure to replace my iPhone 4 immediately.
On the other hand, everyone wanted not only a slightly larger screen, but also a different case design without the fragile glass back. I think the iPhone 3GS was actually a better design than the 4. Would it have been too difficult to produce the design we all hoped to see? I guess one reason why many people are disappointed is that we have all developed sky-high expectations based on recent product releases. So, a mere upgrade after 15 months of waiting and valid criticisms against the IPhone 4 do make the iPhone 4S seem a bit like its a day late and a dollar short.
Any suggestion that Apple will introduce a second iPhone, the anticipated iPhone 5, seem wide of the mark. Just as Apple hasn't released an iPad 3 mid-season either. Why invest in new product before the competition shows any inkling of catching-up?
In the meantime, we have iOS 5, iCloud, Siri and a bunch of other software tweaks. Is that enough to make me upgrade? It might just be.
I'm convinced Siri is a gimmick the vast majority of people will never use with any regularity, if at all.
I doubt that many iPhone users really use their devices in such a way that they will benefit from the faster CPU and GPU performance. The new software is great but 3GS and iPhone 4 customers will get most of the benefits anyway for free. So we're really left with improvements to the antenna system and camera, and a 64GB storage option at the same time Apple is trying to move people away from relying on local storage for their content.
I've seen many existing iPhone users today admit they were disappointed, underwhelmed by the announcements but they will buy the new iPhone 4S anyway. With that kind of customer devotion and loyalty, it's no wonder Apple is the envy of the corporate world.
This is the beauty of the Apple cult. Customers may be disappointed largely by a new product announcement, but they will still go out and queue in line to be among the first to buy that shiny new toy with the Apple logo.
It's not hard to agree with general analyst view that this upgrade isn't very impressive. But Apple will probably still sell these new iPhones to record numbers, and that's really all Wall Street is interested in hearing.
Video call was considered a gimmick before Apple pushed their facetime feature. Now practically every phone and pad and IP Phone services tout their video call feature. You may think Siri is a gimmick and nobody will use it. I can think of quite a few instances in my daily life that I wished there was a voice assistant that responsive. Eg: I really wish my car's navigator can respond to natural voice command like Siri does, or at least understand what I'm talking about more than 50% of the time.
[copied from my post on another thread, thought it would be relevant here, too]
Here's my theory as to what happened today... Apple needed to get off it's once a year iPhone upgrade event cycle. Technology and marketing by the competition moves too fast to wait a year to get back in the limelight. So spread out two events per year. You can't keep the June event because that means the other event would be too close to Christmas. So Spring and Fall it is. Earlier this year they had the release of the Verizon iPhone (sorry, no Spring event for the rest of the world). Then bite the bullet and hold out until Fall, skipping June.
LTE isn't quite ready yet, so let's get something new in the pipeline for the Holiday Season. This means cheap options (free 3GS, cheap 4, etc) for gift giving and the 4S because the 4 was getting too outdated and in need of an upgrade. Then in the Spring release the "power user's" iPhone 5 (iPhone Pro?). Bigger screen and LTE. I see this trend continuing for the next several years. Smaller screen phone for the Fall/Holiday release and the power user phone in the Spring. This also helps spread out the huge production backlog associated with one massive launch event each year. Two launch events can help smooth out the production and supply chain strain that comes every July/August after the June iPhone announcements.
Apple needs to diversify their offerings. The current one-size-fits-all model they've following up until now is self-limiting. Eventually they need to branch out and offer more choices. Anyone who wants a bigger screen won't even consider an iPhone today. And those same people are probably willing to pay a nice little premium to get one from Apple.
I thought this was one of the dumber things I would read today but then this happened...
Quote:
Originally Posted by skippy302
Lost me as a customer. After three iPhones, I'm done. Moving over to the "dark side." Hey Apple, we want a bigger screen, flash support and a mini HDMI hook up! All things that droid phones have. As of now, Apple has nothing on the droid phones. Anything that IP4S can do, they can do better. The lame Siri feature doesn't count because we all know that it won't work nearly as well in the real world as they make it sound.
I've been waiting for the new iPhone to come out before making my decision and now that it has the fiance and I are done. See you later Apple. We're tired of paying a premium price for an inferior product.
If anything, I think Apple pushed back the release date of their phones to give 4g LTE just a few more months to improve itself before the next iPhone.
And skippy, the record breaking number of people who keep buying iPhones don't seem to care that crappy flash isn't supported and they don't seem to care that their screen is smaller than a crappy resolution android phone and since they can do HDMI output either by cord or wirelessly I'm assuming they really don't care about that.
It really doesn't matter what the specs are, but they are impressive, because this phone will break records again and it will work brilliantly and easily for anyone who purchases it. Apple wins again.
On CNBC this morning....when they hit the tech news coverage...."Apple disapoints with NO iPhone 5" and "Microsof is signing deals with Comcast, FIOS and others to have TV programing on the Xbox".
OMFG!!!!!! New iPhone! It's still the same old sh__, but it's a little faster! Are you going to wait in line for one? Hey, maybe we can camp out together! I'll bring a Thermos of instant capuccino! We can burn our current iPhone 4 contracts for warmth!!
It only took 16 months to figure out how to fit an A5 in the iphone 4!!
Lost me as a customer. After three iPhones, I'm done. Moving over to the "dark side." Hey Apple, we want a bigger screen, flash support and a mini HDMI hook up! All things that droid phones have. As of now, Apple has nothing on the droid phones. Anything that IP4S can do, they can do better. The lame Siri feature doesn't count because we all know that it won't work nearly as well in the real world as they make it sound.
I've been waiting for the new iPhone to come out before making my decision and now that it has the fiance and I are done. See you later Apple. We're tired of paying a premium price for an inferior product.
Make sure that you get a portable charger with that Droid phone. Battery life is dismal compared to the iPhone. About a 20-25% shortage on the Droid side. Can't use it without a charge. Good luck with that.
The wall street guys are still going on about how they can't believe an iPhone 5 model wasn't released. I don't get it. Apple has always been on a cycle. They overhaul the device one year then up the specs of the previous model the next year. Why do they expect it to be any different this year? It is a good upgrade and will keep it competitive on specs. The differentiator is in the software. Why are they downplaying the release of iOS 5, Siri, and iCloud so much? The iPhone has aways shined because of its superior Software, not because of its hardware. It is often the best on the hardware side too, but that is not where the focus should be. The iPhone has much higher loyalty then anything else. Apple's P/E is great, but customer loyalty also makes Apple a great long term bet.
Video call was considered a gimmick before Apple pushed their facetime feature. Now practically every phone and pad and IP Phone services tout their video call feature. You may think Siri is a gimmick and nobody will use it. I can think of quite a few instances in my daily life that I wished there was a voice assistant that responsive. Eg: I really wish my car's navigator can respond to natural voice command like Siri does, or at least understand what I'm talking about more than 50% of the time.
Video calling is still a gimmick, regardless of how many devices support or market it. Is it being used?
As for Siri...I'll reserve judgement until people start using it. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm seldom in a nice, relatively quiet environment. So we'll see how well it can deal wtih background noise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by j1h15233
I thought this was one of the dumber things I would read today but then this happened...
Since I'm always trying to expand my knowledge, could you please use your supposedly supperior intellect and enlighten me about exactly which part of my post (which by the way, was offered as a theory) was one of the dumber things you've read today? Do you have anything to offer other than "LTE isn't ready yet"? Because if that's all you got, that means Apple had piss-poor planning and delayed the release of the 4S for no reason. I for one believe Apple is a bit more forward thinking than that. Apparently you do not.
Fat Cats on Wall Street who can't wipe their own a$% because their stomach is too big. They gotta use a bede'. Did I spell that right? Any way at least the toilet paper shortage won't suffer because of Wall Street.
you have the internet.
you should *at least* attempt to find the correct spelling of a word when you admittedly do not know it.
google will even take your guessed spelling and fix it:
Comments
On one hand, I am actually quite relieved by the iPhone 4S's relatively lacklustre update. Apple has been on such a breakneck course of new product launches since 2007, you couldn't help wondering how long they could keep it up. Everyone at Cupertino has been working at 100% capacity for some time. Those that fall by the wayside get fired; those who succeed get promoted. Without some kind of regular update timelines returning, i.e. bi-annual new product launches like everyone else, I feared the pace was unsustainable and it was only a matter of time before the rush to market produced a major failure. More than that, having to replace not only your Mac, but also your iPhone, iPad and IPod every 12 months was also getting to a tad expensive. I now feel under less pressure to replace my iPhone 4 immediately.
On the other hand, everyone wanted not only a slightly larger screen, but also a different case design without the fragile glass back. I think the iPhone 3GS was actually a better design than the 4. Would it have been too difficult to produce the design we all hoped to see? I guess one reason why many people are disappointed is that we have all developed sky-high expectations based on recent product releases. So, a mere upgrade after 15 months of waiting and valid criticisms against the IPhone 4 do make the iPhone 4S seem a bit like its a day late and a dollar short.
Any suggestion that Apple will introduce a second iPhone, the anticipated iPhone 5, seem wide of the mark. Just as Apple hasn't released an iPad 3 mid-season either. Why invest in new product before the competition shows any inkling of catching-up?
In the meantime, we have iOS 5, iCloud, Siri and a bunch of other software tweaks. Is that enough to make me upgrade? It might just be.
I'm convinced Siri is a gimmick the vast majority of people will never use with any regularity, if at all.
I doubt that many iPhone users really use their devices in such a way that they will benefit from the faster CPU and GPU performance. The new software is great but 3GS and iPhone 4 customers will get most of the benefits anyway for free. So we're really left with improvements to the antenna system and camera, and a 64GB storage option at the same time Apple is trying to move people away from relying on local storage for their content.
I've seen many existing iPhone users today admit they were disappointed, underwhelmed by the announcements but they will buy the new iPhone 4S anyway.
This is the beauty of the Apple cult. Customers may be disappointed largely by a new product announcement, but they will still go out and queue in line to be among the first to buy that shiny new toy with the Apple logo.
It's not hard to agree with general analyst view that this upgrade isn't very impressive. But Apple will probably still sell these new iPhones to record numbers, and that's really all Wall Street is interested in hearing.
Video call was considered a gimmick before Apple pushed their facetime feature. Now practically every phone and pad and IP Phone services tout their video call feature. You may think Siri is a gimmick and nobody will use it. I can think of quite a few instances in my daily life that I wished there was a voice assistant that responsive. Eg: I really wish my car's navigator can respond to natural voice command like Siri does, or at least understand what I'm talking about more than 50% of the time.
[copied from my post on another thread, thought it would be relevant here, too]
Here's my theory as to what happened today... Apple needed to get off it's once a year iPhone upgrade event cycle. Technology and marketing by the competition moves too fast to wait a year to get back in the limelight. So spread out two events per year. You can't keep the June event because that means the other event would be too close to Christmas. So Spring and Fall it is. Earlier this year they had the release of the Verizon iPhone (sorry, no Spring event for the rest of the world). Then bite the bullet and hold out until Fall, skipping June.
LTE isn't quite ready yet, so let's get something new in the pipeline for the Holiday Season. This means cheap options (free 3GS, cheap 4, etc) for gift giving and the 4S because the 4 was getting too outdated and in need of an upgrade. Then in the Spring release the "power user's" iPhone 5 (iPhone Pro?). Bigger screen and LTE. I see this trend continuing for the next several years. Smaller screen phone for the Fall/Holiday release and the power user phone in the Spring. This also helps spread out the huge production backlog associated with one massive launch event each year. Two launch events can help smooth out the production and supply chain strain that comes every July/August after the June iPhone announcements.
Apple needs to diversify their offerings. The current one-size-fits-all model they've following up until now is self-limiting. Eventually they need to branch out and offer more choices. Anyone who wants a bigger screen won't even consider an iPhone today. And those same people are probably willing to pay a nice little premium to get one from Apple.
I thought this was one of the dumber things I would read today but then this happened...
Lost me as a customer. After three iPhones, I'm done. Moving over to the "dark side." Hey Apple, we want a bigger screen, flash support and a mini HDMI hook up! All things that droid phones have. As of now, Apple has nothing on the droid phones. Anything that IP4S can do, they can do better. The lame Siri feature doesn't count because we all know that it won't work nearly as well in the real world as they make it sound.
I've been waiting for the new iPhone to come out before making my decision and now that it has the fiance and I are done. See you later Apple. We're tired of paying a premium price for an inferior product.
If anything, I think Apple pushed back the release date of their phones to give 4g LTE just a few more months to improve itself before the next iPhone.
And skippy, the record breaking number of people who keep buying iPhones don't seem to care that crappy flash isn't supported and they don't seem to care that their screen is smaller than a crappy resolution android phone and since they can do HDMI output either by cord or wirelessly I'm assuming they really don't care about that.
It really doesn't matter what the specs are, but they are impressive, because this phone will break records again and it will work brilliantly and easily for anyone who purchases it. Apple wins again.
iPhone 4S S = stagnation.
OMFG!!!!!! New iPhone! It's still the same old sh__, but it's a little faster! Are you going to wait in line for one? Hey, maybe we can camp out together! I'll bring a Thermos of instant capuccino! We can burn our current iPhone 4 contracts for warmth!!
It only took 16 months to figure out how to fit an A5 in the iphone 4!!
Troll, you're on Ignore.
Lost me as a customer. After three iPhones, I'm done. Moving over to the "dark side." Hey Apple, we want a bigger screen, flash support and a mini HDMI hook up! All things that droid phones have. As of now, Apple has nothing on the droid phones. Anything that IP4S can do, they can do better. The lame Siri feature doesn't count because we all know that it won't work nearly as well in the real world as they make it sound.
I've been waiting for the new iPhone to come out before making my decision and now that it has the fiance and I are done. See you later Apple. We're tired of paying a premium price for an inferior product.
Make sure that you get a portable charger with that Droid phone. Battery life is dismal compared to the iPhone. About a 20-25% shortage on the Droid side. Can't use it without a charge. Good luck with that.
Video call was considered a gimmick before Apple pushed their facetime feature. Now practically every phone and pad and IP Phone services tout their video call feature. You may think Siri is a gimmick and nobody will use it. I can think of quite a few instances in my daily life that I wished there was a voice assistant that responsive. Eg: I really wish my car's navigator can respond to natural voice command like Siri does, or at least understand what I'm talking about more than 50% of the time.
Video calling is still a gimmick, regardless of how many devices support or market it. Is it being used?
As for Siri...I'll reserve judgement until people start using it. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm seldom in a nice, relatively quiet environment. So we'll see how well it can deal wtih background noise.
I thought this was one of the dumber things I would read today but then this happened...
Since I'm always trying to expand my knowledge, could you please use your supposedly supperior intellect and enlighten me about exactly which part of my post (which by the way, was offered as a theory) was one of the dumber things you've read today? Do you have anything to offer other than "LTE isn't ready yet"? Because if that's all you got, that means Apple had piss-poor planning and delayed the release of the 4S for no reason. I for one believe Apple is a bit more forward thinking than that. Apparently you do not.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7K801920111005
Fat Cats on Wall Street who can't wipe their own a$% because their stomach is too big. They gotta use a bede'. Did I spell that right? Any way at least the toilet paper shortage won't suffer because of Wall Street.
you have the internet.
you should *at least* attempt to find the correct spelling of a word when you admittedly do not know it.
google will even take your guessed spelling and fix it:
http://www.google.com/search?q=bedet