I’m an iOS fan boy but I also think like a consumer. I wasnt the only one disappointed in expecting more innovation from Apple over the last 16 months they’ve had to make the iPhone 5, their stock was also down.
With all the innovations I’ve seen in Android, even a pending 3D phone, I’m shocked like most people this is the best they could do? The iPhone 4 was revolutionary and it is beautiful but its design still has real problems for me as a consumer. I was mostly hoping for a redesign that might be more like the iPad’s strong beveled back and a wider screen like Androids have.
Honestly, I’m sick of protecting the iPhone 4 glass front and back. In a hot car the glass picks up all the heat especially if its charging and you’re using a program like Sirius or Waze. I’m tired of its bulky design and would love something like an Android thinness or a iPhone thats designed like a mini-iPad. The back of my iPad has easily taken some hits, but my iPhone has a chip out the back. Bottom line: I expected MORE innovation from Apple. I think we all did.
Think about this: The iPad is making things obsolete, guess what, my iPad has almost made my iPhone obsolete. I even use it for calling on Google Voice and Skype (AT&T’s poor calling service helped make it obsolete too). I used to game all of the time on my iPhone. Not anymore, now the iPad has the same games and better. My iPhone over the last 6 months has gone back to being JUST a phone. I ONLY use it when I’m mobile. The only main reason I own it is for the Camera, Video and Sirius in the car.
Chris Pirillo whom I highly respect, put out a great comparison on his Google+. In the end though, someone said “look in this economy we dont have money to flip through small upgrades of phones.” Since iPad is my power iOS device my plan was to dump my iPhone 4 32g for a base iPhone 5 16g. On top of that as a consumer I want to get away from AT&T and now I have 2 choices.
The upsetting thing is now I have to sign a 2 year contract and blow out of AT&T with a small penalty. I think why consumers are upset is that many know that within 6 months to a year the iPhone 5 will come out and we’ll be over a barrel again. As consumers we’re feeling a bit squeezed into whats seems to be an incremental upgrade and not a huge innovation. I expected the changes Apple made, but I wanted the “wow” factor that could lock me in for 2 more years mobile contract. Thats what we all expected and didnt get.
Siri is awesome, yes. But my iPad is what I use again now, this would actually be better for me there. The only talking I do to my iPhone is swearing at AT&T’s dropped calls and unclear conversations where the other person can never hear me.
Chris Pirillo tweeted out that Apple has always been a little behind. More and more I get it. The richest companies in the world are ones that can charge top dollar for perceived top quality. They dont have to do volume. The quality doesnt have to be great, the perception of it does. Apple barely does enough innovation to squeeze out top dollar milking its loyal Apple fan base. It doesnt want to out innovate Android and money wise doesnt have to. I own over a 1000 Apps, they make tons of money off the Apps without having to innovate the phone.
In the end, I’ve held off leaving AT&T for this moment. I already have an iPad iOS device. Do I want to buy an almost 2 year old looking model, while my friends all have the coolest Android innovations. I actually found myself looking at better Androids online today and will likely be shopping giving Android and iPhone a VERY hard comparison, since I want to switch services. I’m tired of being behind. Tell that to your Siri and see what it says.
Update: In the end I was driven to look at Android, which shouldnt have happened. The only thing close was the new Droid Bionic. In looking at the optics and lenses evidently iPhone upgraded I’m betting its better. When pre-order day I ordered my 4S. I guess I’ll see what I think when I get it.
Hi Chris, No surprise that you think the iPhone incremental tweak is a bust. I’ve been using the same TMobile G1 on the AT&T net for over two years and I love it. OK, it’s slow and dated now so I’m waiting for Ma Bell to come out with an Android phone that rivals Verizon’s Droid Bionic *(the coolest phone in the universe right now, IMHO). But yeah, I’m not crazy about Apple taking its customers for granted, and it looks like Steve Jobs took his exit from the company at exactly the right time, while his fans were still smiling.
Re: “My iPhone over the last 6 months has gone back to being JUST a phone.” Sad part is it’s always been a really crappy phone.
Great article and I wholeheartedly agree. I was really hoping for some aesthetic updates (bigger screen, thinner profile). Very underwhelming and I like yourself am taking a hard look at some Android phones to consider.
I have an iPhone 4 and I’m not really disappointed at all. I’ll just install iOS 5 and get most of the new features anyway (I could care less about that annoying robot voice talking to me).
I think perhaps we’re all a little spoiled at the level of innovation that we’ve experienced over the last 5 years. I think it would be great to have holographic messaging and a built in teleporter, but I don’t see those features in Android phones either. Wi-fi sync, cloud storage, new messaging options, quick access to camera from lock screen – are all great features. And I get them all for the grand total of FREE.
This is what happens when we have ‘First World’ problems: we get our panties into a twist whenever we feel like we don’t get what we ‘deserve’ – like a new iPhone that this time parts the Red Sea. The 8 megapixel camera isn’t enough? Increased 7X speeds?
Don’t get me wrong. I wanted something crazy different too. But then with I took a step back and realized I’d become part of the problem: we’re all so used to more, more, more, that we can’t look at what we have (the iPhone 4 kicks ass, BTW) and enjoy it. Everything instead has to improve at hyper-speeds.
The death of Jobs reaffirmed that context.
interesting what is going to happen now?