iPhone

[Madmya]

Rumours are saying that Apple are making a cheap version of the iPhone. That, ladies and gentleman, heralds the death of the Apple era. iPhone was so popular because of the wank it created. It was expensive so the dregs of society couldn't afford one and therefore no one uncool would have one. It only had iPhone specific message and ring tones so that people would notice they had an iPhone and that the owner would thus feel good about having the iPhone, perhaps a fellow iPhone owner on the train would nod in respect or tell them where they bought their shoes, circulating the phenomena known as wank.

Now with what's-his-face dead, Apple are going down the shitter fast. It's running like a standard massive company rather than an innovative company with a sense of marketing genius.

[Rorschach]

I think it's too soon to make that call. Apple now and the Apple of the mid-1990s are worlds apart in terms of the quality they produce. I mean, Samsung caters to all levels of the market and naturally they are the leader at the moment, there's nothing to say Apple can't do the same. If on the other hand Apple were to start licensing their OS to other makers, well, that really would be the death of Apple as Jobs had built it and a return to mediocrity. As it stands, Apple stills makes quality products and people still want what they sell. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple creates a new niche in the budget phone category that other makers hadn't even thought of. Jobs is gone but there is still a lot of talent there.

[Madmya]

No, no, you don't get it. I've called it. There's no going back. Don't you know who I am?

Apple have lost their edge along with their CEO.

[pilonv1]

I don't want to be one of "those" people but everyone is dumping their iOS devices for android/windows phone.

I can see why they think they would make a cheaper version, they cant have many adult users left to target so they need to aim for kids/teenagers. Problem is that their phone is seen to be lagging behind even if it isn't.

[selfish]

the "apple are making a cheaper iPhone" rumour has been around since pretty much the first iPhone, I place no faith in that particular one, except for perhaps a desire to change the plugs on everything they sell to lightning

their MO has just been "sell the old ones for cheap," which seems to be doing them pretty well. i predict that if there IS a new one, it'll just be that they sell the 4/4s with a lightning plug.

[Madmya]

Good point. Would be the smarter option I reckon.

[Pointy Cat]

Whatever Apple do this year it needs to be something different in a very obvious way. People want what is novel, and the likes of Samsung are the ones offering that now. How much has iOS changed over the past few years? Hardly any at all, aside from backend improvements and integration with this and that.

To a lot of people Apple was once new and shiny. Now it's the same old same old. It works perfectly fine, no real issues, it's just so boring now. Consumers have ADHD and Apple need to recognise that. A 44.59374% faster iOS7 with Pinterest integration or whatever and new Siri features just won't cut it. I doubt they'll do much else than that though. Better CPU, more memory, slightly updated software? Zzzz. Great product I bet, but still, boooooring.

Would be good to be wrong though. But I doubt it. I bet Apple is scared of doing anything too different these days for fear of looking like they're shitting on the grave of Jobs.

[mech]

Hahahaha, some gold in this thread.

First off, people have such strange memories with regards to Apple products. When iPhone came out people rubbished it, said it wasn't revolutionary, and said it wouldn't sell. When the 3G came out they said it was more of the same and was barely any change, and the app store wasn't that important. When the 3GS launched everyone yawned and said no one cares about it, it's a boring update, all they did was update the speed. The 4 is the only one with quite a big change (via its retina screen and form factor change) but even then people said it wasn't that big a deal, Apple doesn't innovate anymore, etc etc. 4S - same as 3GS. The 5, which is a HUGE update over the 4 imo, it's unbelievable how different a phone it is, again was criticized for being lazy, not innovating, and just being more of the same (even from people comparing it to the 4!).

And yet in people's heads Apple used to have innovative products and it's just lately they're releasing the same old stuff.

Meanwhile I'm not actually sure what other phone manufacturers are doing that is so amazing and buzzworthy. Samsung advertises its phones' NFC capabilities by showing people sharing playlists. Really?!? Whoop-de-freaking-doo.

Apple plays a reasonably conservative game, and tends not to release things before their time - e.g. Retina, LTE. At the same time its hardware engineering is second to none - you're not just paying for specs, but quality and customer service. It's a big part of why I haven't switched to Android.

Meanwhile, the perception of people that iPhone is becoming less popular is ridiculous. e.g. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/iph ... -1.1236945" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

None of my friends on iPhone have switched. The Apple ecosystem is fantastic - easy data sharing between iPad and iPhone, free messaging via iMessage, a great online store, an awesome (and malware free) app store, etc. That's what you're paying for when you buy an iPhone.

Apple is probably going to keep on the incremental OS change path - it's worked for them with Mac OS X, and people are generally happy with iOS and don't want radical change. Just because the fringes want something new and shiny every couple of years, doesn't mean the majority does.

[van]

I've been seeing a handful of friends buying Nexus 7 tablets as a sort of risk-free and cheap way of trying out the Android ecosphere, but none of them have switched to Android handsets yet.

[Madmya]

People's criticism towards Apple these days really boils down to iOS still looking the same, as Pointy Cat said. Changing their plug system is nothing short of a cunt-act in my book anyway. They can die in a fire for that alone.

[selfish]

Mech your post is spot on. There's always been a contingent of folk who just want the latest toy to screw around with - folk who are keen to play installing all kinds of things on their gadgets. Anyone who bought a windows mobile phone when they came with a stylus - and for them the lack of novelty in a system that is solid, doesn't need changing, and undergoes incremental, conservative improvement IS a serious problem.

PS: http://dx.com/s/lightning+adapter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; solves cable woes pretty easily

[van]

PS: http://dx.com/s/lightning+adapter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; solves cable woes pretty easily

I heard Apple has the ability to push a switch in iOS software updates that renders these aftermarket connectors useless. Haven't bothered to read up on that, though.

[Madmya]

Buy an adapter? That's completely besides the point.

[mech]

Changing the connector made a lot of sense though. The size of the 30 pin connector was way too big. I've been fine with adapters and a couple of extra USB cables.

[Megaman]

That 30 pin connector was ridiculous for any device released in the last ten years. It looked like the cord I used to plug my C64 tape player in with.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

As shitty as it stands with having to now use a different cable... The old one was shit anyway. It sucks that everyone has to upgrade but the old connector was arse.

[General Chaos]

My problem with the new connector was the dropped ball on availability for so long after launch.

We all knew they were changing the connector months before release why didn't they?

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

I was hearing somewhere that it's a US style marketing ploy... deny the customer the product and it sends them into a purchasing frenzy when they finally can have it.

That just shits me more than anything.

[General Chaos]

Spare charging cable frenzy? Fuck me! I've heard it all!

[Madmya]

What? They could have just gone with the cable every other mobile company agreed to use.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

But how do you make money on that?

[Peppermint Lounge]

Mobile phone companies have always had an assortment of connectors for chargers + accessories both now and before smartphones were ubiquitous.

As for iOS no longer looking fresh or appearing stale that's totally subjective. It's just the operating system. iOS apps look great, in the vast majority of cases they look much better than the same service on other platforms. Even google apps! If someone wants to change for change's sake then very good. That's down to the person though, not because Apple are doing anything wrong.

[Madmya]

Bullshit. Almost all phone companies use micro usb, an agreement to reduce waste. I'm using my HTC Desire chargers from 3 years ago for my S3. You can't even do that between an Apple phone three years ago and today.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Still the case with many phones but given the power restrictions of micro USB, tablets are now resorting to proprietary connectors to compensate. Apple do some obnoxious shit because they can but in the case of the new lightning connector it's an improved charging/syncing solution.

Given the saturation of smartphones it's now much easier to find somewhere random to charge than it used to be.

[Madmya]

Many phones? It's been a long, long time since I've seen a different plug. There's no excuses, apple had the opportunity to engineer their phone around micro usb, even if it meant some form of compromise. The whole idea was to reduce waste and lightning has probably created more waste than any previous phone.