Awesome iPhone 5

[Sabarish Venkat]

Wow.. 4- inch Retina display, That's awesome... A real feel will be there now

[Jesper de Jong]

Right now on TV someone is talking about the new iPhone 5. On the street they asked some people to take a look at it and say what they think about how it compares to the 4 and 4s. They all say "Wow, it's lighter, it's faster, it's thinner...". But! The phone that they're holding is not an iPhone 5, but a 4s. The interviewers did this on purpose. A big part of how the people experience the phone is nothing more than a psychological effect.

[fred rosenberger]

I don't get the cult of Mac. "I have a phone I was thrilled with and paid $600 for a year ago, but now there is a newer, shinier one that weight 18g less!!! OMG!!! I MUST GO RIGHT NOW and drop ANOTHER $600 for this new device!!! My old phone is CRAP and I HATE IT!! It must die in a fire!!!"

WTF?

[Steve Luke]

fred rosenberger wrote:I don't get the cult of Mac. "I have a phone I was thrilled with and paid $600 for a year ago, but now there is a newer, shinier one that weight 18g less!!! OMG!!! I MUST GO RIGHT NOW and drop ANOTHER $600 for this new device!!! My old phone is CRAP and I HATE IT!! It must die in a fire!!!"

WTF?

For actual people (not the bloggers who get paid for it), the 'I must buy a new one) doesn't seem to come every year. It seems to skip a generation. And I think it has a couple of aspects to it:
1) Their contracts on their old phone is coming up, so they get a discount on a new one.
2) They felt left out on the one 'cool' feature that last year's model had that they couldn't get on their phone (a la the Siri nonsense). And they don't want to be left out again.

From the people I know who have iPhones, it is mostly about #1 for 9mos of the year, and about #2 the rest of the time. But hey, I have an Android phone and my contract is coming up and I am getting really envious of all the features the phones got while I was under contract too. So I am no different then the iPhoners.

[Bear Bibeault]

I have an iPhone 4S and I really like it. It's under contract right now until the end of 2013. I'll likely trade up at that point to whatever's available then. Until then, I'll continue to enjoy my 4S.

With regards to the "I have to have the newest one right now!" phenomenon -- I see just as much of this from my friends and colleagues with regards to their Android gadgets. So it's not just an Apple thing -- it's a geek thing, I think.

[fred rosenberger]

I should qualify this with the fact that I am a cell phone luddite. I have one only because I have a child. At my last contract renewal, I went backwards...I used to have a blackberry, now I have the most basic, simplest phone I could get. It gets/makes calls, I can text with it...that's about all I need on a phone.

And to be honest, I could quite easily do without the texting.

[Gregg Bolinger]

fred rosenberger wrote:I should qualify this with the fact that I am a cell phone luddite..

Well, that pretty much makes any argument you have moot.

I would say that I am somewhere in between GOTTA HAVE IT and Don't care. I've never waited in line. However, I do want to upgrade. Mostly because my biggest gripe about any phone is speed (android is worse than iphone in this regard, over time). So I generally upgrade for the internal hardware more than anything else. I don't really care about a bigger screen and the weight isn't an issue for me. I will also be able to do everything on my 4S because I'll update to iOS 6. Speed speed and more speed.

And really, this isn't iPhone specific. I am a gadget geek and I love playing with the latest and greatest.

[Martin Vashko]

Gregg Bolinger wrote:However, I do want to upgrade.

I'm the exact opposite. I usually abhor the upgrade, since I'll have to find out how to sync contacts with the new software, unlearn a few habits from the previous model and while the new model usually has a few new interesting perks, nearly every upgrade I did brought some unpleasant surprise.

I had Siemens ME 45 for years (at least seven or eight). It was my best phone ever. When the battery was gone after a few years, I had to search obscure shops to find replacement, and I got laughed at ("For the price of that battery, sir, you could have a brand new phone"). However, it's monochromatic display was perfectly readable on direct sun. The model I got immediately after that one (Sony Ericsson K510, if I recall correctly) had a color display, but was completely unreadable on direct sunlight. And it was not able to collate names with national characters properly, which was pretty irritating.

Currently have a Nokia and it's pretty good for me. Even though it is in color, I can more or less see who's calling me on a sunny day! But the speed dial feature I was used to with every of my previous phones is broken: the speed dial list gets cleared every time I sync contact list. I've given up setting it again and again after every sync.

However, every phonemaker I've bought a phone from went bust (Siemens, Sony-Ericsson). Nokia is on the verge now. Perhaps the spell could be broken if I went for Apple.

[Gregg Bolinger]

Martin Vajsar wrote:

Gregg Bolinger wrote:However, I do want to upgrade.

I'm the exact opposite. I usually abhor the upgrade, since I'll have to find out how to sync contacts with the new software, unlearn a few habits from the previous model and while the new model usually has a few new interesting perks, nearly every upgrade I did brought some unpleasant surprise.

Well, yea, with other phones that is a problem. Generally, it isn't a problem with iPhones. Especially with the iCloud stuff. It all just comes back down to your new phone. And their usually isn't anything new to learn. You just get better stuff all around.

[Bear Bibeault]

One of the great things about the iPhone (and indeed, the whole i-device family) is the seamless way that they work with each other and across upgrades.

I never had to learn how to import contacts the first time -- it just did it automatically from my (then) iTools account. And even though I've upgraded my i-devices numerous times, and iTools turned into .mac, which turned into MobileMe, and then into iCould, I've never had to lift a finger (or even swipe one ) to import contacts. (Or calendar, or email, etc...)

For me, it's not only the excellence of the hardware (and I am not saying no one else has excellent hardware), it's the software and the eco-system that make these device such a joy for me to use.

Let me put it another way: since owning a 1st-gen iPod, I've never hard the urge to throw an i-device across the room in frustration -- something that cannot be said for my Nexus 7 tablet.

Apple-bashing seems to be the latest Internet sport -- so may people lambasting Apple and the new iPhone without having ever even held one in their hands.

I have a colleague who is rabidly pro-Android (much more so than any Apple "fanboi" that I know) and that's fine. Each person should find tools that give them joy to use. But he's also just as rabidly anti-Apple. It is really necessary to stop my my office at every opportunity to bash Apple devices that he's never even used?

[Steve Luke]

Bear Bibeault wrote:I never had to learn how to import contacts the first time -- it just did it automatically from my (then) iTools account.

Yeah, that's my experience with Android as well. You log in to the phone with your gmail account, get your contacts, email, etc... for free (no work). New phone? Log in with the same email address to get the same contacts, email, and apps you had on the last one. The key with smartphones is to stay within the family. Going from Android to iPhone means you have to transfer stuff. But iDevice to iDevice, and Android to Android is smooth.

Been a long time since I used a Blackberry, but I know the first time it took a while to get the contacts and what not on it. The next one was a (slow) sync with a computer. I assume they are better now...


(p.s. My iPad is a couple years old now, and there are times I want to throw it across the room... My iPod touch is older but I never have issues with it.)

[Bert Bates]

There's another interesting angle to this discussion.

Studies have shown that - all other UI aspects being the same - better looking devices are perceived as being easier to use.

Strange, but true.

[Anayonkar Shivalkar]

fred rosenberger wrote:I should qualify this with the fact that I am a cell phone luddite. I have one only because I have a child. At my last contract renewal, I went backwards...I used to have a blackberry, now I have the most basic, simplest phone I could get. It gets/makes calls, I can text with it...that's about all I need on a phone.

And to be honest, I could quite easily do without the texting.

Good to know that there's someone like me

My phone doeesn't have a camera, music player, 3g, wi-fi et-cetera.

I don't text, and my monthly phone expenses are much less than 1$

But then, it's just me - I like to keep devices diverged - I use my DSLR to take photos, 5.1 channel home theater system for listening to music, and laptop for internet.

Its not that I don't like those fancy phones, its just that perhaps I don't need them...

[Pat Farrell]

Martin Vajsar wrote:every phonemaker I've bought a phone from went bust (Siemens, Sony-Ericsson). Nokia is on the verge now. Perhaps the spell could be broken if I went for Apple.

Please, buy an iPhone. Maybe I should chip in to help pay for it.

I find it interesting how unexciting this latest iPhone is. Sure, its a bit nicer, prettier, etc. But there is nothing here new and exciting. Smartphones have become commodities. The way we buy them here in the US is insane, but that's how the cell carriers want it.

Soon, smartphones will be like desktop computers, fast enough for everyone, and with no distinguishing features.

[Steve Luke]

Pat Farrell wrote:I find it interesting how unexciting this latest iPhone is. Sure, its a bit nicer, prettier, etc. But there is nothing here new and exciting.

I don't disagree, but it is probably asking a little much to expect something new and exciting every year. The iPhone itself was new and exciting, and since the first release has been incremental changes and small improvements. That is what is to be expected, I would think, once a product category reaches mainstream. And I would also expect that whichever company was the one responsible for making it mainstream continue a marketing and PR push so that everyone remembers it was their idea.

[chris webster]

I dunno, the new iPhone looks awfully like my Samsung Galaxy S2. Except that my screen's bigger and at least the maps work on my phone, unlike the new Apple maps tool on the iPhone!

[Pat Farrell]

Steve Luke wrote: but it is probably asking a little much to expect something new and exciting every year.

But its been two years. Last year all they did was announce the 4s, which looked exactly like the 4, adding SIRI and some minor stuff. SIRI never really worked, and the minor stuff has been forgotten. So after two years, they big deal, best they can come up with, is a little longer a little thinner? Where is the stunning design that we expect from Apple for their premium prices?

[Bear Bibeault]

I was gonna stay out of the rest of this topic for fear of being branded a "fanbio" but...

What more did you expect, Pat? There are people who say "I wanted more!", but when asked what they wanted, they just say "Well, you know.... just more!". I don't understand why they're disappointed that they didn't get what they don't know they want.

NFC is about the only concrete thing I've heard, but Apple is going in a different direction with mobile payments.

The iPhones (and many other modern phones) are marvels of design and engineering. The iPhone's sleek design is iconic and, at least to me, beautiful in its simplicity. Why change it radically just to be different?

Sometimes I expect one of the nay-sayers who say "I wanted more!", when asked what, to answer with "It doesn't lay golden eggs!". Maybe the iPhone 6 will.

What's your wish list?

[Bear Bibeault]

I came across this amazing photo of a Fedex facility this morning.

⇐ click for source

All but a handful of these boxes are iPhone 5s.

Fedex must love days like these!

[Pat Farrell]

Bear Bibeault wrote:NFC is about the only concrete thing I've heard, but Apple is going in a different direction with mobile payments.

Right, I don't think Apple will ever go with NFC. It solves a problem for the banks, visa and MasterCard, but that's not a problem that Apple has. Apple already had at least a hundred million valid credit card account info for all the iTunes customers. NFC is a way for the banks and credit card companies to get back into the transaction flow so they can skim off a few percentage points. Apple doesn't need to do that.

The problem with electronic money is not the technology, that was solved 15+ years ago. Its getting the critical mass of users and vendors. Once you do that, collecting a few percentage points on each transaction as it flies by is easy.

[edited to change to 100 million credit cards]

[Bear Bibeault]

100% accurate!

[Devesh H Rao]

Bear Bibeault wrote:

What more did you expect, Pat?

What's your wish list?

Usability. Before i get hit with a ton of bricks hear me out.

I am OS agnostic, have bought a droid for my wife, used/loved/lost an iPhone 4. Now i am trying to get my Wife to pick up the nokia 920 while i myself was waiting for iPhone 5 to replace my lost 4 Piece.

I am disappointed because i think Apple is taking it easy. The competition like WinOS and Android have had dynamic/live home screens be in in form of widgets or tiles.
Apple when it came out with icons was a path breaker, it showed the way but IMHO they have been left behind on that front. iPhones screens are static. They do not do much apart from collate a set of icons.

I do not want to go inside an app to check time, weather, rss updates, news ... yes they have notifications but that is not the same as active content of the screens which is customizable to my needs. Maybe it is a viewpoint but yes Apple was expected to do better. Leave killer features aside, leave the future support.

Apple is expected to plug its gaps, get what its competition does better into iOS as well. Its a deal breaker for me.

[Gregg Bolinger]

Devesh H Rao wrote:
I am disappointed because i think Apple is taking it easy. The competition like WinOS and Android have had dynamic/live home screens be in in form of widgets or tiles.
Apple when it came out with icons was a path breaker, it showed the way but IMHO they have been left behind on that front. iPhones screens are static. They do not do much apart from collate a set of icons.

I do not want to go inside an app to check time, weather, rss updates, news ... yes they have notifications but that is not the same as active content of the screens which is customizable to my needs. Maybe it is a viewpoint but yes Apple was expected to do better. Leave killer features aside, leave the future support.

Apple is expected to plug its gaps, get what its competition does better into iOS as well. Its a deal breaker for me.

There is a lot of information on the interwebs about why Apple makes the decisions they do. There is also a lot of information out there specifically about why Apple has not implemented "live" homescreens. It all boils down to performance and battery usage. I've had several Android devices and the first thing I do is go in and disable most of the animations and "live" things. Why? Because over time, Android gets slow and the animations become less than smooth and it is more annoying that not having them at all. I fully expect for you or someone to say "that doesn't happen to me" but what matters is what happens to me.

I'm glad Android exists because competition is healthy. And I have no problems with anyone not wanting to use an Apple device. Is waiting in line for hours upon hours a complete waste of time for the new iPhone 5? In my opinion, 100% absolutely a waste of time. And I think that latest Samsung commercial pointing that out is pretty spot on. But then I remember that Samsung owes Apple billions of dollars and I chuckle a little bit at that.

[Steve Luke]

Gregg Bolinger wrote:...Why? Because over time, Android gets slow and the animations become less than smooth and it is more annoying that not having them at all. I fully expect for you or someone to say "that doesn't happen to me" but what matters is what happens to me....

Yeah, that happens to me too. The Live features and streaming stuff slow things down and kill battery life, so I turn much of that off. But Widgets are more than that. The power widget was a must for a long time* - turn GPS, WiFi, Data, Airplane Mode, Screen Brightness on and off at the touch of a button. You can't do that on Apple, those functions are deep inside menus. It is painful. Other widgets are just as useful without being memory or power hogs: contact launchers for email, phone, texts, hidden panels to get quick access to more icons without going through screens, there are a lot of them. Those are the real benefit to having Widgets over purely static and pre-defined UI. Many of them are easy to live without, but when you have them it makes life so much easier.


*less necessary now that those functions have been added to the notification center

[Gregg Bolinger]

Steve Luke wrote:

Gregg Bolinger wrote:...Why? Because over time, Android gets slow and the animations become less than smooth and it is more annoying that not having them at all. I fully expect for you or someone to say "that doesn't happen to me" but what matters is what happens to me....

Yeah, that happens to me too. The Live features and streaming stuff slow things down and kill battery life, so I turn much of that off. But Widgets are more than that. The power widget was a must for a long time* - turn GPS, WiFi, Data, Airplane Mode, Screen Brightness on and off at the touch of a button. You can't do that on Apple, those functions are deep inside menus. It is painful. Other widgets are just as useful without being memory or power hogs: contact launchers for email, phone, texts, hidden panels to get quick access to more icons without going through screens, there are a lot of them. Those are the real benefit to having Widgets over purely static and pre-defined UI. Many of them are easy to live without, but when you have them it makes life so much easier.


*less necessary now that those functions have been added to the notification center

I used to think the same thing. But I just don't turn all those things on/off that often. So for me, it's a non-issue. I can see how that can be annoying for other people, though.