Lack of innovation and constrained stock myths
About being innovative, can someone give me an example of what that means, scrolling with your eyeball or with the wave of your hand? Apple is always being bashed for not being innovative but yet when they come out with a 64bit processor the critics say it's useless cos the apps can't make use of it and the same goes for the fingerprint sensor.
Most people here use innovation as a buzzword meaning "a new functionality that is important to me and that no-one else (and certainly not Android) has developed previously".
It is nonsense. There is no true fixed definition of innovation, but what it basically means is that a business has developed a new process, service, product or a part of these things that does things differently than before or improves upon the previous situation.
The eyeball scrolling of Samsung is an innovation. It might be useless to most, but it is. The same goes for the motion sensor in the 5S. Many people might dismiss it as useless but it is an innovation nonetheless.
The new metal reinforced plastic case is an innovation as well as the production process to match fitting iPhone backplate components using photographic methods.
Many people on this forum and outside require Apple to introduce new features and functionality in each iteration that will have a disruptive effect on the market. But this is impossible with the maturity of the smartphone market in terms of technology. there is basically not much room for feature innovation that will convert Android people to Apple or vice versa.
In addition, many people here lack a general understanding of how complicated innovation is, especially in the consumer electronics space. A lot of it is going on under the surface of the devices that a general consumer never sees. It is an incredible feat of engineering to be able to continually reduce the size of the phone, but still increase battery capacity (albeit in small increments).
I also challenge those people that want Apple to become more innovative to come up with features that will really enhance the usability of the device and that is important enough to include in the device to warrant the production of millions. Most asked for features such as waterproof-ness, NFC etc are confined to small niches of the market and would add tremendous cost to the device without adding any appeal to a large part of the market.
Another myth is the "artificially constrained stock" that people seem to suspect Apple is creating with the 5S and 5C. The fact of the matter is that the production of a new device is not simply a matter of sending some factory in China a few schematics. With the volumes that Apple demands and the complexity of their production process it requires retooling or building completely new factories or adapting existing ones. Production lines need to be altered, machines tested and calibrated and manufacturing personnel needs to be hired and trained. It's not a matter of telling everyone to dump the 5 and to start producing the 5S on the same production line. With a yearly update cycle there is just very small room to do all this and ramp up production for the launch. The most convincing proof that Apple is not withholding stock or producing small quantities on purpose is the staggered launches in different regions. Apple wants to have these things in the hands of as many people around the globe as soon as possible. There is no sense in holding back other countries in that regard.
I'm sure this long text might scare off most 5 year olds that cry for innovation and more production on many page of this thread, but I hope this at least sheds some light on how these things work for some that take the time to read.
