For me, I'm happy with the 4S because I take the design aspect to be one of the deciding points when buying a smartphone. I cannot live with the cheap plastic quality of GS2 and probably the Nexus Prime that's coming out. I also don't like how Samsung phones don't have symmetry in the design ie. curved backs, curved bottom etc. Also, I really don't mind if the screen size stays the same because, after all, these are PHONES. GS2 looks like a mini tablet to me and that's cumbersome.
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I am surprised by all the hate, is anyone excited by all the changes?
- Thread starter DougFNJ
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I agree completely. For me, the current iPhone design is the best out there. I hated all those teardrop mockups. If it's the best looking phone, why change it and especially ONLY after 16 months? They don't redesign their macbook pros every year do they...
The current screen size is perfect. An average person can actually use the phone with one hand. When I saw desire hd for the first time all I could think was how annoying it must be to drag the thing around as well as not being able to use it with one hand whilst holding it (and don't tell me that you can hit any spot of the screen comfortably. although there is probably 2 or 3 in a hundred that can). People laughed about iPads being large iPhones and those same people are now trying to merge the two. As for Retina+ complains, I am sorry, but that's just dumb. Why improve something that's already the best and will actually be hard to improve.
So, I am actually excited about the 4s. Still the best design, comfortable and usable screen size, Speed, Ram, improved battery life, improved camera, faster data transfers and hopefully fixed antenna issue. Oh, and there is this Siri, but I don't want to make any comments, since that's something I would like to test first.
There's nothing revolutionary about it, nothing new & exiting. It's just a bump in specs. The change from the iPhone 3G to 3Gs was a little more "exiting" because the performance improvement really made the phone a better user experience. The current iPhone 4 is plenty fast, but then I don't play games on it.
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So if they had used UPS it would have been better?
My thoughts precisely. When I was shopping in the store for the 3GS, I compared it side-by-side with the 3G and the difference was BIG. It felt almost 2x faster all around. I also compared to Android, and back then, Android was garbage. Just terrible, and in no way comparable to Apple. I got the 3GS and was blown away by all the features (partly because it was my first smartphone). I loved that phone to death.
Then, when I compared the iphone 4 and 3gs side-by-side, although faster, the difference wasn't as pronounced. Sure, many improvements, but I just didn't feel compelled to upgrade. By that time, I was a little bored with iOS and interested in all the new improvements in Android, so I switched just to give it a try.
Now, I am waiting to come back to iOS, and was hoping for 4G and a larger screen or other improvements to bring me back. The 4S announcement didn't do it for me, and so I'm going to wait a little longer on Android until the next iphone model comes out. In the mean time, Android may come out with something (Nexus Prime) that will convince me to stay even longer.
Really do miss all the little things about iOS/Apple that make it great though. But right now, Android serves my needs despite the lack of Apple refinement.
One other thing to note if you are all comparing in-store Android models to the iphone:
Out of the box, no question, iphone is better. Many Android phones are still clunky with the manufacturer launchers/bloatware. However, if you want the Android experience I get (and that I use to compare to iOS) you have to root the phone and flash custom ROMs/tweaks. Once you do so, the experience is nearly as fluid as Apple, and in many respects, better. That in itself is the problem with Android: you have to know what you are doing to get that great experience whereas with Apple, you just open and go.
So for people bashing Android for not being close to the iphone, I can agree with you to some degree when speaking stock-for-stock. But with customization, Android id pretty close in overall smoothness and better in some respects (customization, options, etc.)
I think one of the big problems (if you want to call it that) is Apple has set the bar so high for themselves that people are now expecting nothing less than extraordinary.
If after the 3GS, Apple had released the same form factor as 3GS with maybe a metal back...SOMETHING that looked a little different, people would had went nuts last year for that model too. And if they introduced exactly what we got in the 4S MAYBE people would had been more satisfied. My point is the design is far from old. There is really not a lot you can change and tweek ultimately for a slap of glass and a case.
The larger screen argument does confuse me though. Does that .3 inches REALLY make that big a difference? Think about that.... .3 inches is not evolutionary nor revolutionary, it's miniscule. You also don't want to piss off the people that want to keep it compact, and now you give them something NOT so compact.
As far as Android, it is a good platform as Windows is a good platform for PC's. The Widgets and certain customizations are great, except for the fact that when I customized too much, or installed that one wrong app, I experienced crashing and resets. The battery life is not so stellar with Android either, there is too much going on in the background at the same time which makes it processor intensive forcing the need for faster processing. Then there were arguments for and against App Killers to fix that which required more tweaking which effected performance. I have NEVER had to deal with these issues with iPhone, it just works. It does what it is supposed to do, and it does it great. I am thinking with these upgrades, it will now do them even better.
If after the 3GS, Apple had released the same form factor as 3GS with maybe a metal back...SOMETHING that looked a little different, people would had went nuts last year for that model too. And if they introduced exactly what we got in the 4S MAYBE people would had been more satisfied. My point is the design is far from old. There is really not a lot you can change and tweek ultimately for a slap of glass and a case.
The larger screen argument does confuse me though. Does that .3 inches REALLY make that big a difference? Think about that.... .3 inches is not evolutionary nor revolutionary, it's miniscule. You also don't want to piss off the people that want to keep it compact, and now you give them something NOT so compact.
As far as Android, it is a good platform as Windows is a good platform for PC's. The Widgets and certain customizations are great, except for the fact that when I customized too much, or installed that one wrong app, I experienced crashing and resets. The battery life is not so stellar with Android either, there is too much going on in the background at the same time which makes it processor intensive forcing the need for faster processing. Then there were arguments for and against App Killers to fix that which required more tweaking which effected performance. I have NEVER had to deal with these issues with iPhone, it just works. It does what it is supposed to do, and it does it great. I am thinking with these upgrades, it will now do them even better.
I agree with this, I am far from one to be a called an apple fanboy but I am still excited for the Iphone 4S. I really like the idea of Siri, and well after being on a 3GS for 2 years; I Wouldn't mind the upgrade.
I think some of the disappointment is deserved. The 4S is being released a few months after the normal iPhone release date so that caused us to assume that it would be something even more groundbreaking than we've seen in the past. That part of the blame goes to Apple. If the 4S was released in June with just minor spec bumps then we might be a little less surprised.
The part I won't blame on Apple is that the new phone isn't a total redesign with a bigger screen. Apple never gave us any indication that a redesign was coming. Perhaps we need to stop looking so deeply into every little rumor.
For me the jury is still out on this Siri stuff. When I think about some of the potential that comes with it I can see why Apple is making such a big deal of it. Maybe not right now, but maybe a few years from now.
The part I won't blame on Apple is that the new phone isn't a total redesign with a bigger screen. Apple never gave us any indication that a redesign was coming. Perhaps we need to stop looking so deeply into every little rumor.
For me the jury is still out on this Siri stuff. When I think about some of the potential that comes with it I can see why Apple is making such a big deal of it. Maybe not right now, but maybe a few years from now.
I think excited is a strong word for an evolutionary update. I'm pleased that improvements have been made and will be replacing my phones with 4Ss. If I had a couple of iPhone 4s right now then I would probably keep one and upgrade the other to a 4S.
For some reason this update has caused a disproportionate emotional response for what is in reality a phone with applications running on it. Apple are in business to make a profit and this is the way they have decided to go. I'm sure their decisions are not based on emotion but rather on what is best for their shareholders.
I would guess that the iPhone 5 does exist but the prototype has revealed issues that could not be overcome this year.
For some reason this update has caused a disproportionate emotional response for what is in reality a phone with applications running on it. Apple are in business to make a profit and this is the way they have decided to go. I'm sure their decisions are not based on emotion but rather on what is best for their shareholders.
I would guess that the iPhone 5 does exist but the prototype has revealed issues that could not be overcome this year.