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Whiners: An open letter

I think a lot of you are missing the main thrust of the OP's post, and instead picking up on the minutiae of his posts.
Does your mother or your sister or your boss ask how if the phone's CPU is dual-core? Do they consider maximum data speeds when shopping for a phone? No. They pick up a device, toy with it briefly and get a feel for it. They run it over in their hands. They feel for buttons and edges. They hold it one-handed.

They're assessing it and making judgements in ways they aren't aware.

Those things they assign value to subconsciously are lost on lesser manufacturers. It's why we see devices with giant screens, unresponsive UI, and poor battery life.
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This more or less hits the nail on the head. It might be rather comforting to know that you have a supercharged 64 bit this, dual core that, retina whotsit that is 4.9 nano secs faster than an android gizmo mk3, but in the end it just comes down to usability. When it comes down to it, all you (or mother, sister, boss etc) really want is something that works well, is easy to use and does exactly what you want, whether it's to find a contact and place a call, or locate the nearest coffee shop, or remind you to buy some flowers.
And that is exactly what the new phone does, and the Keynote demonstrated that. Sure, they chucked in a few facts and figures - why wouldn't they, they're in a competitive market and Apple will inevitably be compared to their competitors.

If you look at the whole package Apple demonstrated yesterday they have moved the goal posts for the competition. iCloud and synching across devices is of course the biggest step forward, and to have it so closely integrated to iOS and apps (as compared with the likes of Dropbox for example) will prove to be as important a step to Apple as the development of iTunes and the app store, and have ramifications that go far beyond the iPhone itself.
 
boss.king said:
I know right. Can you imagine if they had done that at their event today?

iphone-4s-speed-chart-600w.jpg
gsmarena_001.jpg
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Well that backs up what i was saying cheers.
 
78-bit said:
<snip>

I’m willing to call it now and confidentially predict the iPhone’s display remains 3.5” for many generations, if not permanently. Despite what many of you believe, the current dimensions make for the optimal one-handed experience. It is highly unlikely Apple will compromise usability for the sake of such superficial wow factor.

<snip>
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At some point, a phone screen will have to stop getting bigger... or else it becomes a tablet.... I'm not even sure that a bigger screen for the 4S would have impressed me that much, I have a tablet for large screen browsing and a laptop for even larger screen work.
 
gazzrenn said:
At some point, a phone screen will have to stop getting bigger... or else it becomes a tablet.... I'm not even sure that a bigger screen for the 4S would have impressed me that much, I have a tablet for large screen browsing and a laptop for even larger screen work.
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+1
And there is a compelling reason why, it's called your thumb:

fourinches.png


A good read here.
 
78-bit said:
Does your mother or your sister or your boss ask how if the phone's CPU is dual-core? Do they consider maximum data speeds when shopping for a phone? No. They pick up a device, toy with it briefly and get a feel for it. They run it over in their hands. They feel for buttons and edges. They hold it one-handed.

They're assessing it and making judgements in ways they aren't aware.

Those things they assign value to subconsciously are lost on lesser manufacturers. It's why we see devices with giant screens, unresponsive UI, and poor battery life.
Click to expand...

I will agree that most of the general population don't know about specs or care as much. But the truth is - those are selling points. When a salesman can tel you it has a dual core vs this phone which doesn't - or that this is 8MP vs the other which is 5MP, or that this can do this and this cant - specs become important to the buyer - EVEN IF THE SPECS ARE MEANINGLESS. Consumers have been trained to want more for less/same price.

How else do you explain that people buy WAY more computing power than they need. Or that they buy 12-18 MP cameras when they are just sharing photos on Facebook. Or buy TVs with 1,000,000:1 contrast ratios.

Fact is - many don't know what the specs actually mean - they just are trained to think bigger/more=better
 
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78-bit said:
Enjoy your Android. For now. See you in June when Apple announces something new and shiny.
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I love my Windows Phone and the Mango update is better than ever. Atleast, I don't sound like a fanboy, like you who has the time to write open letters.
 
The best part is that half the people are upset because nobody will know they have the newest iPhone at first glance. Your e-peen will not be affected due to the physical being identical.

Look around at the reasons people won't buy it...if Apple made all the same internal changes but debuted a different form factor, even with a 3.5" screen, people would be calling it the second coming.

Was June 2010 so long ago? People were/are praising the iPhone 4 design as the most elegant, beautiful and stylish phone ever.
 
average person you know (parents, grandparents etc...): "So I heard there is a new iphone, but it looks exactly the same as the old one"

You / average nerd : "That's true, but it can process things twice as fast, play games faster and has a better camera"

"The camera on my 4 is pretty good as it is, is there nothing else changed?"

You / average nerd:"Well, you can control the new 4S with your voice"

"Hasn't that been around for years? I'd never use it anyway. Oooh, is that a Galaxy S 2 over there"
 
Isn't psychology fascinating - people's self-worth is so strongly embedded in their phones that any attack against the phone is seen as an attack against themselves. Hence, they retort with silly personal attacks like "You don't like the new iPhone because YOU don't understand it!" i.e. "You're stupid and I'm better than you".

----------
Globetrotter said:
average person you know (parents, grandparents etc...): "So I heard there is a new iphone, but it looks exactly the same as the old one"

You / average nerd : "That's true, but it can process things twice as fast, play games faster and has a better camera"

"The camera on my 4 is pretty good as it is, is there nothing else changed?"

You / average nerd:"Well, you can control the new 4S with your voice"

"Hasn't that been around for years? I'd never use it anyway. Oooh, is that a Galaxy S 2 over there"
Click to expand...
Yes, but who cares about the average Joe? Apple fans are better than them :rolleyes: /sarcasm
 
Great post, Although i think iPhone will move to October from now on and still expect cook to come out with a great phone in the future to cement his place as new Ceo and his own style.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Why do you care what other people thing of the 4S? if you like it, buy it. If someone doesnt like it that's their own decision and there is no reason why you should care (unless you have apple shares).
 
Jr1985 said:
Isn't psychology fascinating - people's self-worth is so strongly embedded in their phones that any attack against the phone is seen as an attack against themselves. Hence, they retort with silly personal attacks like "You don't like the new iPhone because YOU don't understand it!" i.e. "You're stupid and I'm better than you".

----------


Yes, but who cares about the average Joe? Apple fans are better than them :rolleyes: /sarcasm
Click to expand...

I know many Average Joes who asked me to let them know when the new iphone was out.

When I pinged them an email yesterday, they were asking me what had changed, they couldn't figure it out.

And, that, in two sentences, is Apple's problem here.

Not many of them are buying the 4S. Nearly all of them would have bought the iphone 5.

Holding onto consumer mindshare is far more important than we think.
 
Does your mother or your sister or your boss ask how if the phone's CPU is dual-core? Do they consider maximum data speeds when shopping for a phone? No. They pick up a device, toy with it briefly and get a feel for it. They run it over in their hands. They feel for buttons and edges. They hold it one-handed.

They're assessing it and making judgements in ways they aren't aware.

Those things they assign value to subconsciously are lost on lesser manufacturers. It's why we see devices with giant screens, unresponsive UI, and poor battery life.
Click to expand...

For everyone agreeing with this--obviously you have never worked in retail before. No matter what you do, the consumer will fixate on the specs. I can't count how many half-hour discussions I would have with people because they wanted the 3.2GHz single core computer over the 2.4GHz dual/quad core because "that one is faster, right?". Get off your high horse, take off your rose-colored glasses, wake up and smell the coffee, and any other cliches you can fit in this sentence. The average Joe most certainly looks at specs--they just don't understand them. Which makes it worse because specs are generally misleading. To imply that they only care about the "look and feel" is ludicrous, otherwise it wouldn't have been difficult at all to sell a consumer an Apple computer over a Windows one.

I don't care who wants a 4S. I won't care if Apple sells twice as many 4S's as 4's. Good for Apple, their customers will love it. I, however, need a bigger screen so I'm not getting it. The 4S is a fantastic phone, but it lacks in the one area that I wanted, so I'll kindly bow out for now until it fits my needs. That's not so hard to understand, is it?
 
LinksAwakener said:
For everyone agreeing with this--obviously you have never worked in retail before. No matter what you do, the consumer will fixate on the specs. I can't count how many half-hour discussions I would have with people because they wanted the 3.2GHz single core computer over the 2.4GHz dual/quad core because "that one is faster, right?". Get off your high horse, take off your rose-colored glasses, wake up and smell the coffee, and any other cliches you can fit in this sentence. The average Joe most certainly looks at specs--they just don't understand them. Which makes it worse because specs are generally misleading. To imply that they only care about the "look and feel" is ludicrous, otherwise it wouldn't have been difficult at all to sell a consumer an Apple computer over a Windows one.

I don't care who wants a 4S. I won't care if Apple sells twice as many 4S's as 4's. Good for Apple, their customers will love it. I, however, need a bigger screen so I'm not getting it. The 4S is a fantastic phone, but it lacks in the one area that I wanted, so I'll kindly bow out for now until it fits my needs. That's not so hard to understand, is it?
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yup - wrote the same thing up above too.
 
Stop bashing the OP for posting something on the forums. Open letter or not , it's his opinion and we should at least respect that.
 
Bernard SG said:
+1
And there is a compelling reason why, it's called your thumb:

Image

A good read here.
Click to expand...

Not everyone holds a phone the same.

When I hold my iPhone 4, i rest the back on my fingers and use my pinky on the bottom to hold it up. This gives my thumb a huge range of motion over the screen of the phone. I can extend my thumb way over to the other side of the screen and beyond.

From the post, I think the author is holding the phone more in a grip style with the fingers grabbing the edge of the phone and the phone itself resting more in the palm of your hand. When holding it like that, I can see authors POV.

But I never hold my phone like that. Maybe thats why the "death grip" never affected me.
 
"Being disappointed because the screen isn't bigger or because external case design remains the same sounds like whining to me. I don't think either of those features necessarily make for a better experience."

Thanks for establishing that a larger screen would not make for a better experience.

FYI, this is the point where I stopped reading.
 
An Apple salesperson, when selling the iPhone should be saying something along the lines that this phone has a dual-core.

See this image

screen-shot-2011-10-04-at-4-02-26-pm.png


At the core, I am disappointed that Apple is keeping the 3GS.
 
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