It appears that Apple is following its own pace, and not that of the competition. So the iPhone has a change of design more aligned with the rhythm of the Mac than with other handset makers.

And it is good this way. They differentiate with software, as they have been doing since the Mac start using standard PC parts.

]]> http://apple.blogoverflow.com/2011/10/disappointing/#comment-39 Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:43:52 +0000 http://apple.blogoverflow.com/?p=308#comment-39 Agree about the camera, they really do seem like they’ve put a lot of engineering into it. It’s definitely something I’m looking forward to on my next iPhone, but taken alone it’s not compelling enough to spend hundreds of dollars upgrading. I’d do better (and get better pictures) if I spent $200-$300 on a point-and-shoot camera than on the iPhone 4S.

]]> http://apple.blogoverflow.com/2011/10/disappointing/#comment-38 Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:41:50 +0000 http://apple.blogoverflow.com/?p=308#comment-38 I think there was a lot of pent-up demand for the ‘next’ iPhone, whatever it happened to be, so I’m not surprised to see high preorder numbers. However, after the initial wave of sales and the holiday season is over, I suspect that the rate of sale for the iPhone 4S won’t be appreciably higher than the iPhone 4 over the same time period the previous year.

]]> http://apple.blogoverflow.com/2011/10/disappointing/#comment-37 Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:15:44 +0000 http://apple.blogoverflow.com/?p=308#comment-37 Re the 1080p icon, they probably wanted an even number of icons.

Back on topic, I find it very amazing that despite the 4S just being a 4 with a better camera, CPU and Siri, millions of pre-orders have already been placed. Think how mamy there’ll be after another month!

Ad@m

But most importantly to me, they seem to be the only phone maker (now that we can basically discount Nokia; shame) who is really serious about the camera. Oh, sure other phone makers slip “capture your memories!” into their marketing materials, but then all they really have to say about it is 8 megapixels and ooh, dual LED flash.

By contrast, Apple talks about the sensor tech, the optics (5 elements, f/2.4), and the response times. And they post sample photos larger than a thumbnail. Not only is the 4S an upgrade here, but they did it on purpose, not just to keep up with the marketing bullet points.

So why exactly does it disappoint? Because it doesn’t have a brand new shiny “5”? Or perhaps because it doesn’t have an edge to edge screen? Or maybe the other “niceties” you listed that are likely completely unfeasible in a device?

A lot of what people wanted (read: the rumor mill was clambering for) were completely unrealistic. An edge to edge screen? It would make the device unusable. Even trying to tap near the edge of the touch screen in the current device is cumbersome. Putting that right to the edge would be maddening. Then there’s the perceptual difficulties. The frame is required to let the human eye (and brain) distinguish between foreground and background. Steve talked about this when touching on the MacBook’s bevel.

Then there was the rumor around the bigger screen. Not only would that drop the glorious resolution on the current device, but it would make navigating with one hand extremely difficult. This is a phone, not a tablet. Stretching your fingers and thumb across the full length of the screen is important to usability.

The lack of an additional 512 MB of RAM is likely because the device doesn’t need it. I’m sure you’ve read the Anandtech article that benchmarked devices. It showed the 4S slaughtering the Galaxy S2, which has double the clockspeed and double the RAM. iOS is extremely efficient and I’m sure Apple did tests which showed a RAM boast wasn’t called for. Again, I suspect people just like arbitrary bumps even when they don’t need them. I knew a lot of people that paid $15 more a month for their iPhone plans because the carrier offered a special. And I know that not one of them pulled more than 150 MB in a given month (most less). But their arguments were “hey, just in case.” Just in case, nothing. People feel uncomfortable with constraints, whether they are truly being constrained or not. I think the same thing applies here.

I think the 4S is a smart move. It still blows every other device out of the water and will continue to do so. The capabilities are all there (you saw the Infinity Blade II demo) and the design is gorgeous even to this day. The phone is remarkable and doesn’t need sales figures behind it to show it a success (although that never hurts). This is just a case of people losing themselves in the all the hype, and very little to do with the actual iPhone 4S’ capabilities or design.

]]> http://apple.blogoverflow.com/2011/10/disappointing/#comment-25 Wed, 12 Oct 2011 06:41:42 +0000 http://apple.blogoverflow.com/?p=308#comment-25 Revolution

Evolution

Revolution

Evolution