
Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5 - countessa
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2012/09/13/what-happens-give-people-iphone-4s-tell-its-iphone-5-video/
======
raldi
It seems like the people who say the "new" one is thinner, lighter, more
elegant, etc, all have cases on their phones.

So in essence, the case sets your phone back a generation or two.

~~~
ollysb
I never understand why people use cases. What's the point in preserving
something in mint condition if you never see it without the case?

~~~
Tyrannosaurs
It's not about preserving it in mint condition, it's about preserving it in
usable condition.

I can't speak for others but my case has saved my phone from a smashed screen
on several occasions.

EDIT: Should possibly also add that I have small children (1 and 3 - that's
their ages rather than their names) who use it and I'm damned if I'm giving it
to them without a case on...

~~~
randomdata
How do you know that the case saved the day? I once had my case-less iPad fall
from a ledge five feet above the surface it eventually landed on and it
survived with nary a scratch. They seem fairly rugged on their own.

~~~
Splines
More than once my rubber case has stopped my phone from slipping off a table.
I won't get into the details, but the toilet incident of 2011 was a close call
and the case prevented certain disaster.

------
jere
What if these people are nervously scrambling to make a comment so they don't
look stupid on camera?

Of course, they all ended up looking stupid, but if you genuinely believed you
were getting something new you would probably feel pressured to feign being
impressed.

Besides, I'd wager that they excluded one or more interviewees who said "I
can't tell a difference."

</devils advocate>

Of course, it's perfectly fine for a laugh.

~~~
olivier1664
Agree with you: it was same effect than with "Americans are NOT stupid" video
where we see lot of cut scenes where people say wrong answer (as "4 sides on a
triangle"). That let thing people says only stupid things, while in fact they
are just not perfect.

For french readers, here an old link on the subject: <http://plombe.over-
blog.com/article-24222182.html>

------
ojbyrne
These man on the street stupidity bits are a staple of late night comedy, but
for every stupid person, there could be 50 people who aren't stupid, and
immediately get the joke. You just don't see the latter group. There's
probably also a third, even smarter group, who understand that if they play
along, they might end up on tv.

~~~
redidas
This is understandable, but it still exposes that there is a group of "stupid"
people out there that would accept an iPhone 4S as the new iPhone 5.

~~~
tlrobinson
If you look hard enough there are people stupid enough to believe _anything_.

------
rsiqueira
In general, great expectation makes part of the prefrontal cortex more
excited. Scientists argue that the activity of this brain region shifts the
preferences of the wine tasters when they are presented to an expensive wine,
for example. [1]

"Wine experts and consumers can be fooled by altering their expectations. The
expectation it (expensive wine) will taste better actually makes it taste
better. Your expectations powerfully influence the final vote in your head
over what you believe to be reality." (from the book You Are Not So Smart).

[1] [http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/should-we-buy-
expe...](http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/should-we-buy-expensive-
wine/)

~~~
jiggy2011
I'm assuming this is the same psychology at work with the $1000 HDMI cables
and the people who insist the can perceive a massive quality difference.

~~~
sharkweek
exactly -- perceived improvement because it was more expensive; it must be
better

------
__abc
I imagine this can be done with almost all handsets, laptops, etc. I'm
guessing this is more "human nature" than Apple Fanboy'sm at a large consumer
scale.

~~~
betterth
I know, right?

Considering how many times in the trials people have been unable to tell APPLE
AND SAMSUNG products apart, you'd think readers here would realize that those
people are obviously going to have trouble with products in the same family!

~~~
MrMember
This does raise an interesting point about HN as a whole. I remember in one of
the Apple/Samsung threads someone brought up the point that people couldn't
tell Apple and Samsung products apart, and in that case it was used as an
attack against Samsung and 'proof' that they were copying.

In this instance the exact same idea is used as a defense for Apple.

~~~
kirubakaran
Yes, the cognitive dissonance is staggering. But we are able to see it because
we don't worship Apple. This makes me wonder what cognitive dissonances that I
might have, that I am completely blind to, which others can see through right
away as they don't subscribe to the same world-view.

------
jusben1369
Yes this says a lot about human nature and very little about iPhone's. Great
for a laugh though. I also bet there were some people who realized what was up
but ended up on the cutting room floor. It would actually also be funny to see
how people handled that.

~~~
guywithabike
It's gotten to the point where it doesn't even surprise me anymore that this
kind of tripe is the #1 top story on Hacker News now. Hacker News is becoming
the "Ow, My Balls!" of the tech world.

------
aw3c2
Direct link, nothing worth reading at the submitted page:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdIWKytq_q4>

------
Ensorceled
I'm not sure what is funnier, the clue less apple users who can't figure out
this device is the same as the one in their pockets or the anti-apple rage
bots in thenextweb comments.

It's like watching a parrot attack the parrot in the mirror.

------
daveman
I also wonder if these folks were handed a brand new 4S, unhampered by apps
and months of use. In my experience, the speed, even for activities like
homescreen navigation, got slower over time, especially when I load more and
more apps. Newer store models always seem zippier than my weathered old phone.

All this said, they clearly picked gadget plebians, as anyone even slightly in
the know would immediately check out the 8-pin dock connector and 5 rows of
apps.

~~~
dean
" _the speed ... got slower over time_ "

Tell me about it. I'm still using a 3G, running iOS 4.2.1. Frankly, it's so
slow as to be almost useless. But at least I can still make calls. (I guess
it's time for an upgrade)

------
naz
Even better -- that's actually an iPhone 4 (notice the black band by the
headphone socket).

------
mtgx
It seems most people are willing to buy a new iPhone or iPad just because it's
"new" (doesn't even matter what improvements it has, if any) and because it's
from Apple. I remember a video doing the same for the new iPad using and iPad
2, and the reaction was the same.

------
skidding
Am I the only one who saw this as a skit and nothing more? I don't watch
Kimmel a lot but when Conan does a bit like this the people on it are always
paid actors. It's still funny, but I wouldn't expect a late-night talk show to
bother actually interviewing random people when they can make their own script
the way they want it and get away with it (not saying it in a bad way, it's a
comedy show after all).

------
dakrisht
Hilarious. People are just downright brainwashed by genius marketing, hype and
a general oblivion of the facts and reality. America. LOL

------
Nathandim
The article implies that all people in question have an iPhone. The video
shows only 2 of them comparing their iPhone and the last person only claims
that he has it. Why? I mean, it's not a natural iPhone owner reaction not to
whip out his current phone to make a comparison.

My point is, over half of the people in question do not show a clear
indication of owning an iPhone 4S besides their claim and the video says that
they ask people. Not iPhone owners exclusively. People. It measures consumer
awareness, not necessarily Apple buyers, like thenextweb article says. They
are likely to guess due to their personal knowledge of older products.

Also, the whole idea reminded me of this
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYU1a0lTTTw> people suddenly agreeing that
they know him from X movie, heard his songs while in reality he had none.

------
the_mat
The "it feels so much faster" comments don't fly with me. The iPhone 4 still
feels slick and speedy in September 2012. The 4S was faster, but it wasn't
noticeable except for certain apps. Now the 5 is 2x faster again, but it's how
much CPU is really needed to slide icons around and play music and look at
photos?

------
Alex3917
It's now been over three years since the 3GS was released, and there's
essentially zero difference between the 3GS and the iPhone 5. I honestly don't
see any point in upgrading unless I drop my current one, which isn't likely.

~~~
bornhuetter
> there's essentially zero difference between the 3GS and the iPhone 5.

Are you kidding? I'm no iOS fan, but I think that statement is a bit
ridiculous.

~~~
Alex3917
The battery life is almost exactly the same.

All of the most popular apps still run on the 3GS, and run well, with the
exception of a half dozen or so.

The internet browsing speed is effectively identical, regardless of whatever
the specs claim.

The new cameras are supposedly slightly better, but probably not enough to be
noticeable unless you've got a highly trained eye.

The only features that the new iPhones have are things like Siri and Facetime,
which are largely gimmicks with no real use case.

~~~
achompas
_The battery life is almost exactly the same._

One phone uses LTE, while the other uses 3G. I'm also ignoring how the 5 is
easily faster than the 3GS, which requires more power.

 _All of the most popular apps still run on the 3GS, and run well, with the
exception of a half dozen or so._

This will change as the 3GS doesn't get iOS 7 and other apps start requiring
it (or a full-featured iOS 6).

 _The internet browsing speed is effectively identical, regardless of whatever
the specs claim._

By virtue of the faster processor + GPU, this is patently false. Also, you'll
get fewer Safari reloads since the 5 has 4x as much RAM.

 _The only features that the new iPhones have are things like Siri and
Facetime, which are largely gimmicks with no real use case._

You forgot a faster cellular connection and a high-definition screen.

With that said (I won't speak to the camera, since I don't have an eye for
that sort of thing), I agree that iOS updates since iOS 4 have not introduced
gamechanging features. Still, it's nice to Facetime with my family given that
we don't live in the same city.

~~~
cheald
How many markets actually have LTE now?

~~~
achompas
Wait, is this an argument against a technology that (a) has been widely rolled
out by Verizon, and (b) will be even more pervasive in the coming months and
years?

~~~
cheald
It's a question. A buddy of mine in NYC bemoans the fact that he can't
actually get LTE coverage despite having an LTE phone. I still have an HSPA+
phone, so I haven't even looked. I'm curious, because it was my impression
that outside of a few niche markets, LTE wasn't really a "yay, I get massively
fast internets everywhere" feature yet.

~~~
achompas
Sorry, I expect the worst from the HN crowd these days. See my most recent
comment for an example.

NYC is notorious for its poor Verizon LTE coverage. Right now, the US LTE
market is "Verizon," however, as AT&T has rolled out slowly and Verizon LTE
covers some high double-digit percentage of the US.

------
bryawn
Just goes to show how stupid the average Apple buyer is. What a bunch of
bozos.

------
devy
I don't know about you but I felt like those people they interviewed on the
street are acting, this whole interview thing could be staged. I mean, it's
Jimmy Kimmel Show for christ's sake. How serious is that?!

------
mpg33
If you look at the iPhone 5 compared to other new smartphones i don't think
anything comes close in terms of design.

However I'm not sure if this can be said for iOS...i think the UI needs to be
overhauled soon.

------
dade_
This is meaningless. A friend of mine had a heated discussion with a Samsung
rep at a local mobile store. The rep insisted the phone he handed her was a
Samsung Galaxy 3, when in fact it was a Galaxy 2. <sarcasm>It is scandalous
that Samsung would release a new phone that consumers can't differentiate. If
he wasn't such an Android fanboy, he would have recorded the whole interaction
and posted in on YouTube to show the world that they are all being scammed.
</sarcasm>

~~~
ajross
I don't see the use of "scandalous" or "fanboy" in the linked article (though
no doubt they appear in the comments, just like yours). It's just a funny dig
at a not-as-innovative-as-expected product release.

The real point is that the years of rapid evolution (and, by extension,
platform differentiation) are behind us. After a few years where they weren't,
phones are just phones again. Hell, you could hand a bunch of people a GSIII
and tell them it was an iPhone 5 and get similarly hilarious results.

But screaming about hypocrisy is missing the point.

------
suhastech
Fairly similar to <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYU1a0lTTTw>

------
chrischen
Keep in mind they probably interview a bunch of people and only show the most
ridiculous responses.

------
latchkey
Related and worth watching...
[http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/rory_sutherland_life_lesson...](http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man.html)

------
madprops
This reminds me of that KDE vs Windows 7 comparison
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPIgEFIv5MI>

------
philipbroadway
Open the thread with 200+ comments about a single tangent.

Personally, I thought the video was pretty funny and I love how serious most
the people are while responding.

------
xxcode
This discussion has been highlacked by morons talking about the cases.

The main point is - Apple's marketing is so good that people suspend
judgement.

------
seangransee
in general, a fresh install of iOS does make the phone a lot faster. these
people are used to a phone that has been bogged down by general OS wear and
tear, so it makes sense that they think a fresh 4S is faster than their
current 4S.

------
bieber6gfever
anyone notice that they're showing those folks the iphone 4 and not the 4s?
notice the notch on top.

------
cooldeal
Perception, hype and peer influence trumps reality and shapes people attitude
most of the time. Remember Vista's Project Mojave?
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihorvo2tEuA>

~~~
volandovengo
Great point. These are great case studies on the importance of marketing and a
strong brand. With a strong brand, people give you the benefit of the doubt.

