

Why the iPhone 5 is too radical - cwp
http://www.cultofmac.com/193540/why-the-iphone-5-is-too-radical/

======
flyinglizard
I never expected to read an article urging a technology company to hold back
on innovation. This is really the saddest piece I've read in a while
(meatspace news included).

The author has some very misguided assumptions beyond the fallacy of the
general idea:

1\. Apple is not the only game in town: Android is gaining market share (and
not just on the low end devices, either), Jelly Bean is fantastic. Nexus 7 has
converted few loyal Apple fans around me already.

2\. Apple needs an appealing device to get the masses to buy new phones: they
can't pull another 4S. Has to have a significant enough change to get the
sales they are after (and frankly, expected to deliver). The 5 is a very good
compromise between not alienating existing iPhone users and catering to the
owners of the 4S.

3\. The screen size of the iPhone was no longer competitive. The market
clearly wants larger displays and there's only so much that people are willing
to overlook to remain with their favorite ecosystem.

Apple won consumers by radical innovation, disruption in its fullest sense.
Apple has proved that you don't make middle of the road products to appeal to
all users, but rather that you can actively reeducate the general population
using wonderful products.

Just 5 years ago, an iPhone-like device would have been considered an overly
technological and complicated relic with usage far removed from anything in
the market, and here it is used by elders. This is not because Apple (well,
Steve) aimed at what the general population wanted, but because they gave
users something exciting and useful, and _everyone_ embraced it.

This quote is usually attributed to Henry Ford - "If I’d asked people what
they wanted, they would have asked for a better horse" Apple shouldn't be
giving us better horses, or locomotives or even cars. They should be giving us
wonderfully designed and greatly usable spaceships that just work.

------
ripperdoc
Comparing with laptops isn't really a fair game, as they have stopped adding
features for years and simply improve on speed. Smartphones are in the middle
of a very strong development curve, where we find ourselves with portable
computing platform we haven't yet figured out all possibilities of.

Clearly, other companies are prepared to ship with less preparation than
Apple, but Apple would not have been where they are with the iPhone if their
only reasoning was to "deliver a faster replacement phone at the end of
contract". They innovated on iOS, app-marketplace, Siri (still being worked
on...) and Airplay, to mention a few. All of them replacing similar too-early-
too-crappy competitor innovations.

That the iPhone 5 did not add "one more thing" either means Apple does not
think it's necessary (exposing themselves, like Nokia did, to the risk of the
"next Apple" showing up with a great re-innovation), or because they couldn't
get it done in time or with the technology available (which means they should
invest more in R&D - they can afford it).

I'm very happy Apple both innovates and puts the bar high - I'd rather have
good NFC from Apple than ok NFC from Google. It's good for users. For the time
being, I will give them the benefit of the doubt that the new stuff - NFC,
fingerprint, new batteries, etc - is simply not mature enough yet. But if
Apple stops trying, they won't be able to sustain their curve. Android is
already grabbing most new users - at which point will they start grabbing
iPhone users?

~~~
tedivm
>Comparing with laptops isn't really a fair game, as they have stopped adding
features for years and simply improve on speed. Smartphones are in the middle
of a very strong development curve, where we find ourselves with portable
computing platform we haven't yet figured out all possibilities of.

This isn't entirely true. Apple themselves have improved things a bit with the
Macbook Air, reducing weight and improving battery life to a ridiculous
degree. They've also added the retina displays to their higher end macbooks.
Even some of the functionality you mention in phones (such as airplay) has
been put into these devices.

------
MichaelApproved
_"They also compromised on materials. Instead of the glass-backed iPhone 4S,
which looked beautiful but was thick and heavy, we now get an aluminum
housing, which scratches and scuffs easily and visibly — something Apple
reassuringly tells us is “normal.”"_

I'd say this is an improvement on the old design. Though not as pretty, it's
more durable and lighter. Shattering the glass is a common and expensive
problem for customers. It's nice to have one less fragile item on this
expensive device.

~~~
PakG1
Out of left field contrarian thought: Is it conceivable at all that one day
these scratches and scuff marks could be considered cool? In fact, could they
one day become so cool that we'd get pre-scuffed iPhones? Happened to
clothing... :) Probably not, but I thought it was a fun thought.

~~~
Firehed
I doubt it but you never know. However the original iPhone's aluminum back
scuffed too, and it never bothered me one bit. Same with my iPad. I expect it
will be a bit more noticible on the 5 as I got the black one, but at the end
of the day I have much more important things to think about than some
scratched aluminum.

More to the point, Apple tends to go for simple design and ignores fashion
trends. They have the colored iPods but that's more to appeal to kids and
people that want a little more personalization rather than because yellow and
green are in.

Also, I'm going to slap the next pundit that refers to this as "scuffgate".
Protip, guys: Watergate was a proper noun, not a random mashing-together of
words.

------
cageface
_Comparing the iPhone to what we imagine Apple might do is just lazy and self
indulgent._

Or you could instead compare it to the competition and realize Apple is
leaving a lot of interesting and useful features on the table. The new
hardware is nice but the software is either sitting still or actively
regressing.

We don't have to imagine what a more innovative mobile UI would look like
because they already exist.

~~~
pooriaazimi
> _... the software is either sitting still or actively regressing_

The software isn't just bundled applications, you know. It's the OS APIs and
what 3rd party application developers can do. iOS 5 and 6 are both great leaps
for iOS. It still lacks many features, like "intents", but calling iOS 5 or 6
"actively regressing" is more than hyperbole.

~~~
potatolicious
The "actively regressing" part I can only presume is a jab at Maps - which
honestly is a _huge_ capability regression for the end user.

And as an iOS dev I'd argue that the API advancements between iOS5 and 6 are
fairly minor in comparison to the pace that Google is moving at.

I'm an iOS user, and my living comes from Apple's platform dominance, and even
I will gladly admit that Apple has lost the initiative. Google now leads the
pack in unearthing the next step in the smartphone evolution.

~~~
cageface
_I will gladly admit that Apple has lost the initiative._

Yep, as unlikely as that seemed even a year ago. I've been doing iOS dev for
the last 1.5 years too but I'm cross-training on Android now because the
momentum there is just too huge to ignore.

~~~
Firehed
Android had market-share, but will you get paying customers? Every article
I've ever read on the subject is that iOS customers are far more willing to
pay for apps than android users.

Of course, if you're making a companion app for some other service which makes
money it's largely irrelevant, but numbers alone don't tell the whole story.

~~~
potatolicious
> _"Android had market-share, but will you get paying customers?"_

The age of direct app sales being profitable enough to float a startup are
long over. iOS users are still massively outspending Android users, but
overall profitability has sunk like a brick on both platforms over time.

Like you said, "companion apps" and games are pretty much the only viable
routes now. Direct app sales at this point in the market's lifetime is a great
way to make a modest pittance and then be committed to support forever.

------
awakeasleep
>New-feature lust is a phenomenon driven by the tiny minority of people who
make their livings writing about technology... >We advocate Google’s augmented
reality glasses not because we’ve analyzed the consumer marketplace and
considered human psychology ... >No, we advocate them because we’re bored, and
we want to try them ourselves.

Respect to Mike Elgan for breaking out of the normal tech story narrative
routine. I hadn't really thought of that perspective. The rest of the article
seemed to be the old dualistic battle though.

------
kstenerud
It's not that the iPhone 5 was too radical or not radical enough; it's that
there was no master salesman at the helm this time. Previous iPhones had a
main selling point that people came to crave after a little talk from SJ, even
if they never really used it once they actually got the device (Facetime and
Siri, for example). With iPhone 5, all you got was a nebulous "better".

Want to sell something? Tell a story.

~~~
eshvk
Sure your assertion may be valid for the HN demographic who have iPhones, I am
not convinced that Steve Jobs's presence or absence was the main USP for the
wider population of people who buy iPhones.

------
artursapek
_Given Apple’s One-Phone-To-Rule-Them-All strategy, the upgrade is too radical
in a bad way for everyday users._

It's not like Apple only has one phone available. You can still buy the 4S or
the 4, each for $100 less than their successor. So I don't agree with the
point on compatibility, I think Apple is smart to get it all out of the way
(screen size, connector) in one upgrade.

Besides that though, I think this guy makes great points about Apple fanboy
psychology and why people get "disappointed" about their releases like this.
It's hard to remember what most "normal" folks are thinking when all you read
is Hacker News. :)

~~~
yen223
Most "normal" folks are thinking what Hacker News was thinking 6 months ago ;)

~~~
rimantas
No. Not even close.

------
josteink
I think the response to the iPhone 5 so far (because of lack of new features,
flaws or whatever) can also be explained by something I claimed back when it
was clear that the iPhone had its sales-figures beaten by a _single_ Android
handset (Samsung Galaxy S3):

> This is the first visible sign of a trend which began quite a while ago:
> iPhone has peaked (just like the iPod did)

What the results of this will be in the long run, especially with consequence
to iOS-design, we'll have to wait and see.

~~~
apl

      > I think the response to the iPhone 5 so far [...] can
      > also be explained by something I claimed [...] iPhone
      > has peaked (just like the iPod did)
    

That doesn't _explain_ anything, unless you consider a vague and, given
current data, false prediction causally revealing. Peaking is not an
inevitable feature of product life cycles; you're not stating much here.
("Lukewarm response to the new iteration is due to lukewarm response.") At the
very least, the article makes an attempt at elucidating reasons for a
potential iPhone peak.

------
Corrado
I have quite a few mixed thoughts after reading the article, but one thing I
agree with is the Lightning connector. Actually, I really like the idea of the
new connector and look forward to its widespread adoption. The ability to plug
it in correctly the first time and not worry about bending pins or getting it
sideways is a huge win over the Micro-USB connector used everywhere else. I
appreciate the ubiquity of the small USB port but every time I plug one in I
do it gently and sometimes have to make 3 tries to get it orientated
correctly.

The Micro-USB connector has big problems and I look forward to a new standard.
Remember, Apple was the main driver behind USB with the original iMac's and
it's missing floppy drive. I think they can do it again.

~~~
s_henry_paulson
Rarely do people mess up plugging in that end of the USB, it's the other
rectangular end of the USB that people typically mess up, which this cable
still has.

Bent pins are only ever the result of blunt trauma, like if you rolled over
your cable with your desk chair. I see no evidence that this cable can
withstand more brute force than a USB cable.

Also, I don't know what country you're from, but I've never seen anyone get
frustrated by "getting their cable sideways".

------
five18pm
_Should we support NFC? Should we launch a digital wallet? Should we build a
robotic Prius? Should we develop augmented reality glasses and launch those
glasses by doing a live Google+ hangout with skydivers jumping out of a blimp
over San Francisco?_

The answer is "Yes". Without having an ok NFC, you are not going to get a good
NFC. Apple can come out and make it perfect, awesome, amazing, but there has
to be something to start with.

------
dakrisht
Honestly, this blurb/blog post whatever it's supposed to be just gave me
temporary brain damage.

Hands down the dumbest thing I've read (half of) in the last few years. Wow.

Let's compare it to the Mac. Wow. Jesus. Mind-blown. Titanic stupidity.

Who wrote this thing? Should be persona non grata from the Internet.

------
sabat
I can't help but think that this hand-wringing over the iPhone5 is really an
unspoken, collective wonderment: what would Apple have released if Steve was
still alive? Would it look like this? Would it have had one more thing?

This is collective, delayed bereavement, and it's not the last time we'll see
it. The world really lost something when it lost Steve; he was a lightning rod
for great products and great marketing. He made you believe.

We still want to believe, and we still want to feel that wonder. But we wonder
if we'll ever feel that way again about an Apple product.

~~~
freehunter
I'm always assured by those who I presume are more in the know than I am when
it comes to Apple products that all Apple decisions for two years after
Steve's death had been planned and approved by him. I assume this is kind of
how the script for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie was co-written
and approved by Douglas Adams years before his death; yes, that can be
verified, but the final product was still ultimately controlled by someone
other than the original creator.

I think your point is valid. I have no doubt that Steve had his mind on the
iPhone 5 well before he died, and may have even signed papers approving the
exact final product. The question that remains is, in the year between his
death and the release of the product, how many times would he have changed his
mind or added something else? The answer to that determines if the current
leadership at Apple knows how to properly shepherd the creative minds working
for them or if they're merely following a directive set by someone who had
bigger plans they might not be in alignment with.

I guess all we can say at this moment is that the new Apple is never going to
be the same as the old Apple. The immediate question is, is that necessarily a
bad thing?

~~~
primitur
Your last point is really spot on .. and I gauge the answer, personally, with
one question: do I have a desire to buy a new Apple product?

Well, I already upgraded to iPhone5. I'm _really_ not terribly interested in
upgrading my aging Macbook Pro, 17" model, however. It bereaves me to no end
that they have EOL'ed the 17" form factor, and have no solution for those of
us who really need Pro features, like ExpresscardPCI slots, and so on.

Would Steve have axed the 17"?

------
recoiledsnake
My only beef is the lack of NFC. Yes the local Starbucks doesn't support it
but if iPhone had it, they soon would've. Read that the aluminum back is not
compatible with the rather large antenna needed for the NFC chip. Or maybe
Apple didn't figure out a way to take their cut of mobile payments yet. But it
sure is disappointing to see the tech being held back by the lack of adoption.

~~~
ripperdoc
I heard from a source that it's has to do with the extreme space and weight
constraints of the iPhone 5, but that Apple wants to put it in eventually. But
I am more concerned with the ecosystem - it's not just enough to put it in the
phone, Apple needs to make super-easy to sign up for, both as provider and
user.

~~~
m_eiman
I learned something interesting about NFC recently that I hadn't considered
before: for all the wallet kind of applications, where the phone acts like a
VISA/Msatercard/etc credit card there has to be a trusted module that takes
care of the authentication - e.g. the SIM of the phone. This module is very
restricted in who can write things to it, and there's all sorts of power
struggles between carriers, manufacturers and service providers about who
should be in control of letting apps add things to the trusted storage.

Before that is sorted out, I think that mass adoption of NFC is unlikely, and
it's very likely that we'll end up with either the carriers or VISA et al in
control - not a very promising prospect, IMHO.

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tomasien
Nailed it

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GoldiKam
Iphone 5 is a tall boy iphone 4

