

iPhone 4S Pre-Orders Top One Million in First 24 Hours - dongsheng
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/10/10iPhone-4S-Pre-Orders-Top-One-Million-in-First-24-Hours.html

======
dr_
Even before this announcement, it is beyond me how anyone can argue that this
is not the best smartphone on the market. It has an incredibly fast processor,
fantastic camera, one of the most popular music hubs (iTunes), the largest app
store and probably the most advanced AI technology in a phone.

When the technorati (and, to be honest, most bloggers have been supportive of
the product) diss this phone, are they actually suggesting someone would be
better off with a Android, Blackberry or Windows 7 phone? It's a plain and
simple fact that people refuse to accept - people purchase Android because
it's available on many different carriers and comes in many different price
points. People choose blackberry cause sometimes their work requires it or
they want blackberry messenger. And no one chooses Windows phones. With the
iPhone now available on more carriers at different price points, the game will
continue to change.

~~~
CJefferson
You really can't imagine why anyone might prefer the Samsung Galaxy S II (for
example) to an iPhone?

How about (straight off the top of my head)

Better Linux connectivity.

Ability to easily copy files on and off the phone.

Ability to sync podcasts directly on the phone, without having to connect to a
computer with iTunes (not used an iPhone for a while, they might have finally
fixed this).

Ability to run software Apple doesn't like (emulators).

We haven't really seen the AI yet, I remain to be convinced, and I don't care
about the camera.

Also, you mention price point. The iPhone (particularly the 4S) is about the
most expensive phone around at the moment. In general of course the most
expensive phone with have the fastest processor, that's hardly suprising.

~~~
jstedfast
> Better Linux connectivity.

Very few people actually run Linux on their desktops. If you are one of those
people, then yes, I can see this being an advantage. Otherwise... not so much.

I'm a Linux guy and when I had an iPhone, I used to just reboot to my Windows
partition to sync my phone. I'd do it ~once per week or so (to sync up with
the latest podcasts).

> Ability to easily copy files on and off the phone.

To be honest, I have found this to be more problematic on Android. iTunes
synced my music/photos/etc and it Just Worked (tm).

On my Android phone, when I rsync my music/photos/etc from my Linux partition
to my phone's SD card, it clobbers everything due to the FS being FAT32 (case
insensitive). It's a nightmare to keep things in sync _and_ it takes longer.

> Ability to sync podcasts directly on the phone, without having to connect to
> a computer with iTunes (not used an iPhone for a while, they might have
> finally fixed this).

Yes, iPhone has this now. It can both sync with your desktop wirelessly and
download the latest podcasts via the iTunes app on your phone if you aren't
anywhere near your desktop w/ iTunes.

> Ability to run software Apple doesn't like (emulators).

Jailbreak? I mean, ya gotta do that with Android too...

> We haven't really seen the AI yet, I remain to be convinced, and I don't
> care about the camera.

I'm skeptical as well, but if it works anywhere near as well as advertised, it
will be awesome.

Packing more pixels into such a tiny sensor isn't really going to improve the
quality of the photos. However, more sensitivity might...

From what I understand, they've done both... so maybe it'll help or maybe it
won't.

The HDR photography that iPhone 4 supported was awesome and makes me regret
getting a Samsung Galaxy S which, quite frankly, sucks hardcore in every way.

But I'm a Linux guy so I got an Android... won't be making that mistake again
:-\

> Also, you mention price point. The iPhone (particularly the 4S) is about the
> most expensive phone around at the moment. In general of course the most
> expensive phone with have the fastest processor, that's hardly suprising.

Equivalent Android's aren't typically much (if at all) cheaper, though (if you
buy them outright, at least). Of course, the carriers _do_ seem to subsidize
Android phones a lot more than iPhones (which is how you can get most Android
phones for cheap-cheap with a 2 year contract).

~~~
CJefferson
Just one comment on Jailbreaking.

Just this week, I happened to get an iPad at work. Turns out, the only way I
can jailbreak it is by a "tethered" jailbreak, which means (as far as I
understand) my iPad has to be attached to my computer whenever I reboot it,
else it won't work properly.

We also have a 3G iPad 2, and it seems that can't be jailbroken at all at the
moment.

So jailbreaking really doesn't seem to be the "magic solution" to the Apple
walled garden. Also, note I don't have to jailbreak to run software Google
doesn't like, just go to the webpage and download the package, rather than get
it through google market. You can also jailbreak for root access, but I've
never felt a need.

I will admit, the argument between Android and Apple is slim, but personally I
see it mostly as a "one or the other", not "Apple is superior to Android in
every way", as the opening poster seemed to claim.

~~~
bryne
More anecdotal commentary: I have an iPad 2. It's jailbroken. I haven't
rebooted it since the jailbreak, which is probably going on several months
now.

Given iOS's stability (even while jailbroken), the tethering is an annoyance,
but certainly not a dealbreaker.

------
andrewljohnson
Me and the rest of the developer community laugh at the contrary blog posts,
all the way to the bank. This weekend, there will be hundreds of thousands
more iPhone owners, and the developer community will make a fortune.

I applaud Apple for focusing on what's important - speed and sex, not features
and fapping. Because when they do, all my apps get faster and all my customers
get happier, and I don't have to do much work at all. Integrating with new
APIs and hardware is a necessary evil, but we just want the devices to keep
getting smaller and faster, as do the consumers.

~~~
jarek
The contrarian community wonders where your data regarding the percentage of
iPhone 4S orders that represent new customers comes from. Is this based on
past launches? What were the percentages then?

~~~
cyggie
"Every customer who buys an iPhone 4S at an Apple retail store will be offered
free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPhone 4S by setting
up email, showing them new apps from the App Store™ and more, so they’ll be up
and running with their new iPhone before they leave the store." They don't
need to be new owners. Imagine a sale team that will sit down with millions of
your users (existing or new), showing them what new apps are out there,
reminding them to buy from your store and walking them through on purchasing
your product again. This will sure generate a big spike overall.

------
ZeroGravitas
Up 66% percent, roughly the same rate that the entire market is growing. It's
almost uncanny how the iPhone manages to maintain its near-constant share of
this rapidly growing market.

A visual chart of this phenomenon:

[http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-
content/uploads/2011/...](http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-
content/uploads/2011/01/smartphone-OS-share1.png)

~~~
jgrahamc
What's more amazing is that Apple does this with one phone. Whereas Android
and BlackBerry are split across many, many devices and/or manufacturers.

~~~
smackfu
Well, now you have 3 distinct models out there, with significantly different
hardware, so it's not really one phone.

~~~
quellhorst
Sure it is, its the same phone, but different model years.

~~~
jarek
That must be why they all have different names. But hey, at least that is
better than "Macbook Pro (early 2009)".

------
antr
Good for Apple. I'm happy that internet 'gurus' and Wall St are proven wrong
again when saying that the 4S was a disappointing product...

~~~
doe88
I'm quite disappointed (disclosure: I mainly develop iOS applications) not
because of the specs, but I'm disappointed because Apple on this one appears
to be even more greedy [1] than before. I don't necessarily want change for
change but when you reuse components or design you are expected to lower the
price a bit.

I find the current release pattern very similar to the Intel Tick-Tock model
[2] where the Tick would be a big software update (iOS 5 in this case) and
where the Tock would be an emphasized hardware update on the same platform
(maybe a new iPhone 5 next year on iOS 5).

[1]
[http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/10/10/apple_expected...](http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/10/10/apple_expected_to_achieve_manufacturing_margins_of_70_with_iphone_4s.html)

[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Tick-Tock>

~~~
nirvana
You're right about the Tick-Tock, but since Apple hasn't announced it as a
policy, people expect every release to be a Tick.

I think you're wrong about Apple being greedy. Didn't they double the RAM?
16/32/64 for the price of 8/16/32 in the past? Also, the camera, processor and
radio chips are all new from the original iPhone 4. The form factor is the
same, but the antenna are a new design. And I think they are still working off
the margin hit from the retina display.

~~~
rkudeshi
They haven't doubled the storage (at the same price) for 2 years now.

iPhone 3GS: 16GB for $199, 32GB for $299.

iPhone 4: 16GB for $199, 32GB for $299.

iPhone 4S: 16GB for $199, 32GB for $299, 64GB for $399.

~~~
jodrellblank
Indeed not - with the 4S they added unlimited storage at the same price, and
retrospectively added it to any device running iOS 5, with 5GB for some uses.

It may not be flash memory, but it has to count - it is what Apple intend to
be used for bulk music storage with iOS 5.

------
protomyth
The iPhone 4S will probably be my mom's first cell phone. She doesn't like
tech and likes her big button home phone (as in 3/4" button big button). My
father and her just moved and my Dad doesn't really want a home phone anymore.
He has been looking at getting her a JitterBug. She uses and Apple TV fine
(netflix, mlb, and iTunes), so it isn't like she cannot use technology. She
just has a phobia of current cellphones. I think it is more from her not
wanting to wear her glasses and not being able to read the phone (she sees the
TV fine).

Given Siri, Mom will be getting the iPhone 4S.

~~~
jarek
Serious request: please report back on the experience after about three
months.

~~~
protomyth
I'm already way behind on one HN request (the postfix dovecot OpenBSD e-mail
server), but I will try to write something on this. Guess I should get a blog.

------
amartya916
Are these numbers from worldwide pre-orders? I might be wrong but I thought
that this was their biggest launch (different countries same date).

Even if that's the case, the significantly higher (~66%) orders is something
that people in Apple can take a bow for. Well done.

