I mean really. What is actually new? Very little is the answer.
Apple have bumped up the specs... everyone does after a year or two. That is really about it. Its a hardware upgrade. Well. A hardware upgrade with a new adapter... because that is exactly what the world needed. Fuck standardization. Realistically Apple wanted to milk more money from people. You have no choice but to get an adapter, otherwise all your docks and peripherals will no longer connect to your iPhone. YES! GET THE IPHONE5!
> The question everyone who hasn’t yet pre-ordered wants answered: Should you upgrade? My answer is simple. If you can afford it, yes.
Your answer is wrong. If your phone function's fine, you have no complaints with its responsiveness etc. No you do not need to upgrade. The iPhone5 brings nothing which is compellingly new to the table. It is a minor update. A bit like a new XBOX. Does exactly the same stuff as your current xbox, looks slightly better, loads games slightly faster.
If your iPhone breaks, hell, check out the iPhone5. If you don't have an iPhone and can justify the cost look into it. Otherwise buy a cheap android handset which - while rougher around the edges - has all the same phone functionality (You are buying a phone) for a fraction of the cost.
> Realistically Apple wanted to milk more money from people
No, they wanted to make the phone thinner and lighter. They gained 20% with an adapter that's 80% smaller.
My guess is that the Lightning adapter will be, at minimum, USB 3.0 speeds, if not better. It's also entirely digital, meaning the adapters have to have DACs in them to output analog, hence the price.
I wonder why each iteration of the iPhone has to be science fiction?
Micro USB can't do everything the new connector can e.g. digital out.
The iPhone 5 is not all-new, despite the protestations in the launch video.
It looks like a mid-season 3-series with a new spoiler stuck on it and a stretched wheelbase.
What people wanted (especially after the 4s), was a new 911.
You must be joking! The 3 series has undergone much more radical changes than a 911! And the iPhone 5 is closer to the design philosophy of the 911, which traces its history back 50 years! Hell, I can even guess how the next generation is going to look.
see, cheap and functions as well appeals to a certain demographic. by that mindset you would never by a BMW (to stay out of mobile) - which is perfectly fine, you can argue that this brand of car does not add anything useful to the table. a prius gets you from A to B as well, as a commuter you never use all that horsepower anyway.
this is one side of the argument, represents a demographic and target group. no need to invest in luxury for your products, focus on utilitarian approach. can be rough around the edges, but needs to get the job done.
but what about BMW buyers? why is BMW selling like hotcakes? is it just about the marketing? all an illusion? just like with a mobile device, you need to try it to find out. Gruber calls it "niceness", which is a pretty good term. Attention to detail, materials, the composition of it all. No rough edges. Apple is showing of the micron-precision manufacturing in their latest iPhone video. Why does a phone need that? BMW does the same, visit BMW world in Munich to get a grasp of it.
There is a target group that responds to level of detail. Even superfluous one, think of classic traits attributed to Japanese handiwork or cooking. Does sushi need to look that good? Does a wooden temple need such intricate structures?
No surprise that Jobs' was infatuated with Japan and Sony.
Do specs and factsheets appeal to everyone? Obviously not. BMW exist. Apple as well. Both can be described as overpriced, overhyped items of self-indulgence that are being surpassed by a lot of competing products. But that 'surpassed' is subjective. Once you add taste and design into the mix, it becomes a very different picture.
Now think of your target group. Is your own taste a good indicator or does it cloud what your users would actually like?
The problem with your BMW comparison is this. When buying a car, you want something that is going to last (or at least hold some value if you sell it off sooner). If you are spending $50K on something you want it to be solid, dependable. You want it to still be as solid and dependable in 6 or 8 years. The quality you get from the BMW is going to remain for the life of the car. You probably don't get that out of a $17k Hyundai Elantra. If you want it to last a long time... you need the quality build. But with a phone, meh. It'll be replaced in a year or two anyway. Sooner if you drop it in the toilet or leave it at the bar. I don't think most people (even iPhone people) keep a phone long enough to get the long term benefits of this "micron precision" beyond just that subjective "it feels nice" you might have at first. My phone is plastic. It probably doesn't have micron precision in the manufacturing. But it looks nice. And it feels nice too. It even feels like it will last as long as I need it to last before I'm ready to get a new one.
No, that's not the problem with his BMW comparison. The problem is that you think you know why people buy BMWs. You think that people buy BMWs for the same reasons as you, and that is why you're missing the point.
If you want to understand why other people do things, you have to first stop thinking about why you do things.
That is true as well. We're all talking out of our asses here. I don't buy an iPhone because I don't like Apple's business... not because it is a crap product. It is probably a fine device. I think mine is too. I'm happy with it.
> see, cheap and functions as well appeals to a certain demographic. by that mindset you would never by a BMW (to stay out of mobile) - which is perfectly fine, you can argue that this brand of car does not add anything useful to the table. a prius gets you from A to B as well, as a commuter you never use all that horsepower anyway.
Wrong analogy - these two brands have very high resale values. For every non-BMW Prius-class vehicle there are 10+ Ford Focus (gets job done, but loses resale fast).
I mean really. What is actually new? Very little is the answer.
Apple have bumped up the specs... everyone does after a year or two. That is really about it. Its a hardware upgrade. Well. A hardware upgrade with a new adapter... because that is exactly what the world needed. Fuck standardization. Realistically Apple wanted to milk more money from people. You have no choice but to get an adapter, otherwise all your docks and peripherals will no longer connect to your iPhone. YES! GET THE IPHONE5!
> The question everyone who hasn’t yet pre-ordered wants answered: Should you upgrade? My answer is simple. If you can afford it, yes.
Your answer is wrong. If your phone function's fine, you have no complaints with its responsiveness etc. No you do not need to upgrade. The iPhone5 brings nothing which is compellingly new to the table. It is a minor update. A bit like a new XBOX. Does exactly the same stuff as your current xbox, looks slightly better, loads games slightly faster.
If your iPhone breaks, hell, check out the iPhone5. If you don't have an iPhone and can justify the cost look into it. Otherwise buy a cheap android handset which - while rougher around the edges - has all the same phone functionality (You are buying a phone) for a fraction of the cost.