Will Apple's secrecy be it's undoing in the mobile world?
!!11oneone
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Mobile users are notoriously fickle, wanting new handsets at the end of each contract and switching supplier at the drop of a text message.
In the mobile world, we're used to knowing roughly what's coming in the next few months. For example, we already know about lots of new Android phones based around Snapdragon or Cortex processors, to be released over the next few months. We knew the Palm Pre was coming months before it arrived.
Up until recently, the iPhone was on it's own, but there's a lot of competition now. With lots of people about to end their iPhone contracts, many (including me) are looking for their next phone.
If Apple offered any hints at all as to what it's working on for next summer, I'm sure people would wait. But as it stands, there's no confirmation there'll even BE another iPhone (though of course there will), let alone what it might be capable of. Next year's model really needs to catch up with Android, but I'm willing to dismiss it and buy a rival simply because I don't know what it might be.
What do you think?
In the mobile world, we're used to knowing roughly what's coming in the next few months. For example, we already know about lots of new Android phones based around Snapdragon or Cortex processors, to be released over the next few months. We knew the Palm Pre was coming months before it arrived.
Up until recently, the iPhone was on it's own, but there's a lot of competition now. With lots of people about to end their iPhone contracts, many (including me) are looking for their next phone.
If Apple offered any hints at all as to what it's working on for next summer, I'm sure people would wait. But as it stands, there's no confirmation there'll even BE another iPhone (though of course there will), let alone what it might be capable of. Next year's model really needs to catch up with Android, but I'm willing to dismiss it and buy a rival simply because I don't know what it might be.
What do you think?
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I think it can only push its fanatic and very loyal user base so far - a user base that currently seems to forgive or defend any Apple indiscretion. I personally think it is digging a very deep hole for itself - especially, just as an example, with the lack of (user) flexibility on the iPhone. Eventually it will add the straw that breaks the camel's back.
I hope it doesn't because it would be a real shame.
i cant see how itll cause them any harm by telling us theres a new model out in 4 months etc???
what are they afraid of?? its a shame we have to wait for their stupid meetings they have to announce everything..... but ill still wait for the next iphone
Anyone is free to make applications for the iPhone in a fairly standard open language. I admit that it is limited but you have to remember that you need to maintain a reliable platform, which holds battery life (no multitasking) and there are security concerns with allowing developers root access. I also don't believe the average consumers cares or knows to much about open development, it is not about politics, it is about what works. Linux on desktop computing has the smallest share beat by both Windows and Mac OS X which are less open. I have tried Ubuntu and Mint and it is great they are free and open but I can't use them as an everyday computer, it is about usability and convenience, not openess. That is not to say the app store doesn't need work. The approvals process definitely needs to be more transparent.
I welcome the competition and I do think Apple has got a bit complacent. However, the competition has only caught up, I don't think it has beat the iPhone. Come June 2010 I guarantee Apple will bring out a major firmware update (4.0?) and completely redesign the iPhone hardware from the ground up, which will probably mean the competition needs another 3 years to catch up. The technology market is so fast paced that the arguments against the iPhone now will most likely be irrelevant in a few months time.
You are indeed correct that people who get high-end phones are quite fickle. However, the operators and handset makers still have you locked in for 18 to 24 months. Plus just as an example I got an LG phone a while back, it was useless and unreliable, so I vowed never to go LG again. I was impressed with my first Sony Ericsson, so I got another, but the second one was very poor so I will never go SE again. I was very happy with the iPhone so I got an iPhone 3G, which I am still very happy with so will definitely get another iPhone because people like to stick with what they know and trust a brand. I trust Apple and they haven't let me down yet *touches wood*.
That's very true, but is it a recipe for long term success? I don't know.
Without getting into the same tired argument, the iPhone OS was not advanced. There was a great deal missing in comparison with competitors OS. The iPhone was revolutionary because it was marketed to a certain type of person as a consumer device not a phone.
The problem is, there's no way to tell.
If, come February we had hints than the new iPhone would multitask, with widgets and social feeds, video calling, big memory boost or whatever, we could base our decisions on that. Or if it's to be an incremental upgrade with no major changes, at least we'd know that!
However, we don't know what on earth it would bring and I'm not sure I'm willing to wait 6 months only to buy the phone I could've had because Apple's isn't what I want.
I look at the Android phones and the Palm Pre. I know I don't like the Pre's keyboard. I do like the Hero. But I also know I'm not going to buy a Hero because in about 3 months there'll be the Acer, Sony and new HTC models that look more interesting. I'm already making my next mobile choice with 5 months to go on contract.
Apple's model has served them well in the computer world. But what they seem to forget is that mobile customers are locked in for 18 months to 2 years. They rely on people staying with iPhone and waiting for the next model, and with the next model you're stuck for another contract period.
It'll only take one dud phone and will people will fall out of the iPhone cycle and that'll be the end of the mass market for them.
Of course, fanbois would buy a Nokia 3300 if it had an Apple logo on it.
Exactly!
So if the expectations of iPhone v4 are again higher than the reality, will people stay on for the next or lock themselves for a couple of years with a competitor?
Its hardly surprising is it? The technology is moving so fast and there is always better deals for new customers I find.