iPhone 7 Thoughts
Yep. I'm going there.
Yesterday Apple had their event where they unveiled, amongst other things, the iPhone 7.
I don't think this will do anything more than temporarily improve their fortunes. As every new product release does. And, if anything, I think it will further accelerate their decline after the initial swooning is done.
Why? Apple has failed, once again, to release anything of merit while in the midst of a decline and without changing their strategy at all.
I don't really care about PhoneJackGate or whatever the hell they decide to call that. I think the move was pointless. But, if anything, the senseless attention it is getting will probably benefit them more than hurt them. I don't see a reason to eliminate the audio jack. And I doubt the average user will garner anything from the change beyond frustration. But, I don't think it is near as big as deal as anyone makes it out to be.
Specs wise... 50% faster. Meh. I mean it isn't inconsequential by any means, but it isn't like the good old days where new releases were 200-400% faster. Like I've said in the past, we hit a point of diminishing returns in Moore's law with phones. They aren't outpacing old models like they used to. And that just further feeds into the fact that developers have no reason to build anything with the additional power in mind. No one is going to notice/care.
Oh, and "our best camera ever"? It is a flagship product, had they dumped the same camera from last year, the statement would both still be true and be completely idiotic. At this point in time, it is actually MORE guaranteed that a phone will get a better camera with every iteration than it is that it will get lighter, thinner, etc... I'm sorry people, this isn't news. It isn't even exciting.
2 hours improved battery life? Firstly, that is most likely 2 hours more of standard usage. Which means it A) isn't going to take you another day, and B) for the people who really needed it, it probably isn't actually 2 hours. The people who need 2 hours are the people who already abuse their phone and can't make it a full day. I doubt that is the usage group this number is based on.
$160 wireless headphones? It is the 5 hours battery life which kills this product. It isn't really a bad price for wireless headphones. And if the quality is actually good, even better. But, when I listen to music... it is generally more than 5 hours worth. And people who care enough to spend over $100 on headphones SHOULD be the same way. This is Apple we're talking about though, maybe they'll sell boat loads to people who think a 5 hour charge is overkill.
Then there were a myriad of features which Apple has simply been behind everyone else on for years, like OIS and stereo speakers. Reality is, no one cared Apple didn't have these features then, and they aren't going to be enough now. I've NEVER met a person who said I bought my phone because the camera has optical image stabilization and stereo speakers. NEVER.
Maybe the next biggest issue with these phones though is this. Like the budget iPhone 4S look-alike, these new models don't really change their designs from the previous generation. The SE at least utterly rapes the phone it looks like in terms of specs. The new iPhones neither pack a punch on the inside or the outside. If they did one or the other, they might have some staying power.
So, what options did Apple have? Not release a phone or change their strategy. They've cut prices elsewhere, why not on their top end iPhones as well? I think they should have stuck with the SoC changes, storage size changes and the minimal design changes and left everything (camera included) the same as it was on the previous gen. Including battery, stereo speakers, headphone jacks, etc.... Then, drop the price $100 or more across the board.
This is the problem with big companies whose success is founded almost entirely on one product. The board will never approve changing the formula, even when it has stopped working. Not releasing a product may have hurt their image. Conceding hardware isn't advancing at the same pace and giving more moderate upgrades and cheaper prices is smart though, and may have reinvigorated sales.
Yesterday Apple had their event where they unveiled, amongst other things, the iPhone 7.
I don't think this will do anything more than temporarily improve their fortunes. As every new product release does. And, if anything, I think it will further accelerate their decline after the initial swooning is done.
Why? Apple has failed, once again, to release anything of merit while in the midst of a decline and without changing their strategy at all.
I don't really care about PhoneJackGate or whatever the hell they decide to call that. I think the move was pointless. But, if anything, the senseless attention it is getting will probably benefit them more than hurt them. I don't see a reason to eliminate the audio jack. And I doubt the average user will garner anything from the change beyond frustration. But, I don't think it is near as big as deal as anyone makes it out to be.
Specs wise... 50% faster. Meh. I mean it isn't inconsequential by any means, but it isn't like the good old days where new releases were 200-400% faster. Like I've said in the past, we hit a point of diminishing returns in Moore's law with phones. They aren't outpacing old models like they used to. And that just further feeds into the fact that developers have no reason to build anything with the additional power in mind. No one is going to notice/care.
Oh, and "our best camera ever"? It is a flagship product, had they dumped the same camera from last year, the statement would both still be true and be completely idiotic. At this point in time, it is actually MORE guaranteed that a phone will get a better camera with every iteration than it is that it will get lighter, thinner, etc... I'm sorry people, this isn't news. It isn't even exciting.
2 hours improved battery life? Firstly, that is most likely 2 hours more of standard usage. Which means it A) isn't going to take you another day, and B) for the people who really needed it, it probably isn't actually 2 hours. The people who need 2 hours are the people who already abuse their phone and can't make it a full day. I doubt that is the usage group this number is based on.
$160 wireless headphones? It is the 5 hours battery life which kills this product. It isn't really a bad price for wireless headphones. And if the quality is actually good, even better. But, when I listen to music... it is generally more than 5 hours worth. And people who care enough to spend over $100 on headphones SHOULD be the same way. This is Apple we're talking about though, maybe they'll sell boat loads to people who think a 5 hour charge is overkill.
Then there were a myriad of features which Apple has simply been behind everyone else on for years, like OIS and stereo speakers. Reality is, no one cared Apple didn't have these features then, and they aren't going to be enough now. I've NEVER met a person who said I bought my phone because the camera has optical image stabilization and stereo speakers. NEVER.
Maybe the next biggest issue with these phones though is this. Like the budget iPhone 4S look-alike, these new models don't really change their designs from the previous generation. The SE at least utterly rapes the phone it looks like in terms of specs. The new iPhones neither pack a punch on the inside or the outside. If they did one or the other, they might have some staying power.
So, what options did Apple have? Not release a phone or change their strategy. They've cut prices elsewhere, why not on their top end iPhones as well? I think they should have stuck with the SoC changes, storage size changes and the minimal design changes and left everything (camera included) the same as it was on the previous gen. Including battery, stereo speakers, headphone jacks, etc.... Then, drop the price $100 or more across the board.
This is the problem with big companies whose success is founded almost entirely on one product. The board will never approve changing the formula, even when it has stopped working. Not releasing a product may have hurt their image. Conceding hardware isn't advancing at the same pace and giving more moderate upgrades and cheaper prices is smart though, and may have reinvigorated sales.
Comments
Post a Comment