The iPhone 3G S – Fair or Foul?
Posted on 12 June 2009, at 10:31 pm, by Larry Greenberg
This post is being written jointly by Larry and Dan in response to some of the criticism’s voiced this week after Apple’s iPhone announcements. For the sake of full disclosure we should point out that both are devout fan-boys. That does NOT, however, mean they have checked their brains at the door. 
Larry’s text is in black. Dan’s is in blue.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’re probably aware of Apple’s announcement this week of their new iPhone. The phone, which is to be called the iPhone 3G S, which isn’t scheduled to launch until Friday June 19th has already gotten mixed reviews. Yes, I said it hasn’t even launched yet.
It seems to be Apple has garnered a reputation as a company who’s always on the edge. One who is constantly breaking the mold and delivering cutting edge products which revolutionize the industry. And when people don’t get something totally radical, innovative or groundbreaking… they complain. As if Apple pulls brand new devices and technologies out of a hat each year… come on now…
But is this a fair assessment? Has Apple committed a foul by releasing a product which contains only minor upgrades to its existing iPhone? Is it REALLY a minor upgrade or is it just not as BIG an upgrade as people were dreaming of? I mean, huge increase in processor power, video, voice rec etc. Those are big increases! It just isn’t the entire new device we were hoping for.
Is it fair of the consumer to always expect new and innovative products every time Apple brings something to market? How can Apple’s fan base being disappointed in a product that hasn’t even been released yet? Because expectations were unrealistic and they blame Apple for not meeting their expectations. Give me a break!
There seem to be three issues at work when it comes to the consumer’s expectations. First and foremost, rumors. What the consumer hears from the media and the general public in the form of predictions. Second, how Apple actually goes about updating their current product in conjunction with the launch of the new one. And finally, how what they actually do end up releasing meets the expectation of the public.
Rumor-time!
Just like the Hollywood gossip magazines techies follow the gadget blogs in hopes of scoring a sneak peak of what the next release might bring. There’s a saying that goes something like, if you say something enough times it eventually becomes fact.” This is the problem with rumors. Weeks before the announcement of the new iPhone 3G S the rumors began pouring in.
We first heard there would be a matte back. Then came talk of a OLED or hi-resolution screen. There was mention of a front facing camera that would support iChat. None of these features came to pass in the new device and people were angry at that.
But is that fair? NO!
Because these features were reported over and over again, all across the web, the consumer came to expect them to be included in the new phone. After all, could that many web sites be wrong? Yup! and it happens every year! And I still get suckered in! (Definition of insanity- doing the same thing over and over and over and still expecting a different out come.)
So as our own (Windows Mobile-loving) Doug Goldring put it, “People, and to be clear people who had nothing to do with Apple, promised the world. When Apple did not deliver on those unrealistic promises, people noticed.”
What does seem questionable is Apple’s announcement that users of the current iPhone, the 3G, would be receiving a software upgrade that includes a host of new features. However, the new iPhone would have some additional features that would not be included in the upgrade for the 3G. The 3G and iPhone classic are getting some great new features. It is true that there are some features being kept specific to the 3G S but the upgrade to the other generations is certainly significant. What is striking to me here is that no phone that I used previous to the iPhone EVER got the kind of bump that came from version 1 to version 2 and is coming with version 3. Maybe I have low expectations but these extra features seem pretty amazing. Up to date newest full featured? No but pretty amazing.
Most importantly the ability to shoot video and the ability to control the iPhone with one’s voice. THIS IS HUGE!!!! Yes, should have been there from the start…
Why has Apple chosen not to include features for current users while at the same time giving them to new ones? We know even the 3G iPhone can record video in it’s current state. Users who Jailbreak their phones can choose from a variety of applications which shoot video (Cycorder, Qik, etc.) And Qik works great! I have no issue if Apple chooses not to include it but at least be honest about the reasons!
The concept of two iPhones each with its own feature set does place application developers in a tough situation. Now they will need to choose which phone they develop programs for? How do they decide? It’s a challenge which doesn’t pop up very often. Operating systems are usually the same across all platforms and a developer is able to work with one feature set knowing it’ll be adapted globally. But that is the nature of technology. Advances are quick and frequent. There is often the ability to run new software on “old” devices but it isn’t 100%. For a while developers will have to do two versions or one that doesn’t take full advantage of the new hardware. Eventually, though, the old hardware will be left behind.
No one on the outside knows for sure. Guesses? Perhaps Apple is afraid that the current hardware specifications inside the 3G simply won’t perform well enough to support the phone shooting video and therefore have deemed it not worthy of it. Perhaps it’s some evil marketing ploy to lure current 3G users away from their phones an into the more expensive, non-subsidized, 3G S. I’m not sure this is evil as much as… business. Just because a company CAN put a feature on an earlier device doesn’t mean they have to or even should. They are in the business of selling hardware. If keeping key features off an old product makes it more likely people will upgrade… have at it. It isn;t as if they took a feature AWAY from the prior device.
Finally is the expectation the Apple should be releasing a new and innovative, ground breaking even, product every time it brings something new to market.
Fair?
It’s true the 3G S isn’t anything revolutionary. I’ve heard this complaint from several friends, most who are drooling over their Palm Pre this week. And I hope they truly enjoy it! It has some GREAT features.. and a few (like battery and screen scratches that would be deal breakers for me.)
My argument to them has been that Apple didn’t necessarily have to release anything revolutionary this time. They did that already two years ago and to some extent last year. All they needed to do was do ENOUGH to keep ahead of the pack. They have.
Has each version of the iPod been revolutionary? Nope. The first one sure was and it’s certainly gotten better over the years but not by leaps and bounds.
Why must they be expected to re-invent the wheel every time. EXACTLY Many of their products have received subtle changes over the years. The key is they’ve released a new iPhone every year for three years in a row. And it IS a new phone even though they look the same.
What other manufacturer can say they’ve released a new update to the same model phone three years in a row? !!! So they come out with a MAJOR design change every= five years.
Isn’t that keeping pace with technology. 4G would be a big time upgrade and when the cellular companies are ready perhaps Apple will release a new version of the phone that’s ready to meet the technological demands of that era.
So the final question is iPhone 3G S, fair or foul?
Is it fair to be upset at Apple for not releasing a phone with the features that the public rumored it to have?
I say foul. Rumors are nothing more than untruths. We can’t be angered at Apple for not releasing certain features only because we “thought” they’d be included.
I agree. So much of this is the result of unrealistic expectations and I have a hard time feeling upset of unrealistic expectations being met. I’m not trying to make excuses for Apple. I would very much have like them moving away from a case material that is, at best, flawed. But if you don’t like the 3G S or don’t think it is worth the upgrade there is a simple solution… DON’T BUY IT!!!!
Is it fair or foul for Apple to release a new phone with new features while at the same time upgrading their old phone with “some” but not all of these features which in turn creates two mini operating systems?
I say fair. Leaving current users behind is wrong.
I agree. They have no obligation to upgrade at all. That they are offering the upgrade for free at all is pretty amazing.
And finally is it fair or foul to be angry at Apple for releasing a new phone that’s not super exciting. One that has some upgrades, some even arguably major but nothing that knocks your socks off?
I say foul. Apple continues to lead the way with the iPhone. New and exciting or not, even in its current state it’s one heck of a phone.
Agreed. The iPhone 3G S may not be what people were hoping for but it is pretty amazing nonetheless. Without an upgrade the iPhone would have falled behind. With this upgrade however the iPhone moves ahead once again… and that is all Apple needed to do.
Hey, wasn’t it Meatloaf who said, “two outta three aint bad.”
I say… Is it next Friday yet?????
Related posts:
June 13th, 2009 at 12:13 am
it would have been nice if Apple allowed multi-tasking with the new iPhone. With its faster processor, I am sure the new 3GS can handle at least 2-3 applications open at the same time. The Pre can do this. Other smart phones can do this? But no — Apple wants to baby its customers. They don’t trust us. Being able to have instant messenger on in the background all the time would have been awesome.
Plus it would be nice if they made the phone work as a phone better. Perhaps they did do this, but it would be an unannounced hardware fix. Where I live (Manhattan), iPhone users have terrible service. (I’ve heard San Fransisco is equally as bad.) Many have blamed these woes entirely on AT&T but I think they are only partly to blame as I use a Razr phone and use it under AT&T and my service is awesome – which makes me think that the iPhone hardware is at least partly (if not entirely) to blame in the terrible phone service.
If Apple had come out with answers to these 2 points, then we would have had another iPhone revolutionary on our hands instead of a modest update.
June 13th, 2009 at 7:12 am
I say “Fair”. People can have whatever expectations they want and if a company doesn’t deliver then the company has disappointed some of it’s target consumers. I think the new phone is a letdown (regardless of how well it may work when it becomes available). Does the company “owe” these consumer something? – hell no. Is this the arguably reasonable upgrade people wanted? – hell no.
June 16th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I’d say that Apple has kept updating ‘older’ models because they provided an incomplete system in the first place. We knew what we were buying but it doesn’t mean I’m happy to not be able to forward a cool text message or to have to re-type everything when a simple copy/paste would’ve done the trick.
WinMo didn’t have MMS in the beginning but the other bits were there 6 years ago. Then MMS came standard 4 years ago. I only mention WinMo because it has been trailing behind Symbian – if WinMo devices had this functionality then it’s true to say that Apple was able to keep customers happy with an ‘unfinished’ OS.
Now that they’ve added most standard features (video recording not included), I think they’ll do a few bug fix releases and call it a day – we probably have 9 months. Next years OS update will be for 3GS devices only…
June 16th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Again I say fair that the 3GS has some additional features – my 3G is getting a bit slow now and I’m glad they updated the chipset. The killer feature is the voice rec. I want to upgrade for this one feature but the price difference is keeping me at bay – I think they raised the price (in the UK) due to low stock, once stock increases they’ll lower the 16Gb to £400 on PAYG as it was with the 16GB 3G.
I have to say though, the constant ‘Apple is ahead of the game’ comments are a little fan-boyish. In terms of UI they have in the bag (or at least as close as poss without adding a sliding keyboard!) but in terms of software and hardware features they are still catching up. Symbian devices lead in that respect with 8meg cameras etc. features like mms and copy/paste are taken for granted, video recording is getting into the 720p territory on these devices.
Apple have a good UI – but Palm and Symbian are catching up.
Apple have a successful App Store – this is the biggest lead that they have at the moment – it’s not just the quantity of apps but the quality and store experiance. As with the iPod it’s iTunes that saves the day!
June 16th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Oh, and before I get flamed – I love my iPhone!!