iKnow iShouldn't but iDo
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It's that time of year again. Apple have released a new mobile phone handset and millions of people across the world are clamouring to be among the first to get hold of it. I confess that I'm among them—maybe not clamouring so much, but at least taking advantage of the option to upgrade my now two-generations-old phone. From the speed my carrier's website was crawling along at the time, I imagine I wasn't alone.
When Apple releases something new, you already know you can expect a queue outside the shop the day before it's due. No other brand seems to have this kind of loyalty. An avid gamer might queue for the latest version of an already popular video game because they want something new to play. A parent may queue for the limited supplies of a new console in the run up to Christmas to make sure their child isn't disappointed. But people queue for Apple products just because it's Apple that is releasing them. They've created the marketing dream.
The release of the original iPhone kick started a mass migration to smart phones. Smart phones had been around for years before it, but they were very much on the periphery of the mobile phone market before Apple's contribution. The iPad did more or less the same for the tablet computer market. Again, tablets had existed in one form or another for over a decade—especially in the business sector—before the iPad came along. But it was Apple's product that initiated a revolution. Even my mother wants an iPad now.
Apple make great products. That's undisputable. Whether they're the best on the market is debatable—often they're not, but they're usually somewhere near the top of the pile. Their products are very user friendly, very well designed and impeccably presented. But where they used to be cutting edge and ground breaking, lately… well… they're just not.
In the last twelve months, Apple have released a number of new products, virtually all of which, to my knowledge, have been upgraded versions of their existing lines. The specifications have been impressive on all occasions, but the list of useful new features has been shrinking for some time. The anticipation around a new Apple product launch is as high as ever but the buzz that follows is more muted.
The iPhone and iPad are strong sellers and account for over half of their very sizeable revenue. With this in mind, it makes sense that they wouldn't rock the boat with any dramatic changes. But Apple no longer feels like the pioneering company it once was under the late Steve Jobs. The latest iPhone, for example, adds nothing that other smart phones don't already have and indeed lacks some of the features (like wireless charging and near field communication) that other manufacturers are starting to bring out.
Apple's strength seems to lie in making something that already exists seem more appealing. While other manufacturers break their backs trying to be cutting edge, most of their products will be eclipsed in sales by what is arguably a marginally inferior Apple alternative. That's not to say the product isn't good or that the end user won't wax lyrical about how happy they are with it. It just won't be what it could have been. Once upon a time, cutting edge technology built the brand. Now the brand seems to prop up a technology that is only just keeping up.
I like Apple. I like their products. I like the new iPhone, just as I liked the previous ones. I stick with the iPhone because I prefer the interface to any other that I've used. I'm just having difficulty adjusting to sitting on the curve rather than the space just ahead of it.