Well something that does not revolve around being a feature phone that plays media? Or go onto the Internet?
That is what you said in your first post...I was hoping for something a little more elaborate. I guess what my confusion is in the idea that Apple is going in a "wholly different direction" with the iPhone. I don't agree to say the least, but I think even more so, I don't understand how a person could deduce that. Apple, at least in my observation, has a product that has quite literally stayed true to it's original plan...you have unique design cues, unique OS build, unique feature implementation...etc etc etc (i could list these for days)...I mean, the iPhone has stayed on course about as closely as you possibly could while also maintaining top tier relevance with advances in technology.
I mean they CONSTANTLY push the iPhone's gaming core, and they CONSTANTLY clamor about airplay and iTunes media playback...the "beautiful retina display" as they always discuss and how great movies and TV shows look on it. And one thing that I feel has always been Apple's strong suit (especially with computers) is photo and video integration...if there's one major shift change (and I think this comes from the entire market of phones), it's with camera importance. I don't think ANYONE expected smart phones to completely obliterate the market of point and shoot cameras...but it has, it basically eliminated the need for those kinds of cameras, and it damn near eliminated the need for your common household video camera as well, with the ability to record in HD and easily upload these things for all to see in the social media world.
I guess I just don't see your logic here. Has Apple evolved? Of course they have...you can't remain stagnant and expect continued success over the years, it just doesn't work like that at all. Have they gone in a "wholly different direction"? I can't say I even understand that at all...of course they haven't, look at the iPhone, and look at what Apple puts focus on. Bigger screens? Nope. Maxed out internals? Nope. Unpolished popular tech features? Nope. Phablets? Nope. Widgets? Nope...I mean I think you see where I'm going with this. If you look at the smart phone world, you'll see that almost every other manufacturer has gone the route of most if not ALL of these things with their new offerings...while Apple has stayed back and continuously polished what they have, and each year, it feels like the perfect version...and then each year, they figure out a way to improve it.
If there's one phone on the market right now that HASN'T strayed in a different direction...by definition it is the iPhone.