- Nov 13, 2012
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Up until 2012 Apple didn't give us any options for a phone. It was just one. This worked fine. Apple hardly ever gives choices. They test all options, they make the choice and sell you the single final cut. That's why I'm paying $700+ for a premium phone - because so many great minds made the right choices for me.
There are some theories why Apple chose to make a second phone. The industry has talked loudly about them for months. Apple's Q4 earnings backed almost all of them. But that's not why I make this thread.
I welcomed the idea of Apple releasing two phones but for a different reason. Up until now Apple has released only one phone for a broad range of users. One phone for a tech nerd and the exact same exact phone for their mom. One phone for a college student on a tight budget in Asia and the exact same phone to Kevin Michaluk. What's wrong with that, you say? Well...Apple tries to satisfy all of those people. Make a phone simple enough for my mom to use with one hand while cooking and the same phone for a tech-savvy person doing a ton of fancy stuff on their phone while flying business class. For years Apple has been managing to make a device that is simple enough for your grandma and at the same time sophisticated enough for a design-pretentious visual artist. But you can't satisfy everyone and not cut corners. (The keyboard, for example, while snappy and great, remains suspiciously dumbed down, compared to what Android offers by default.)
This is why the idea of a popular mid-range, "good enough" phone seemed perfect! Now Apple would have had a simple phone for my mom and for that Swedish student on a budget while at the same time they would have been free to make their high-end phone skyrocket to nerdy geeky high-end orbit. No more reason to dumb things down for the masses. They would have had their own phone and the 5C seemed perfect. For the rest of us, the horizon would have been clear for hardware enhancements for tech-savvy people. Touch ID, fancy scanners and biometrics, advanced camera a-la Lumia 1020. All those are features Apple doesn't need to implement on my mom's mid-range iOS phone.
But the 5C flopped - in the same context I've just described. My mom went for an overpriced mid-range Android phone.
What lesson did Apple learn?
They're probably thinking that everyone wants the exact same phone again and that my grandma and CrackBerry Kevin should again be in the same category hardware-wise (and software-wise as well). I can't help but think we're all negatively affected by this. Look at Galaxy Note - Samsung puts all their high-end stuff there because they're free to do it. An iPhone would never receive such a treatment because it's just one phone for everyone.
It's certain that Apple will release two phones again (at least) and I hope this time they finally manage to sell both of them so that they manage to differentiate their offerings. The 2013's 5C failed to do that and as an 5S user I can't help but feel disappointed. A successful 5C would have benefited us all.
Do you think that Apple would keep making the iPhone simple and accessible and compromise on risky innovations and power-user stuff because of the "one-phone-for-all" strategy or this fall might be different?
----
P.S. Hope this hasn't been discussed already. If yes, feel free to direct me to the right place.
There are some theories why Apple chose to make a second phone. The industry has talked loudly about them for months. Apple's Q4 earnings backed almost all of them. But that's not why I make this thread.
I welcomed the idea of Apple releasing two phones but for a different reason. Up until now Apple has released only one phone for a broad range of users. One phone for a tech nerd and the exact same exact phone for their mom. One phone for a college student on a tight budget in Asia and the exact same phone to Kevin Michaluk. What's wrong with that, you say? Well...Apple tries to satisfy all of those people. Make a phone simple enough for my mom to use with one hand while cooking and the same phone for a tech-savvy person doing a ton of fancy stuff on their phone while flying business class. For years Apple has been managing to make a device that is simple enough for your grandma and at the same time sophisticated enough for a design-pretentious visual artist. But you can't satisfy everyone and not cut corners. (The keyboard, for example, while snappy and great, remains suspiciously dumbed down, compared to what Android offers by default.)
This is why the idea of a popular mid-range, "good enough" phone seemed perfect! Now Apple would have had a simple phone for my mom and for that Swedish student on a budget while at the same time they would have been free to make their high-end phone skyrocket to nerdy geeky high-end orbit. No more reason to dumb things down for the masses. They would have had their own phone and the 5C seemed perfect. For the rest of us, the horizon would have been clear for hardware enhancements for tech-savvy people. Touch ID, fancy scanners and biometrics, advanced camera a-la Lumia 1020. All those are features Apple doesn't need to implement on my mom's mid-range iOS phone.
But the 5C flopped - in the same context I've just described. My mom went for an overpriced mid-range Android phone.
What lesson did Apple learn?
They're probably thinking that everyone wants the exact same phone again and that my grandma and CrackBerry Kevin should again be in the same category hardware-wise (and software-wise as well). I can't help but think we're all negatively affected by this. Look at Galaxy Note - Samsung puts all their high-end stuff there because they're free to do it. An iPhone would never receive such a treatment because it's just one phone for everyone.
It's certain that Apple will release two phones again (at least) and I hope this time they finally manage to sell both of them so that they manage to differentiate their offerings. The 2013's 5C failed to do that and as an 5S user I can't help but feel disappointed. A successful 5C would have benefited us all.
Do you think that Apple would keep making the iPhone simple and accessible and compromise on risky innovations and power-user stuff because of the "one-phone-for-all" strategy or this fall might be different?
----
P.S. Hope this hasn't been discussed already. If yes, feel free to direct me to the right place.
Last edited:
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