Why I can’t wait for the iPhone 5
I read Kurt’s article on ‘Why the iPhone 5 is no big deal.’
Kurt’s a great bloke and I love the passion he has for the Android side of mobile phones.
Me, I’m a bit more laid back. I don’t often ‘rise’ to the ribbing I get about the iPhone and the affinity I have for the brand. But Kurt, that doesn’t mean I don’t talk up once in a while.
Why don’t we talk about that brand, just for a second. The love people have for the Apple brand. Apple is the most valuable brand in the world. It’s worth $182 billion. Kurt, I’d like you to read the first 3 sentences of this paragraph again and then do what you rarely do.
Stop talking for a minute, take a deep breath and think for a second.
Why I can’t wait for the iPhone 5 – Pro Apple
The core of my argument here is the following.
- Apple amaze the world with innovation which establishes a new category and defines best practice in it.
- This involves hardware but more fundamentally, it is the user experience generated by the software they write which enables completely new types of experience.
I want to begin expressing my side of the discussion here by suggesting an idea to you. I believe that the only reason we’re talking about whether the iPhone 5 will be the best mobile phone in the category when it launches is because Apple have defined the mobile phone market.
Why I can’t wait for the iPhone 5 – Apple defined the market
The whole discussion of whether, say, the HTC One X is better than the iPhone 5 is based within a structure that we owe to Apple. Before the iPhone, there were no really Smart Mobile Phones.
There were no touch screens on devices. There were no app stores. There wasn’t an app for everything.
When the iPhone launched, 5 years ago, it was literally, a revolution in the way that people could relate to information. The iPhone offered a stunning improvement. In order to understand an iPhone, you had to change the way you thought about what was possible with a phone.
Why I can’t wait for the iPhone 5 – Apple define categories
Apple haven’t just done that with the iPhone. They did it with the iPod and Macbook Air, they did it with the iPad. Each of these product launches created a category.
I don’t deny your right to test the ongoing abilities of Apple. I do ask that you recognize that the Android devices you love so passionately, are part of a category created by the imagination of designers and engineers at Apple.
The core of your criticism of the iPhone 5 seems to be about hardware specifications.
I put it to you that you have missed the point. Apple’s key contribution has never been just about hardware. It has been the improvement in the total experience a customer has in trying to solve a problem.
The iPhone itself is just one element of an infrastructure that Apple have created which allows people to stay in touch with the those they love, more. To entertain themselves better when they’re away from home. To find out the weather that day.
It is the way Apple create these experiences, the way they improve people’s lives that generates brand trust, loyalty and creates value like $182bn.
If you’re sticking with me here Kurt, you might be beginning to realize that an argument you are representing only exists because Apple created it and that in this argument you’ve missed the whole point.
Why I can’t wait for the iPhone 5 – the market knows
While people in general and Whatphone visitors can have an opinion on whether the iPhone 5 is a worthy device, I’m sure we can all agree that Apple is a company. Around half of it’s revenue comes from iPhones. Here is the 5 year share price Kurt. I’d like to ask you what the market thinks of the launch of the new iPhone ?
That looks like a tripling of shareholder value since the launch of the original iPhone to me.
The current share price has never been higher – with the iPhone 5 launch just around the corner. The market doesn’t seem to rank the capabilities of the Android devices you represent to quite the same degree as you, do they Kurt ?
Which should we trust more to establish whether the iPhone will succeed – you or Wall Street ?
Why I can’t wait for the iPhone 5 – we’re here to compare
Whatphone is about choice. It’s important that we represent the strengths and weaknesses of all our products to customers so they can make up their mind. I put it to you that the iPhone 5 represents a legitimate choice for customers which should not be maligned.
Why I can’t wait for the iPhone 5 – you don’t know Kurt
Finally, I’ll make the most obvious point. You can’t think the iPhone is unimpressive because you have no idea what it will be. No-one does. You’ve got some leaked hardware specs which may or may not be accurate.
I’m excited about the launch of the Apple iPhone for all these reasons. I’m excited because Apple’s devotion to user experience and solving my problems – to making my life better has taken my breath away so many times already – and because I want to see what they’re going to do next.
I’m excited because no other company in the world blows us away with innovative new ways of thinking that define new categories. I’m excited because we don’t know what they’re going to say is in the iPhone 5.
Don’t miss the point Kurt. Get an iPhone 5. Excited is a nice way to be.
Written by:
Tim Orange, everyday shopper
AUG 2012