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When we come to expect more and more...
Oct. 5th, 2011 08:49 amSo yesterday, Apple held their now-yearly event in which the latest model of iPhone is announced. Even though I have no plans to get an iPhone, I, like schmuck, decided to follow the live blogging of the event (live blogging is a "play-by-play" description of what is being said and done, kind of like listening to a sports game on the radio. No live streaming of the event was allowed except by Apple, so this is the reason for live blogging). I think part of the reason I follow these events in spite of the fact that I am trying to sharply curb my consumption of gadgets is that I am still interested in the increasing pace of evolution of consumer technology and its quickly-changing role in society (why else would I be writing about this on my LJ!? LOL).
Anyway, the rumors had been that there would be two models of iPhones being launched: an iPhone 4S that was like the iPhone 4 but with some updates and the mythical iPhone 5, with a new design, etc... Well, turns out that there will only be one iPhone model that will launch, the iPhone 4S. But the improvements, I thought, were rather impressive. But you wouldn't have thought so by reading the negative comments on the live blogs and on Twitter. You would have thought that Apple was reverting to selling 8-bit computers! In fact, it would be more accurate to describe these negative comments as a lot of whining and complaining. And apparently, Apple stock went down on the stock market shortly after the event. It simply blows my mind. To those people who complained, I say this: What did you expect? Was it that there was no new design, no larger screen? How many variations can you get on a rectangle that is mostly taken up by a screen? How many times can you increase screen size before it becomes pretty much another iPad? Some said that Android already has many of the features that this new iPhone has. Yeah...hasn't it been that way with iPods and past iPhones? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for innovation, but the rate at which Apple is now expected to come up with a "breakthrough" new product is unreasonable. Apple, not being the best in technological innovation, are instead wizards at marketing, which is what they have going for them. But I imagine that delivering on the promises they make through marketing becomes harder and harder, especially when the customer begins to expect something new--every year at this point!
Maybe it was just a matter of names. Had the iPhone been named the iPhone 5 instead of the iPhone 4S, perhaps people would have perceived it as a "newer" phone and would have complained less. Remember when the iPad was first released? Everybody made fun of the name "iPad" and compared it to a feminine hygiene product. Now the iPad has become a status symbol nobody thinks twice about the name. Honestly, this seems to have become a pattern in the launching of Apple products. There's a lot of whining and complaning and "Apple sucks" comments and even a drop in Apple stock. But in the end, people will be lining up to the Apple stores at dawn like pigs to a trough and forking over the cash.
I don't mean to get caught up in the petty online squabbling between the Apple and Android "fanboys," nor do I want to completely defend Apple--I don't even own any Apple products!--but my point in all of this is to look at how people come to expect more and more, especially when it comes to consumer products. A good video to watch is comedian Louis C.K. on the Conan O'Brien Show in which he basically says, "Everything is great and nobody's happy"--pretty much sums up my point.
Now, I realize that perhaps when the "backlash" has died down and people happily fork over the cash for these new iPhones, this might seem to contradict my point about people "expecting more", but that's exactly it: people easily adapt to a condition and soon come to expect it. Any veering from the new norm seems jarring. Which will take me to my next entry (hopefully) about Facebook and information overload...
Anyway, the rumors had been that there would be two models of iPhones being launched: an iPhone 4S that was like the iPhone 4 but with some updates and the mythical iPhone 5, with a new design, etc... Well, turns out that there will only be one iPhone model that will launch, the iPhone 4S. But the improvements, I thought, were rather impressive. But you wouldn't have thought so by reading the negative comments on the live blogs and on Twitter. You would have thought that Apple was reverting to selling 8-bit computers! In fact, it would be more accurate to describe these negative comments as a lot of whining and complaining. And apparently, Apple stock went down on the stock market shortly after the event. It simply blows my mind. To those people who complained, I say this: What did you expect? Was it that there was no new design, no larger screen? How many variations can you get on a rectangle that is mostly taken up by a screen? How many times can you increase screen size before it becomes pretty much another iPad? Some said that Android already has many of the features that this new iPhone has. Yeah...hasn't it been that way with iPods and past iPhones? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for innovation, but the rate at which Apple is now expected to come up with a "breakthrough" new product is unreasonable. Apple, not being the best in technological innovation, are instead wizards at marketing, which is what they have going for them. But I imagine that delivering on the promises they make through marketing becomes harder and harder, especially when the customer begins to expect something new--every year at this point!
Maybe it was just a matter of names. Had the iPhone been named the iPhone 5 instead of the iPhone 4S, perhaps people would have perceived it as a "newer" phone and would have complained less. Remember when the iPad was first released? Everybody made fun of the name "iPad" and compared it to a feminine hygiene product. Now the iPad has become a status symbol nobody thinks twice about the name. Honestly, this seems to have become a pattern in the launching of Apple products. There's a lot of whining and complaning and "Apple sucks" comments and even a drop in Apple stock. But in the end, people will be lining up to the Apple stores at dawn like pigs to a trough and forking over the cash.
I don't mean to get caught up in the petty online squabbling between the Apple and Android "fanboys," nor do I want to completely defend Apple--I don't even own any Apple products!--but my point in all of this is to look at how people come to expect more and more, especially when it comes to consumer products. A good video to watch is comedian Louis C.K. on the Conan O'Brien Show in which he basically says, "Everything is great and nobody's happy"--pretty much sums up my point.
Now, I realize that perhaps when the "backlash" has died down and people happily fork over the cash for these new iPhones, this might seem to contradict my point about people "expecting more", but that's exactly it: people easily adapt to a condition and soon come to expect it. Any veering from the new norm seems jarring. Which will take me to my next entry (hopefully) about Facebook and information overload...
