As a friend and fellow tech enthusiast noted, Apple does have a fatal flaw. I do agree, I even go as far as to say that Apple has more than one fatal flaw. I think the prior events today demonstrated some of the flaws in the path that Apple has chosen to take. Naturally, after Steve Jobs death, people are quick to blame Tim Cook for the errors and misconceptions that the company entertains. This shouldn’t be the case; Steve Jobs, if alive, would have made the same choices that Mr. Cook has been making.
Since the iPhone 3Gs, Apple has been surreptitious in the marketing area. All companies do this, but, it’s irked extremely well for Apple. Most people buy into Apple’s flaw that Jason Pensill mentioned, the product refresh. So far, people loved the 3Gs, even though, superficially, it’s not much different than the 3G.
That was, in my opinion, the only time that Apple has fully gotten away with a minor refresh.
The 3Gs was replaced by the iPhone 4, which, superficially, is much different, but, internally, it’s nearly identical. Even though the internals where similar, this was a big upgrade to the people. It was huge.
People had heard rumors of a totally redesigned iPhone 5. They, and I speak for the majority of the tech community, were disappointed on that day. For a company that makes the best phones, the iPhone 4S wasn’t light years ahead of the competition. People were actually mad at Apple for the minor update. Updating the processor and the camera, sticking some half baked software into it, and acting like it was revolutionary was what Apple did. It wasn’t revolutionary, but, due to Apple’s marketing, people bought it.
Look at Android handset makers. A new Android handset is released every month. The company changes one tiny thing, adds a letter to the name of the phone, and ships it. It’s not complete, yet, they market it as a new, complete phone. One should think of the Android update cycles like service packs. Microsoft fixes bugs in Windows and pushes out a service pack. They may do it too often, but they don’t totally ship a new OS, normally. Users would feel cheated. Ripped off.
That’s what’s happening with Android phones.
Unfortunately, after the 4 updated to the 4S, that’s how people are starting to feel about Apple. They’re feeling stretched. There’s a point where it’s okay when a company tries to make the most of product cycles. Android handset makers have taken that way too far. Apple is on the edge. If they update the technology so frequently, they need to change some features that can actually turn it into a new device, not a service pack on an old one. That’s not fair to the consumer.
The picture: Yeah, I know.
