I bought my first iPod in '05, I believe it was, and I have been pretty much apple ever since. Many iPods, an iPhone, 2 or 3 Macbooks, iTunes, iPhoto - I am hooked on Mac products and proud of it.
But everything comes to an end. I was saying yesterday to some friends that the 49ers were on top of the NFL world and it's fans seriously could never imagine fully what the collapse would be like, but if you fast forward to some of the rebuilding years just experienced, you see inadequate QB's, Joe Montana as a spokesperson for one of the all-time ugliest shoes ever, and Bill Walsh buried 6 feet under. Times change.
The latest release of the iPhone 4.0 is, I think the beginning of the end for Apple. We all know that MP3 players existed before the iPod, they just executed theirs better. We all know that music filing programs existed before iTunes, they just did theirs better. We all know that smartphones existed before the iPhone, they just launched it better.
Well here we are at a crossroads - while products are still selling, and will continue to sell, the mystique and charm of Apple products is dwindling, and the iPhone 4.0 has been riddled with problems. These types of problems simply did not exist with earlier tech advances. You cannot underestimate the power of a smooth launch, flawless execution, and a compelling, untainted story. Here are the 5 reasons why I think the iPhone 4.0's execution is a sign of bad things to come, given there were missteps at every level of the process.
1. Manufacturing Suicides - Starting with the actual creation of the product, the environment in which these phones are manufactured is clearly a reckless and dangerous one. 10+ workers have killed themselves due to the extreme pressures put on them by their bosses, the manufacturers, and the working conditions in some of these factories. A product is only as good as how it is built, and there are a lot of underlying issues in Chinese factories, in particular, that are making the creation of goods (not just phones) a difficult process.
2. Lost Phone - In terms of prototype development and the protection afforded Apple's launch products, the well-documented case of the lost iPhone at a California bar is amongst the most egregious errors that Apple has seen from a PR and product launch standpoint. Apple is so careful and so calculated, this type of error isn't a huge issue in itself, but as one of the 5 reasons why this launch was/is a bit of a disaster, it does rank pretty high up there on the gaffe scale.
3. Network problems - We all have watched the launch of major products on Apple's main stage, and have wondered, "imagine if the network crashes?!", well, for Steve Jobs last week it did. And that really does speak to the fact that the phone itself, my phone specifically, is not so good at surfing. It isn't. It is supposed to be, and it claims it is, and to a casual user who may not be frustrated by persistent network clogging, it may not be a big deal. But to someone who has dumped thousands of dollars into a device (monthly charges, people forget about those!), I am fairly consistently disappointed in the phone. The creation of more phones, over-saturation in the marketplace, and a refusal for Apple to address AT&T's huge 3G network issues is just a symptom of the overall Network drama us iPhone'rs are forced to endure on a daily basis.
4. Data charges - I was talking to someone yesterday who tried (see next note) to purchase the iPhone, and she wasn't even aware that she was going to be charged new data fees. This isn't an uncommon thing. Users have no idea what they are about to experience in terms of data charges, and I don't mean that in the cliche sense of the phrase - people literally have no idea how much data they use on a daily basis. Good thing the people charging us do know, exactly, how much we use, and with the addition of streaming Netflix, streaming video chat, and other network clogging applications, Apple & AT&T are going to have a cash windfall, at our expense, when this device hits the network. This problem isn't something people realize yet, but it'll hit them hard when the new charges fall in their laps.
5. Purchase problems - Yesterday folks started to try to buy the phone, available for pre-purchase. Here is one of many articles that sums up the disaster that ensued yesterday morning on pre-purchases. I don't think I need to say more on this one.
Once the design phase was done and complete, it seems like error after error has marred this phone - I get the feeling that the google phones of the world, the Droids and Nexus', are slowly starting to seep out there, and continue to gain momentum.
As iPad users start to ask themselves, "why do I have this thing, again?" and iPhone users start to say, "why am I paying so much to use this thing again?". I think we are at the start of a major shift away from Apple, but we are just at the start. In the meantime, you can call or text me on my iPhone, or email me and I'll respond to you from 1 of 3 Macbooks in my house.
No comments:
Post a Comment