Guest said:
lawfer,
But how is Apple any different from any other Smartphone manufacturer?
You can't compare Apple to manufacturers. Apple is a software and hardware designer; they don't manufacture the iPhone, other OEMs do.
But in the "sense," in which you are speaking, Apple advertises the IPhone, while OEMs hardly advertise their devices. In the US particularly, carriers do. The very reason as to why Android is so big today, is because of Verizon's DROID brand.
I have the Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S1) and while the new S2 has dual-core CPUs, far superior graphics card, larger screen, it's still essentially the same phone as my S1. I am not suddenly going to get some magical functionality out of the S2 as I would out of my S1. It's not going to make me 5 years younger, pump the tire pressure in my car, allow me to increase my IQ by 10%, etc.
This is fallacy at its best. You say the phone has dual-core CPU, superior graphics, larger screen, but its essentially the same phone? That makes no sense. In comparison with the Galaxy S, the Galaxy SII has a superior 8 megapixel camera, with 1080p video recording, don't forget the front-facing 2 megapixel camera, a larger screen, along with the new Super AMOLED Plus display technology WITH an anti-fingerprint technology, a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 SoC, 1 GB of RAM, NFC Support, first phone with MHL technology, Android 2.3.4, with Samsung's TouchWiz 4.0, and all of this while being thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4. Yeah, I can totally see the how it's "essentially" the same as the Galaxy S.
How is the iPhone 4 essentially the same, you ask? If you consider having a better display and a better camera and a better processor, an upgrade worth $700, then I am sorry for you. Or how about the iPhone 3GS? The iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS are the same, the 3GS just has a better processor. Still the same high price tag. The word "essentially" here is explicitly used to highlight how insignificant the changes are, and how hardly they justify the price; it's not used literally (that should have been perceived through context).
At the end of the day, a smartphone is a luxury item. In other words, one can argue that anyone who NEEDS a smartphone to be happy is just as much of a sheep as someone who buys Version 1-2-3-4 of Galaxy S OR iphone OR Droid OR Nokia, etc. etc.
Most people have lost touch with reality and life. Who reads classical or modern classic books? Plays sports? 68% of Americans are either obese or overweight.
There's a big difference between getting a phone because is better or slightly better, than getting a phone just because its new. iPhone owners fall into the latter category, and that's exactly what makes them a bigger type of sheep. More on that next.
It's interesting how people hate Apple for releasing "useful/barely better" products while the products they themselves are using are NO better than their previous versions for basic tasks (texting, phone calls, browsing the interent). That's the reality, period.
So by this logic, the millions of people who are upgrading to the latest Android phone are just as "stupid".
You seem to not grasp the very reason why people are bothered with how the iPhone sales itself. The iPhone 4 introduced the Retina Display, a faster processor, and a better camera (and front-facing one). That hardly justifies the $600-$700 price-tag, but that's not important though. You see, those who pile up (or camp) on Apple stores don't exactly do it for the improvements, they do it because its the new iPhone. To see somebody so oblivious of the actual benefit of their purchase, baffles a lot of people, because it just makes you realize they do not care for the phone, the care for the brand.
People do not camp from the day before on a Verizon store to get the, say, HTC Thunderbolt, do they? The inherent discussion here is, the advertising, and the propaganda around the Apple products, the sense of immediate social superiority if such products are obtained; the ludicrous prices simply based on image and exclusivity; all of this together is all a way of saying: get the iPhone 5, because its the iPhone 5, not because its a superior phone (compared to the competition).
Alternatively, like I said, people don't hate the products, the iPhone was revolutionary. But there have been phones and operating systems that have done what the iPhone 5 does, better and cheaper. Android is like Windows because it keeps the functionality/price ratio higher than the iPhone or Mac. People don't see the iPhone as a smartphone, those very people who wait hours in line, wait for an icon; they wait for a title that portrays elitism and social superiority over others. It's not because is a better phone, its just because its a new iPhone.
And that is a big difference when you compare it to somebody who gets an Android. Most people get an Android phone, because they usually do things the last didn't. Even by disregarding the hardware, do you think TouchWiz 4.0 doesn't offer superior functionality over TouchWiz 3.0 on the Galaxy S phones? Android's open source nature allows OEMs to improve their devices without being too overly incremental. That subsequently allows people who get Android, know exactly what they are getting with X new phone release. They know the facts, they know the capabilities, and they know how much compared to an iPhone the will be able to do and pay. That's exactly why there aren't hundreds of people waiting in lines for Android, because Android purchases are usually very well-informed decisions. And that intrinsic difference, is what makes <I>the</I> difference.
