A brief history of iPhone launches
June 29, 2007 – Original iPhone
July 11, 2008 – iPhone 3G
June 19, 2009 – iPhone 3GS
June 24, 2010 – iPhone 4
October 14, 2011 – iPhone 4S
Unless you live in a forest, cut off from the entire world, you know that Apple announced the iPhone 4S yesterday. No sooner was the announcement made, cries of disappointment were heard all over the internets. Personally, I am not surprised. If you look at the timeline above, only the original iPhone got a full makeover in about a year. The rest have taken two years or longer. This kinda makes sense. Apple has the habit to wait till all the new technologies mature, before they incorporate them into the iPhone.
Three main points to consider:
- With the release of the iPhone 4S, we know what Apple thinks about 4G networks, not ready for prime time yet. So, they go ahead and perfect the existing 3G technology to get better speeds, but they will not lie about it and call it 4G, (cough) like AT&T.
- Another addition that was heavily rumored was the addition of an NFC chip. Apple probably does not see mainstream adoption of this technology at present, but I am sure they will add it in the next iteration, which will likely be mid 2012.
- Almost all the speculators were betting on a bigger screen. Did not happen. Why? I will let John Gruber and Marco Arment answer that.
Also, Mashable has an interesting take on why there was no significant change in the iPhone 4S:
“The plain truth is that Cook is an inventory guy. That’s how he made his name at Apple: understanding the life cycles of products, and making sure his stores weren’t saddled with too many of them. Keeping inventory low, unsexy as it sounds, is a big part of what makes companies wealthy. And from that perspective, there’s one major reason to release the iPhone 4S now: making sure all your iPhone 3GS customers, who have just left their two-year contracts, upgrade to a new device.”
I think people are starting to expect miracles from Apple. Seriously, a new, radically different model every year? Puhleez. I for one am happy that I won’t be spending another $600-$700 to upgrade a year and a half old device. I will make do with iOS 5.
Your thoughts?
Update:I have changed my mind, I think I will have to buy the iPhone 4S in memory of Steve Jobs. If only they had etching services on the glass back (wish, wish).
Image courtesy: website-monitoring.com
Nithin Jawali 