Sept 10 Apple Event Thread - iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iOS7

[oilyfan]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Is it? I thought IOS7 is the same but looks a bit different.

I guess you can say the same about any new operating system version, its the same (it does the same things mostly) but it looks very different and has a new features.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I guess that's part of my problem. I got the phone in January of 2011.

I find the fact a $700 phone is "old" after 2.5 years pretty ridiculous.

It's unfortunate, but I don't think it's overly ridiculous at all. If you spent $700 on a laptop I don't think you can expect to get the same performance out of it 3 years later. That's just how technology moves these days. Each year new processors are brought in to do more work and not impact things like the battery. To be loading up the new operating systems and apps that use that power but not updating the phone itself you're going to run into problems.

Originally Posted by Burninator

Is it? I thought IOS7 is the same but looks a bit different.

A big complaint is that it's just visual, but from those I've talked to that have used it there's some great functionality upgrades as well. Airdrop for instance is something that iPhones have been sorely lacking for years. I'm very excited to be able to share between phones without needing to send a text message or email.

[Plett25]

Originally Posted by oilyfan

Valuable input in an Apple thread.

I agree that the Nexus 4 is a good deal if you are in the market for an Android phone, but how long do you think Google is going to continue to lose money on this phone?

Are they losing money on it? Do you have a link?

I think what's actually happening is that Google sells the Nexus 4 to the public at the same price it sells it to the carriers.

Google's profit margins might be thin, but for Google, the Nexus line isn't about profit margins. Nexus devices are like Gillette giving away free razors in order to sell replacement cartridges.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Is it? I thought IOS7 is the same but looks a bit different.

That's the funny thing. Visually there was very little difference between iOS5 and 6. However there were a lot of updates (like security and how it manages it's connections) that the average wouldn't see; but would make their lives that much easier. What was the complaint- "they didn't change anything; it looks the same."

This time there are some of those types of improvements; as well as a vastly different visual experience and interface. Now people say "It's just the same; but looks different."

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Plett25

Are they losing money on it? Do you have a link?

I think what's actually happening is that Google sells the Nexus 4 to the public at the same price it sells it to the carriers.

Google's profit margins might be thin, but for Google, the Nexus line isn't about profit margins. Nexus devices are like Gillette giving away free razors in order to sell replacement cartridges.

Exactly.

The consumer is the product that Google sells for a profit with the Nexus phones.

[oilyfan]

Originally Posted by Plett25

Are they losing money on it? Do you have a link?

I think what's actually happening is that Google sells the Nexus 4 to the public at the same price it sells it to the carriers.

Google's profit margins might be thin, but for Google, the Nexus line isn't about profit margins. Nexus devices are like Gillette giving away free razors in order to sell replacement cartridges.

http://www.knowyourmobile.com/google...xus-4-so-cheap

I would suggest to you that they are selling at pretty close to cost of production, but when you look at the overhead costs (R&D, administration etc.), that every organization amortizes over devices sold, that google is losing money on the Nexus 4

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Exactly.

The consumer is the product that Google sells for a profit with the Nexus phones.

Indeed, it's consistent. Thus their defending of scanning gmail accounts (and the associated lawsuits) to better target ads to people. That's their business model.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3871246.html

Google's attorneys say their long-running practice of electronically scanning the contents of people's Gmail accounts to help sell ads is legal, and are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to stop the practice.

[HotHotHeat]

The bigger news this week is which new Asian carriers the iPhone goes to.

And people can knock the #- #S pattern, but it works. Not everybody wants a 5.5 inch phone.

[kermitology]

Having used iOS 7, I'm not impressed. I don't care for the design. I think they had an opportunity to make the UX simpler and better, and instead they focused on making it flatter. They changed a bunch of common design patterns and it just doesn't work for me.



Sure there are some new features, but it's just meh to me.



Notifications are less useful, the mission control thing is a bit of a travesty of usability. Just not impressed at all.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

And people can knock the #- #S pattern, but it works. Not everybody wants a 5.5 inch phone.

Absolutely, choices are great. Apple's a little late to the party with the iPhone but it's nice to see them doing it.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Not everybody wants a 5.5 inch phone.

Nope...good thing there are more phones out there than the Galaxy Note 2 and 3. Have you held something like a Nexus 4 or HTC One? Does it offend your hands? I like my iPhone but I don't buy the whole "screen size better not get bigger" thing after playing extensively with the Nexus 4 and HTC One.

[QuadCityImages]

Part of the thing with some of the newer phones is that Google wants OEMs to dump all the buttons, ie the Nexus phones. If you don't waste the bottom centimeter of the front of the phone with bezel/button(s), you can get a 4.9" phone that doesn't feel that big.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Nope...good thing there are more phones out there than the Galaxy Note 2 and 3. Have you held something like a Nexus 4 or HTC One? Does it offend your hands? I like my iPhone but I don't buy the whole "screen size better not get bigger" thing after playing extensively with the Nexus 4 and HTC One.

I bought the Nexus 4 off him. Thanx for the awesome deal Hothotheat!

[Temporary_User]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the iOS, it's just that people are getting tired of it. Very minor changes over the last 4-5 years. If you had to buy each new operating system like you do on a computer I wonder how many would have spent anything to do so (of course this greatly depends on the price they would charge).
I still use my 3GS. It works perfect except for a few speed issues that I just deal with (I did recently change the battery in it). I am no longer a power user. My ipad mini is definitely faster, but even it has hangups from time to time. I could go spend $700 on a new iphone but wouldn't be getting my value I figure. Faster, better camera, siri.
Really the only reason to upgrade in my eyes is because the 3GS looks drastically different than all the other newer iphones. So people know it is "old"
4 years, my macbook pro is just as "old" and also running perfectly. Luckily my macbook looks pretty much new.

How long should a phone last someone these days? 2 years @ $700 is $30 a month. If we rented instead of owned our phones, how much extra a month do you figure people would be willing to pay?

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by kermitology

Having used iOS 7, I'm not impressed. I don't care for the design. I think they had an opportunity to make the UX simpler and better, and instead they focused on making it flatter. They changed a bunch of common design patterns and it just doesn't work for me.



Sure there are some new features, but it's just meh to me.



Notifications are less useful, the mission control thing is a bit of a travesty of usability. Just not impressed at all.

This post isn't to pick on you, but this sort of criticism doesn't give me the impression that anything would impress you as a user of a mobile OS. iOS has been the standard other companies have looked to for 5+ years - and the user base they have accumulated in that time aren't all tech enthusiasts like ourselves. It would be design suicide for Apple if they reinvented iOS for the sake of you and me. And the simplicity part is lost on me too. What is iOS if not simple to understand?

I don't disagree with your point on notification centre - but the Today view is very useful, and it completely blows away anything I've seen on Android. The control centre needs tweaking as well, which should happen sooner or later, but it does what I need it to.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

This post isn't to pick on you, but this sort of criticism doesn't give me the impression that anything would impress you as a user of a mobile OS. iOS has been the standard other companies have looked to for 5+ years - and the user base they have accumulated in that time aren't all tech enthusiasts like ourselves. It would be design suicide for Apple if they reinvented iOS for the sake of you and me. And the simplicity part is lost on me too. What is iOS if not simple to understand?

I don't disagree with your point on notification centre - but the Today view is very useful, and it completely blows away anything I've seen on Android. The control centre needs tweaking as well, which should happen sooner or later, but it does what I need it to.

My point is that they had an opportunity to simplify the user experience. Take common tasks and make them far easier to do, but instead the focus was on design.

[Russic]

I'm saving my expectations for iOS8. With Forsthall being ejected and Ive taking over, they had to pull resources just to get it done on time. I would imagine there are quite a few overhauls they weren't able to implement due to time constraints.

[woob]

Originally Posted by kermitology

My point is that they had an opportunity to simplify the user experience. Take common tasks and make them far easier to do, but instead the focus was on design.

This IS Apple we're talking about.

[photon]

What liveblog are people using? I've got the Ars Technica one and the engadget ones on.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by woob

This IS Apple we're talking about.

Under Jobs they had a pretty good track record of user experience. Design is only part of the whole user experience, and they dropped the ball on the other half. I would argue that the user experience of iOS 1-4 was part of what made iOS so popular. But it's since become stale, and iOS 7 was a flaccid attempt to polish things up. But iOS at it's core is still stale. You can't buff a turd.