Tag Archives: iPhone

Computers/Electronics

Once again, regarding technology…

I’ve written many times before of my -I guess you could call it amusement- over the gnashing of the teeth of business/wall-street types toward the supposed “fall” of technological best sellers.

I recall the many articles released years ago -erroneously, IMHO- talking about how the desktop computer market might be “done”, when in reality what I felt was happening was that people simply weren’t buying new desktop computers at the same pace as before because the technology had plateaued.

In other words, in the past, ever year it seemed a far better desktop computer would be released, so much better than last year’s version that you were effectively encouraged to buy the next generation to “keep up” with the latest programs.

But there came a time, around when desktop computers sported the Pentium chips, that the technology had reached that plateau. Suddenly, instead of needing to buy a new computer every year, you could hang on to you “old” computer for many years before needing or wanting a “new” one.

So the time has come with Apple and their iPhone.

Will Oremus at Slate.com wrote this fascinating article which I encourage you guys to read:

Why the iPhone is finally fading

Mr. Oremus notes many of the things I’ve been saying for years now: That there was a time getting a “new” iPhone (in my case, talking about desktop computers) was a thrill. There was something new and magical about jumping from an 8088 processor to a 286, then 386, then 486, and finally Pentium computer.

So too was there magic in going from the early iPhones to the later models. People would stand in ridiculously long lines getting the latest model and reveling in being among the first to have the latest model.

But as with desktop computers, iPhones have plateaued. Perhaps it happened around the time the iPhone 6 was released. Its the model I still have and use. Its camera is pretty weak compared to the more modern iPhones, but otherwise its a perfectly functional cell phone and I suspect I’ll replace it only when it no longer works well with me.

Mr. Oremus goes on to theorize as to what “comes next”. He feels it may be machines like the Amazon Echo, AI machines that you talk to and get what you need from them.

I’m in agreement with him that these machines are certainly intriguing, even if they are also scary regarding privacy.

On the one hand its wonderful to ask the machine what the weather will be tomorrow and get your answer almost right away. Or ask it to play an album or song. Or, if you’re doing some timed task, tell it to set up a timer. If you have the proper devices, you can also have these machines linked to the lights in your home and, instead of stumbling around for a light switch, tell your device to turn on “X” light.

It’s fairly simple stuff -at least what I use it for- but a nice convenience.

But like the desktop computer and the iPhone before it, I suspect these devices will also have their ceiling.

And then we’ll wonder what’s next.

Computers/Electronics

Called it…

…sorta.

From CNN.com and written by Seth Feigerman…

Apple has a problem it doesn’t want to talk about

At the risk of spoiling the entire article, it notes that Apple has decided to no longer report how many iPhones, Macs, and iPads they sell.

What used to be a great source of pride -and promotion- has become something they no longer want to talk about.

A BIG change in philosophy, to say the least.

A while back I noted, and re-noted, my experiences with the rise of the PC computer market (I did a search so you don’t have to, the full gamut of articles I’ve written about Apple and computers and their sales).

I noted how in the early going of the first desktop PCs, there was such a rush of new, better technology coming out seemingly every year that you were essentially forced to pick up the latest computer to keep up with the latest, and better, technology.  So the 8086 processors gave way to the 286s, then the 386s, then the 486s.  Then came the Pentiums, then the Pentium IIs, and so on and so forth.

However, while there was a HUGE difference between the 286, the 386, and the 486 processors, when the Pentiums came around, it felt like desktop computers hit something of a peak.

Instead of needing a new computer each year, I wound up working with my past computer well over 5 or so years before it started dying and I bought my latest desktop.  During that time, there were business articles wondering if the desktop PC was a thing of the past, while to my mind it certainly wasn’t.  I still use my desktop, quite a bit actually, its just that I’m in no hurry to run to a computer shop and get myself a new one.

So too I felt the time was coming with Apple and their various machines.  The fact of the matter is that each new iteration of the iPhone, for example, is not longer such a light years difference from the previous version.

There used to be heavy lines waiting for the next Apple iPhone and now, when a new phone is announced, it doesn’t engender nearly the amount of hysteria it did before.

Because, like those desktop PCs, the public no longer is as eager to replace their perfectly good previous generation (or, in my case, several generations old) iPhones.  Those “older” models are, to many perfectly good still and they don’t need the latest emoji updates or a better camera or a mildly better processor.

To counter the fact that sales are plateauing (or even going down), Apple essentially doesn’t want any such bad news released to the public and, frankly, I can’t blame them.

However, those in business will no doubt wonder, like they did with the desktop, whether the iPhone is “done”, stupidly not realizing that, again like the desktop PC, they have reached a point where consumers no longer need to buy a “new” machine each year and can wait one, two, three, or more years before making that heavy investment.

Sometimes, success simply damns you.

Computers/Electronics

Apple troubles…?

Interesting article by Seth Fiegerman and presented on CNN.com:

Apple faces Wall Street ‘panic’ over iPhone

The key line from the article is this one:

Apple stock fell this month after one of its key chip suppliers warned of “continued weak demand” (for the iPhone).

Which, of course, brings me back to something I’ve talked about several times:  The silly need for tech companies to look successful by selling “new” versions of their products when they get to the point that their current product is so good that people no longer need to make that upgrade.

Once again: I lived through the rise of the desktop/personal computer golden age.  We went from the 8086 processors to the 286 processors to the 386 to the 486 to the Pentiums and, for the most part, each new iteration was much, MUCH better than the previous one, and if you were into using your desktop computer, it made plenty of sense to toss the old version away and buy the newer one.

It was that good.

A very similar thing, IMHO, happened with the iPhone.  Each new version was a hell of a lot better in ways both large and small to the previous version.

But…

There came a point, perhaps with the 6th version or so, that the iPhone seemed to hit the same wall the desktop/personal computer folks did: The phone had reached something of a peak, and subsequent versions merely tweaked things here and there and the changed were nowhere near as “exciting” as previous changes.

Thus, people were suddenly not quite as eager to line up around the block (remember when that happened?) to get the latest version of the iPhone.

So when with much fanfare Apple releases their iPhone X, and its priced extremely high and its features are a little better than the previous phone yet people don’t feel this difference is worth pursuing, especially for $999, it shouldn’t be too big a surprise.

Yet that’s the stuff that makes people in the business community suddenly think a company is in “trouble”.

No, people probably still love their Apple iPhones.  The problem lies in the fact that the company has refined the product to the point where people don’t need to toss their last version to get a new one.