New Apple product announcement today...

Strange APPLE strategy with the iPhone over the last few releases..... Interesting improvements, but not exciting.
Why does a phone need a 64bit architecture?
Fingerprint tech is cool, but is it worth $300 to not enter my current 4 digit code?
Camera enhancements also cool, but my current i5 takes great pictures!
Where is NFC?
Where is 128gb storage?
Where is better battery life?
Where is the bigger screen option? While I don't want something huge like the Galaxy S4, something a BIT bigger would be nice.....

There was no "One more thing..." moment of magic. Everything announced was pretty much known in advance and already hashed over and over.

The only real surprise was Apple sticking with an 8 megapixel camera and not entering the pixel wars. But they pretty effectively covered that reason with its improvements. What was not mentioned in that 8 megapixel decision is we are dealing with phones with limited memory. I'm kind of glad they didn't boost to 12 as I have never printed greater than 8" x 12" and 8 is more than adequate. Digital zoom would be the only limiting factor and even 12 megapixels would be inadequate in my desired use for nature photography.

Tough economy, long contracts and very high profit margin items. Eventually even stupid consumers realize the incremental updates aren't must have.

Even the most avid Apple-heads I know were lukewarm at best about this product announcement. The 5C is more intended for China because it can be made cheaply (although Reuters reports that it might be too little, too late to catch up with Android). The 5S might have a faster CPU, but unless one has a jailbreak, it is pretty much pointless. The fingerprint scanner helps with security, but it isn't exactly an option to stop what one is doing and run to an Apple store to trade up for.

Tim Cook is trying, but he is no Steve Jobs, and it seems that Apple went from awe-inspiring to yet another PC and phone maker in the past year.

I wonder what might happen with Apple. When Microsoft lost its luster, they kept themselves profitable by going to the enterprise and becoming the backbone of modern day to day business (Exchange, Active Directory, etc.) Apple's hush-hush product announcements (other companies have roadmaps where one can sign a NDA and get info on what the firm is doing in the next few years, which is crucial for budget decisions) and their enterprise-hostile ways may hurt them in the long run when consumers find another product innovator to flock to (perhaps Samsung), and business doesn't give them the time of day.

For the price of a new phone, Apple should have made the new iPhones have NFC (and software to allow for wallet payments, contact exchanges, Bluetooth device pairings, etc.), offline maps (where maps of the region are downloaded), points of interest (nearest gas stations with the prices posted like how some car navigation systems offer), maybe even some more security features (phone asking for the AppleID username/password if the device is removed from the usual geographic location the user is at, allowing access to some apps with one PIN code, access to others with a different one), etc.

In the spring, Google's I/O was mainly for developers, but Android is getting to the point where it not just is on par with iOS, but is a nose ahead in many aspects.

This was Apple's turn to shine and get consumer interest for the fall and Christmas. Now, Android developers and Google have plenty of time to make cool product announcements until around this time next year and the iPhone 6.

ReadyToGo wrote:
Well the market should didn't think this was anything. Down what? 11 points or something?
Wow I can get one of five different colors? Wow I can't wait for their next major improvement. I suspect the next one will be that their OS will be based on Windows.

That's odd as the windows operating system was based on the Apple point and click system.

filthy beast wrote:

ReadyToGo wrote:
Well the market should didn't think this was anything. Down what? 11 points or something?
Wow I can get one of five different colors? Wow I can't wait for their next major improvement. I suspect the next one will be that their OS will be based on Windows.

That's odd as the windows operating system was based on the Apple point and click system.

Ummm...yeah...no, not so much.

Hey guys, it was meant as a joke. The background of the joke is that Apple used Motorola for chips until it found that Motorola wasn't responsive to the market place (ie Intel) and switched and had to come up with a new OS. It is now not very responsive to the market place therefore maybe they will copy Windows next. HaHa.
I do appreciate the link though.

Aridon wrote:
Tough economy, long contracts and very high profit margin items. Eventually even stupid consumers realize the incremental updates aren't must have.

"Most analysts are expecting Apple to sell around 6 million iPhones over the launch weekend, compared to more than 5 million reported for last year’s launch of the iPhone 5."
(MarketWatch, 9/20)

"Apple sold 9 million new iPhone 5S and 5C models in a three-day launch that began Friday, a record-breaking streak"
(Forbes,9/23)

Yeah, I guess it's all over for Apple . . . again. ;)