I had the time this morning to think about it. Wanting to write a piece about the iPhone 5S/C.  Going into these weird paragraphs where I feel so conflicted whenever Apple introduces something new. I am the willing owner of a Macbook, iMac and iPhone. Sometimes I’m not sure why. My reasons for buying an iPhone are more personal then I would talk about. But now that I own one, I might as well sit here and keep watch for anything they offer in the future. I feel dirty though, my reasons to stick with it are because I’ve already bought so much apps, so the desire to buy into a different phone are always waning. How else will I be able to use all these apps that I bought?

When the iPhone 5 first came out around this time last year. I walked into work, I pulled out my 4S in one hand and held the 5 in the other. If you were to ask me if there was a difference between the two, I wouldn’t have been able to give you an answer.

Okay, so maybe one of the phones was longer.

In terms of an upgrade, there really wasn’t anything to it. It makes sense if you have a 3G, or a Blackberry. But if you want something more than to just consume it, then it’s probably a waste of time. Let’s face it though. There’s more than enough people out there that will keep buying the next Apple thing enough times to keep, that the company will never be in a position to worry.

Hay guys, remember when the N64 came out with different colours at the end of it’s life cycle?

This is just the 5C, which is the ‘consumer model’. Those that still have money burning a hole in their pocket can buy a faster version of last years model, in the same colours of last years model, plus a goldish one. This is actually how they differenciate the two, and I think in a marketing stand point it’s probably a little smart. The 5S is the business model. So that means, unless you’re a fancy white collar type with a sweet desk-job on the 47th floor of a fortune 500 company. you probably aren’t going to buy it?

Obviously I’m exaggerating. Buying these phones on their own “contract free”, are always going to cost you an arm and a leg. The 64gb model of the 5S will probably be around 1,000$ after taxes. Your service provider for your phone on the other hand, may have something more affordable in place. But cellphone business, at least in canada, are more than a little shady in the first place. Bell mobility will loophole a sure-fire way to get you to buy that product. Hoping that you don’t know that you were suckered into something afterwards.

There’s some irony in every new generation of smart phone, where the device gets more expensive and more things just get added onto it, or packed into it. The loads of people out there that continue to buy it annually just look dumber. My friend was right in calling out the new 5 as ‘the most forward thinking device yet’, because the iPhone has basically been the same for quite some time. You’re welcome to challenge the thought and explain to me why it’s a new direction, but it’s not broke. You know what they say right? About things that ain’t broke? There’s only so much they can do or want to do, to a device that already works. They have the business model to release things annually, you have to make just enough tweaks to the same thing to keep it fresh every time.

There was a rumour I heard. It was that Steve Jobs outlined a 10 year business plan for the company to follow after his passing. I don’t know how true that is. From a Forbes article on the 9th of this month, at least one guy is convinced that Tim Cook will stick to whatever Jobs laid out on the company, for years to come:

Investor Michael Obuchowski believes Apple is following through on the game plan dreamed up by former CEO Steve Jobs: Introduce a must-have gadget every three to four years that moves Apple into a new industry, and then update that device annually with just enough new features to convince the Apple faithful to trade up. Add lower-cost models and distribution partners over time.

Do you as a consumer, or the Apple faithful, feel like this game plan is in working order? What version of the iPhone do you currently have? Will you get the 5C, or are you going for broke? I imagine the 5C will sell more based on it’s price, but is it the next step you would have liked Apple to take? In all fairness, releasing a cheaper version along side your chic one is a smart move. It’s nice to know that Apple is willing to take a step back and offer something like that. People also won’t care about how goofy the product looks, as long as they can buy one, and it does the exact same stuff that the other one does. On top of that, Apple is still keeping their 4S on the market (though according to their website, only the 8gb model).

I on the other hand will look forward to next years iPhone. Maybe they’ll release an even cheaper phone, or perhaps two tones of silver and gold models. How about since they’ve already made the phone longer, perhaps next year they can widen it up a bit? Whatever the case may be, I think it’s time for them to change it up. Reeeaalllyyy change it up.  There’s a lot more you can do with an Android phone than even iOS 7 is willing to offer. If you even take a look at their home PC, they always charge 30 to 40$ every year on a new tweak to OS X. I know would be my fault for buying into it every time, But who has any allowance to argue but the faithful. As far as that crowd is concerned, they can continue to make baby-steps for years to come.

___

Though on a side note: If you want to talk apple products that make me want to buy it, then how about this deep, dark rabbit hole?