Last week the iPhone 3G was released to much fanfare. Along with the new 3G speed and features comes the ability to install applications via Apple’s iTunes store and GPS. Why does it seem like I am the only one steamed about the new phone?
Let me start by saying this: I don’t own, nor have I ever used an iPhone or an iPod Touch. My belief is that there is little behind all those fancy interfaces worth playing with. And the kid in my French class wouldn’t let me toy with his.
The phone itself is definitely one of the better phones on the market without a doubt. It’s spawned more carrier rivalry knockoffs than there are brands of LEGO Knockoffs, especially from LG as of late. The device is just plain cool. So why is lil Ryan so hot under the collar?
Two things: The company and the company’s supporters. Yeah, I expect a lot of, er, wonderful comments from you “Apple can do no wrong” people. You’re the ones I’m writing about, so open up and listen for a while. Apple keeps screwing you boys over and over and, for some reason or another, you welcome it with open arms and shouts of praise!
First it came with the initial release of the iPhone and Touch. Apple delivered a solid phone on time but they told developers they would not be able to develop native applications and would have to rely on the device’s webkit based browser, programming in ajax or another web app language. This limited the devices’ usefulness throughout the first “generation” (more on the quotes later) yet very few people seemed to mind, for some reason. Past that, the devices were solid, albeit fairly overpriced, and the blogosphere and geeks alike went mad over the thing, even over the imo gimmicky multitouch interface (I see that being more use on a larger screen, a la the Win7 demoes people have been throwing around)
Then came the price cuts. Within three months of the phone’s monumental release Apple slashed prices by 200$ with much public outcry. The blogosphere was practically up in arms, the major media, even, had something to say on the matter, yet the fanboys were strangely silent. Apple tried to make amends with the mainstream by giving the early adopters a 100$ credit to the Apple store. Why not? It makes Apple look like the saints they seem so keen on portraying themselves as and they still get to keep all the money they made on the deal. All it did was screw over the early adopters who were brave enough to step out.
And now the latest chapter in what I’d like to term iMania (please don’t sue): the shiny new iPhone 3G. Why isn’t anyone mad about this device? Apple’s “first generation” (I am quoting this because I hardly consider sticking a 3G radio in the first iPhone constitutes a generation) iPhone was, lack of third party SDK withstanding, with one notable fault: it ran on AT&T’s slower 2G network rather than their superior 3G network. So, Apple one-upped themselves with the 3G’s ads proclaiming a better-than-iPhone iPhone and light years ahead of the, what, six month old “first generation” iPhone? And, hey, made it even cheaper! 200$ with a two year contract gets you an iPhone 3G. Maybe the 4G will be free… <_< How bout those early adopters, Apple?
And best of all, the world loved it. The 3G is one of the most talked about things on the market. Hell, it completely dwarfed the release of a new colored Centro, also on AT&T. We can blame Palm for picking a bad release date, but isn’t a new color on a nice stable device about as noteworthy as Apple putting the screws to their user base? Am I wrong in thinking there is a problem with how Apple treats their hardcore user base? Should they be able to get away with defecating on the people that made Apple what it is, and get rave reviews for it, no less? Would Palm get even a fraction of the slack Apple’s been cut?
