My vision!
The premiere of the 5th incarnation of iPhone is just around the corner expected to be announcedin September. Millions around the world are waiting for this magical moment to come - askingthe same question – what will it look like? Will it surprise us with innovation or will it be just adownscaled copy of its bigger brother iPad?
Let’s just hold there for a second and play fortune-telling. We're not going to look into a glasssphere nor will we read from coffee grounds. What we’re going to do is to read the dice, since theyalready have been cast…
Let’s focus on the facts. The first three generations of the iPhones did not differ much in terms of the form. If somebody laid them down in front of you and asked to place them in order starting with the 1st gen to the 3GS, I’m pretty sure that the majority of us, including myself, would not pass this test – though I’m sure we would agree that all three have been exceptional. Each of them aroused desire with its premiere, unfortunately lesser with each model. It was hard not to expect that the 4thgen iPhone would also differ only in details. Yet Apple had understood what Volkswagen couldn’t for years, that the new version of a product has to be unique enough so that no one would have to prove to others that he/she has the latest version. It should be visible right away, best from afar without looking into the details. Let’s face it - we love to brag, compensate for our little insecurities with shiny objects and simply collect beautiful things... As beautiful as iPhone 4, which managed toget rid of the problem of being hard to distinguish from the rest of the Apple phones.
We all remember well the day of Steve Jobs’s keynote when he tried to embrace upon us the vision of iPhone 4 - the product that would just hit the spot and meet all our needs. They convinced us, we believed. This time even Apple themselves believed. The beautiful image was spoiled days laterby the fact than rather than hitting the spot, Apple shot themselves in their foot… And althoughit can’t be argued that the product was successful in marketing terms, one thing is certain, iPhone4 truly did not meet the expectations of its creators. No doubt it is one of the best looking phones out there, but this picture is far from perfect… The company who has always proudly offered its’clients the very best and often unique solutions on the market, omitted a few details that the end-users were not so keen to shut their eyes to and pointed them out literally days after the premiere. Beside the problems with the unfortunate placement of the antenna and dropped-out calls caused byit, one cannot forget about the poor use of glass as the dominating material for the phone. Now notonly was your screen smeared but also the back cover. Additionally, the glass added to the phone’sweight and unfortunately to its fragility.
This gives us a strong basis to predict that the next gen iPhone will ditch this kind of solution for good. So what now? What’s it going to be made of? Plastic - someone might say! We had it before and it didn’twork out that well (at least not in the scratch resistance department). So perhaps… a textured plastic?! No,that would be highly unlikely for Apple to copy Samsung (for a change). The only thing left is the aluminium. It’s light, more durable and it has been used before in Apple’s products, plus it’s simply safe. As you see,there’s no other reasonable option left. Apple has to release a product which would not only be practical and some what predictable but also that will sweeten the bad aftertaste left by its predecessor.
In my opinion iPhone 5 will get slightly more flattened, which would allow it to sport a larger 4” screen. The metallic frame will be still there, making it similar to current gen iPad 2 and linking it to iPhone 4. The glassback cover will be replaced with aluminium plate protecting the battery and Sim cardreader. The front, beside the slight change in the size of course, will most likely remain unchanged. Except maybe for the mechanical functional button replaced by its sensory based counterpart.
So, here it is – the new iPhone 5. Time will tell how close my vision will be to the actual next gen iPhone. So, here it is – the new iPhone 5. Time will tell how close my vision will be to the actual next gen iPhon We’ll see soon enough and let’s hope it will be a surprise for both you and me, that we were just right.
Let’s just hold there for a second and play fortune-telling. We're not going to look into a glasssphere nor will we read from coffee grounds. What we’re going to do is to read the dice, since theyalready have been cast…
Let’s focus on the facts. The first three generations of the iPhones did not differ much in terms of the form. If somebody laid them down in front of you and asked to place them in order starting with the 1st gen to the 3GS, I’m pretty sure that the majority of us, including myself, would not pass this test – though I’m sure we would agree that all three have been exceptional. Each of them aroused desire with its premiere, unfortunately lesser with each model. It was hard not to expect that the 4thgen iPhone would also differ only in details. Yet Apple had understood what Volkswagen couldn’t for years, that the new version of a product has to be unique enough so that no one would have to prove to others that he/she has the latest version. It should be visible right away, best from afar without looking into the details. Let’s face it - we love to brag, compensate for our little insecurities with shiny objects and simply collect beautiful things... As beautiful as iPhone 4, which managed toget rid of the problem of being hard to distinguish from the rest of the Apple phones.
We all remember well the day of Steve Jobs’s keynote when he tried to embrace upon us the vision of iPhone 4 - the product that would just hit the spot and meet all our needs. They convinced us, we believed. This time even Apple themselves believed. The beautiful image was spoiled days laterby the fact than rather than hitting the spot, Apple shot themselves in their foot… And althoughit can’t be argued that the product was successful in marketing terms, one thing is certain, iPhone4 truly did not meet the expectations of its creators. No doubt it is one of the best looking phones out there, but this picture is far from perfect… The company who has always proudly offered its’clients the very best and often unique solutions on the market, omitted a few details that the end-users were not so keen to shut their eyes to and pointed them out literally days after the premiere. Beside the problems with the unfortunate placement of the antenna and dropped-out calls caused byit, one cannot forget about the poor use of glass as the dominating material for the phone. Now notonly was your screen smeared but also the back cover. Additionally, the glass added to the phone’sweight and unfortunately to its fragility.
This gives us a strong basis to predict that the next gen iPhone will ditch this kind of solution for good. So what now? What’s it going to be made of? Plastic - someone might say! We had it before and it didn’twork out that well (at least not in the scratch resistance department). So perhaps… a textured plastic?! No,that would be highly unlikely for Apple to copy Samsung (for a change). The only thing left is the aluminium. It’s light, more durable and it has been used before in Apple’s products, plus it’s simply safe. As you see,there’s no other reasonable option left. Apple has to release a product which would not only be practical and some what predictable but also that will sweeten the bad aftertaste left by its predecessor.
In my opinion iPhone 5 will get slightly more flattened, which would allow it to sport a larger 4” screen. The metallic frame will be still there, making it similar to current gen iPad 2 and linking it to iPhone 4. The glassback cover will be replaced with aluminium plate protecting the battery and Sim cardreader. The front, beside the slight change in the size of course, will most likely remain unchanged. Except maybe for the mechanical functional button replaced by its sensory based counterpart.
So, here it is – the new iPhone 5. Time will tell how close my vision will be to the actual next gen iPhone. So, here it is – the new iPhone 5. Time will tell how close my vision will be to the actual next gen iPhon We’ll see soon enough and let’s hope it will be a surprise for both you and me, that we were just right.
