Apple’s Strange Product Release Cycle
When before in retail history has a company released a follow-up product on the same day that they released enhancements to the original?
As I excited as I am about the increased speeds on the iPhone 3G, it feels wrong to give up my original iPhone so soon. The little guy is only a year old. Will I discard him now, at his most shining moment? Shouldn’t I give him a chance to show me what he can do with the hundreds of apps available from the SDK…with the thousands more that will surely come? And the GPS-esque self-locator on the maps feature has gotten so much better; I would have paid $100 just for that upgrade alone, but it was free.
You have to wonder what kind of use cases Apple has in mind for this business model. Is the 2.0 software supposed to make iPhone classic users think: “This is great; if only it could be faster?” Are they compromising because they don’t want to have to maintain two versions of the operating system?
When the iPhone classic came out, something we all often said (with awe): “There are only two hardware buttons. Apple could change the entire interface in an update.” It was quite something to think about, but it must be noted now that it didn’t happen, and we have to wonder whether it ever will. We’ll all be surprised if July 2009 doesn’t bring us yet another piece of hardware. How much will the interface change between now and then? Will each new version of the phone itself promise untold variations that will go unfulfilled due to additional updates? Or will all phones, no matter how old, continue to support new features insofar as they can, eventually puttering out like my housemate’s tangerine iMac?
Or will they go on living simply as phones? It’s unlikely that making a call will require more memory or hardware in the future than it does now…isn’t it?
Ben Kunz wrote:
Great thought-starter. I personally believe that Apple — of course — has a 10-year product pipeline plan and that everything from GUI to design to batteries to new features to price framing is staged to
a. drive current demand
b. and build in product obsolescence
c. to set the stage for future sales.
The new 3G iPhone, for example, has a battery that is so problematic Apple has set up a web page to explain how to extend the battery life — by turning off all the cool features you got the new 3G model for. Hmm. Upgraded battery in 2009?
And then, there is the camera, still substandard. And the potential addition of video capture. And, of course, since you want to look at whom you’re talking to, you’ll need a second video camera on the interface side so you could chat with me and we’d both see each other without turning the phone around.
The iPhone may turn into the first true convergence device … and that will take many years, many carefully staged upgrades, and may additional sales to get there. And along the way, the second growth channel will be the interface updates you mentioned — to sell the Library of Congress, the world’s music, and Lucasfilms.
Hey, it’s working. And it is brilliant. You’re one year in and already thinking of upgrading to a new phone!
Posted on 16-Jul-08 at 9:35 pm | Permalink