Why the iPhone 5 is a Fail

When the iPhone 5 came out I thought it about time that I experience how the other side lives; you know the side that seem to drool at any thing white and shiny (also known as ilunatics for participating in iqueues).  Most people who know me know how Microsoft-centric my world is but from time to time I do step out and try to familiarise myself with other platforms. With this in mind when I renewed my phone contract I signed up for an iphone 5, which of course came with a replacement nano-sim.

Ok, so here are just a few of my observations:

Why a nano-sim? I don’t believe the space saving warrants being different from every other phone on the market. I had to spend two extra agonising days with the iphone, just because I couldn’t find a converter to go back up to a micro-sim.

Why the new socket? Ok, not being in the land of white and shiny, I don’t really care that it’s changed. What I care about is the Apple have again defied the industry and gone with their own proprietary connector. Instead of using one of hundreds of micro-usb cables I have floating around, I have to use the white cable that came with the device, and I have to keep it in a locked box for fear on our cats chewing on them (they seem to hate Apple products and will chew on them at any opportunity).

The apps rock! The one thing I have to say about the iphone is that the quality and depth of apps available is second to none. Whilst some haven’t been adapted to the new height of the iphone 5 they’re still of exceptional quality.

The core platform does NOT rock When the iphone first came out the interface was revolutionary in the way that users interacted with the device. My comment, even back when the iphone 3 came out is that Apple had failed to innovate with the iphone; evolve, absolutely, innovate, not so. With iphone 4 and now 5 there is nothing that I’ve seen in the core platform that says to me “I’ve got to have that” If you compare the numerous Android devices on the market, the iphone 5 really just doesn’t lead the pack, in fact from a UX perspective it trails a poor third to both Android and Windows Phone.

The Ads, Really??? I don’t know whether you’ve seen the new TV ads that talk about how they’ve optimised the height of the new iphone 5. I must admit I had to double-take as I thought it was a spoof initially, now I just feel embarrassed for Apple. They must really be scared if they’ve stooped so low. Don’t get me started on the ear buds (as if no other headphone manufacture has shaped their earbuds before, in fact shame on Apple for not having done this sooner) or the dancing ipods.

Lastly, before I sign off I want to make an interesting observation about the timing of the ipad mini v’s Windows 8. As you’re probably aware Apple made their announcement the day prior to Microsoft’s mega Windows 8 launch. It strikes me that Apple might have got this the wrong way round – by putting it the day before, it was almost forgotten the next day when Microsoft went to press. Had they done it the day after, wouldn’t they have taken the focus back from Microsoft back onto Apple. I’m no marketer but would have loved to have heard the logic about the timing of these events.

Don’t forget that next week is BUILD

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