I was listening to my daily dose of BBC news using my 4th-generation iPod while strolling around Parkson in Minhang, Shanghai. Both the BBC World Update: Daily Commute and BBC Global News podcasts confirmed what I had already read on news sources such as Reuters and CNN.com - the queues for the new "cheap" iPhones and the gold flagship Apple smartphone in UK, China, and in the US were long and it seemed Apple once again struck a homerun. I laughed out loud when I listened/read about the excitement of Apple fans who lined up for the new phone and felt disgruntled at the poor treatment towards the homeless people left unpaid by wealthy businessmen who used them as proxy. C'mon guys, now that's just mean. Even comic book geeks have the courtesy to wait in line for hours just for a 4-minute preview of an upcoming Marvel movie. If you wealthy corporate raiders want an iPhone so urgently go leave your cushy offices and line up like every other Apple worshiper.
Wall Street is inconsistent with their outlook for Apple shares but I have little doubt Apple is going to stick their tongue out at all the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy users and gain even a greater following than ever before. Their brand and the quality of their products are too strong for them to fail despite the unremarkable release of their latest iPhone. Now, from a technical point of view I think iPhones are great. I enjoy the Apple ecosystem with my iPad 2 and iPod and I'm currently waiting to experiment with iOS 7 once the hullabaloo is over. However, I'll be the first one to say iPhones are not for me (I'm looking at a Lumia Windows Phone instead).
There are two authorized Apple resellers in Parkson, Minhang and I was expecting them to be as busy as the Apple Store in East Nanjing Road. Apple had timed their product release perfectly in China, coinciding with the Chinese Mid-Autumn holiday. However, the two big EBTs and another Apple reseller were empty. In fact, in the larger store there were only three kids playing with iPad Minis and one person tinkering with the Macbook Pro. I quickly got my hands on the grey iPhone 5S, which felt like any other iPhone I've played with. It felt good trying it out though since it's so different from my old iPod, the newer Windows Phones and Android devices I've had a chance to tinker with. I also got a feel for the iPhone 5C (the yellow one) and it felt exactly what I expected it to be. Apple's "cheaper" product felt heavier and more solid than most Lumia phones. However, it also looked as cheap and kitschy as the plastic casing on the immensely more affordable (but competent) Nokia Lumia 720 and 625. If Apple users were honest with themselves, they would probably realize they don't need this new phone (most people have perfectly good smartphones). On the flip side, the obsession for something "new" and something tagged with an Apple logo can be a pretty strong, irrational argument to spend money.
I spent a few minutes with the new iPhones and as expected wasn't really all that thrilled with the fingerprint sensor and iOS 7 tweaks (weeks of reading articles and reviews about iOS7 can do that to you). And then I went over and lovingly touched the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro, two devices which I feel deserve the attention and disposable income more than the in-demand gold iPhone 5S.
0 comments:
Post a Comment