Do You Think that Apple Made iPhone 4 Better than iPad on Purpose?

[Psychmike]

Some of you have a very strange relationship with Apple, worthy of study. Do you also have these thoughts about other manufacturers? What about food and car companies? Ikea perhaps? Clothes?

The quality of the dining table I bought from Ikea in April is not affected by the coffee tables they began selling in July, no matter how well built they are. It's still the dining table I wanted and felt was worth my money. It still works as expected.

BRAVO!!! I agree 100%. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend 'The Narcissism Epidemic'.

I think one difference between Apple and most companies is that Apple is increasingly selling the feeling of being cool rather than physical products. They're experts at creating hype. People wait in lines for hours to be first to buy their new products. I'm sure most feel great for awhile unboxing and showing the next big thing to friends and strangers. The flip side is that that externalizes one's sense of self. It becomes easier to become distressed with a tiny scratch or hair under the screen. It feels bad when someone has something shinier. The more you define yourself by the things you own, the more they own your ass.

When I went to Spain, I was told that "The Spanish shop to buy what they want while Americans shop to find out what they want." Setting aside the fact that I'm Canadian, I think their point is generally well taken. I live close to the Eaton Centre and it is filled with teenagers wandering aimlessly, emptying their parents' wallets, trying to stay ahead of the next big thing. While they are buying things, it's not the products that really matter. It's the feeling of acceptance and completeness that they're frenetically searching for.

History is filled with examples of people who have tried to sell something that they can't actually provide. I don't want to put all religions into that pot but many of the largest institutionalized religions may fall into that camp. "Line up, deposit your money here, and you may feel better." The bad news is that marketing has made manipulation increasingly efficient and pernicious. The good news is that you can always decide whether someone else really has the ability to sell you self-worth.

I'll step off my soap box now...

Mike

 

[bowlerman625]

I'm very pleased with both devices and use them both every day. I would not use one to replace the other. They both have things that they do better than the other device.

 

[sapporobaby]

@Psychmike and caubeck,

Thank God for your posts. You truly understand. Unlike the OP and Winni who seem to look for a reason to be classified as serial whiners, you understand the product cycle, who companies operate, the intrinsic value that individuals place on their purchases, etc.... Your two posts are the best I have seen in this thread. But your words will be lost because for the most part they won't get through. People need to find something to complain about.

 

[3583582]

Of course not. They designed it that way because they did what every company does. They look at potential profit (long term)/potential customers/what they want in the future (market share etc etc). Just as any company (that wants to earn money, which is a pretty huge majority of all companies) would.

If Microsoft where paid 999 billions billions billions billions (worth of some future proof currency/gold/sometjing) yearly the coming 999 years to stop making desktop OSs they would. It's all about looking at how can we earn money and be relevant in the long term (take a look at the game console market for example - they sell every console with a loss for the first couple of years because that is one way to earn money and stay relevant.)

 

[kepner]

If you're selling your iPad because you think the iPhone 4 is better, then you probably bought the iPad for the wrong reasons anyway.

 

[spinedoc77]

Who said the iPhone 4 is "better" than the iPad?

This sums up this NON-ISSUE perfectly. Of course we have to have the requisite moronic "should I sell my ipad for an iphone4" post yet again, what are we up to like 2 or 3 every single freakin day? Lol, it's so sad it's kind of amusing now.

Tell me again why the iphone4 is better than my LARGE SCREENED ipad?!? Tell me again how I could ever hope to have the physical screen of the ipad if I were to return it for the ip4? It's bad enough that the retina display is so incredibly overhyped, but it's even worse when you actually have people who would downgrade (yes downgrade) their nice big ipad screens for a tiny smartphone screen.

Enjoy your iphone4, enjoy the retina display, seriously have a blast with it. But why would you ever give up your ipad for it if the ipad is meant to be used a different way.

 

[edoras]

After using the iPad for more than 100 days, I don't think I can replace my iPhone 3GS. The iPad can't even replace the traditional pen and paper.
In fact next week, I will be getting the new iPhone 4 in replacement for my 3GS.

The iPad, iPhone 4 and the Macbook have their own niche usage. All of them are complementary to each other.