Guys,
i think you are thinking with a lot of pre-assumptions. It reminds me of the speculations i read before the launch...when people where envisioning hourse of queues in the stores because each phone would have needed at least 10 mins to be activated, etc. Then reality proved to be...different.
1) While statistically unlikely, there would be nothing particulary strange in Apple releasing a more powerful version of the iPhone in the US even before this Fall. Maybe 12 gigs, to say one thing. People would be upset? Why on earth? You bought the phone now and you knew what you were going to get. You bought the piece of electronic, not the guarantee of having the latest piece of electronic for a given period of time. Same for Apple TV. I didnt buy it because the HD was too small. Who bought it made the decision that the device was fine for that price. Their call.
Ask yourself a simple question: if they told you that an upgraded iphone would be out in December, would you have waited another 6 months before buying the iphone? Would you have waited another 3 months?
They explained you what you were going to buy, you decided it was ok for the price, and you bought it. Now you have it: end of the story.
I find it quite incredible that so many are stuck in the mental trap that an iphone is...an iphone, and must only be an iphone.
If it helps, consider it as you consider an ipod: imagine we are in 1995, ipods and mp3 player do not exist, and suddenyl apple launches something called ipod which has 30 gigs, hold thousands of songs, and its something really revolutionary. thinking backwards, would it look strange to you that soon after a 60 gigs model appear, then a mini model, etc? I say 1995 because the technological breakthrough of the iphone is much more wide than when the ipods came out (2,000 something i think).
The iphone is not a product: it is a concept.
2) I live in Europe, and i am a bit desperate: because im not so sure at all that Apple will launch it here anytime soon. Sure, its statistically likely -simply because the business potential is huge-, but there are so many things that could mess this up. To name one, US is ONE country, ONE federal set of laws, ONE provider for exclusivity. Here you are talking about 10+ countries (with laws, with different leading providers, network status, user habits, etc.) .Apple's requirements are huge, and phone providers here in the end could even say "you know what? I dont really care about the million(s) customers you are offering to me. Simply because they are too expensive at the price you ask: ill get them in other ways".
They might end up in not releasing for a year, they could release it in only two countries, or they might not release it at all. Unfortunately, i dont see any type of guarantee that this will come out in Europe anytime soon.
3) Talking about upgrades that should not be released without "upsetting" early adopters: is your money more important than mine? Are Americans more important then European (or Asian, or whatever)? If you talk about customer satisfaction, the simple truth that -as of today- anyone living in US is lucky enough to have an iphone, the rest of the world does not get it. If and when it comes out in Europe, would you find it "morally" disappointing to find out that the Euro version is better? What is the price of having it months in advance? You know that Apple has this nice habit of pricing all of its stuff on 1:1 dollar to euro ratio? Up to us wether to decide being upset or not. Up to us wether to accept that probably we will get an iphone 6 months after the US launch at a higher price.
To me, Apple is a business company, and their job is to make money without breaking laws. They're not my mother, not my friend. They make a product, they offer to me at a price, and let me decide wether to buy it or not.
Vanni
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