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Is the iPhone now obsolete?

pretty much as i thought. it's not that i've never used an android phone, like i said, my gf has one so naturally i've pinched it off her to have a look at and compare. it just that the iphones magical "usability" and "user experience" gets used so loosely lately. it's misleading to say that the iphone is better because its os is more "user friendly" unless someone can give a valid example of what it is that is easier to do on the iphone. i didn't find anything difficult to grasp and as someone that likes tech and gadgets i wouldn't think twice about owning one if HTC would just use the touch screen tech that the iphone uses. those one or 2 missed taps and swipes are just enough to cause frustration after using the iphones screen for so long, but afaik (correct me if i'm wrong) thats a hardware issue, not software, because they use a different touchscreen method.
 
the iPhone is really just a status symbol. I gotta keep one around for the chicks ;)
 
The iPhone is FAR from obolete.

Apple are lucky that they have a lot of positive things supporting the iPhone. The iPod Touch line is a great step towards someone upgrading to the iPhone. They have a singular and popular content delivery system in iTunes (Apps, music, video) that no other company can compete with. They also have a very user friendly system with iPhone OS and iTunes syncing that no one else can match at the moment.

People like me who foam at the mouth over specs and features aten't the iPhone's strongest market. As long as the general public are happy with the iPhone it will continue to remain a success and I can't see anything that would change public opinion of the iPhone myself.
 
drpellypo said:
Apple do this. Watch the competition bring out new stuff, innovation if you will, then wait a while, then bring out something new to blow them out of the water. The iPhone 4g is going to be as revolutionary as the original iPhone was. It has to be. If you think about it, Apple have been designing and working on the 4g for at very least three years now, because non of the new releases have been massively different to the original iPhone. My dad has a first gen and using it side by side with my 3GS, there's barely anything different in real terms. I mean, it looks the same, has the same OS, has the same basic functionality and user experience. The 4g HAS to be a big step away from this. I predict we're at very least going to see some new hardware interaction (touch sensitive casing etc)
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I've been wondering this too. I was initially a little surprised when the "new" iPhone was the 3G S and then I started thinking it's just an interim product to keep the iPhone relevant until the new iPhone comes out. That's why I stuck to my 3G and skipped the "S" revision, hoping they would bring out something worth buying Summer 2010.
 
I am so sick of people saying "are you buying a phone or are you buying a desktop?"

I am buying a F***ing computer for my pocket! If I wanted a phone, I would have kept my old V3.

So yes, I am buying a computer.
 
I'm still a newbie when it comes to the iPhone but, I'm very proficient at the Android and BlackBerry platforms. The N1 is the best device running Android with the Droid in close second. I had a chance to work with the N1 for a week and I was astounded at the processor speed and the overall agility of the device. The OLED screen is amazing ("Oh My") and if feels good in the hand.

That's about it. Give HTC and other manufactures time and they will catch up with the iPhone. That is until S.J. & Apple figure out how to keep the edge on technology.

The comparison (IMHO) of the N1 and the iPhone are very close, if not absolte comparible. The only thing is, Android still has issues with stability.

BlackBerry...uh...hmm...what I'm trying to say is, you can polish a turd all day long...but at the end of the day, it's still crap.:D
 
A lot of things are obsolete by your definition...

Any car currently on the road for example.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the next iPhone looks the same and they simply throw in that A4 iPad chip, bump the camera to 5 megapixels, and put a radio receiver and calling it the best phone ever.
 
aluren said:
I wouldn't be surprised if the next iPhone looks the same and they simply throw in that A4 iPad chip, bump the camera to 5 megapixels, and put a radio receiver and calling it the best phone ever.
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Not a fan boy here but, if AT&T would improve their service, the iPhone would be the best phone ever (I guess sales would prove that). :)
 
kernkraft said:
I already carry two devices. My iPhone 3G does not last half a day - it's not fit for purpose as a mobile phone...
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I work in IT in a company that has many people that work in the field. We are continuously buying and testing the newest phone to see which is the best fit for what people do. ALL of the newer smart phones suffer from a low battery life if they are regularly used, or if they keep the 3G and wifi on. The unit with the best battery life we have tested that would qualify as a "smart phone" is the Blackberry Curve and its ilk, but given the features in the newer phones the BB's don't seem so "smart" anymore.

I just wanted to state that short battery life is not unique to the iPhone, and should not be used to qualify the iPhone as "obsolete". Short battery life is currently an inherent reality in the smart phone market.
 
kdarling said:
It's not difficult, it's just different.

Part of what's happening is what was predicted back when the iPhone first came out, and what is always true with devices:

As users get familiar with its capabilities, some will want more control, options, customization, functionality and even choice in form factors. Many others will not.

Apple has to tread carefully in order to keep the iPhone's primary market happy. They can no longer make huge UI leaps, unless it's on a different device. However, the iPad's UI indicates they're wary of change even then.

Apple is now trapped, just as every other smartphone maker was, in a legacy UI that can only be extended, not radically changed... unless they want to pull a Microsoft WPS7 move and alienate lots of current users.

Nothing inherently wrong with that, of course. Their target is the I-don't-want-to-fiddle user market, and it's a big one.
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I hate to agree with you (mainly because I wanted a revamp of the UI) but you are right. Apple is somewhat trapped. They have fundamentally kept the OS the same since the first generation iPhone. It would be hard to completely revamp the UI considering the large (not to mention longterm) user base of the iPhone.

I am a hyper geek. I like the fact that HTC Sense animates the clock on the homescreen and that the weather is animated. Does that add "functionality"... no it doesn't but I still like it. I like to customize every aspect of the phone and unless Apple does something radical I don't see a big overhaul coming to the new OS. (Yes I can jailbreak and I have in the past, but there were performance issues that caused me to go back to "stock")

I am probably a small percent of the population that does like fiddling with my phone and changing different aspects of the device and I may be switching phones shortly if Apple announces iPhone OS 4.0 and "You can now add a wallpaper to the homescreen!", nice, but, if that is it in terms of customization and making the phone "yours" goodbye iPhone, hello "enter Android phone here".
 
Dated? Yes
Obsolete? No
Must have device? No, it was in 2007-2009

When they came out with the 3GS, I started to lose respect for Apple. I felt as if they were using us loyal customers. They know regardless to what they come out with, the loyal customers were going to buy it. 3GS was a nice update, but its not what "we" wanted. If it wasn't for competition, Apple probably wouldn't have MMS on the iPhone. I'm tired of Apple using us, so I've moved on to Android. Apple, you can suck it!
 
Far from it. It's so nice and easy to have music and entertainment right at your finger tips. Not to mention purchasing too. I wish they'd change the UI a little bit though.
 
aluren said:
I wouldn't be surprised if the next iPhone looks the same and they simply throw in that A4 iPad chip, bump the camera to 5 megapixels, and put a radio receiver and calling it the best phone ever.
Click to expand...

It's a really interesting time in the telephone business. We are right at the cusp of free video + voice communication, we already have incredible integration with our email, we have all this cloud computing giving limitless possibilities such as voice dictation, we have tens of thousands of applications...

If Apple were to just keep everything as-is and just give the phone a spec bump and update the OS a little, I don't think they'll be able to stop their user base from trying something new. However, given my personal experience with the Google Nexus One, that user base might switch back, like I did. Either way, it will be a very interesting time with lots of improvements for us customers one way or the other.
 
Specs don't mean much if the whole package isn't tweaked. Playing with a few android devices hasn't impressed me. They have yet to have an easy way to sync music and backup the android phones like iTunes does.
 
farmermac said:
Specs don't mean much if the whole package isn't tweaked. Playing with a few android devices hasn't impressed me. They have yet to have an easy way to sync music and backup the android phones like iTunes does.
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Really? My brother and my parents content is all backed up over the air to their Google accounts real-time and their music is synced with DoubleTwist, which does everything iTunes does and even features a cheaper music store...
 
nfl46 said:
Dated? Yes
Obsolete? No
Must have device? No, it was in 2007-2009

When they came out with the 3GS, I started to lose respect for Apple. I felt as if they were using us loyal customers. They know regardless to what they come out with, the loyal customers were going to buy it. 3GS was a nice update, but its not what "we" wanted. If it wasn't for competition, Apple probably wouldn't have MMS on the iPhone. I'm tired of Apple using us, so I've moved on to Android. Apple, you can suck it!
Click to expand...

I think you need to read up on what "using someone" actually means.

Here's a tip: Coming out with a product that you don't want to buy doesn't count. :rolleyes:
 
Just the fact that threads like this are coming to light is an indication that the iphone is no longer on top.

Might i also add as long as Steve Jobs decides what Apple customers like, dont like, need and dont need the iphone will become obsolete.
 
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