[thoughton]

You are also saying that the 4S will attract people that the 4 didn't. How exactly?

Well, for a start how about those people who bought the 3GS? The vast majority of them signed 18 or 24 month contracts with their carrier.

[Ash]

The lure to overpriced gizmos like Apple products is in their design and UI. The Samsung S II is a very nice phone, but its UI is just not as pretty as the iPhone. That does make a difference to both socialites and business people.

[Unsinkable II]

I'm not arguing with anybody that it won't sell by the ship-load.

My point is that Apple dropped the ball.

Apple would have sold more if they'd kept the same design and specs as the 4S, but simply added a 4" retina display and called it the iPhone 4x4.

[EdwardConde]

From what I have read and heard is that the speed bump is really for some of the new features coming out in iOS5... The upgrade makes sense since they did with with the 3g to 3gs IMO. This version gives Apple some time to work on the iPhone5 which should have LTE (4G) capabilities. Also making the iPhone a true world phone will be a feature many Verizon users are probably waiting for.. (World Travelling Verizon Users)... Bringing the iPhone to Sprint is also pretty cool.. Now all the top carries have it. It sucks that they didn't bring it this time, but it is probably for a reason... Am I going to sell my current iphone? Nope.. I will wait till the 5 comes out ... and then wait until 6 comes out... Its the nature of the game...

[thoughton]

The lure to overpriced gizmos like Apple products is in their design and UI. The Samsung S II is a very nice phone, but its UI is just not as pretty as the iPhone. That does make a difference to both socialites and business people.

I think 'overpriced' is a fair way to describe some desktop Macs, and certainly things like RAM or HD upgrades, but not the iPhone or iPad. Outside of Australia and New Zealand, anyway

Recall that earlier this year on the day the iPad 2 was released, Samsung had to move quickly drop the price of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 as it suddenly didn't look like very good value in comparison.

[RobA_Oz]

This article provides a good explanation of the logic behind the 4S, and not just because it agrees with my previous post: Why is there no iPhone 5? | asymco

This one provides some insight into a phenomenon I've noticed on these pages as well as with some people I know, which I've often thought defied logic (and so it does): Why do some people really hate Apple | Charles Arthur | Technology | guardian.co.uk

[thoughton]

This one provides some insight into a phenomenon I've noticed on these pages as well as with some people I know, which I've often thought defied logic (and so it does): Why do some people really hate Apple | Charles Arthur | Technology | guardian.co.uk

That was interesting read, thanks for the link.

[nosnoop]

I'm not arguing with anybody that it won't sell by the ship-load.
My point is that Apple dropped the ball.

Not sure how you can say that.
And not sure how Apple could have sold more when they are selling them as fast as they can make them.

[pingflood]

I like to look at the whole debacle as to whether the 4S is a good move or not this way:

On one side you have a company that has done a good enough job designing, manufacturing and marketing their things to end up sitting on some 75 billion dollars in cash.

On the other side you have a bunch of interet forum nerds.

Guess who I think will be right?

[Frogfish]

I like to look at the whole debacle as to whether the 4S is a good move or not this way:

On one side you have a company that has done a good enough job designing, manufacturing and marketing their things to end up sitting on some 75 billion dollars in cash.

On the other side you have a bunch of interet forum nerds.

Guess who I think will be right?

Well that is a very simplistic way of looking at it because it's not like multinational companies never make design / marketing mistakes is it ?

[Rondec]

Well that is a very simplistic way of looking at it because it's not like multinational companies never make design / marketing mistakes is it ?

Obviously they do. Look at Palm. They were first in on the handle held computing device and smart phone and they sank to the edge of bankruptcy.

Apple has had their share of problem products in the past too. The Newton is the biggest one that comes to mind, but they have had plenty of winners too.

[mediaslinky]

It's all moot, apparently.

iPhone preorder sales are fastest in iPhone history. iPhone 4S pre-orders sell out ? USATODAY.com

"The iPhone 4S went on pre-order in the predawn hours on Friday. Carrier AT&T called it its most successful iPhone launch ever, with more than 200,000 orders in the first 12 hours."

[pingflood]

Well that is a very simplistic way of looking at it because it's not like multinational companies never make design / marketing mistakes is it ?

You are correct, however you have to admit a company that is doing as well as Apple is far more likely to do proper market research than a bunch of sweaty nerds sitting in their parents' basements.

The anti-Apple crowd hates it because it is Apple.

Some of the pro-Apple crowd claim to hate it because it does not walk on water, but will soon place their order anyway.

Full disclosure: I was hoping for a slightly bigger screen myself, but will go ahead and get a 4S anyway as I need to purchase a phone for my business this year and I have all Apple gear already so it will play nice with them. The Galaxy S2 was a contender until I got to play with one and realized how damn big it is. 4.3" is too much, I think the sweet spot is around 3.8-4".

[Frogfish]

You are correct, however you have to admit a company that is doing as well as Apple is far more likely to do proper market research than a bunch of sweaty nerds sitting in their parents' basements.

Of course But every MNC has made major marketing / design errors regardless !

The anti-Apple crowd hates it because it is Apple.

True.

Some of the pro-Apple crowd claim to hate it because it does not walk on water, but will soon place their order anyway.

True. Pre-orders sold out already it seems !

Full disclosure: I was hoping for a slightly bigger screen myself, but will go ahead and get a 4S anyway as I need to purchase a phone for my business this year and I have all Apple gear already so it will play nice with them. The Galaxy S2 was a contender until I got to play with one and realized how damn big it is. 4.3" is too much, I think the sweet spot is around 3.8-4".

I've looked at the Galaxy. It's a great phone and usually size doesn't bother me but that is bordering on being too big for my/a pocket !

You actually raise an important point .... once you have bought into the Apple system it's very difficult to consider buying into another system that won't play nice with your (iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Mac-Pro, iTV etc.) .. and now everything instantly backed up / updated across your network.

[pingflood]

Yeah, if you buy into an Apple setup you are sort of "stuck" if you want things to work as smoothly as possible. On the other hand, I have an iMac, iPad, Time Capsule and Airport Express (for network extension and music streaming) and they all work flawlessly and were extremely quick and easy to configure. For instance, I plugged in the Time Capsule and it immediately popped up a window on the mac asking me if I wanted to config it, then if I wanted to have it replace my existing (Belkin) router. 30 seconds later I was up and running after pushing "next" a few times. It even configured the Time Capsule with the same WEP key.

Been using computers since 1982, and PCs extensively for around 20 years. Never have I seen things work as WELL as they do with an all-Apple machine park. Streaming music across devices and things like that just flat out WORK, while they've always in my experience required a fair bit of fiddling with, and are prone to just not work properly at times, when using other gear.

(Also, there is no denying that they are attractively designed, which tends to draw mockery from the anti-Apple crowd. But if I have to have a computer, why can it not be good looking as well as functional?)