Some of the largest news from last week was the announcement of Apple's new iPhone X. This was particularly exciting since many of us relay heavily on these palm sized devices (I just asked mine how to spell announcement). For only $1000, you too can own this new technological marvel.
The excitement was quickly overshadowed by disappointing news, faulty features, and a further delayed release date. While it was scheduled to be sold starting in late September, Apple reported at the beginning of this week that they pushed the release date back to November. The iPhone X has no Apple signature "home button" but will operate by facial recognition which brings protests and memes about invasion on privacy. However, people are not impressed anymore. Many think that each new phone is not different enough for the last, does have enough cool features, or is in some way disappointing. There have been numerous articles this week echoing those some thoughts including "iPhone X: Imitation not Innovation".
This article (listed at the bottom) acts as a reminder of the technological progress that we have made and continue to make. Technology, business, and communications are becoming more and more efficient. We take for granted how far we have come (maybe since a majority of the college-aged population has gone up with this technology). As a comparison, this article explains what it would take in 1957 to reproduce the device (the iPhone X) that we carry in our pockets.
http://www.bradford-delong.com/2017/09/do-they-really-say-technological-progress-is-slowing-down.html
It seems that technological advancement is not slowing; we are becoming desensitized to it. In 50 years from now, imagine what technological will be in the daily lives of billions.
The problem with the views of technological advancements is that the advances are only noticed if they create a breakthrough in the way we see our lives. I can remember the introduction of the first iPad as one of those breakthrough moments that Apple experienced. The world had so little exposure to a hand held, touch screen, computer-level device, that we thought these would be the future of everything. Now days, everything is touchscreen (including my own computer I am typing this on) and 2 in 1 laptops are easily affordable as an alternative option to traditional laptops. I think the problem with Apple's iPhone is that Apple created a culture of producing something new every year, and now they are facing difficulties revolutionizing their product in a single years time. Apple has essentially dug their own grave, creating an expectation they cannot possibly fulfill. They continue to be on the cutting edge of technology: facial recognition is not something to gloss over. However, many consumers do not see their utility or satisfaction increasing in proportion to the cost of a new iPhone. Consumers are becoming aware that in a year or two, facial recognition software will be available on multiple competitor phones, and this competition will drag prices down. Apple is successful in differentiating their product, but the other companies have learned to keep up. Google and Microsoft are very aware of what Apple is working on, and work to ensure they stay within striking distance with their own technology.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how well the iPhone sells this winter. It will be worth noting how they do, because a failure to produce strong numbers may lead to a change in leadership and workers within Apple.
As far as the article discussing the difference between technology today and 1957, it is amazing to see how far technology has come. Our marginal product of labor has truly grown to an outstanding level. It is amazing to consider when looking at the past that they could never have imagined that people would walk around with computers that used to be the size of buildings in their pocket.
Hunter, I really enjoyed your reply. I had not really thought about the expectations that people do have for an Apple launch. You are right; they do have the image of producing something fantastically different and new every year or so. Their other product lines have been bringing forth more exciting features and changes then the iPhone has carried in the last couple of years. The introduction of the Apple watch, for example, was a huge success. Upon further thought, Apple many need to continue branching out and being new products to the market instead of trying to give a face-lift to a consumer favorite. If the Apple watch is proof, wearable tech may have a lot of opportunities for technological companies.
DeletePeople have become too accustomed to the advancement of technology. They expect every new phone or computer to almost live their lives for them and be able to save them from death. Yet, some people are endlessly amused by fidget spinners. Of course, that doesn’t apply to all, but not all advancements will be the hottest item in the world. Any advancement is amazing, as long as it is an advancement. Not every experiment will work and the iPhone X is simply an experiment. Apple is testing the waters to see if people will like the idea. As long as the iPhone 8 is better than the iPhone 7, then that’s an advancement. Personally, I will always have an android so it’s nice to see the new iPhone. To me they are only fun to play with, not as a phone to use on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Apple, I think they are becoming less concerned with overall market share and more concerned with pushing up the margins and getting more out of what they can sell each product for. Even as little as five years ago, people would think executives at Apple had lost their minds setting an absurd starting price for an iPhone at $1000 – but here we are today. This is because Apple has the ultimate pricing power and this power comes from the development of an ecosystem. The software in all of their many products like the Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, Mac or MacBook all tie in together and operate around you and your home. If you’re a die-hard Apple user (which isn’t hard to find these days), that $1000 price tag isn’t going to scare you away because it not only is cutting edge technology but it plugs right into that already existing ecosystem that you have. Additionally, if you think about the amount of time that an iPhone user spends using their smartphone and its various applications, they are getting an existential amount of value out what is paid for.
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ReplyDeleteIn regard to Apple as a company, they are becoming more daring with some of their selling tactics. Cory is right on the fact that they are becoming less concern with the overall markets and just trying to max their profits. They know they own most of the market in terms of users and that they have a loyal fan base. Based on these factors you can see they are pushing their users to more costly options. An example of this is how they took the headphone jack off forcing people to switch to their wireless earbuds. Coming back to their latest iPhones, by releasing two products at the same time one product clearly inferior to the other they are hoping that by having a superior one it gives reasoning to its higher costs. Two of the biggest reasons why they may be doing this is one as Hunter mentioned they aren’t creating mind-blowing technology that will increase consumers utility. As result customers aren’t willing to upgrade as often. In order to offset this loss, they are forcing them to buy more with the phone, such as the earphones. The other reason for them to do this is because their margin of growth is declining to do to their lower new customers rate.
ReplyDeleteApple does seem like it has a large amount of power in the market since it's OS is not compatible with how else and Apple has provide an intricate framework of different hardware that has seamless applications with other Apple devices. However, other OS are trying to adapt some of Apple's products to their devices and Apple is forced to oblige. For example, I would not have brought an iPhone if I could not have it connect to my HP laptop or if I could not get iTunes over that same laptop. In order for iTunes to be profitable and user friendly, it had to be able to run on all OSs. When you really look at the numbers Apple does not have as much market power as you think. The iPhone, their biggest hit, holds 43% of the smartphone markets but from there Apple has lost market share in iTunes (Spotify, YouTubeRed, etc.) and iMacs. They are also not as prominent in the home hardware space as Google or Amazon.
DeleteI do agree to your argument to a certain extent that Iphone is not being up to mark as it was when sieve job was alive however Iphone still provides privacy and no quality compromise when it came to existence meanwhile samsung as a competitor provides innovation but using android is a third party and no privacy control
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