Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the iPhone OS4.0 release that was just announced. It’s that same excitement, however, which prompted me to step back and mutter “Woah…dude” – in my best Keanu Reeves voice – “I’m EXCITED about features being added, that should have been there from the start?”
But maybe that’s Apple’s plan. To use its insta-popularity magic to launch products so severely lacking in basic functions, that it then makes people feel privileged when the firm finally and magnanimously release updates, years later, which brings its product up to par with things already out on the market.
The list of “killer new features!” our favorite turtle-neck wearing crew is offering this time around is as follows:
o Multitasking.
o Spell check (like on the iPad).
o Bluetooth keyboard support (again, on the iPad).
o User-defined wallpaper (a jailbreak favorite).
o Tap to focus when recording video, just like with photos, and a 5x digital zoom for the camera.
o Playlist creation and nested playlists.
o App folders for sorting apps. You can even put an app folder in the dock.
o Enhanced Mail. You can have a merged inbox view, switch between inboxes quickly and sync to more than one Exchange account. There’s also threaded messaging (at last) and in-app attachment viewing.
o iBooks, just like on iPad, only smaller. You can wirelessly sync books between platforms, a la Kindle.
o Enterprise features, including remote device management and wireless app distribution.
o Game Center. It’s like Xbox Live, but for iPhone games. Includes achievements, leaderboards, and match making. It will be available as a “developer preview,” and out for consumers later this year.
So let’s break this down:
Multitasking: We finally get a feature that has been around since Windows 3.11 and which had absolutely no legitimate reason NOT to be included with the iPhone at launch. Apple’s own apps on the iPhone multitask just fine, but it took the firm this long to say “Ok guys, your apps can now multitask too…BE EXCITED!”
User-defined Wallpapers: Wow…really? Thanks Apple. Finally you’re letting me do something that I could do on my Nokia 7650.
App Folders: This has dumbfounded me from the get-go. Apple obviously KNEW people would install lots and lots of apps. The company based the entire success of the iPhone on that self-same expectation, and yet Apple gave users a non-multitasking flat-layer environment to try and store all these apps on. Infinitely scrolling sideways as far as the eye can see. Brilliant.
What it comes down to is that all of the above can be summed up with one three simple words: “About. Frigging. Time.”
And that is why it’s so shocking that people – including myself – have been made to feel excited about a company releasing updated features that were nothing more than patches for flaws the device had, rather than NEW features.
A comparable analogy is giving a kid half a Lego kit and, when he realizes he can’t finish the set without the missing pieces, making him mow the lawn AND grovel with gratitude before giving him the rest of the pieces.
Congratulations Apple, you’ve successfully made inadequacy a selling point.
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About Sen
Sen is a corporate web dev geek, mobile internet addict, and all-round great guy. He manages a large state-government website, develops web projects on the side, and spends so much time playing with mobile/cellular gadgets that his wife regularly resorts to texting him when dinner is ready. You can read more from Sen on his blog, CtrlRefresh
