Who will be following the Apple announcement today?

[sckao]

Think about this: We are most likely a bunch of people in their late 30's-50's.

 

We probably use our smartphones/tablets a lot differently than other age groups.

 

Yesterday, Apple basically made no mention of tablets. They probably spent an hour on the iPod line. I haven't bought an iPod in years and the last iPod Touch I received was free from my bank. I still listened to that portion though as it's interesting to see what the state of the industry is for those devices.

 

If you're on a train, look around and see what people are using. I'm in the Bay Area and probably 80% of the people on my commute have some sort of handheld device (or tablet).

 

 

[Jeffro.]

There's no reason to denigrate people who choose to buy the latest and greatest. It's like a Golden Age collector denigrating Modern Collectors.

 

That's not at all the same thing.

[Jeffro.]

Consumers are telling you your Blackberry platform is dying.

 

People with big fat finger tips are telling you that touch screen suck monkey balls.

 

 

 

That's what I thought until I got one. It's really not bad.

 

 

Sure, if your thing is to answer emails with smiley's, lol's and rotfl

 

rotfl

 

-Sent from my iPhone

 

 

I'm on a train full of people and that made me laugh out loud.

 

 

Honestly, I have a tablet with a touch screen and I absolutely abhor having to "touch type" with it so I can only imagine what a smaller phone is going to be like for me.

 

What? You're not riding the new Apple iTrain? Get with the times man!

[VintageComics]

The Bejeweled thing is a key selling point. I'm so spoiled now I don't know if I can squeeze out a loaf without my iPhone.

 

 

Don't forget, you can even take pics of yourself while pinching.

 

My blackberry does all those things though.

 

 

Are video games really a selling feature for a smart phone? I've never been a vid game guy so I have no idea.

[VintageComics]

If you're on a train, look around and see what people are using. I'm in the Bay Area and probably 80% of the people on my commute have some sort of handheld device (or tablet).

 

 

Lots of Blackberrys around here but then I live in the town where they're from.

 

I still agree with Joe, though.

 

Although my knowledge of these products is limited, to me it just seems like a General Motors marketing campaign where for decades Detroit just kept pushing shiny new cars out year after year.

 

The people behind all of it are the bean counters and wall street.

 

Mark said it best, he doesn't need a new item but he wants one...and that's fair as we all work to enjoy life, but at the rate these things are coming out it does seem like reckless consumerism to me too.

 

And I have no animosity towards the company or users, that's just my perception of it.

 

[sckao]

 

Seems to me it's only people who ALREADY have a device who bemoan the coming out of a newer model...

 

I was reading the No More Professor X thread and I thought to myself... "There are new comic book readers who are experiencing Professor X dying for the first time."

 

Not everyone is as jaded as we are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VintageComics]

Seems to me it's only people who ALREADY have a device who bemoan the coming out of a newer model...

 

I was reading the No More Professor X thread and I thought to myself... "There are new comic book readers who are experiencing Professor X dying for the first time."

 

Not everyone is as jaded as we are.

 

 

Very true, although I'm not sure bemoaning is the right word.

 

I just truly don't get itbut then there are a lot of things I don't get.

 

[Mark 1]

 

but then there are a lot of things I don't get.

 

Let's see...such as...

 

A. A haircut

B. Low grade comics

 

Any others?

 

[VintageComics]

 

but then there are a lot of things I don't get.

 

Let's see...such as...

 

A. A haircut

B. Low grade comics

 

Any others?

 

 

C. People from southern Florida.

 

[Mark 1]

 

but then there are a lot of things I don't get.

 

Let's see...such as...

 

A. A haircut

B. Low grade comics

 

Any others?

 

 

C. People from southern Florida.

 

 

Ouch!

 

(just so you know....not all of us from S. Fl on this forum are the same )

[fantastic_four]

I like that Apple showed how a phone is supposed to fit in your hand. Not like how some of these giant screen phones are coming out today....like the Samsung and HTC phones...they aren't phones anymore. They are becoming small tablets that happen to have a phone feature. But they really are too big to be a phone.

 

The HTC, Galaxy S3, and iPhone 5 are all so extremely similar in size that to make that distinction between them is serious hair-splitting. They're all almost exactly as unwieldy as each other.

[sckao]

Are you thinking as a male or female?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fantastic_four]

I feel like an old cynic here, and must be one of the few whose well beyond having their fill with the hype-cycle's following "next big thing" announcements like this. Give me practical form and function at the right price, and that's all I need. Let the consumer decide what works best for them, and forget the over-analysis which simply feeds the short sellers and specs. Personally, I can't click the x in the browser window fast enough as soon as I see the word Apple, Google or Samsung mentioned, and that's saying something as I think each one of these companies have demonstrated greatness in their own respective way, but all this hype over something that is supposed to send/receive calls and emails is just wrong. Surfing is best left to a middleware device (tablet/netbook) or full-blown computing station.

 

I generally share your perspective, but it is absolutely useful to be able to browse on the go. I hate the input and small screen size on smartphones, but I love using them in restaurants to look up info, as a GPS in my car, as a music player anywhere. I suspect there are half a dozen other devices it replaces that I eventually plan to use my phone for but haven't yet...I know they're far better than any alarm clock and plan to use my smartphone for that next once I find a good docking station.

 

On a less politically correct usage note, smartphones have revolutionized my extended visits to the can. I get lots of reading done in a situation I was usually sitting bored in most of my life.

[fantastic_four]

Consumers are telling you your Blackberry platform is dying.

 

People with big fat finger tips are telling you that touch screen suck monkey balls.

 

 

 

That's what I thought until I got one. It's really not bad.

 

 

I hate the on-screen keyboards, but I LOVE voice recognition. Voice recognition is even better than a full computer keyboard. Android's voice recognition is fantastic and allows me to safely do things via voice command while driving I could never, ever do any other way.

[fantastic_four]

Are video games really a selling feature for a smart phone? I've never been a vid game guy so I have no idea.

 

They're the same as everything else on such a small screen--better than nothing on the go, but they don't replace a full-sized display when you're at home and don't need mobility. I enjoy "Angry Birds" while on long trips.

[fantastic_four]

Are you thinking as a male or female?

 

I don't know what you mean. When I've borrowed other people's iPhone 4, I had to take them out of my pocket when I sat down, so I had no reason not to go to a Galaxy S3's minutely wider screen.

[sckao]

They're designing it so it can be used with one hand.

 

Male hands tend to be larger than female hands so that's not an issue generally for men.

Women may not be able to hold the phone and text with one hand if the smartphone is too large or wide.

[fantastic_four]

They're designing it so it can be used with one hand.

 

Male hands tend to be larger than female hands so that's not an issue generally for men.

Women may not be able to hold the phone and text with one hand if the smartphone is too large or wide.

 

Well I'm speaking from a male perspective, but I rarely type at all, I speak. I limit my usage of text input almost entirely to voice recognition. I only type when I'm in a crowd and it's not feasible to get them to be quiet so my phone can hear me and me alone.

 

When I do type, it's not with one hand--my fingers are too wide for that, I hit two keys constantly, which is the reason I avoid it altogether whenever possible.

[sckao]

I'm actually standing on a BART train right now and the people standing are using their other hand to hold onto the rail or overhead rail. They're using their smartphone in the other.

 

More women than men on this train....

[fantastic_four]

I'm actually standing on a BART train right now and the people standing are using their other hand to hold onto the rail or overhead rail. They're using their smartphone in the other.

 

More women than men on this train....

 

You kind of lost me. Are you suggesting women can use the iPhone with one hand but not the Galaxy S3? Or not Androids in general? I've never thought about the one-handed usage pattern before.