Apple fan boys rejoice; on June 29 the long awaited iPhone will come to market. The announcement was not made through the normal channels, no release and no official announcement per se, but three ads running during prime time US television promising a June 29 launch (US only of course).
This is only a product announcement; there are thousands of them every day. Yet you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from millions of Apple fans and the fruity company’s accountants rubbing their hands with dollar signs in their eyes.
The buildup of the iPhone has been monumental. Not much has been spent in the advertising and marketing department, because no money was needed to create the incredible hype this product has received from the public. By the looks of things, Apple could announce a product like a coffee mug, and millions would get behind it.
It’s alarming.
I’m perhaps not Apple’s biggest fan, but I am certainly not opposed to their products, and I’ll be the first to admit that they come up with some great stuff. Hey, I even own a few of their products, all of which are very, very good.
But how a company can announce a future product, alert the competition to exactly what it is doing and rely on brand loyalty alone is completely foreign to me. It is also a little bit disturbing, knowing that as soon as the phone hits shelves around the world, it will be snatched up by people who know nothing of the features, care little about the connectivity and have read no reviews.
When the gadget press (Gizmodo, I’m looking at you) go to the lengths of comparing other phones to a cardboard cutout of the iPhone, the future hype has gone too far.
I have previously said the iPhone will fail, and I stand by that comment. I’m not here to debate that though, I’m here to express my concerns over a company that relies so heavily on its extremely loyal supporters.
And when the iPhone does come to New Zealand, I believe it will be snatched up in a day or so, even with all the unavailable features and questionable connectivity available to US customers only. The initial reaction will be over-the-top fantastic, but I believe that the consumer market will overpower the hype in the end, and perhaps choose a competitor that meets demands in a better way.
Can Apple rely on the US market only to succeed? I think not, and as in the board game Risk, the key will be to conquer the Asian region, in what will undoubtedly be Apple’s toughest battle to date.
Gizmodo's job is to cover the iPhone as much as it can, as that's the gadget of the month. (Aren't you writing about it now?) Also, the comparison between the LG prada and the iPhone was based on hands on with the iphone in the past. Which is not the same as comparing it to a paper cut out. You'll see for yourself, one day, when you get the two in your hands.
I agree with mostly everything else you've said, though. I long for the days when an apple product was announced the same day it was shipped.
Posted by: brian lam | June 5, 2007 5:24 PM