iPhone 5...disappointment? Putting in a pre-order?

[indychris]

It isn't just the quantity but the quality of pixels that matters.

I have it on good authority, that Apple uses only the finest quality pixels, especially grown for them on farms in silicon valley.

Now wait a second, I thought pixel dust came from phone fairies?

 

[mrplow]

I watched that video. . . . . The S3 is a great phone. I don't personally think "An interface infused with nature and human emotion" is something I need, but others may. Neither do I need a video that has to be moved out of the way so I can text. I prefer something like bump or one of many other apps that can send media cross device model and cross platform not just S3 to S3 via SBeam. And I can call someone with two taps from a text message, or just ask SIRI. What I did do when the S3 came out was pick it up and play around with it to see if it was for me. It wasn't. No review or YouTube video could tell me that.

Like I say the S3 is a great phone. I know people that have them and think they are great. Though it's not really the cherry on top features they like. It's just that they prefer Android and a bigger screen. I did check with one of them if it was the nature and human emotion infused UI he liked. I can't put his response here as this is a family forum

To each their own. The haters weren't ever going to like the iPhone 5 unless it teleported them to the Moon to party with Elvis and Marilyn Monroe.

Personally, stats, figures and reviews can only point me in the vague direction. I like to get my hands on products. See them perform and react and see how I respond to that. That's how I bought my Nokia 3310, N95, iPhone 3, 3G, 4 and 4s and iPads. I'll check the 5 out in the same way.
My instinct says I'll stick with the 4s and iOS6 ....... time will tell.

As for iOS being boring.....hmmm. That's not a bad thing in the right circumstances. My car gets me to work and back every day. Exciting? No. Reliable, effective and the right tool for the job? Yes.
I could get a Dune buggy or quad bike. More exciting? Yes. Great in the wind and rain, reliable for the commute, quiet when collecting my car sharer at 6am? No

I like my phone OS to be stable, robust and capable of getting the job done, if that makes it a little boring...I'm ok with that. I turn to apps to add all the bells and whistles I need.

Everyone is different, everyone has an opinion, a preference and a voice. These are simply my own ramblings.

 

[vansmith]

Clearly, all these people are bored stiff and not at all wowed by a new iPhone that takes everything that was great about the previous iPhone and adds significantly to it in every way. YAWN.

I think you missed the point of our critiques. I think it's safe to say that we all think the iPhone is a good phone (perhaps not as enthusiastically as you seem to be). However, that doesn't negate the fact that, on the software side, the phone has become stale. Yes, the hardware is better but the software, the part that bridges the interaction between person and hardware, hasn't really evolved. This is the crux of the critique.

Refining something repeatedly does equate to innovative design practices. I think this quote puts it best:

There is a lot to be praised in iOS. It remains a stable, solid operating system with the sort of attention to detail for which Apple has become known. However, the highlight features in iOS 6 are underwhelming and, in the case of Maps, worryingly error prone.

The maps part of that is irrelevant to me (I'll reserve judgment on that one). But in here lies the major critique - stale or underwhelming new features inhibit a truly revolutionary interaction with the iPhone.

 

[Groovetube]

I'm a little disappointed the screen isn't a little wider. My eyes are getting older, at 47 I now need reading glasses, but far too vain to walk around with them just to look a my phone. I know that might get scoffed at, given the level of performance upgrades the iPhone5 offers, and I do appreciate that.

If I could put iOS with all my apps and music apps I use all the time on an S3 I would. There I said it. I'm pretty sure that makes me a lesser human being.

 

[dtravis7]

I'm a little disappointed the screen isn't a little wider. My eyes are getting older, at 47 I now need reading glasses, but far too vain to walk around with them just to look a my phone. I know that might get scoffed at, given the level of performance upgrades the iPhone5 offers, and I do appreciate that.

If I could put iOS with all my apps and music apps I use all the time on an S3 I would. There I said it. I'm pretty sure that makes me a lesser human being.

Hey, it's not your fault your eyes are getting bad as you get older. Mine are not the best either anymore. I use mild reading glasses when using my iPhone or even iPad and stronger once for close work like on PC boards. Only issue is since it's a phone and should fit in a pocket at least, you can only make it so large.

Do you own an iPad? I need reading glasses to see that clearly especially with text. My vision was amazing up to around 40 then it went like this. I feel your pain.

 

[Groovetube]

I do. It's fine generally on the ipad, the phone is just a bit too small I think. Maybe I have bigger pockets, but I could easily fit a wider phone in any pocket I have. Obviously it won't affect iphone sales but I still want something a little bigger.

 

[chas_m]

So let me be sure I have this right: your vanity is Apple's problem??

 

[Groovetube]

I'm not sure how vanity got into this, or how I am being criticized for daring to make something 'apple's problem'. My older eyes do tend to be somewhat 'vain' yes, they like expensive sunglasses and insisted on the best eye place for the laser eye surgery I had a while ago costing me a bundle.

I just personally wanted a bigger screen. Would saying 3 hail mary's absolve me (my eyes?) of my sins?

I'll likely get an iphone5 (or 6 if getting one proves to be too difficult not sure yet) because I want to run iOS, and speed wise it's much faster than the 4 I currently have. Though wasn't that the big peecee thing, upgrade because it had more megahertz? More megawatts and gazzoodles MB rams? (loved those tv ads where they said "64 emm bee ram!)

Or maybe someone will figure out how to hack an S3 to run it hackenphone style. (now I'm going to **** aren't I).

 

[chas_m]

I'm not sure how vanity got into this

Here, let me show you:

My eyes are getting older, at 47 I now need reading glasses, but far too vain to walk around with them just to look a my phone.

That's how.

You admit that the reason you can't see the iPhone's screen is that you don't want to wear corrective lenses. You then go on to blame Apple for not making a bigger screen (when of course they did, but not big enough for your uncorrected eyes. I asked how your lack of wearing corrective lenses became Apple's problem, and I'm still looking for an answer.

Ironically I have the opposite problem: I need glasses to see things BEYOND three feet in front of me clearly, so I have to take my glasses OFF to see my iPhone screen. I don't blame Apple for this.

I don't have a problem with people wanting a bigger screen (though actually that wouldn't fix the problem ... the resolution of said larger screens on rival phones is the same or smaller than the iPhone's screen, and usually lacking the dot pitch so it doesn't look as good to boot!

I have a problem with people saying Apple should have made a bigger screen because they don't want to wear their corrective lenses due to vanity. That's not a good reason IMO.

Or maybe someone will figure out how to hack an S3 to run it hackenphone style. (now I'm going to **** aren't I).

Most assuredly.

 

[dtravis7]

I have had friends with bad close up eyesight get a 30" display figuring that bigger would be easier to see. Not at Default Panel Resolution! things are even smaller! Sure you can turn down the Resolution, but the more you go down from the panels default the more grainy and bad it looks.

 

[Groovetube]

I have had friends with bad close up eyesight get a 30" display figuring that bigger would be easier to see. Not at Default Panel Resolution! things are even smaller! Sure you can turn down the Resolution, but the more you go down from the panels default the more grainy and bad it looks.

Actually, I -do- have a 30" monitor, and with the default res things are a fine size. More than large enough. Though I didn't specifically get it for that reason.

As for being counselled by chas_m that I should have to pull out reading glasses anytime I want to see something on my phone walking down the street, and not dare be disappointed in apple offering a slightly larger screen (with the retina at the same res it should look larger), I don't appreciate it really. It's my opinion, and I don't really need anyone telling me off about it thank you. I'm going to guess with a growing large older population, I'm far from being alone on that, (just about everyone my age and up I hear the same complaints, not just apple phones though).

I have looked at a couple other competing phones with larger screens, and I indeed -can- read it a little more easily. Unfortunately, they don't run iOS.

I'm holding off on the iphone 5 for now, I have the 4 so I'll where things are down the road.

 

[dtravis7]

Actually, I -do- have a 30" monitor, and with the default res things are a fine size. More than large enough.

Then my friend, you have better eyes than i do! Grin I used the 30" for a point. Not all 30" displays will have same native resolution.

Chas is correct on the fact a slightly larger display with equal resolution would be just as hard to read. I have seen that all too many times. The text would still be tiny if the exact resolution was used. And on the iPhones display, you can't mess with the resolution that I know of, so whatever it is, you are stuck.

I am not putting you down though, just making a point.

 

[Groovetube]

Then my friend, you have better eyes than i do! Grin

oh no, does it get worse?

I had laser eye surgery from one of the top places here, I ended up with 20:15, but now reading really small type within a foot or so has become nearly impossible.

My thought is, companies will get hip to the idea that the population using their devices can't read them

My dad recently showed me his 'senoirs phone'. it had big buttons and a hilariously large type screen. Yikes.

edit: is that specific to retina display, because a 1600x900 display at 20" the type looks far larger than on my 15 MBP with a similar res.

 

[dtravis7]

oh no, does it get worse?

I had laser eye surgery from one of the top places here, I ended up with 20:15, but now reading really small type within a foot or so has become nearly impossible.

My thought is, companies will get hip to the idea that the population using their devices can't read them

My dad recently showed me his 'senoirs phone'. it had big buttons and a hilariously large type screen. Yikes.

That is my issue, close up and small. If it's farther away I can see it better. But with the phone you need it pretty close up!

I have seen what you are talking about, HUGE buttons and text on the display. Hate the look of it! Like they are throwing in our faces that we are blind of something!

 

[Groovetube]

yes, and calling it a 'seniors phone' to boot.

Apple can do this better.

my wife's company just issued them all new blackberries, and that screen is just a mess. Amazing that these big corps are still buying BB in mass quantities.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I periodically have to wear reading glasses to read a book and sometimes even for my iPhone. And guess what happens to my iPhone when I have those reading glasses? It gets BIGGER! Seriously... try it some time.

But chas does make very good points. A bigger screen doesn't necessarily mean that the text or pictures will be larger. There'd be MORE text, perhaps, but the size of the text on other, larger phones is pretty comparable to the iPhone, and with a lower dpi, it's fuzzier. Now if Apple was to make a larger iPhone screen with the same res as the existing iPhone, then the text would be larger, but then what's the point, really? This ultimately is an experience directed solely at people with failing eyesight who don't or won't wear corrective lenses. And guess what? Apple ALREADY has you covered! You can zoom in now. Seriously... pinch and zoom. Text is bigger! And guess what else you can do? Adjust the text size in the Accessibility options! Or just wear reading glasses. It literally will make your iPhone look bigger. Problem solved.

P.S. I like "expensive" sunglasses too. Have since I was 19 when I found out how much better the lenses really are. I'm very fussy with sunglass frames due to my own sensitivities to light "leaking" in from the sides and even to the fit on my face. I've been wearing Maui Jim's Typhoons for years now and they literally are the only sunglasses I can even tolerate wearing today.

 

[Groovetube]

are you saying that with the retina display things will get fuzzier should the screen size be slightly larger resulting in slightly larger text sizes? I'm not convinced.

One of my big(ger) issues is using the keyboard in landscape mode. It's too dam squished and on top of my need reading glasses everytime I look at my phone, I'll need to file down my thumbs.

As much as this needs to be all my fault, I'm a large demographic, and why should I have to put up and not say something?

I'm annoyed at having to use reading glasses to use my phone, and I'm annoyed at having to pinch zoom everything, and scroll sideways every line to read. And it's my right to say so. I don't mean to upset anyone who wants to make it my fault, it just is. I'll keep using iphones as long as nothing else runs iOS.

signed, grumpy old man.

 

[dtravis7]

LB, Wow just tried the Accessibility options. Is that new in IOS6? Never check in IOS5. That is cool.

 

[Stretch]

LB, Wow just tried the Accessibility options. Is that new in IOS6? Never check in IOS5. That is cool.

Accessibility was at least in iOS 5. Not sure about prior to that. I had to use the on screen home button when the home button on my 4 died.

 

[dtravis7]

Accessibility was at least in iOS 5. Not sure about prior to that. I had to use the on screen home button when the home button on my 4 died.

Thanks! I can't believe I missed that one!