Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
The rumor mills seem to be running overtime in cranking out news Apple iPad related. This includes the name for the device (iPad 3? How original), specifications (faster, smaller, bigger) and release dates (tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, never).
I have always found these sort of rumors fun to watch as history has shown that beyond the occasional Apple employee in need of a beer, 99% of these rumors seem to come out of nowhere and disappear into the same place. It has really become quite the industry, and one that I could only guess Apple approves of as it keeps the brand at the top of search engine results year round without having to spend a dime or lift a finger. Good gig if you can get it.
It’s with this that we discuss the latest iPad device, which most expect to be unveiled in the coming weeks. Apple, which basically resurrected the tablet market from the ashes that remained of previous attempts to bring such devices to market, is now in the position of dictating terms of what those devices will be.
Following the launch of the original iPad in 2010, a flood of device makers rushed to market with similar slabs sporting in most cases similar specifications to what Apple was producing. This was most evident at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, where it seemed just about every company in attendance had an iPad clone to show off even if most of those clones never made it out of the factory.
For its latest expected iteration, most rumors seem to indicate that Apple is planning some basic tweaks to hardware that should result in something a bit faster, a bit clearer and maybe something that comes in more than one size. This is in no way to downplay such updates, but haven’t we come to expect more from Apple?
A faster processor? A “clearer” screen? Different sizes?
Where is the “revolution” Apple? Where is the game-changing innovation? Where is that one thing you do so well that makes both carriers and other devices makers quake in their bunny slippers?
Perhaps Apple is sort of running out room in which to shock and awe us with in both the tablet and smartphone space, at least when it comes to hardware specifications. There are now a litany of 10-inch tablet devices sporting similar shapes and hardware specifications to the current iPad.
Sure, Apple could, as is being rumored, come out with a smaller device in the 8-inch screen size, but that would only appear to copy what is already out there. And as Apple showed with its initial iPad, it’s not really in the copying business. Heck, thanks to the folks over at Samsung, there are now “tablet” devices sporting just about every conceivable screen size from 5-inches on up. I guess Apple could go crazy and start taking in the half-inch sizes, or better yet, go metric. Instead of calling it a 10-inch screen, just go with labeling it a 25-centimeter screen.
Maybe this is the chance for Apple to change the name of its tablet device to something with more pizzazz, or at least something friendlier to certain markets.
Some may claim that Apple is really not at fault here, as the industry has simply caught up to what the company has been doing for years, while others will note that most of this is driven by the rumor mills proclaiming advances that are just not in line with reality.
I can see those points, but would add that all of this is really Apple’s doing in that once a company sets a certain expectation, it is normal for people to continue to expect that degree of innovation to continue at a similar rate.
Of course, none of this really matters in the retail space at the moment as it seems Apple could simply slap a new name onto just about any device and people will line up with wallets open to purchase said device. Good gig if you can get it.
So, what of the next iPad? Well, since I am still one of the 13 people on earth that does not understand the appeal of such a device to begin with, I am hoping that whatever Apple unveils includes either a dragon or a unicorn. Embed one of those two mythical creatures into the device, preferably into the name, and the number of doubters will be cut by one.
Worse comes to worse, Apple can always tap a new pitchman.
OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:
—T-Mobile USA unveiled plans to yet again reinvent itself in the market place from a carrier that has awesome advertising that for some reason scares customers away to a carrier that has awesome advertising and manages to keep customers. Interesting concept.
I know we need to cut T-Mo some slack seeing that it was all tied up in that AT&T fiasco for most of last year, but looking ahead is there really reasons to be optimistic?
Sprint Nextel went/is going through a similar transition as we speak, but still has a lot of room to make up before its plan can be considered successful. Having the iPhone helps, but don’t tell that to the bean counters.
T-Mo for its part is looking into copying Sprint Nextel’s playbook, with updated network technology designed to allow for at least the beginnings of an LTE deployment, positioning itself as the value play in the space and taping into MVNOs to help fund operations. Sure, this might work once if Sprint Nextel can pull it off, but is there room in the mobile space for this to happen twice?
–I often talk to no one in particular about the good old days when push-to-talk services ruled the marketing airwaves and stuck out as the only differentiator in the voice-centric mobile industry.
Well, it looks like those days may not be numbered as AT&T this week rolled out a suite of “enhanced” PTT services for its oft-forgotten PTT service. The details of the enhancements mostly entail interoperability across networks, which is a worthwhile “enhancement,” but I am just delighted that someone took the time to even acknowledge the existence of PTT services.
Will whatever these enhancements really provide alter the mobile landscape? Doubtful. But at least my way-back machine won’t have to travel so far way back to glean some memories.
—Connected World Magazine (who knew?) released its list of 2012’s most connected cars, which sadly did not include the Chevrolet Volt, which can literally be connected through a power cord. Literally.
The publication highlighted an interesting list of criteria it looked at in considering this year’s winner(s), including: “safety,” which it describes as “mobile syncing, audible text messaging, crash avoidance, blind-spot detection;” ability to access the vehicle using a smartphone; embedded traffic and navigation features (not just its ability for the driver to cause traffic jams by playing with their smartphone); its ability to connect to other cars (is that something we really want? Skynet anyone?); embedded infotainment features delivered in a distraction-free manner (not sure that is really possible); and Web and social media connectivity (what the!?!)
This year’s winners included the Ford Focus, Chrysler 300, Cadillac XTS and Audi A8.
This year’s losers? Humanity.
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