Why does Apple only make 1 phone?

Robbo · 8 Jan 2013 at 22:59

shine said:
Sometimes I think there is a general misunderstanding of the word innovation. Apple are not always at the cutting edge of technology but they are able to design new methods to make the current technology work far more impressively than the rest of the market. The hardware may not be innovative but it's how they used it.

Tablets and phones are the best examples both of these were around long before Apple but they were able to put them together in a way that made them far more useful to the average person than any other company.

Yep. Claiming that Apple aren't innovative is quite simply incorrect. They are arguably the most innovative company in their respective fields by quite some distance when you think about it.

They tend to make one big leap with a product category (iPod, iPhone, iPad for example) and then evolve it at a steady pace. That's how they choose to do it and they tend to do a fairly good job.

I don't think they need to offer a single identical iPhone with different screen sizes. It just wouldn't seem right. One handed use is an important consideration when it comes to a phone (remember, it's a phone) and the Android manufacturers tend to not concern themselves with that. They only offer one size when they release a new phone as well.

For example, the Galaxy Mini is basically a rubbish version of the flagship, larger Galaxy phone that exists at the time. It's not a proper alternative. The only situation where this is the case is the Galaxy Note II against the Galaxy S III... and the Note II is pushing it for a phone.

PardonTheWait · 8 Jan 2013 at 23:07

spoffle said:
Apple aren't innovative though.

They've changed the technology market enormously and every other company follows them (don't try and say it's not true, because if you're honest you'll know that it absolutely is).

Like them or not, they are an innovative company, hugely so.

Destination · 8 Jan 2013 at 23:23

Mr-White said:
It's like giving credit to designing the first wheel for making an alloy.

MW

No its making an alloy and using it to,copyright the wheel, and then sueing any other tyre, wheel or cart drivers.

Morfik · 8 Jan 2013 at 23:54

Ignoring the 4 and 4S as they're just old models they do make multiple iPads, iPods MacBooks, iMacs so it's highly likely we'll see varieties of iPhones now they've established their product. The others all took time to appear (I realise the iPad has been around or less time).

spoffle · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:01

PardonTheWait said:
They've changed the technology market enormously and every other company follows them (don't try and say it's not true, because if you're honest you'll know that it absolutely is).

Like them or not, they are an innovative company, hugely so.

Well not really, they take existing technology and then work out a way to make people feel like they need to have that product.

They don't really "do" anything new, so I wouldn't say they do "innovate" which should really be reserved for building upon existing technology with real tangible benefits, rather than marketing existing (near enough off the shelf parts) technology as something new and special, then screaming about how they invented it and everyone is copying them.

Apple are stiffing innovation, so how can they be innovative at the same time?

spoffle · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:02

Hikari Kisugi said:
No its making an alloy and using it to,copyright the wheel, and then sueing any other tyre, wheel or cart drivers.

This was my point about them not being innovative, as this is generally what they do. With Apple it's generally form over function (and I'm not saying that it's necessarily a bad thing), but with that they try to make things look appealing and in the process seem to delude themselves in to thinking that they've then invented that.

Caged · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:09

By your definition what companies in the consumer electronics space are innovating?

spoffle · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:13

Caged said:
By your definition what companies in the consumer electronics space are innovating?

Why is this relevant? For me to say that apple isn't innovating, do I have to mean that others are?

The innovation in this sector is generally with the companies developing the internals that power these devices, which really is very similar across different handsets/devices.

ARM for example, are doing a very good job with innovation with the leaps they've been making with mobile performance.

Caged · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:19

Where are you seeing the innovation in the internals? Faster SoCs, more cores etc achieved by shrinking processes by your own rules don't count as innovation.

Apple moved away from removable laptop batteries with the Unibody MacBook Pros in favour of lithium-polymer technology in order to not be constrained by the wasted space inherent in having to package batteries in round cells, is this not an innovative move?

I'm massively confused by your definition of innovation, it seems that unless something new is discovered or invented then no innovation has occurred.

Raymond Lin · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:37

Innovation? How about doing something that change the market.

A picture speak a thousand words. Before and after iPhone. No other phone has changed the market like it.

Caged · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:43

Haha, I still can't believe the N-Gage was a thing.

spoffle · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:54

Raymond Lin said:
Innovation? How about doing something that change the market.

A picture speak a thousand words. Before and after iPhone. No other phone has changed the market like it.

That's not because of the iPhone or Apple. There were phones before the iPhone that fit in with your picture. For example the LG Prada.

Caged · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:55

Awesome, and you claim that people who buy Apple products are deluded

The deluge of touchscreen slabs didn't happen as a reaction to the LG Prada. It happened because one company managed to do smartphones the right way. The Prada was a bag of crap.

iamtheoneneo · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:56

Raymond Lin said:
Innovation? How about doing something that change the market.

A picture speak a thousand words. Before and after iPhone. No other phone has changed the market like it.

A massively subjective picture that gets banded around sites like reddit because chumps dont know any better.

they changed the scene but not in the way that picture even remotely suggests.

Caged · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:57

You're right, it was a coincidence. Let's just ignore the long history of Windows Mobile touchscreen devices that nobody felt they needed to get in on. You can't pretend that if the iPhone hadn't happened that the industry would look a lot different.

Raymond Lin · 9 Jan 2013 at 01:06

spoffle said:
That's not because of the iPhone or Apple. There were phones before the iPhone that fit in with your picture. For example the LG Prada.

Except he LG Prada and LG Chocolate sucked as a phone.

No, the design isn't unique, I have a Sony Clie but the iPhone changed the market after it. The touchscreen on every other phone right up until the Galaxy feels wrong for a start. They made touchscreen actually a joy to use.

iamtheoneneo said:
A massively subjective picture that gets banded around sites like reddit because chumps dont know any better.

Well, I look forward to be enlighten with your knowledge on how another product REALLY changed the scene of the phone market if it wasn't the iPhone.

hyperst · 9 Jan 2013 at 02:54

I remember my first touch screen Samsung phone, horrid thing that was, compared to an iphone

spoffle · 9 Jan 2013 at 03:32

Caged said:
Awesome, and you claim that people who buy Apple products are deluded

The deluge of touchscreen slabs didn't happen as a reaction to the LG Prada. It happened because one company managed to do smartphones the right way. The Prada was a bag of crap.

You're the first person in this thread to say deluded... :confused:

Are we in the same conversation?

Raymond Lin said:
Except he LG Prada and LG Chocolate sucked as a phone.

No, the design isn't unique, I have a Sony Clie but the iPhone changed the market after it. The touchscreen on every other phone right up until the Galaxy feels wrong for a start. They made touchscreen actually a joy to use.

Well, I look forward to be enlighten with your knowledge on how another product REALLY changed the scene of the phone market if it wasn't the iPhone.

Well that's not what you were saying now was it?

"A picture speak a thousand words. Before and after iPhone. No other phone has changed the market like it."

You implied (quite strongly) that phones look like that now because of the iPhone.

There were multiple phones prior to the iPhone that looked like that.

There isn't really much variation on a fully touch screen device now is there?

Where does "is actually good" fit in to things in that image?

bertles86 · 9 Jan 2013 at 06:35

iPhone 1 = innovative

Every iPhone after that = not so innovative

Raymond Lin · 9 Jan 2013 at 06:56

spoffle said:
You're the first person in this thread to say deluded...

Are we in the same conversation?

Well that's not what you were saying now was it?

"A picture speak a thousand words. Before and after iPhone. No other phone has changed the market like it."

You implied (quite strongly) that phones look like that now because of the iPhone.

There were multiple phones prior to the iPhone that looked like that.

There isn't really much variation on a fully touch screen device now is there?

Where does "is actually good" fit in to things in that image?

The fact that the iPhone changed the way the market design its phone. The fact that we are talking about it and no one really is really suggesting the market went for touch screen because of the LG Prada...