The same week Apple introduces the iPhone 4S, the computing world suffers a huge loss with the passing of the Apple founder, Steve Jobs.
Innovation the Steve Jobs way was done with 3 characteristics: Passion, purpose and simplicity. All of these mantras are what define Jobs, Apple and their products. It is embedded in the Apple culture and management and what defines the company.
A day before the passing of Jobs, Apple had its usual iPhone event called “Let’s talk iPhone”. The event was the first in which Tim Cook took to the stage being CEO of Apple. The event was not the razz matazz of a typical Apple event but it still had some very big announcements.
If Apple imagery seen during the “Let’s talk iPhone event” is to be believed then the entire iPod classic range got retired as there was no announcement made about it. The iPod nano and iPod touch all got a few updates. The nano has been given some new watch displays as users have put watch straps around their iPod nanos to make it even more functional. The iPod touch has been seen for a while as an iPhone without GSM functionality. Well Apple took the hint and has for the 5th Generation iPod touch line introduced a white version. The 8GB, 32GB and 64GB have all been made available in two colors (Black and White). This ensures that the iPhone 4, 4S, iPad 2 and iPod Touch are now uniform in this regard.
There has been widespread unhappiness about the fact that the iPhone 5 was not announced. It confirms a classic Apple trait, which is, that they do listen to their customers but do not implement all of their suggestions until they are ready.
The powerful iPhone 4S, jam packed with great new features such as Apple’s dual-core A5 chip for super fast performance and spectacular graphics; a superior camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and Siri, a forward thinking aid that helps you get things done by simply asking. If Siri sounds familiar (and no it is not Tom Cruises daughter I am referring to) it can be seen to be very similar to Google’s voice search found on Android devices.
Together with the iPhone 4S launch, were the announcements of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, iOS 5 with over 200 new features; and iCloud, the highly advanced set of free cloud services that work with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content in iCloud and pull it to all your devices. The Apple users in the United States have an added feature called iTunes Match which will be a beta.
If you want the benefits of iTunes in the Cloud for music you haven’t purchased from iTunes, iTunes Match is the perfect solution. It’s built right into the iTunes app on your Mac or PC and the Music app on your iOS devices. And it lets you store your entire collection, including music you’ve imported from CDs or purchased somewhere other than iTunes. For just $24.99 a year.
The fact that all of the iPhone 4S updates are largely software related makes them almost impossible to copy by competitors. Add to this the deep integration with Twitter and the new cards app that allow the creation of postcards from photos that are found on the iPhone. It all leads to a device that is at the centre of the user’s life.
I think the other massive improvement on the iPhone 4S is the camera. Apple has thrown the gauntlet to other manufacturers though the 8 Megapixel camera which is a game changer. Add to that the ability to edit photos on the device then the iPhone 4S becomes almost like a point and shoot digital camera.
Put all three of these together and you get a “breakthrough combination” as Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing says. “While our competitors try to imitate iPhone with a checklist of features, only iPhone can deliver these breakthrough innovations that work seamlessly together.”
I end off with a quote from Steve Jobs during the now legendary Stanford commencement speech June 2005
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” RIP Steve Jobs, 1955-2011.
