When looking at the current mobile market, I somehow can’t escape the feeling, that there is a certain amount of hypocriticsm around. Judging by press releases, journalistic reviews and user reports, it seems as if people are avoiding a certain part of a topic. Like an illigitimate child not wanting to admit it’s heritage.
This avoidance is the iPhone, or Apple for that matter. Consider the facts: Back when Apple announced the iPhone, there were bold statements from Nokia and the like, claiming they would release similar devices soon. They almost insisted that there was nothing special about the iPhone’s technology. Then, not unlike a flood, a huge amount of iPhone look-a-likes were rushed to the market. They all failed either due to a half-baked operating system, lack of serious applications and sub-par touch technology. Now, almost two years after Apple announced the iPhone, there’s still no ‘iPhone Killer’ around. There’re, however, strong competitors which slowly get there – like the HTC Touch HD or the Blackberry Storm.
The funny thing is, that the whole area of touch-screen phones didn’t even exist prior to the iPhone. Apple basically created a new type of phone, one that, as I’d wager, wouldn’t ever have evolved sans Apple. This is still noticeable, when taking a detailed look at current iPhone competitors. Most include a browser with Pan / Zoom mechanisms, they all include weather or stock widgets, the text entry system has been copied as well. From a abstract perspective, they’re all downright similar to the iPhone, they just vary regarding hardware and interface graphics. This goes as far as the new Blackberry Storm, that seems to have been designed based on the very iPhone interface – at least when you judge by their marketing material.
Now take a closer look at the media surrounding these iPhone-look-alikes. Take for example this review of the HTC Touch HD. The reviewer concludes with the statement, that “HTC just needs to get rid of the Microsoft operating system under the beautiful surface and move to Google Android instead. Then it would probably be the perfect touch-screen mobile phone.” Or browse the countless reviews of other phones. They mostly mention the iPhone as a sort of enfant terrible, reluctantly comparing it to the tested device. And if they compare, the downright biased hope, that the device in question might trump the iPhone, is more than visible.
I think this is due to a very specific problem a lot of these reviewers and users have. They grew up with PC’s, they learned to use Windows by themselves, they’re not only accustomed to the PC world, but they managed to understand it by exploration. It’s like a small secret, one discovered while being on a trip. It might not be big, or beautiful, but there’s a certain amount of proudness involved. These people feel just that way for the Windows and PC world. The old dichotomy between Apple and Microsoft moreover forced them to take sides – Criticizing and even deriding Apple’s decisions.
Now however, there’s a whole industry following Apple. Nokia, HTC, Samsung, Microsoft, Google or Sony. They all copy Apple’s ideas. This leads to a major cognitive dissonance for everyone, who has been busy ignoring Apple in the past. They suddenly can’t but accept, that their old opinions were wrong. But they don’t, they simply blind the iPhone out. Ignoring it.
The sad truth is, that people still act as if the iPhone is nothing special, while intensively copying the iPhone and it’s applications behind their backs. And this results in situations, where people buy hardware (like HTC Diamond) because they ignore to admit that the iPhone is not only better, but actually the parent, or even very archetype of their device.
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