Thoughts on the iPhone 5

Ok, so its finally been announced. After months of speculations, rumour-hunting and anticipation, the most significant invention ever has finally upgraded itself.

Personally, my iPhone controls my life. It's the only equipment that is never out of arm's reach 24 hours of the day. In fact there never has been any gadget before it came along that I turn to for (almost) everything I need. In fact, the 'i' added to the 'phone' in the name itself speaks volumes about getting a brand name right.

I think its getting to almost five years since I've been using an iPhone. My first was the iPhone 3G, followed by the iPhone 3GS, and then the iPhone 4. I resisted from upgrading to the iPhone 4S, mainly due to some personal resource constraints (albeit with a lot of self-control).

Now is the time for a double upgrade. I can't wait to get my hands on the iPhone 5. As expected, while waiting for it to materialise into my hands, I'm poring over every written word that I come across about it. And there seems to be a lot of disappointment being aired.

I'm sure that I'm not the only person to share such a deeply bonded relationship with my iPhone. Millions like me use the iPhone day in and day out without giving the slightest thought to how vital it is to their life. But like me, all of us iPhone fanatics do spend some time lovingly polishing their iPhone and sending a conscious or sub-conscious 'thank you' to the man and the organisation that made it happen.

With such high levels of intimacy that the iPhone enjoys with its owner, it is extremely difficult for Apple to upgrade it. The greatest achievement that Apple has pulled with the iPhone 5 is that it retains its familiarity and yet gets much better. As everyone probably knows by now, it is taller but not broader. That's an example of Apple's genius at work.

Compare this with the Samsung Galaxy S3, which is purportedly 'Designed for Humans', and yet is a phone that is bulky like the transistors of yore. Just having to have a larger screen doesn't give you an excuse of totally disregarding usage comfort. And people who end up buying this crap can only be termed idiotic.

Apple is extremely reluctant to change user interfaces right from start. And I applaud rather than criticise them for it. When they get something that feels just right in your gut, it should not change. The new iPhone probably feels the same in your hands, maybe better.

Then there is the argument that it lacks so many things that were expected. NFC, Wireless charging, etc.

Is the world ready for NFC yet? Apple has always been ruthless in keeping out innovations for the sake of innovations. If it won't make a real difference in making your life better, it won't be added to an Apple product. Besides, if you can transfer stuff through simple stuff like email, dropbox and iCloud over a few inches or across thousands of miles, why would you add technology bulk to be able to do that over a few feet?

Coming to wireless charging. Lumia, the joke of smartphones, seems to be having it. No wonder their phones are fat and ugly. I would much rather charge the phone with my trusted cable and do it in one fifth of the time, rather than charge it wirelessly and get it all heated up. Another useless technology that Apple has done without.

Then there are critics even of things that Apple HAS changed - the smaller connector and the Nano SIM. No one can accuse Apple of being anal about change with these two changes that they have introduced. I admit, it would be a bit of a pain to have all my docks and chargers turned redundant overnight. But with the connector, the problem is solved. And going ahead everything would eventually evolve anyway. The same is with the Nano Sim. Things get smaller. We have all moved from the Card, to the SIM, to the Micro Sim. So why not go one step ahead? The point is that these changes have made the iPhone sleeker, faster, thinner and better in every way.

The iPhone 5 has taken major steps to heighten the delight of the user. There has never been an organisation in history that keeps its product lines to the bare minimum and yet has a fan-following that borders on zealotry. At any point of time there is only one iPhone. The others are older models that are being phased out. A quick search on Samsung Smartphones in Sulekha.com gives a mindnumbing range of forty-three models. And not one of which is desirable.

For the critics, all I can say is that they had written off the iPad as impractical! And going further back into history, the Western Union Telegraph Company had sent a memo in 1877 saying, "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Seems there are a few in every era.

In case this sounds like a rant from a rat that is hopelessly being led by a pied piper, I have only one defence to present. I have used an iPhone and my life is better with it. I can't now imagine life without it. And that feeling doesn't come from merely hanging on to every word spoken by Jonathan Ive in his video or by watching the keynote address of the Apple Special Event. It comes from the smallest ways in which this gadget makes your life better. 

Apple doesn't need to say 'designed for humans'. It just needs to say, 'Here's the new iPhone'.