Apple Event 2015 : Why I felt a bit let down

May be my expectations are a bit too high. May be I am a little unreasonable. Or, may be, I'm just over-reacting.

But for me, last week, the Apple Event left a lot to be desired. Not that I was expecting a whole lot of revolutionary products to be announced. This year, thanks to the routine leaks that by now are pretty standard into the run up of the actual event, we all knew what to expect. This years' iterations of iPhones were only expected to come with marginal improvements. The iPad Pro, after repeated deferment, was expected to be launched, but apart from the speculations on its size, nothing much was known. IOS 9 had already been announced earlier this year.

The only real deal was the overhaul of the Apple TV. A major upgrade was expected to this product, that had last seen a sort of a touch up during 2013. With the market place dominated by streaming devices like Roku, Amazon Fire and Google Chromecast, Apple was expected to come out with some break-through features that would swing the demand in its favor, gaming being just one of them.

What we saw on the D-day though was too little and too late from Apple. Here is my take on why there was nothing to be excited about the announcements:

• The iPad Pro: Well, no denying, this is the most powerful tablet device on earth. And it looks stunning like every other product from Apple. And undoubtedly, many developers out there would be truly excited to utilize that huge screen. But my issue is, where exactly are they going to position this product? With the growing size, the portability factor is starting to be compromised.And I don't see it replacing laptops either, even with the smart key board. And that stylus called Apple Pencil makes me feel that Apple just threw the last bit of Job's philosophy out of the window! Jobs, while introducing the original iPhone, had said, "Who wants a stylus? Nobody wants a stylus!" And today we are talking about all the great features on the Apple Pencil. The pressure sensitiveness, the tilt, the easy-to-use natural feel and what not. But the fact remains that Apple just did a Samsung here. The iPad Pro, however, in my understanding could be used as a great product for media consumption with the gorgeous display and the four speakers.

• The iPhone 6s and 6s plus: Absolutely nothing out of routine here. We knew what was coming our way and it did. The camera was bumped up to 12 mega-pixels, RAM to 2 GB and the processor to A9. And thanks to the bend gate, the current iteration is now strengthened and is therefore a bit heavier. And it can do 4K now. The force touch feature from last year's Mac Books, makes an appearance here as the 3-D touch technology. That's about it.

• Apple TV: Apple did overhaul some of the features of this box, but there is nothing, with the exception of gaming, that other media streaming boxes can't do at this moment. It doesn't do 4K. And I really don't think the games that Apple TV is going to come up with will exactly set fire in the gaming industry. At best they would be pretty basic. It certainly is not going to compete against the big bad world of gaming consoles. Then what's the point? Unlike other streaming boxes, Apple TV won't allow you to steam your personal digital collection from your hard drive, only, Plex could come to your rescue here. Netflix and Hulu are not available in India, so that's another restriction one has to deal with. The show on the Keynote, I thought was a bit elementary. You can't show the current generation how to shop on an app on a TV! Who does that? Nobody. The touch remote was cool though. And the Siri feature on it that pulls out your favorite movie and show was superb. Overall, the box, as a product could still work if Apple does come out with that much anticipated subscription service quickly.

But overall, we saw Apple coming out with nothing original, nothing break through and nothing revolutionary. And that to me is so un-Apple like.

iPhone 6 Plus - Where my tech-quest achieves nirvana

“You don’t choose the iPhone, the iPhone chooses you.”

I take no credit for finally owning this spectacular piece of breath-taking craft. This was destined to happen ever since Steve Jobs conceived the very idea inside his head and was only a matter of time before my wish list met Apple’s viewpoint. It's only ironic that it was the man's philosophy of "one-handed use (of phone)" that had kept buyers like me at bay for so long.

Circa 2013, already spoiled by the giant displays of the ubiquitous android phones, I was dreading the very idea of sizing down to a smaller handset, in case I did opt for a full-fledged plunge into the Apple-ecosystem, iPhone being the only device missing from my collection. And I was hoping, Apple would notice the visible shift in user-interest towards larger screens. My hope didn't last long. Unperturbed by market expectations, Apple went ahead and released yet another 4 inch phone, the iPhone 5s. Frustrated, dismayed and disgruntled at Apple’s adamant fixation on beautiful yet tiny screen devices, I had all but resigned to my fate of spending an entire life-time without ever owning an iPhone. (Refer my last post “The man who never had an iPhone”).

Things finally changed last fall. Apple at last decided to play the catch up game and I got what I wanted. While both iPhone and iPhone plus were large enough, I went as big as I could and got myself the iPhone 6 Plus. Today, after a period of over ten blissful months with my prized possession, I have come to a conclusion that unless they tell me their new phone could teleport me to another planet, I’ve got no reason to look beyond what I have got.

Bewildered by the numerous technical reviews splashed all over the web, many people I know, were looking for an unbiased view of a layman iPhone user, so here I’m,  capturing my first few months’ experience with the best piece of gadget that I have ever owned, thus far. And I’ve owned quite a few of them.

The retina display

So what do I like about this iPhone so much? Well, pretty much everything. Having used the top-notch Galaxy S series and the Xperia Z series and the Galaxy Note series and the not-so-premium Nokia series and the erstwhile Ericsson series, I can tell you that none of the above experiences come even close to that of holding and fiddling and caressing an iPhone. It feels sleek yet sturdy in your hand with the all metal aesthetics oozing class. The rounded edges and the trademark seamless glass-metal transition completes the visual treat. Fire up the screen and you are greeted with that ever so familiar retina display that presents you the world on your palm in crystal clear clarity. Well, I am aware that iPhone has only 401 ppi (1920X1080) compared to Sony Xperia Z5 that boasts of a whopping 806 ppi (3840X2160), but who needs 4K resolution on a tiny screen? Being an AV enthusiast, even after so many years I’m yet to notice lack of those extra pixels in my giant 55 inch screen HD TV, in naked eye that is, leave alone a tiny 5.5 inch phone.

(N.B. For the record - if my family is reading this - I’m not messing with our bank account or bedroom space by getting that 65 inch 4K TV, so please don’t worry. If at all that happens, it would be a case of the 4K TV choosing me and not the other way round. And like always I would claim no credit for that either.)

Coming to the 8-megapixel camera, compared with those 13, 16 and 23 megapixel ones sported by rival manufacturers, don’t fool yourselves, I’m yet to see a phone that captures better picture than the iPhone 6 plus. Well, the iPhone 6S and 6S plus are set to debut with 13 mega pixel cameras, if the rumor mills are to be believed, but that alone doesn’t justify an upgrade as of now.

When I first started using iPad it had brought about a paradigm shift in how I looked at internet browsing. So much so that I almost stopped using my laptop or computer altogether, unless it was for off-line stuffs. Here was an all-in-one device that kept me abreast of news, entertainment, social media and to a large extent even books & magazines. It became an integral part of my day-to-day life. This was also the time when I was using my large screen android smart phones, which undoubtedly i liked. But none of these devices came even close to threatening my iPad, primarily due to the unbelievably smooth experience that IOS provided, the classy Apple hardware being the icing on the cake. The sheer joy of zipping through web pages, apps and games on a neat interface is something that no android device has ever achieved. Hence I would always use my iPad for all purpose except when I wanted to make a call. But when I was not carrying my iPad my android phones would do just fine albeit that inevitable scaled down feel of their comparatively scratchy interface.

My kid examining the iPhone & the iPad

But all that changed the moment I got my iPhone 6 plus. It effortlessly carried out all the tasks that were hitherto shared jointly by my iPad and my Xperia Z & Galaxy Note and before I realized, it quickly slipped into the slot of being my No.1 device. Now, any gadget that has the ability to make my iPad gather dust on my shelf has to be pretty special. Mind you, here we are talking about the new iPad Air 2 - I had upgraded to this iteration immediately after getting my iPhone more out of curiosity than necessity (also to match the gold color of my iPhone) - and not any other 1st generation random tab. Need I say more? 

To round things off, my iPhone provides me close to two days of battery life. That's commendable, given the heavy duty user that I am - the only exception being the absence of my official mails in there - It allows me to effortlessly stream YouTube to my Giant LG web OS screen, to watch a movie from the comfort of my couch, albeit the one-time effort of setting up a Plex server that streams my huge digital media library and last but not the least, to shoot amazing photos leaving my digital point and shoot camera almost worthless. 

Contrary to popular belief, an iPhone is nothing about status symbol, neither is it a gadget that you would go around displaying with unabashed pride - that is reserved for Samsung with all those funky party tricks - For me it’s about making myself comfortable, content and blissful. It has blended so well into my life that I can’t even remember what it was like when I didn’t have one.

And my final words on owning the iPhone? Here you go!

“You don’t own the iPhone, the iPhone owns you.”

Guys! Just leave Virat Kohli alone, for heaven's sake!

Amid an unexpectedly exhilarating test series, notwithstanding the current score-line that tends to suggest otherwise, Indian cricket has indeed witnessed the emergence of a brand new facet of combative leadership in form of its new age hero, Virat Kohli. Arguably the most promising young cricketer of the present generation, Virat, armed with a magnetic persona, an on-your-face attitude and a no-nonsense approach has managed to bring in this refreshing and much needed ruthlessness into the Indian side, that had hitherto humiliatingly suffered in the hands of its more aggressive oppositions time and again, on almost all overseas tours, despite possessing better skill-sets and the best of talents.

At the start of the series when most experts had predicted another 4-0 white-wash, if today we stand at 0-2 (that so easily could have read 1-1 or even 2-0 in our favor with a little bit of luck), a super-aggressive Virat Kohli has a lot to do with it.

Dhoni's retirement under mysterious circumstances, might have taken the focus temporarily away from this Delhi lad, ever so slightly, but there are enough experts out there, busy bombarding a flurry of advices upon him, justifying why his aggression could lead to his eventual down fall, so he should mellow down as soon and as much as possible in order to keep succeeding at this level.

Virat Down Under

Sanjay Manjrekar wants him to let his bat do all the talking as he believes only skills win matches and not aggression. Sanjay likes Pujara’s response more when greeted with sledging. That is, just ignore and go about the job on hand. Sunil Gavaskar repeatedly keeps mocking at Virat’s statement that India would go after whatever target is set. Sarda Ugra reminds Kohli of what Sachin had once said, “Cricket is played not with passion, but with awareness!” (Though I think the choice of words in her article ‘passion’ for ‘josh’ & ‘awareness’ for ‘hosh’ don’t completely do justice to what she meant to convey). Harsha Bhogle too, talking of attitude, prefers the good boy Pujara more than the spoilt brat Kohli. For him cricket is literally the age old gentle man’s game with no room for temper. If the opposition plays the aggressor, good luck to them, we would just smile and get on with our job, however ridiculous it appears. Pretty similar thoughts to Sanjay.

Ignoring all these uproars though, Virat meanwhile has sledged, led, battled and gloriously batted his way past records after records, that were earlier associated with all-time greats around the world. And the good news is, he has done so without making the slightest alteration in his approach.

At Adelaide, it was heartening to see his refreshing approach. The thought of going after a target in excess of 300 on a fifth day pitch would have crossed no other Indian captain’s mind, but Virat is different. He demonstrated that he doesn't mind risk losing a game in order to achieve victory. Not only did he ask his team to go full blooded for the win, he himself led from front by smashing a hugely entertaining yet responsible hundred and almost managed to cross the line for his side. Here is someone who not only talks about ruthlessness, but also walks the talk.

That verbal duel

Now then, why are these experts so much averse to Virat’s approach, despite of acknowledging the fact that he is our best bet to take us to that thus far elusive overseas success? I believe, the answer lies in our mind-set.

No offence to anyone, but we Indians are obsessed with this typical modest, soft spoken, genial understated mannerism for ages. This has got a lot to do with the success of gentlemen cricketers like Sachin, Dravid and Laxman over the past couple of decades. We have been so overwhelmed by these cricketers that we won’t approve of any other approach which we haven’t seen these players adopt.

Over the years, while we’ve taken great pleasure in enjoying a fiery spell of a Wasim or a Shoalb or a McGrath or the swagger of the great Viv Richards, notwithstanding the stuffs that was not entirely skills, we have never come in terms with a similar approach from an Indian.

But that is past. And what we see in Virat is the present India. Gone are the days when a Sachin would just nod to a mouthful from a McGrath. Today’s generation would settle the score there itself.

Coming back to Kohli, he is a naturally passionate guy who gets even more switched on when confronted with verbal duels. That's working for him. Why try and change it? He has fortunately found some support in Ravi Shastri, the team director, who is willing to back Kohli's natural instinct. Sourav Ganguly, Dean Jones and Viv Richards too have all endorsed his approach.

Why can’t we just leave him alone?