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.”

The man who never had an iPhone!

“If you don’t have an iPhone, then you don’t have an iPhone!” – says Apple.

And unfortunately, that’s the story of my life, so far.

Not that my life has ended. By no means. So, as a matter of fact, I may still get a shot at this spectacular piece of technological marvel of our age.

But then, it’s entirely up to Apple.

As has been the case with most men of my generation, I started out with dumb phones (no offence to those big brickish Nokia phones - that’s all we had got those days), gradually progressed to semi-smart ones (mostly walkman and camera phones from Sony Ericsson and Nokia) and finally graduated to the top of the league smart phones.

Right through this journey though, I had always secretly nurtured this desire of owning an iPhone.

Fast forward to 2013, by now I have already experienced the best of the offerings from almost every maker who has ventured into our country (there are not too many who haven’t – who on earth can afford to ignore an alluring market like India?), but somehow, the iPhone has still remained elusive for me.

Meanwhile, Apple did manage to find its way into my private space through its offerings like the iPod and the iPad and I must admit that I absolutely adore them.

Then what could be the reason that has kept the iPhone out of my reach? Following are a few of them for starters:

Size, this is the age of Phablets. The merger of phones and tablets has not entirely materialized out of whims and fancies of a few modern age manufacturers, it has also come into existence out of necessities of today's generation. It’s all about the convenience of carrying a single gadget instead of two at a time. When Samsung released the first iteration of its Galaxy Note, people raised their eyebrows. But its roaring success not only silenced its critics but also paved way for the entry of what we see today in abundance, a distinct category called the "Phablets". And Apple falls woefully short here. Apple's age-old philosophy of one-handed use of phone has managed to keep many a prospective buyers like me at bay. It has adamantly stuck to that tiny 4-inch screen at a time when most of the successful phones of the present day are pushing 5 or 6 inches.

Android vs IOS: Well, in my case I already use IOS in my iPad. But I personally prefer android not due to any technical reason, but due to the simple fact that it gives me more options. I click pictures, shoot high definition videos and load a lot of stuffs in my android phone, which allows me to stream all these contents directly to my smart TV via my WiFi network. Also, from the comfort of my couch, it helps me watch a movie or a video stored in my media player, hard drive or my laptop. Android helps me do all these and much more, IOS doesn't. Well, you can still tweak your settings a bit and get some stuffs done, but the fact remains that IOS simply wouldn't allow you that freedom.

Free contents and Apps: This is self explanatory. IOS forces you to buy everything from iTunes stores, which despite of having a larger amount of contents, pales in comparison to Google play when it comes to free contents. Not everybody’s cup of tea this, but I love android for its flexibility.

Last week, Apple launched iPhone 5S with the same design as its predecessor. And in doing so, it has shown no signs of any changes in its stand point. It is certainly not considering to increase its screen real estate anytime soon. Understandably so.Why pose any sort of competition at all (however small) to its own iPad and iPad mini which are vastly successful? Rather, to boost up its declining sales, it has come out with a cheaper iPhone (iPhone 5C) with a plastic body. I don’t necessarily agree with this strategy, for, many people I know have waited for a bigger iPhone with baited breath, not a cheaper one. And they will have to keep waiting.

I'm just one of them. Is Apple listening?