Last year, it was the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s. The year before it was the iPhone 4 and 4s. Now it is the iPhone 6. Another year, another iPhone, and another size. The only real question here is what happens when Apple runs out of size combinations. What happens then?
Apple recently announced the release of the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and the main advertising slogan, “bigger than bigger.”
iPhones are measured from a bottom corner to the top corner of the opposite side. The iPhone 6 is a total of 4.7 inches in dimension while the iPhone 6 Plus is 5.5 inches. The last iPhone, the iPhone 5, is a total of 4 inches.
While sometimes bigger may be better, originally the size of the iPhone was designed to comfortably fit the average person’s thumb span so that an average person would only need one hand to use the phone. However, while the new iPhone is bigger, it is not necessarily better.
In addition to being bigger, the Verizon website also advertises that the newest set of iPhones are “larger, yet dramatically thinner” and “more powerful, but remarkably power efficient.” It talks about the “all-new design,” Retina HD display, and a faster A8 chip instead of an A7 chip.
The facts of the matter are that the iPhone 6 is bigger, faster, thinner, clearer, and overall supposed to be better. Without a doubt, it can be guessed that the next iPhone, likely the iPhone 7, will also bigger or smaller, faster, clearer, and better.
We live in a society where we all need the next best thing. The newest gadget with the fastest and best option, but we forget that what we have already is still fast and a good option.
Here is a scary thought: Before June 29, 2007, the iPhone had not yet been introduced. In some ways, it is hard for all of us to even remember what it was like not to have information always instantly at our fingertips. In reality though, iPhones have only existed for seven years. Considering our lifespan, that is not that long of a time.
Despite how short of a time they have existed, iPhones are completely integrated into our culture. Everyone knows someone with an iPhone if they do not own one themselves.
I am as guilty as anyone else as I have an iPhone 5, an iPad, and a Mac, and I think it is absolutely essential for society to continually advancing and looking for better, faster ways to do things. What is important, though, is how we go about it. We do not need to have the next best thing just to have it or to run out and buy the newest iPhone just because it is “bigger” or “better.”
When Apple runs out of sizes, they are going to need to be innovative and to come up with something else truly remarkable, not just change the size and tweak the display of the same gadgets. If Apple cannot innovate, it cannot continue to be successful.
