This week, tweets and statuses about the iPhone 5 flooded the Web, decrying a universal craving. It’s official: the iPhone 4S is now far inferior to a phone that hasn’t even been released. The iPhone 4S might as well have turned itself in to the Elusive Dinosaur Collection of Technology at the first sign of its 4G LTE incapability.
The question is, how bad do people really need it? I have an iPhone 4S. I can call on Siri any time I can’t or simply don’t want to remember something for myself and I will be the first to admit it has taken my occasional bouts of laziness to new (and more frequent) levels.
It’s the dichotomous cursed blessing of technology. One minute we are praising the technology gods for the previously unfathomable creations and the next we are cursing these miracles as if they owe something to us. At an alarming rate these amazing pieces of technology become sources of frustration because “they aren’t good enough.”
The day of the iPhone 5 release, the Wall Street Journal published an article complaining — yes, it more or less complained — about how new iPhone 5 users must also buy new accessories to support the device, including a new charger, or “lightning connector” as Apple fans call it. Had I bought a phone for myself I probably would have found this to be annoying, but I didn’t, and instead found this complaint to be annoying. What really is the big deal about spending an extra $19 to $39 alongside an already $300 purchase?
That’s not even the biggest issue. Apple has been selling phones for high prices and accessories that fail after a given time period for quite some time now. It’s an intentional form of manufacturing and every Apple consumer perpetuates the problem. We did it to ourselves, people.
And there is a bigger issue even still. Might I remind you that, while we here in America are fortunate enough to own technology that is truly miraculous, there are people across the Atlantic fighting for their liberation while facing both political and religious pushback. Today, few people born in America have ever had to experience that, but I understand. Complaining about slow download times while trying to access leisure activities such as Facebook, Twitter or Angry Birds is a good use of time and absolutely justifies splurging on a 4G network. Not.
With that being said, those who purchased the iPhone 5 should enjoy it. But with your new, phenomenal technology, remember to have Siri remind you what’s important every once in a while.
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