Apple has just released the iPhone 5C, and a lot of people have observed that there are no innovative features on this new phone. The company has always been known for its innovativeness, and Apple’s first iPhone had revolutionized the world of smartphones. With each iteration, sales of the iPhone have gone up, and today Apple covers 17% of the world’s smartphones, making it the top-selling handset model.
Following the launch of the iPhone 5C, David Pogue of The New York Times said that Steve Jobs used to blow our minds with products we didn’t know we wanted. Two years since his death, new Apple phones contain nothing transformative. Yes, the handsets are sleek, colorful, powerful and fast, but these steps are only incremental. And that is something that the world doesn’t expect from Apple.
Since the Cupertino headquartered company has set the bar very high in the past, people from across the globe expect Apple to live up to that standard. Unfortunately, features of the iPhone 5C are not mindboggling. They are in fact quite similar to what other phone making companies have already incorporated into their products. Some of the best features on the new iPhones are not something Apple can proudly claim to have invented.
Here is a look at some such features, and also where Apple got its inspiration from.
iPhone 5 = iPhone 5C
Apple has discontinued the iPhone 5. However, the iPhone 5C seems to have the exact same technical specifications like the previous model. This new product has a 8MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front camera, a A6 processor, a 4 inch Retina display, and 1GB RAM. All of these were on the iPhone 5, so what’s new?
Apple has said that the new model supports more LTE bands than any other smartphone, which is great. However, that is not enough. It seems like Apple has wrapped the iPhone 5 in a colorful case, and named it the iPhone 5C. It is disheartening to see that the new iPhone is in fact inspired from an old iPhone model. Priced at around INR 35,000, it begs the question: why buy the new iPhone 5C? Customers would probably prefer to stick to their iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S.
Colors From Nokia
The first thing you will notice about the iPhone 5Cs are the chic colorful covers. Apple has finally moved away from its traditional black and white handsets, and added a plethora of colors, like yellow, green, pink, and blue to its products. Unfortunately, at first glance, these iPhone 5Cs look similar to Nokia’s Lumia range.
The Finnish phone makers were the first to launch colorful smartphones, and now it looks like Apple has simply copied that idea. Since the launch of the iPhone 5C, Nokia has released a sarcastic thank you note to Apple, stating that imitation is the best form of flattery.
Make And Design
The iPhone 5C is made up of polycarbonate plastic, much like LG’s G2, Samsung’s Galaxy S4, and Nokia’s Lumia range. Initially, Apple did use plastic backs for its phones, but it had discarded the practice long ago. Additionally, the rectangular shape and the side-keys of Apple’s new phone look identical to the Nokia Asha 510. In fact, Apple’s unibody design is also inspired from the Lumia range.
Verdict
So is the iPhone 5C more inspired than innovative?
Well, many feel that Apple is a victim of its own success. Launching devices that are just upgrades and inspired, rather than being game-changers, had certainly disappointed many Apple loyalists. Since 2007, this Cupertino firm has been surprising the world with its incredible iPhones. However, to expect Apple to cause a seismic shift in smartphone technology every twelve months is unrealistic. The smartphone market is maturing, and there isn’t much technological leaps left for Apple to take.
CNET's Charles Cooper says that the magic has gone out of the smartphone business, leaving companies to argue about slightly faster processors, more megapixels, or slightly improved battery life. This applies not just to Apple, but also to every smartphone manufacturing company.
Ronald Goodstein, an associate professor of marketing at Georgetown University, says that Apple positioned itself on the foundation of innovation. Therefore, the idea of not bringing about drastic innovativeness in a new product introduction can be a commercial nightmare. iPhone 5C may have laid some groundwork for the future, but as of now it is clear that there is nothing pulse-quickening about this smartphone. So yes, it does look like the iPhone 5C is more inspired than innovative.
References:
Image Source:
About The Auhtor:
This Article has written by Dharam Raj. He is working with smartphoneguru
Share this article Link with your friends
This Article has written by Dharam Raj. He is working with smartphoneguru
Share this article Link with your friends
Follow iGadgetware on Facebook , Twitter, Google+