Generalism

I’d forgotten how jaded one can get following technology.

Not that Apple didn’t do an excellent job with the third generation of its game-changing mobile computer. I mean, the gear list is certainly nothing to be sniffed at; a 3 mega pixel video camera, more capacity, longer battery life, compass, bell and complimentary whistle. But someone’s going to have to colour me just a fraction disappointed.

Maybe it’s because this last two years of mobile tech has been such a rollercoaster. 2007 was such a tough year for Motorola, SonyEricsson and their ilk, who had little option but to take one long hard look in the mirror and see what a disfigured, disjointed mess they’d all become. So much so that most rapidly jumped on the all-singing all-dancing metaphor, releasing iPhone me-too’s as if the mere saying were worth some money. In most cases it certainly wasn’t. And whilst they all try to figure out how to even stay in the game, they continue to peddle the same old junk seen nearly a decade ago at the millenium parties, just with flashier stripes.

So, after such a rollercoaster, what could Apple have done to change the game again with their latest release? Well that’s the thing; they simply didn’t need to. The iPhone, much like the seminal iPod, was the game changer. Anything more will always be simply icing on the cake, with this third generation layering it on good and thick. The operating system upgrade? Cherries on top and a nicely piped, suitably upbeat message, probably penned by Steve Jobs himself.

The difficulty for me, and perhaps the biggest root of my disappointment, stems from the rumours for this next generation, rolling around the net since the day the second generation was unveiled last year. Pretty much every month since that point, us tech followers have been living with v3’s hopes and fears, eating and breathing the whole gamut from 8 megapixel cameras, through to hardware qwerty keyboards and anything, no everything, in between. The realist sat on our right shoulder would bring us back from the brink often enough, but that left-shoulder guy, wow what a party he throws.

So it would seem the realist won this time around, and I don’t think I’m the only one slightly affected by his mollifying tones. Sure, the rabid Apple followers are keeping a brave face, sitting content and happy that they’ve been thrown a slice of Jobsian pie, but they like me, could never say they were blown away.

Does it matter? Of course not. I, like many many others will still buy one because there simply is nothing better. Palm’s Pre may have been getting a whole bunch of headlines recently, but for all its cheese-cutting ability, the package just isn’t as complete as Apple’s offering and people know it. You could still buy a Pre, or a Blackberry, maybe even an oldPhone with keypad texting and a rubber-nipple joybutton if you’re really in the mood to make a protest vote, but you’ll still be looking at the iPhone with envious eyes, wanting to have some time alone together.

So, all in all, a good solid release Apple. Now, what’s v4 going to look like?