2g to 3g was primarily a looks/exterior update, other than the 3g reciever, the phones performance was identical. 3g to 3gs was entirely a performance update, the look is identical. Some people care a lot more about the outside look of their phone than performance, some people are the opposite. Whichever you are the upgrade targeting you will come out every 2 yrs when your contract hopefully expires. Releasing performance upgrades each yr could make things tough for the app store developers who have to test and design their apps for every hardware iteration and piss off people who don't care that much about looks but need to have the fastest hardware. Changing the look each yr would piss off accesory/case makers and the customers that see their phone as a fashion statement. Meanwhile by not changing the look when the performance bumps up you can feel better not upgrading since you feel that atleast your phone looks the same as everyone elses. As long as cellphone companies lock people into 2 yr contracts rather than 1 yr contracts, this approach makes the most strategic sense for both Apple and for consumers.
The touch is next for an update. Maybe the bigger net book touch will be released and the apple tv/ game system this fall. We can only hope for it all.
I don't think so. If there isn't a big update to it next year I think a lot of people will be pissed. I know I will.
Big update to the 3Gs? If so...prepare to be pissed. I mean...3Gs is a true new gen upgrade (using the gamer usage of that term, not Apple's usage which is just their designation of all revisions, even minor ones like iPhone to iPhone 3G). New CPU, new GPU, double the RAM. Wasn't that enough of a "big update"? Unless to you a "big" update is filler, like a better camera. Unless you mean the touch, in which case, 3Gs based iTouch this fall is almost a given.
Apple's gonna go with minor revisions every year or so, major new gens (again, using that term the way gamers do, in which a new gen isn't just a minor revision ala iPhone to iPhone 3G, but a major one...think Game Boy Advance to Nintendo DS) every two or even three years. It'd do well for Apple to actually space out the new gen (again, gamer usage) every five years or so to give a longer life cycle.
iPhone's are basically iPods with phone capabilities. We all know that. They're not like cell phones where we get one, expect to keep it for a while, and only really use it for phone calls and texts. You almost never hear of someone using they're phone as an mp3 or gaming device. iPhone's, because they carry an iPod along with them, have to adapt to the Apple's tradition of refining and restyling them every year. New design, new look, more power, new capabilities... People must upgrade. Why? It's not a phone, it's an... wait for it... iPhone. For people not quite ready to take the leap, Apple's marketing team comes out and practically kicks them off the cliff. If Wikoogle's theory is right (which gonna take about 4 more years to prove ), then essentially, they're targeting two markets at once. The fashion obsessed, and the tech geeks. It's genius. One year, get the "OMG, it totally matches my purse," nuts, and the next, the "More RAM, this is good. This is very good indeeeeeeed," screwballs. All the while, casual consumers are walking in to get whatever models out. Elegant strategy. If the theory's true, though. Unless the upgrades are huge or I run out of memory, I'm gonna try to get a new iPod every other "generation". This year, with the very likely S-upgrade, possible camera, and the fact that I'm constantly deleting apps off my iPod to make room for music, I really have no choice
I will be forced to get the new ipod touch too As I had the 1G ipod touch, it'll be a big update for me to go from the 1G to the 3G.
