Here’s the thing, we love everything colocation. We love data centers. We love web hosting. We love dedicated servers, managed dedicated servers and around the clock instant data access services. Part of this love comes in the form of smartphones and tablets, or what is more broadly known at the ICT (Information Communications Technology) Market.
When it comes to the ICT Market, we love nothing more than the line of people who stand around a corner for a week in 10 degree weather to be the first to get their hands on the new iPhone or Android device. That said, we have to admit we also find this trend – standing in line for a week to get a new device – somewhat disturbing.
It’s hard to put our finger on it exactly. It’s hard to pinpoint what about people standing in line for a week to get a brand new iPhone that just seems wrong, but there is something wrong with it.
The iPhone 5C
While this trend has been going on for quite some time now, for us, the trend hit a breaking point with Apple’s release of the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S. For anyone who follows the ICT market and understands both the hardware and capabilities of new devices, it was evident the release of the iPhone 5C spelling nothing more than a market grab on the behalf of Apple. This is to say, the iPhone 5C, pretty coloring and all, represents a company looking to grow their consumer base without actually providing them with anything different, innovative or unique. For all intensive purposes, the iPhone 5C is the iPhone 5, updated with colors.
For anyone who watches the ICT market, the iPhone 5C is a marketing ploy. Moreover, while the iPhone 5S represented minor updates to Apple’s iPhone 5 (soon to be hacked fingerprint scanning technology), like the iPhone 5C, the product did next to nothing in the light of innovation, unique technology or pushing the bounds of what a smartphone could accomplish.
And yet, this in mind, for the week prior to Apple releasing both products, lines stretched around city blocks with enthusiastic buyers and more interesting, people paid to stand in line on behalf of someone else.
This begs a question we all need to answer: At what point in time do we say enough? At what point in time does the trend of standing in line for the newest products coming hot off the ICT market press begin to break down and dissipate? When will enough be enough?
As noted by New York City filmmaker Casey Neistat, we haven’t reached that point yet but we need to.
Demanding More of Consumers
This leads to another issue. As noted, the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S represented little to no change to the iPhone 5. Minor changes did exist in the hardware and iOS of the iPhone 5S yet all told, nothing major came from the products. And yet, weeklong lines stretched in every major American city as if the people on line had nothing better to do than plunk down $499 for a smartphone that will be updated, by a minor margin, in five months.
Maybe, could it be, that providers like Apple have figured the market out? Could it be, by our show of willingness to stand in line for weeks on end, that Apple has come to the conclusion that no matter the product, no matter how little innovation within each new product, that we will, like sheep, stand in line and purchase?
From our perspective, it seems so. Due to this, it is about time the consumer going public needs to stop the trend of lining up around the block for a phone they will replace in five months. We need to stop this trend because it is allowing providers to push new products that are nothing new or game changing.
Sure, a green or pink iPhone 5C looks nice but to those in the know, it represents nothing more than a swindle carried out on the behalf of consumers and gifted by providers.
We need to stop standing in line and demand more.