The problem with political jokes is they get elected - Henry Cote
|
|
|
Apple will drop Iphone 2G support
APPLE CEO Steve Jobs, who apparently has taken to responding to random customer emails, has announced that Apple is planning to drop support for the original Iphone 2G.
A German blogger emailed Steve, unless the whole thing is a hoax, with this message, "Hey Steve! Is Apple supporting/updating the Iphone 2G in the Future? Cheers Niko". Perhaps increasing the likelihood of a response 'Niko', sent the mail from his Iphone.
Steve, perhaps taking this to mean that whatever he said didn't matter, replied with this short statement. "Sorry, no."
Of course the exchange has kicked up speculation in the blogosphere, causing many to question whether the mails are genuine or not.
On one hand, it seems unlikely that Jobs would take time out of his CEO role to reply to occasional emails, and even less likely that he would single out those ones that relate to the ongoing support of his devices.
However, the 2G version wasn't mentioned during the recent Iphone 4.0 announcements, and indeed, Apple said that some of its features may not be available on all products. For example, its multitasking features will only work on the Iphone 3GS and third generation Ipod touch devices.
The Iphone 2G itself has already been discontinued in favour of the 3G version, so it might be time to write its obituary. µ
Well I guess that a 3 year old phone (by the time OS4 is released) not being supported isn't a big deal.
I think Apple ran out of 2Gs to sell in March 2008, so even the youngest 2G will have been in use for over two years by the time OS 4 comes out, and fully supported with updates all that time.
My 4 month old HTC Hero with Android 1.5 still hasn't had an OS update.
I'm mostly scared by the fact that the iPhone is three years old. Why does time pass so quickly?!
Three years if you're a Yank, two and a half if you're from Europe. That's not a very long life time for a multi-hundred Euro/£/$ device.
So what is it about the 2G hardware that doesn't support the new features? The CPU? Nope. The RAM? Probably not. The Apple marketing strategy? Yep.
What about the 3G? They're still selling that. Apple are saying that even if you've just bought a 3G you won't be able to fully upgrade (no multitasking) to the latest OS come the summer. I wonder how clear that is in the current marketing bumph for the 3G.
It'll be interesting to see how many 2G/3G users can be tempted to part with another several hundred Euro/£/$.
At the weekend I was offered an upgrade to a HTC Desire, which does broadly the same as any iPhone, free with a £25/month contract. As it's free I won't care if it's updatable at the end of the contract - I'll just get a free upgrade anyway.
But if I got an iPhone I'll have invested £/$100s in something that will be obsolete in two years time. To stay 'current' I would likely have to spend another £/$100s. An unattractive proposition. Especially when 'staying current' means getting simple things like multitasking, which every other smart-ish phone has been doing for years anyway.
For that money I can go and buy the CDs of the tracks I like. I can listen to those tracks on any stereo, phone, MP3 or PC I like. I can download any apps I like. I can switch to any network provider I like. And at the end of the contract I can get another free phone and spend the £/$100s I'd otherwise have spent on the next iPhone buying more CDs or whatever instead. So where's the value in the iPhone?
The iPhone2G has the same cpu and the same ram than iPhone3G. The hardware is basically the same.
If 3G can do OS4 (not full, but OS4), then 2G can do OS4 (idem).
Apple, your dirty joke is not good today.
Well my old Nokia did not get a new OS upgrade at any point during its five year life time, just the same old version of Windows Mobile.
Pretty much the same story for every other phone i have had, if you want a new OS buy a new phone except for my iPhone were for the first time OS upgrades have been offered and for free at that.
Crapple (tm) won't let you upgrade your battery on your smart device, why would they let you upgrade your phone OS?
See them for what they are: a Tool, or lever, that forced the mobile Telecoms to accept high bandwidth users on to their network. That established, we can move en masse to a Nexus device.
Either let Apple use you, or use them!