Spring is upon us and with the weather improving some are engaged with the recently released accessible Apple Watch. Some say it will flop, some have already immortalized it as a smashing success, and the rest of us are taking the wait and see approach. Which, in my view is the only approach worth taking. In addition to the watch, Apple has launched an all new redesigned MacBook which is stirring up lots of discussion.
In this post I will not be advising you to purchase a shiny new Apple watch, or futuristic MacBook, but I feel it is time for a retrospective on other first generation products, and how they have faired. For the purposes of this article we will examine previous releases of Apple products, . although we could easily find many examples from other well established companies.
The first generation iPhone.
In 2007 Steve Jobs announced the iPhone. It certainly wasn’t the first smart-phone on the market, but it brought internet connected phones into the conscience of most Americans. To this point most smart-phones and PDA’s (remember those) were running clunky versions of the now defunct Windows Mobile operating system. The iPhone brought a simple yet elegant OS coupled with Apple’s usual hardware excellence. Furthermore, it combined the necessity of a phone with the features of an iPod.
As intriguing as it was, the iPhone had many short comings.
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It could not send multi-media messages. (MMS)
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It did not support 3G networks. That’s right 3G, not 4G.
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You could not perform simple editing functions such as copy and paste.
In short the first generation iPhone showed signs of the future, but fell short in many crucial areas.
The first Generation iPad.
In January 2010 Steve Jobs jump-started the tablet craze by announcing the iPad. To chart the iPad’s progress check out this review of all nine iPad’s released at the time of this writing. Like the iPhone, it was a good start, but it too had it’s limitations.
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It had no camera. Front or rear-facing.
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Their was a 3G option, but their was not a 4G LTE option.
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It was only updated to IOS 5. Even the iPhone 3GS got IOS 6. Really Apple?
The original iPad tells us at least a little about how Apple feels about it’s early adopters. Which is to say not much feeling At all.
Other first generation Apple products.
If these two devices aren’t enough to illustrate wariness toward 1.0 devices, search Google for reviews of the first Apple TV and Macbook Air. Like the iPhone and iPad these devices had some cool features, but they did not exude the longevity usually associated with Apple hardware–with the exception of the iPhone of corse. Furthermore, like most of Apple’s first run units they had major shortcomings. The original Macbook Air had many hardware sacrifices the world was not ready for–not unlike this new one port Macbook.
What does the future hold?
Know one can say for sure, but if you follow tech trends, you can form some ideas. More and more we are moving toward a mobile first life-style. The value of wearable technology and the internet of things has yet to be determined, and I can’t tell anyone what they should spend their hard earned cash on.
I will not tell anyone to buy an Apple Watch, or 2015 Macbook, but I do advise taking a long hard look before placing your finger on the home button to activate Apple-Pay. If you have the disposable income, or you just plain don’t give a damn about longevity, then go for it. As for me, I’ll enjoy the toys I’ve got and try not to drool over the ones I don’t currently possess.
