Apple iPhone 5, Lightning & Its Criticizers

I want to write a short note on why some people just don’t get certain things, yet they won’t give up.

There are many like cnet’s Molly Wood or Ars Technica’s Cesar Torres that argue that Apple should have seriously chosen to use the micro-usb instead of designing the new Lightning dock connector.

Their argument is that the benefits don’t justify the effort & consumers pay for it.

Let me say this - if everybody starts thinking like this - why design a better solution, when something existing is good enough - the world would move forward at a very very slow pace. Sure, the quote “why fix when it ain’t broke” applies, but there is a subtlety here at play. Most people think micro-usb is good enough because they have not imagined the possibilities beyond it. I am happy, Apple has challenged themselves to do that.

And yes, even a feature like reversible operation is worth an upgrade in my opinion. Think about how many time you plug and unplug the cable.

Also think from a hardware standpoint. Apple has to save space, make things future-proof, because the last dock connector stuck around for nearly 10 years!! 10 years! That means the new dock connector has to be a little bit future-proof. In other words, it should not hold off on developers and hardware designers to stop from doing something innovative with it, to a good extent.

Micro-USB is not 10-year proof! Adaptive interface is another Lightning feature, that most smart folks haven’t talked about a lot, but I think its best feature.

Micro-USB can be updated to support these, sure. But you have to go through a standards process and such radical ideas take time to pass through standards body/decision makers! And why would Apple wait for them when it has the technical expertise, capacity and desire to build it themselves.

Let me say one more thing - don’t discourage someone who is trying to build something better, when something out there is good enough and put a consumers benefit cover on it. Consumers don’t know what they are missing, they will never know what the possibilities are, even from a simple dock connector. Don’t put them here.

Yes, its not the most economical option. Sure. But innovation has its cost. Else there is no innovation. Some more than others - Apple has a massive footprint so I understand the frustration to a certain extent - but Apple iPhone is no ordinary smartphone. I might sound like someone from Apple Marketing, but if you read up on the amount of effort, design and detail that goes into an iPhone, you will know what I mean. Its no ordinary smartphone & it doesn’t intend to be one from what I know. That means staying on the bleeding edge of hardware design & manufacturing. And that also means higher costs to consumers. Hence, frankly, if you are a very economical minded person in terms of smartphones, I would recommend that you don’t buy and iPhone in the first place. Otherwise, you have chosen to use a smartphone, that’s an iPhone. It will have its costs, but its share of pleasant surprises as well, if you appreciate them. You decide…

PS. Some technical details on the Lightning here.

— Vishal [@whos_v]

1 Notes/ Hide

  1. whos-v-blog posted this