This is hardly the first article on the subject, but Reuters has a piece vaguely saying that some consumers are waiting on improvements or even a new version altogether before buying an iPhone. It would have been nice if they actually included some hard stats, instead of the opinions of just a few people! Yes, yes, this is always true – there are always interested consumers who wait to see how others fare with a product before diving in themselves. But… based on my own (unscientific) experience, I actually believe the technology-buying public is becoming smarter – they’re not buying into new hype the second it comes out, because they’re learning that companies are more interested in getting the product out there quickly and fixing the smaller issues later on down the line.
Here’s hoping that Apple does in fact get it right with the iPhone to start with. However, considering how many iterations and firmware updates of the iPod there have been, I expect the same to be true of the iPhone. The thing that keeps Apple in the game and people flocking to their products is the design. So to Apple’s competitors – start hiring some more creative designers, so that we can get sexy gadgets that also function tremendously well starting with version 1.0.
PS> I think this is the first article from a major news outlet that I’ve seen where they used the word ‘wonky’!