User Experience - Interrupted

Apple recently announced the much anticipated iPhone3G S, along with the new 3.0 platform. As usual, Apple has done a stellar job of hyping the release, providing the 3.0 SDK (Software Development Kit) to their huge following of app developers in advance, encouraging them to take advantage of the new capabilities such as copy/paste, voice dialing, compass positioning, video support with editing, and, of course, improved speed (brought to you by the letter “S”).

These are exciting times for Mac fanatics, and for those who were waiting for the new and improved version to be released before jumping on the iPhone bandwagon. The pricing structure for newbies appears relatively reasonable and assures Apple of many new iPhone customers. However, for existing iPhone customers it’s a bit more confusing, and expensive. This is where the ever present Apple user experience gets interrupted. AT&T, in their ultimate, and very typical wisdom, are essentially punishing their customer base for upgrading to the new iPhone – by charging premiums of two or three hundred dollars for those users who haven’t yet fulfilled their 2-year contract; which by the way is practically impossible seeing as it hasn’t yet been 2 years since the iPhone was released! In other words, just when everyone is getting excited about the new iPhone, loving their experience with the brilliant Apple brand, they get hit in the face with the harsh, predictably bad experience provided by AT&T. Not only are they charging premiums for making the upgrade, but there are doubts about whether the AT&T network will actually support the speed at which the iPhone3G S is programmed to run. And, one of the key features that will be supported across the globe (but not in the U.S. thanks to AT&T) is tethering – a feature many customers have looked forward to since the beginning.

During the preview of the new iPhone there were many app demos that didn’t go as planned, and actually completely flopped, but that doesn’t come anywhere close to turning the fan base away from their beloved brand. But now, thanks to AT&T, the supreme user experience has been interrupted. The question is, given today’s economy, how many current iPhone users will go for the upgrade and sustain the blows from AT&T? I know at least one who is determined to keep up with the Jones’, but how many more will do the same? Unlike AT&T, Apple’s user experience has only improved over the past few years. Let’s see how many users overlook the grey cloud of AT&T to continue their journey with new products from Apple.

- Mimi Knowles from Limina Application Office

pssst! Limina has embarked on developing our own iPhone app - "Top Secret" for now - but be on the lookout for the official announcement!