Community Editorial: Here we go again – Apple iPhone launch

In a matter of hours Apple will unveil their next iPhone. Just like I have for the last few years I will be lying in my bed (this time in Tokyo) at 2am following the live blogs from either The Verge or Engadget. As always, initially I’ll be impressed, then sleepy, then my phone/tablet (this time a Nexus 7) will fall from my hand as my muscles give up for the night, then I’ll wake up several hours later with a device running out of battery and a body lacking the energy to get to work on time. I’ll then arrive at work and start reading the blogs and articles singing the iPhone’s praises and see people on my Facebook already declaring they want it – and that makes me angry.

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Apple have a knack with marketing – we all know it. They spend big, put their products in front of our faces and harp on and on about how fast/light/new it is. The iPhone 5 will most probably be a super fast phone with a great (bigger) display and this time with LTE. It will have an amazing build quality and probably look as cool as Tom Cruise from Top Gun. So, why haven’t I ever bought an Apple product? Why do I love Android so much?

I don’t want Tom Cruise from Top Gun, I want Keanu Reeves from The Matrix or Liam Neeson from Taken.

I want something powerful, exciting, special. Neo can do anything he wants in The Matrix, and with my Galaxy Nexus (and Android in general) I feel I can do almost anything I want with my little green robot friend. I’m sure you could probably achieve some impressive things with the iPhone (especially if you’re willing to pay top dollar in the App Store) but it just doesn’t have the same feel as an Android phone.

Android teaches users to think outside the box. With basic things such as home screen customization and widgets the user is already taught to expect more from their devices. With an iPhone, in my opinion, you just feel locked down from the get go. Not a single one of my iPhone friends has ever pulled out their phone to show me - “how cool is it.”

All iPhone’s essentially look the same – if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.

That’s because all iPhone’s essentially look the same – if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Many of my Android friends, however, love to show me their home screens because every Android home screen is different. Some set their’s up with AFL and weather widgets and some keep them super clean to show off their favourite wallpaper. I could go on and on but if you’re reading this article chances are you know exactly what I’m talking about.

And that brings me to my final, and most frustrating point (apart from the ridiculous premium Apple charges): Apple users in general simply don’t know what I’m talking about! Apple’s marketing and reputation has left the vast majority of iPhone users not knowing what Android is; not knowing its power, not knowing its potential.

I don’t want to use the word sheep, but after years of trying to convince my friends (especially girls) to consider Android I sometimes can’t find another word. I can always see their brains ticking over with the same thoughts. If you don’t have an iPhone, you don’t have an iPhone, and the reason they’re most reluctant to consider an Android phone – “but all my friends have iPhones.”

So come tomorrow the whole internet and media industry will be buzzing with iPhone 5 related news. A lot of people will also learn for the first time that a thing called LTE exists (and probably assume that Apple invented it). In then end it’s going to make my job of converting (and educating) my friends and family just that little bit harder – but I like a challenge.

After all, Neo could stop bullets with his mind, so selling a Nexus should be easy, right?

Editor’s Note: It would be easier to sell a Nexus if all major Australian carriers hadn’t stopped selling it!