iOS 5.0 Release Pushed Back to Fall? Just Proves Apple Still “Thinks Different”

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Safari

The blogosphere was buzzing yesterday when word came that Apple might hold off on releasing iOS 5.0 until the fall. What does this mean? Why would Apple break such a long tradition that goes all the way to… January 9, 2007. Okay so maybe it is not such a long-standing tradition, but you know what they say: “Do it once it is innovative; Do it twice and it is redundant; Do it a third time and it is a tradition.”

By now an annual hardware and OS update is a TRADITION. Why would Apple mess with tradition?

But it is not just tradition that is putting pressure on keeping the annual cycle. No, there are very real economic pressures on Apple too.

Apple has released one phone a year (two this year if you count rolling out the CDMA version of the iPhone) and one full point update to iOS annually. Compare that to Android which seems to have a new phone released every 9.7 seconds and an updated version of the OS every 34 seconds, and some have speculated that Apple might want, or even MUST, up their game and go to a more frequent release cycle. If iOS 5.0 is put off until fall 2011 it means that Apple did change the release cycle but they went in the “wrong” direction. It means iOS 4.0 in one of its point variations will be almost a year and a half old when it is finally replaced, and the GSM version of the iPhone 4 will be well past its first birthday. With Android continuing to gain traction, how can this possibly be a good choice for Apple?

I’m not going to speculate on the veracity of the rumor that iOS 5.0 is pushed back to the fall. Maybe it will be. Maybe it won’t be.  I will, however, say this, IF it is true it tells us something important about Apple, or at least reinforces something we know about Apple. Yes, if iOS 5.0 is pushed back to the fall it tells us that despite becoming a big, money-focused corporate giant Apple… STILL THINKS DIFFERENT.

Say what? Let me explain.

The pressure to maintain a tradition of an annual cycle is great. People now EXPECT it, and Apple will hear about it if they push back to fall! Apple doesn’t care; they have rarely given in to pressure from others. The pressure from a business standpoint is likely even greater. After all, who will buy a 14 month old iPhone design in August when they can get a brand new, totally up-to-date handset from Android? There are tons of different reasons Apple might feel the need to rush iOS 5.0 out the door. But they won’t.

Others have felt similar pressure and have done just that. The original Samsung Galaxy Tab was released with an OS that was intended for phones not tablets. Why was it released? Simple, Samsung wanted to have SOMETHING in the marketplace. As a result they rushed it out the door. The Motorola Zoom is another good example. When we saw it at CES we were not allowed to actually TOUCH it. No, unlike the Atrix, the Xoom “demo” was done in the form of video clips played on the Xoom. Why? Simple, we were told that Android Honeycomb, the operating system specifically designed for tablets, was not done. It was not done in January but, as promised, less than 60 days later the Xoom was released and in the marketplace. Sure, all reports are that the OS is buggy, there are only a few Honeycomb-optimized apps and in order to get 4G on the Xoom the tablet has to actually BE SENT into Motorola, but it IS in the market. The Xoom was rushed to market before it was fully cooked. Need more proof? How about the fact that Google has recently placed restrictions to developers so they cannot access to Honeycomb version 3.0. Think about it, a tablet running Honeycomb is IN THE MARKET PLACE, but even Google admits the operating system isn’t ready.

Yes, others have felt the pressure to move faster than they know they ought to move and put things out because people expect it and they want SOMETHING available.

Apple’s not biting.

If Apple pushes iOS 5.0 back to the fall it is because THEY aren’t ready to release it until then. And no outside pressure, be it the press or monetary, is going to make them act otherwise. Apple still “Thinks Different” because they Think For Themselves.

Love ’em or hate ’em, but Apple doesn’t do anything until they are good and ready.

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.

4 Comments on "iOS 5.0 Release Pushed Back to Fall? Just Proves Apple Still “Thinks Different”"

  1. RT @GearDiarySite: iOS 5.0 Release Pushed Back to Fall? Just Proves Apple Still “Thinks Different” http://goo.gl/fb/ppLcP

  2. RT @geardiarysite: iOS 5.0 Release Pushed Back to Fall? Just Proves Apple Still "Thinks Different" http://bit.ly/hm62nM

  3. iOS 5.0 Release Pushed Back to Fall? Just Proves Apple Still “Thinks Different” http://bit.ly/dW2fnv

  4. The iPhone 4 pushing past it’s first birthday and remaining the flagship may seem like a long time, but I can’t help thinking it was a decent way ahead of much of the competition on release. The display, camera, battery life and performance are all still very competitive, in a compact and superbly built form factor. Some would argue that it is still class leading in some areas.

    In all honesty, I don’t think they NEED to rush an update through in June if they feel that a few more months is required on iOS 5/iPhone “5”. People are still buying cheap 3GS’s, and it’s got its roots back in 2008!

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