Who Else Doesn’t Want the iPhone 5?

When it comes to the iPhone 5, while I am probably in the minority saying this, I just don’t understand the hype surrounding the iPhone 5 or the iPhone in general. Year after year it never ceases to amaze me that consumers go into a frenzy at Apple’s announcement of yet another new model that improves on the previous one in a handful of ways. I read a story about a man who got in line a week early to be the first to buy the phone.  Did he quit his job or just take a vacation?  Or what about the hundreds of news stories talking about long lines of people wrapped around buildings since two in the morning?  All I can ask myself is “why?”

Maybe the question that is more baffling than the “why” is the actual “how” of the iPhone 5. Since the release of the original iPhone in June of 2007 there has been a yearly release of a new model. Six models in six years (and that doesn’t even include releases in different sizes). Though I can understand a person wanting an iPhone in these past six years (myself included), I know there are some people out there who have made a point of getting every new model each year. How is this possible? How can you even afford that? One of the few reasons the average consumer can actually buy one of these phones is because they sign a two year contract with whatever service they can and get it at a non-bloated price. How is the person who got an iPhone 4S last year justifying getting an iPhone 5 this year? Maybe they keep switching phone companies. I have no idea.

Like the release of any new popular hardware, this just shows how irrational consumers can be. I saw where a guy and a bunch of his friends got early places in line and tried to sell them for $300 dollars a spot. I almost screamed. I remember the night before the Playstation 3 release I went to a local Wal-Mart to check out the line. Not only was it ridiculously long but I also had a guy approach me and try to sell me his spot for a crazy amount of money. For some unknown reason people can’t possibly live in a world where they don’t have that new fancy piece of tech. As much as I despise the people who do try and sell a place in line, the person who is willing to pay almost double is just as bad. It isn’t like a million other models will be manufactured and on store shelves in a matter of weeks.

From what I’ve seen, the iPhone 5 is “better” than the previous models. That’s what they said last year about the iPhone 4S. In a year’s time that’s what they will be saying about the newer model. For some people a phone with a screen that is half an inch bigger and 30 grams lighter and somewhat faster is a big deal, and I get it. Personally, however, if I were to buy an iPhone 5 today I would know in the back of my head that in about a year something better and faster and prettier will be on store shelves. It’s an endless cycle.

What might be my least favorite part about the continuous cycle of iPhones are the slogans that Apple keeps tossing around. How one model is “the first phone to beat the iPhone” or another will be “the most amazing iPhone yet.” Then someone on facebook or on tv will talk about how the newest iPhone they just bought is “the sexiest one yet.” It just drives me crazy. I am all for technology improving and advancing but, like I said, people literally go crazy for a new iPhone that is literally only slightly better than the one they already paid hundreds of dollars for and I just don’t understand it.

While millions of people flock to stores in hopes to get their hands on the iPhone 5 I think I will bide my time. In fact, I’m due for an upgrade and I see I can get a 4S for $99 or a plain iPhone 4 for zero. By the time my two-year contract is up I’m sure an iPhone 5 will be dirt cheap and made “obsolete” by a shiny new iPhone 6, then maybe I will get one.