Some say, the iPhone 7 will be a yawner. What’s forgotten is that our appetite for new (useful) toys and being state-of-the art always outweighs the cynicism of skeptics and critics. I’m going to have a new iPhone 7. I’ll tell you why.
A headline that says something like “You’ll be disappointed in Apple’s iPhone 7” is designed to do just one thing. Create apprehension that Apple can’t measure up. Apple will somehow fail to please us. (Only Heaven knows how that can be predicted.) The very fact that such emotions exist and can be exploited is what drives such headlines. It’s a false authority.
Don’t Mess With My Toys
Modern psychology tells us that toys aren’t just for idle amusement. Children play with toys for a good reason. Toys are an educational experience for children. They create mental preparation for the adult world. A toy is a good thing.
Adult toys further the process. Skis are toys. Sports cars are toys. HD and 4K TVs are toys. Tennis rackets are toys. They lead to and refine the enjoyable skills of human nature and life. The positive notion of “creative play” applies to both children and adults.
There is an often used technique by IT managers to declare that something pleasing, say, a Macintosh is a toy. That’s an attempt to diminish something perceived as threatening, a computer that leads to a playful, interesting, productive experience that would divert an employee from the dreary, the necessary, the mind-numbing work that must be done. But there’s an inherent contradiction. This notion of dreariness is inherent in the design of many business products and has made Microsoft executives wealthy. And yet, every article ever written about career development says to follow one’s passion. Be inspired. Develop your inner self and talents.
So fire your IT manger by getting a job that you love. Or start your own business. Buy a Mac.
Buy a new iPhone 7 if it pleases you.
The iPhone 7 Experience
When writers warn that the iPhone 7 will be a yawner, they’re telling you that you should buckle down. Be serious. Follow their sage advice. “Look, it won’t have a 3.5 mm audio jack! Bummer. Look, it won’t make any major advances. It won’t have an OLED display! It won’t have wireless charging! You should just grumble and wait for the 10th anniversary iPhone 8. Yes sir, you’ve been warned. You heard it here first.”
Or ninth.
What a tedious life these writers propose in an effort to click-bait your attention. It’s depressing.
I’m going to buy an iPhone 7 because I want to keep flowing with the technology timeline. I want to explore the latest that Apple has to offer. I want my adult (good, useful) toy to satisfy me, enrich me, educate me, and assist me in every way possible.
It sounds great, on paper, to be the sober curmudgeon. Eschewing the iPhone 7, for some, will make them feel special. Balanced. Full of adult judgment. Abstemious. I’d be skeptical of that when it reaches too far into arrogance.
Some Concerns
But wait. There are plenty of things to be concerned about in the world. I won’t even try to list the calamities and stresses of modern life. But I know this. A new iPhone is a life marker. It moves us forward in very personal ways in our technical experiences. Apple understands this, and the company generally does a fine job developing a good thing that binds us together.
When the iPhone 7 comes out, it will be better in some subtle and some obvious ways. But if you let some website tell you, “No. You shouldn’t buy that” who is being served? The silly notion that one should be clinging to someone else’s opinion, hanging on every word of tedious analysis, is just bizarre.
Of course, I’m not saying one should be foolish with money. Or careless in judgment. Family and the responsibilities of life, perhaps parenthood, always come first. Weighing benefits is what adults do. That said, an iPhone 6 or 6s can be traded in for a healthy amount of money, and Apple offers really good payment plans that run about $30/month. Most can do that.
In summary, the details of the iPhone 7 aren’t known for sure. There may be surprises, or it may yet be a bit of a disappointment in some people’s eyes. (And they’ll certainly let you know.) What I’m going to do is ignore the incessant voices that try to control the conversation and believe that Apple will always lift us up, move us forward, and give us what we need. Sometimes in baby steps. Sometimes in giant leaps.
If the spirit also moves you, and it pleases you technically, go out and acquire the best that Apple has to offer. Ignore the critics and pompous naysayers.
It’s your life.
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Teaser image via Shutterstock.
Seeing as how my wife and have iPhones on the Apple Upgrade Program, we too will probably get the iPhone 7. The new Watch too, ere it comes, as very much appreciate the usefulness of those.
Hmm, I agree with you. 🙂
I will be too. I’m more interested in the guts than the form factor, and the guts are sure to impress. 🙂
Being in IT I know the dirty little secret about that too. Serious IT Geeks often have a ball playing with the arcane bits of a “real” computer. You can’t have a Mac because you’ll enjoy working on it. But I on the other hand can have this tool to code web sites, or manage drive arrays, or code SQL queries, and you mustent notice that I’m smiling as I use it.
I’ll buy one unlocked because it has 256GB of storage, the jack thing has me wondering, but I want the storage…. (PS can we get the CK editor for comments if you are using WP?)