Devotees of Fresh Apples
It has been overload time recently for geeks, full on geeks and those who have a tendency to geekiness, which covers the majority of Enigin’s staff, as we get upgrades on so many products, particularly Apple.
Apple have been on overload recently, with the long awaited sales of the i{ad and now the announcement about the iPhone 4 - and just after I got my upgrade to the 3Gs!!
I like Apple products, they are well designed and generally work, I use Macs, iPods and an iPhone and have an eye on the iPad but I do find the religious fervor of many Apple devotees a bit much.
Steve Jobs, like some pontiff, stands in front of what appears to be a conference theater full of Apple believers and announces the iPad or the new iPhone and he just mentions something like, “A whole new design,” and there is uncontrolled whoops of delight, as if they were not expecting a new design or new features.
Many of those in attendence seem to feel that Apple are doing the world a favour, they are in business to sell you solutions - now I like their solutions, they are very good and provide me with what I want, but I do think a breath should be taken by everyone before they rush out and buy the latest gadget from Apple or anyone else for that matter.
Recently I upgraded my iPhone, as I stated, with rumours of the new iPhone 4 being in the future, suddenyl to protect sales the news wires begin to buzz with an imminent release, if I waited a few weeks I could have gone for the new version.
I also upgraded a suite of software after being told that the new version was due at the end of the year - three weeks later suddenly they are going to release it with the next two weeks and I will have to pay the full upgrade despite the fact that the cellophane is still uncurling in my bin from the “last” version packaging!
At Enigin when we update software and hardware but we try to let our Partners know early on what we are working on and the upgrades and updates that are on the cards - not the message always gets through.
I understand that technology moves at an ever increasing rate but marketing also grabs hold of the idea that the latest is the best, although we all understand that is not always the case - I know of plenty of people who do not upgrade every time new software version come out but wait every time for at least three version to have passed before they upgrade. They feel then they gain a real advantage over what they had been using, rather than the few tweaks added each time, with many dropped by the next version.
What to do? You want the latest but it is never free or cheap, as I mentioned earlier, take a breath and consider what you are getting and whether you need it now? A bit of patience also means you will probably miss out on the initial bugs and get a far better product a few months down the line.
At Enigin we like to be at the leading edge but we do not want to cut ourselves on it with just cause.