iPhone 5 Event September 2012: Why the iPhone 5 Event Was a Disappointment

iPhone 5 Event September 2012: Why the iPhone 5 Event Was a Huge Disappointment

The world can now rejoice. The iPhone 5 is official after Apple showed off its latest gadget at a secret event on September 12.

However, after all the big reveals made by the powerhouse company, it was hard not to feel disappointed with Apple's presentation and that it failed by Apple standards.

The afternoon got off to Apple CEO Tim Cook talking about how successful the iPad has been and how unsuccessful other tablets have been. This segment was rather longwinded and uninteresting, but naturally expected. Once Cook was done rolling out numbers of Apple's dominance, he turned it over to Phil Schiller who showed off the new iPhone 5.

And then the disappointment really started. Yes, the phone turned out exactly as rumors and leaks had predicted, but Apple is expected to be one of those companies that eternally surprises and shocks. These are the kind of surprises that make you excited about buying Apple products. But there was not a single shocker.

It's actually rather telling when Apple essentially sped through the conference as if they knew that people were on to them and that dwelling on details that everyone else knew about already was not necessary. They even skipped over vital information. Sure the battery life is now 225 hours on standby, but why did Apple neglect to say the length of the 4 G LTE Battery life? It probably means that it was not much better than the 4S battery life. Why was there no price for the new connector? Why no information on the lightning synching speeds or whether it will charge the phone faster?

The price was announced at $199 for the 16 GB, $299 for the 32 GB, and $399 for the 64 GB. The 16 GB version of 4S is now $99. But the most exciting news of the day was that the iPhone 4 ends up being free with a plan. That might actually be the phone to get after this press conference.

After going through a monotonous preview of the iPhone 5, they turned to iOS 6 and they sped through it so quickly that it almost felt anticlimactic. Siri got no huge or surprisingly upgrades to make it a must-own feature.

At that point it seemed that the conference was over, but Apple struck a new low when they decided to show off the new iTunes, which turned out to being the biggest bust in their presentation and a poor move on Apple's part. Why would you put up iTunes after the iPhone 5 and iOS 6, when those are your big news? Why not build up to the iPhone and start with iTunes?

Then they turned to the iPod Nano which looked like the Nokia Lumia (Should they sue Apple?). Prior to the launch, there were rumors that people could wear the Nano as a watch, but the presentation did not make it seem that way in the least. Apple hurt then themselves even more when they showed off the diverse colors of the new iPod which seemed rather uncharacteristic for the company that has prided itself for its minimalist design. CNet compared the colors to "skittles."

Next came the iPod touch. The biggest news for the iPod touch? That it is the thinnest one ever. It also comes in silver, black, blue, red, and yellow.

Then the EarPods were announced. They apparently took 3 years for Apple to design. They will come packaged with the 5^th generation iPod Touch, iPhone 5, and next Nano. The headphones were probably the highlight of the event and the most unique product on display. But do you really want headphones to be your big highlight?

 The press conference may have changed the image of Apple for many users who now know one thing: Apple cannot keep a secret as well as they did under Steve Jobs. The fact that we basically knew everything that Apple would show off during their press conference emphasized this fact. The pacing was off and lacked flow. Apple made a poor decision by showcasing the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 (the reason everyone was following the event) near the beginning and then keeping viewers around to wait for another bit of big news that never came. Instead they got iPods and iTunes.

There's a problem when Apple announces their next generation phone and the Windows 8 phone is still the most exciting phone news of the last few weeks.