Why is the i-phone so popular?

Remember when everyone wore hats?

Or women all wore skirts?

Was it by choice or by fad?

Is the the same thing happening with the i-phone today?

Do you own an i-phone? Let me guess, you got it by choice right? It had nothing to do with a fad.

Well, when i was travelling around Africa a while back I lugged a phone, hiking GPS, mp3/4 player, camera and laptop around with their assorted chargers.   Nowadays I just put my smartphone in my pocket.

I wouldn't buy a i-phone and haven't upgraded for a couple of years, but smartphones aren't all hype.

No one has said smart phones "are all hype."

Win on the argument made Keith, not on the one you sneak in.

Cor!   You can spot the fine line between saying something is 'a fad' and saying something is 'all hype'!   I bet not everyone can.

iPhone is for the people of low to medium IQ. It's great because it gives you less options meaning there's less buttons to confuse your fragile brain and also less you can do to stop Apple spying on you across all apps.

Android is for people with brains, especially Google phones. Google does spy on you but that's fine because Google's agenda is to know the most, not to wring you dry of cash by appealing to you over and over again with new offers.

You did not say I said, "i-phones are all hype." You said I said, "smart phones are all hype." That is what you do. You lie.

I did not say anything was a fad, I asked if the phenomenon with i-phones was a fad. This is what you do, when confronted with your lies, you tell another lie.

Now. Forget the lying. Just address the topic if you can. And if you want to mention what I said, quote me.

The iPhone is hardly a fad now that it has been around for 11 years and counting. It will die off when something more technologically advanced replaces it, not because people find a new fad with which to occupy themselves. It has too many utilitarian uses to be considered a fad. Is a generic telephone itself just a fad? Is a generic camera just a fad? Is the internet just a fad? Combining those things into one device is an economical and practical technological achievement.

There are many phones that can do all the i-phones can do for hundreds of dollars less. What justifies that expense? I know the value of a smart phone, what explains so many paying so much more for the same product?

Well, the top of the line Samsung phone is $1249 and the top of the line iPhone is $1149. The iPhone integrates seamlessly with other Apple products. I think your information may be out of date.

What information would that be? 

Nothing you've said counters anything I've said. If it isn't fad, what justifies so many spending so much more for a product when they don't have to?

So much more? It's cheaper than the Samsung. Is the Samsung a fad too? Your post makes no sense.

Yes. So much more than other phones with the same functionality.

So what? It is still a very expensive phone.

It could be. But though Samsung sells more phones, the i-phone is the largest selling model.

Really? You can't understand a question asking why would so many pay so much for an i-phone because another phone costs more?

OK. I'll wait for someone my post makes sense to. Thanks.

So you want to know why someone would pay more for a superior product? I don't buy $2 bottles of wine but they have the same functionality as a $20 bottle. If someone can afford a higher price for a superior product, why wouldn't they buy it?

That is your question. Make your own thread for it. My question is, " Why would a person pay so much more for what is essentially the same product?"

They aren't the same product. According to Consumer Reports the iPhone is superior in the following categories:

handset capabilities

battery life

camera

texting

calling

ergonomics

browsing

music

navigation

That is why someone would pay more for "essentially the same product".

Rubbish.

Ask most i-phone owners about i-phone stats compared to other phones and they won't have an idea.

I have used many different phones, i-phones are not better at browsing. Any phone with a chip of similar speed will browse just the same.

The battery life is not better. You can't change your own batt, and there was just a debacle where we found out Apple was slowing down their phones to extend batt life.

The reason lemmings pay more is because they want to be part of the in crowd. Image. Fad.

I bow to your vast technological expertise. I was unaware of your extensive un-biased product testing. I'm sure the "rubbish" coming out of Consumer Reports is nothing more than fake news.

You win. The iPhone is just a fad.

While you are not the first to bow to my genius, the fad is not the i-phone. The fad is the owning of an i-phone.

Don't worry if the difference escapes you.

I would say it's not a 'fad' as such but it is part of the same phenomenon as, say, Rolex watches as Armani clothes.   People can - and frequently do - pay 20 to 100 times as much for a low-spec Rolex than a high-spec no-name.

Some of the price premium can be put down to confidence in the quality of the item, but not - IMO - all of it.

You really see this effect in the world of art.   If you find a painting in the attic how much it is worth has nothing to do with the subject or the quality of the brushwork and everything to do with who painted it.

Thank you.

Sometimes people even knowingly buy fake i-phones, just because they want people to think they have an i-phone.

It is a fad. Same as with hoop skirts, zoot suits, or Mac computers. The fad of the crowd. Lemming syndrome.

I disagree with you about the underlying psychology.  i'd say it reflects a desire to identify with (and be identified with)an 'elite' rather than with 'the crowd'.

That is to say that we humans don't want to be isolated individuals nor do we want to be totally absorbed into a 'universal hive mind' - our ideal is membership of a sub-group so we can feel we are 'special' without being 'strange'.

nope.

nope.

nope.

nope.

nope.

Lol.

Funny, I just read a convo on DDO where two posters were telling RM that you were a great debater.

Trust me, it shows.

Beats me why Iphones are popular. I fell for the hype. I had an android phone and regret ever buying an Iphone. I will keep it a while longer because I paid $450 for it. But next time there aint no way in hell I will buy another Iphone. I hate it. 

The more expensive phone was not better. The hype was.

What if all the cool stars in Hollywood own one? Then you'll buy another right?

Hollywood is for the pervs and the pedos. Hollywood and anything to do with it makes me barf and get explosive diarrhea

Apple spends more in marketing than in the manufacture of this piece of shet, that is why the iphone is costly.

Besides, marketing is a very nice tool to convince the ignorant masses to buy whatever you want, even things of low quality. Regardless, I think the iphone has improved a lot, the only problem is that it is overpriced for the reasons I've already explained.

Good points, but my point was more to the faddish nature of it than to the quality of the phone. 

Its the same phenonom with everyone suddenly having tattoos, or wailing about kids separated from parents, or weddings having bridesmen and groomsmaids. Fad. All fad.

People following the fad all say, "I wanted to be unique". Really? So you go and do what the majority are doing to be unique?

I have 3 grown daughters, and none of them has ever wanted an

I-phone, a tattoo, or a democratic voter's card. So proud of them.

I bought a like-new iPhone once.  It was my first smartphone and especially affordable opportunity at the time.  The relationships they are able to found with carriers cannot be discounted.  Apple phones were marketed with such high margins at the stores people were accustomed to shopping and often the cost is commonly covered through (anticompetitive) contract, where people briefly choose an updated phone that is intuitive to them and has the features they require.  

My experience with the iPhone was intitally positive since I enjoyed the music quality and only used it to play a few games.  I liked the handling, design, and the extent that i understood its engineering.  Ultimately it became frustrating as apple is apparantly content to impair their products after a certain time with software, and I became discontented with the company.  So I no longer buy apples because I believe in buying things that are worth owning, before I even consider the market value.  That said, there is still probably some rationale in which consumeristic individuals find them appealing to their application regardless of my experience.   Apple products have a relative reputation for reliability, and thoughtful integration.  While knowledge is preferable to brand based shopping, that's not always practical for everyone.  Many people in the current market are not too technically inclined, or too busy and stressed for another learning curve and the name associated services are worth more to them.

Apple iPhones are well constructed in my experience.  I really could not care less about the (above standard) specifications relative to other products with my priorities, as long as as it is designed properly, and performance is sufficient for your intended application.