Letting the iPhone 5 Go

Telecom & Wireless

Published: September 27, 2012 6:33 am

In the months leading up to the release of the new Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5 and in the days afterward, many media have practically lived on news and opinion about the device. Comments and reports about its features and sales volumes have helped sell huge numbers of magazines and newspapers, and they have driven up Internet pageviews at may websites, almost certainly. It is time to let the iPhone 5 go, at least as the subject of endless coverage.

The reports about the new iPhone fall, in most cases, into analyses of its poor maps app, particularly in relationship with those formerly provided by Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). The number of writers and editors who believe this is so must be 99% of the total. The story is dead.

iPhone sales is another focus of fascination. Apple sold five million in the first weekend. The company said so in a press release. Based on some analysts, 10 million of the smartphones will be sold in September. The figure could reach 40 million by the end of the year. That number could be off by a million or so. What more is there to say? Security analysts have rendered their judgments. All of them are guesses, even if they are educated ones.

Critics and users of the new iOS 6, which runs on the iPhone 5, have picked it apart. For the most part, it is a good system. It has a few flaws, but Apple will fix those with an upgrade or two. What more is there to say?

The new iPhone works well, or its does not. Its screen is either too big or too small. The circus that the iPhone 5 has created includes legal fights between Samsung and Apple about which will get to keep its screen too large or too small, or whether the smartphones will be sold in certain countries at all.

For the millions who have bought their new iPhones and the millions who will buy them soon, the fascination about features has worn off. They can make their own judgments about its strengths and weaknesses — without the help of the media, which have benefited so richly from the launch.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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