A few hundred people retweeted one of my quips from last night, post 4S announcement. Here’s my tweet, quoted verbatim:

“We’re spoiled idiots. We call a dual-core smartphone with a 8mp camera + software that interprets language + fits in pocket ‘disappointing’” – Read on Twitter

I got hundreds of replies, and even though most were positive, quite a few people complained that Apple was now “just following competition” and that there are other smartphone models doing as well or better. I call bullshit. These people are talking about the Galaxy SII, which is indeed a beautiful, great phone, but certainly not ahead of the iPhone 4S (or the old iPhone 4, for that matter). If this claim doesn’t make you sweat, break your computer keyboard and immediately call me an idiot, read on for why I think that. You might still call me an idiot after you do, but at least you’ll know exactly how much of one I really am.

According to a comparison by Samsung themselves (desperate much? Yes), the Galaxy is ahead in terms of network speed (true), screen size (true, although this up for discussion – read this), weight (true), and in the fact that it can control your HDTV. Exhale now – take perhaps a few minutes to control your television with your phone, too, because that’s an important thing to do.

Lets imagine the Galaxy SII was twice as good as the iPhone in every main specification (cpu, speed, memory, network). It would still be a worse device. What people arguing that Apple is now lagging behind competition fail to realize is that Apple is delivering consistent, polished experiences and services that integrate with one another beautifully. They’re not selling you a device because of its new CPU (they didn’t even announce CPU models until the iPhone 4) – they are selling you the ecosystem of device, software, app store, cloud, integration.

Ask someone who bought a mac for the first time recently, what they think of buying a new computer. The reason why they don’t go back to PCs is not because of any particular specs macs may have, but because things are cold, flimsy, unpolished or just plain bad on the other side. When it comes to the holistic experience, they’re not following competition – there simply is none, even though I wish there was.

(A huge idiot, right?)

If there’s one conclusion that we can take from the last few months is this: news reporting is rotten to the core. Sources aren’t checked, facts aren’t checked, lies are typed and printed, readers – much like you and me – are lied to in order to crank those “eyeball” numbers.

At this point in breaking news, it seems like anything and everything is possible – bullshit is, no doubt, encouraged. For months, hundreds of thousands of words were written speculating on an iPhone with an air-inspired teardrop design. Photos of reported iPhone 5 cases were shown to the media, broadcast on twitter, plastered on Facebook, for pageviews. Reports of deals between Apple and operators, captured your clicks, your time, and real, actual, money. It was fine: in our curiosity, we kept clicking – everyone else does too.

You are the product, now more than ever. And if today’s announcement of the iPhone 4S says anything about the media, is that ultimately, it doesn’t matter what they say, and whether it is true or not – as long as you’re right there to read it.

A lot will be written about Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 4S. They will say they’ve lost their way, that the new phone doesn’t innovate. There will be obvious posts about a post-Steve Jobs Apple, and how things will be so drastically different now. Today’s announcement (or the lack thereof) may be the fuel to the flame for those who are skeptical of a Steve-less Apple. Easy now.

I’m going on a limb and putting it this way instead: this is going to be a big deal. A refreshed iPhone model for $199 is a game changer. There’s no Android model out there (or any other smartphone for that matter) that can compete at this point, feature or pricing-wise. When people think of what smartphone to buy next, what do you really think they’re going for: the latest Android model, or a brand new Apple iPhone 4S for $199?

The big deal today isn’t the new model itself (even though it *is* pretty cool). The big deal today is that everyone else will be expected to compete at this pricepoint now too, and not just on the user experience (which was already hard to beat).

Also, Siri? Amazing (jump to minute 73).