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).