WEBVTT - Have smartphones lost their luster? 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.199 Brought to you by the two thousand twelve Toyota Camry. 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:06.760 Hey there, tech stuff listeners, This is Jonathan Strickland, and 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:09.080 I wanted to talk to you a little bit about 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.600 something cool going on at how stuff works right now. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.200 I know all of you guys are really creative and 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:16.720 you love technology. Well, now you can show us what 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.680 you're made of because Toyota is sponsoring a new photo 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:22.439 upload widget over at how stuff works dot com. You 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:27.440 can share your gadget ideas, modifications, hacks, some great tech ideas. 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:29.800 Show us what you're made of. Let us know how 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:33.400 creative you are. You can go to www dot how 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:37.640 stuff works dot com, slash upgrade your tech and upload 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:39.600 those photos. Now we want to see what you got. 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:45.040 Get in touch with technology with tech stuff from how 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:53.360 stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, and welcome to 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:55.520 tex Stuff. My name is Chris Polette and I'm an 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.280 editor at how stuff works dot com. Sitting crush me 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:00.720 as usual mostly because I I prefer to keep an 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:07.240 eye on and is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, So, yeah, 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:12.880 this week as of the week we're recording this. Uh, 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:19.880 there was a highly hyped event that UM was sort 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:25.240 of met with UM shrug, a big shrug by the 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:28.240 the community of people who pay attention to these things. 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:31.840 That was all in caps attention to these things. UM. 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:37.720 And that would be the the release of Apple's iPhone five. Um. 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:41.440 And of course Apple has done Regardless of whether you 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:44.560 like the company and what it does or not, I 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.560 think it's safe to admit that Apple has done a 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.760 a good job of marketing it's stuff to the point 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.040 where I know, but there are going to be people who, 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:56.960 you know, Apple is terrible and Steve Jobs was awful, 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:59.640 blah blah blah. Now I'm when I'm trying to get 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.080 at is They've been a good a good enough job 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.240 at marketing new products to the point where people tune 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:09.320 in in large numbers, including the tech media, to press 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:13.600 releases for brand new products. Yeah, the tech world stops 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:19.359 when Apple makes an announcement, and it's it's every every 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:25.280 tech uh news site that I follow. Everyone had either 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:29.880 a live blog or some sort of live commentary about 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.640 what was going on over at Apple, including our buddies 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:36.160 over at Revision three. You know they did it. They 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:38.480 were covering it up all that as well and giving 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.480 reaction and giving analysis to the point where you're really 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:46.000 you know, these are events, these press events, are are 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:50.560 events with a capital E, because I mean, there are 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.480 some people who kind of where does a badge of 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:59.120 honor that they are invited to go to these Apple events. 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:02.640 Some people have law lost that privilege. Uh, and it 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:05.040 almost feels like it's a kind of punishment in a way, 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.799 like you've been banished from the land of tech, turn away, 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.880 never to return. Um. It's it's a big deal. But 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.320 the reason why we're even talking about now is because 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:18.880 a lot of the reaction, not all of it, but 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.760 a lot of the reaction, particularly from the media to 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:27.320 the iPhone announcement was sort of this, well, okay, you know, 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.239 not that not that the iPhone five is a bad 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:33.919 product or is in any way deficient, but just that 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.480 it did not blow everyone's socks off, Which is kind 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:41.520 of an interesting thing to talk about, because before the 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:46.440 Apple announcement, there were other press events from other companies 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.960 about upcoming phones, like Nakia having some Windows eight phones 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.760 coming out, and again, the reaction from a lot of 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.600 the tech media was sort of like, all right, that's interesting. 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:00.560 You know, no one was falling over themselves, and and 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:03.040 that would not be a big deal at all, except 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:07.160 for the fact that Apple when it first launched the iPhone, 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:12.400 really brought the house down. Same thing with the iPad, 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:16.799 that that when when these new products came out, they 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:22.200 dramatically energized the tech industry, both from the journalist point 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.279 of view and from the consumer point of view. Because 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.159 like it or not, even if you hate Apple products, 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:33.080 you cannot deny that Apple is the company that created 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:39.479 the markets for consumer smartphones and for tablets. Because before 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.880 the iPhone came out, smartphones were pretty much just in 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:49.800 the world of enterprise. You had uh professionals mostly executives, 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.560 carrying around smartphones, and you had a few uh cutting edge, 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:58.000 like bleeding edge early adopters who loved them, but everyone 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.599 else just carried around, you know, feature phones what we 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.600 call feature phones now or just dumb phones if you want. 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:09.680 But then the iPhone call I often would call mine 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.719 a dumb phone. But then Apple comes out with the iPhone, 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:19.360 shows off this amazing design, beautiful touch screen interface. They 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:22.680 just they nailed everything they needed to to hit in 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:27.520 order to appeal to consumers, and that's what started this 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:32.160 tide of change where suddenly average people were going out 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:37.440 and buying smartphones, not just executives or super geeky tech lovers. 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:40.760 The same thing with the iPad. Before the iPad came out, 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.960 nobody bought a tablet unless they were in a very 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:48.200 specific field or again they were an early adopter, you know, 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:50.520 just tablets. Just that was one of those form factors 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.400 that no one had gotten right and and a lot 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.880 of people, including myself famously at least in the history 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:01.760 of tech stuff, wrote off to Apple. It's Apple comes 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:06.920 in again. Shows a very consumer friendly way of creating 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.760 a tablet with a beautiful design and a great interface. 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:14.479 So bringing the house down. You know, they had set 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:18.200 that that standard. The iPod Touch was also a big hit. 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.160 I mean, they had done so many things that were 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:26.400 really attractive that we kind of got used to Apple 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:30.440 bringing down the house with their announcements, and it's become 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.760 sort something of an expectation, and it's getting increasingly difficult 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:39.160 for Apple to live up to that expectation by adding 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:44.599 improvements to a previous generation of technology. Yeah, well, it's 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:50.760 funny because, um, those were the comments that greeted the 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:54.960 the iPhone three G three gs uh, the iPhone four 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.080 s UM, and the iPhone four was enough of a 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:03.080 dramatic change that I think kind of kind of excited people. 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.479 But the forest I remember distinctly when the forest came out, 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:10.000 and people were very dismissive of it. Yeah, they were 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:13.640 expecting the iPhone five, and it was more about the 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:15.960 changes were more about the insides of the phone than 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:20.160 the outside, which you know, are important but are not 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:24.560 as sexy as a new form factor that really captures 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:28.880 the the eye and imagination of the public. Well. And 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:33.320 I think I think it's it's pretty clear to me 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:37.280 that the people who argue that UM design is just 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:43.760 superficial UM, I think they're that that doesn't necessarily prove 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.720 them wrong, but it it it proves them mostly wrong 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:51.800 that you know, design does matter to people UM and UH. 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:54.040 But I don't think they're completely wrong either, because I 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:57.840 think if you had a very beautiful phone that didn't 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.440 do as much, it's not going to sell as well either. 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.760 So it was, you know, the iPhone, the original iPhone 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:08.119 was that combination of hey, this looks nice and uh, 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:12.440 it does you know, smartphone stuff UM for the public. 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.400 So Jonathan and I were talking about beforehand, and UH said, 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:18.400 you know, when when we were picking topics this week. 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:21.400 We didn't want to do an iPhone five recap, but 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.120 so many other people have have done this, including our 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.400 colleagues over at Revision three. UM. They did such a 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:30.640 great job of covering the release and that the features 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:33.280 and all the the the good stuff about the phone, 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:35.199 that we didn't really want to do an episode specifically 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:40.400 devoted to the iPhone five. UM, but we you know this, 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:42.439 this was sort of what what triggered it. And actually 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.920 what I noticed beforehand, before it was even launched, was 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.160 Stephen Chanklin's piece over at c net where he said, 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.200 you know, look, this is this is the time and 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:57.520 smartphones when you're kind of gonna expect that there there's 0:08:57.520 --> 0:08:59.680 not gonna be a lot of groundbreaking new stuff, even 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.559 from Apple, And he was right, Shaklin. Shanklin's article is 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:07.360 titled the whole hum era of smartphones has begun and yeah, 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:10.080 and I think by and large he's he's got a 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:13.200 point that that we're sort of in the evolutionary era 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.480 rather than the revolutionary era, because the iPhone five is 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.760 is thinner. Um, it looks a lot like the iPhone 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:23.079 for its taller. It's taller. It does give you more 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.959 screen space, and that's one of those things that people 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.679 seem to like about I would say semi revolutionary phones 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:36.120 like the Samsung uh Galaxy Um, well, the Galaxy Note, 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:41.800 which is a huge one fabulet yeah, one of those yeah, 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:46.960 and the the three, the Galaxy three, which is one 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:50.200 of those two a pretty darn large size screen. The 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:53.800 iPhone five has a smaller screen than it does um 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:57.960 more pixels, nine aspect ratio, yeah, and so great for 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.280 watching movies, but not necessarily for surfing the web. So 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.800 the stuff that you're seeing is you know, larger or 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:09.640 smaller screen size, as you're seeing more pixels in that screen, 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:13.599 more screen elements, if you will, um, more network capability, 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:17.240 because now the iPhone five has LTE, but then, as 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:19.560 many people have pointed out, other phones have had an 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:22.920 LTE for a while. Apple has famously been slow to 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:28.840 adopt new wireless technologies, uh in order to make sure 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.959 they don't sacrifice the customer experience. That's the story. That's 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.120 their story, and I pretty much buy it. Pretty much 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:38.320 buy that the idea that, well, we could, but if 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.160 we incorporate that without first making sure we have the 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.720 best battery available, then your experience is going to be. 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:47.240 This phone was really fast for about an hour and 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:48.920 then I had to plug it in. Well. Yeah, and 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:52.280 battery life is another thing that they that that provides 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.720 an incremental change, but it you know, it could look 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.560 exactly like last year's phone and have two more hours 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:02.480 of battery life. And that's the big news for this year, 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:07.160 really battery And again, this is something that applies to 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:11.199 all smartphones. We're using the iPhone five as the example 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:14.240 because this was it was the hot news the week 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:15.920 when we're recording this. Of course, by the time you 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:17.840 guys listen to this, you'll probably sick of iPhone five 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:22.080 news anyway. But the idea being that that all phones 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:28.480 are having this problem where the the incremental improvements aren't 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:32.520 quite enough to capture the imagination the way the introduction 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:34.880 of the iPhone or the introduction of the first Android 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:38.000 phone uh could, or or even the introduction of the 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.520 first Windows eight phone. Um, these were our events that 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:45.599 sort of, uh make a big splash, and then afterward, 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:50.040 you know, you can't you can't just keep on radically 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:54.760 redesigning your products and expect to build a level of 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.440 brand recognition and brand loyalty. I mean, every time you 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.000 redesign something radically, you're losing people. Now you might be 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.239 able to gain more people than you lose with that redesign, 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:08.640 but it's a it's a risk. Um, it's an interesting problem. 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:12.760 I mean, when you think about it, I respect Shanklin's point, 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:14.760 and and he's not the only one who wrote about. 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:18.600 Roger Ching also have seen it. Wrote an article called 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.360 ho hum, the iPhone five isn't going to wow anyone, 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:24.520 so it became who hum week over at seen that. Uh, 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.400 I love you guys over there and seen it anyway, 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:33.920 the very nice people who work there and very smart 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:38.120 as well. Anyway, he was writing about the general reaction 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:43.040 to the iPhone five. But I would caution people against 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:49.160 writing off the smartphone form factor and and feature set 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.040 as being pretty much all we're going to get from 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.640 here on out right, Like I mean, with incremental improvements 0:12:56.640 --> 0:13:01.200 at end stuff that you know, screen resolution, processor speed, 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:05.200 battery life, networking capability, that kind of stuff. You know, 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:10.960 maybe NFC capability. Apple's Apple has not jumped on that train, 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:13.160 and and it may very well be the NFC doesn't 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:17.359 go anywhere. Near field communication or NFC is uh basically 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:22.240 like it has a little uh communication device inside the 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:25.120 phone or or tablet. Actually the next to seven s 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.360 NFC and um, yeah, and it can be used for 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:32.520 most famously, it's used for financial transactions. So if you're 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:36.120 close enough to a reader at the cash register, you 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.120 pay with your phone by your your credit card. Information 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:41.200 is in your phone or I guess it could be 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.480 a bank. Information is in the phone. You wiggle it 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.520 within ten inches of a reader and even closer. I 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:50.600 think it's a couple of centimeters. But yes, but I'm 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:52.600 I'm yeah, I was sorry, You're right, it is. It 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.800 is shorter than that, so it's really near field communication. 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.679 But that that's people were speculating before the iPhone five 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.719 launched will be to speak the time that Apple does this, 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:04.840 and actually they did on on iOS six. They have 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:11.319 a a manager for things like tickets and other information 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.920 for events, you know, plane tickets or or event tickets 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:18.440 and things like that. And it's and it doesn't loyalty 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:20.520 cards for certain things. But yeah, it does not have 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:23.040 NFC build into it. And and NFC can also be 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.200 used to send communication between devices for things like you're 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:28.400 running an app, your friends running the same app. You 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.760 want to share some experience across that, whether it's a 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:36.240 game or music app or whatever. Tapping the two diss 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:40.560 business card information a great example. Um. But yeah, the 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.760 iPhone five does not include that, but other phones do 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:46.160 include it. And again these are things that partially I 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:48.440 would say the NFC is not as big a deal 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:53.480 because you don't see widespread adoption in retail establishments yet, 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:57.880 so and we may never see it. But in other words, 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:01.600 the utility of NFC is limited because it does not 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.880 have wide adoption. Yeah, and I think the biggest thing 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.400 I've seen as far as news this week, and again 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:10.960 this is less than a week after the announcement, is uh, 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:15.840 the brewjaha over Apple's new connector because they abandoned the 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:18.360 thirty pin connector. But the connector they have now, you 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.840 know one thing that is nice about it. You can 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:23.200 plug it in any way you want. Yeah, Like, there's 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:24.960 not a there's not a right way and a wrong 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.200 way to plug it in other than you know, make 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:30.920 sure the plug goes into the board. Yeah. Yeah, it 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:33.440 can be plugged in either right side up or upside down, 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:35.240 because there is no right side up or upside down. 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:38.640 But the thing is, um, people are saying that it's 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:42.080 not a it's a proprietary connector. It's not um, you know, 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:43.920 a form of USB and it's not like many or 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:46.760 micro USB. Right, So people are saying that Apple is 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.720 arrogant because they're using their own proprietary connector. Of course 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.120 micro and many USB has to be plugged in a 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:59.120 certain way. And also Apple is nowhere near alone in that. Yeah, 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:03.680 well the thing is um this argument and the recent 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:09.440 patent arguments, the Samsung Apple stuff where they were talking 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:13.720 about whether or not a Samsung device was easily confused 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:15.680 with an Apple device because it did or did not 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:20.760 have rounded corners or sharp corners or you know, these 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:23.880 are that I think these are the kinds of emblematic 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:29.040 things that really have to do with this. They're really 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:31.600 the kinds of things that we're talking about. We're talking 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.200 about whether or not there's innovation going on in the smartphones, 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:38.920 because in a way, Apple's new connector is innovative because 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.840 it can be plugged in UM. You know, you don't 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:43.720 have to look at it. You basically look at it 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:47.080 and see if it goes in the slaught or not. UM, 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.440 it's kind of innovative. It also makes a lot of 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:55.720 older peripherals obsolete, although there's an adapter for that, but 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.120 it still doesn't help with like docs. Yeah, like if 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.560 you have a an alarm clock dock that's designed for 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:05.959 the uh, you can't use the new iPhone with it, 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:08.320 right because because by the time you plug the adapter in, 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:12.040 it won't fit in the dock anymore. So so this 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:14.480 and I'm saying I have one of those or that 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.720 I h that's the reason why I was late today. Okay, 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:19.920 all right, you know you just had to get here 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:22.880 on time. It's on that um. But yeah, I mean 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.960 you're talking about rounded corner versus square corner, or is 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:28.560 does it have a bigger or smaller screen size? Or 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:32.720 you know what, what kinds of things would it take 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:37.439 at this point to make a smartphone really revolutionary? And 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:39.880 go wow, that is unlike anything else. And I don't 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:42.439 care what carrier it is or who makes it or 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:45.080 what operating system is, I've got to have this. See 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:47.320 that that's and that was Shanklin's point was that we 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:49.959 have reached this era where there isn't anything like that now. 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:52.840 I would caution people to that line of thinking because 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.720 every time we think that we've got to handle on 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:58.200 how stuff is going to be from here on out, 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:03.040 Someone some brilliant, brilliant personnel there comes up with a 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.679 new way of doing something, and next thing we know, 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:09.600 we're all like, wow, I never would have imagined it, 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:13.000 and now I can't imagine myself without that, you know. 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.000 So there there's still the chance that someone is going 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.800 to innovate in the smartphone space in such a way 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:23.200 that it really is truly innovative. It's not just an 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:28.800 iterative iterative approach to improvement. UM. It just I don't 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.240 know what that is. I'm not I'm not in that 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.280 that mind space, right, I can't really think like that. So, 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:37.439 but I'm not willing to completely write it off. However, 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:42.240 I do agree that those opportunities are gonna come fewer 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:47.840 and far far further between, um than the iterative approach. 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:50.480 And and it makes sense. I mean. Another point that 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.679 Shanklin made was like, look at the computer industry and 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:57.080 how once the computer form factor was settled. I would 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:00.080 argue that was settled in when we got to the 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.159 point of the graphics user interface in the mouse. That 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:06.439 was essentially where we agreed on the basic form factor 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:09.600 of the computer. Um, there wasn't a lot of change 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:11.920 until you got to like an all in one device 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:14.720 where you had the computer and the monitor was all 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:17.240 one piece. That's kind of similar to some of the 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:19.840 old old old computers too, but in a much in 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:23.520 a much nicer form factor, like the iMac version of 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:27.960 of that, where it's beautiful and sleek and everything apart 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:31.720 from aesthetics, the basic design hasn't changed that much until 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:36.879 you get to things like the new focus on touchscreen interfaces, 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:38.600 and that remains to be seen whether or not that 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:42.160 actually makes any impact in the computer industry apart from 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:44.360 the mobile I mean, and mobile of course it's it's 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:48.639 all the difference, but in desktop computing it remains to 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:54.840 be seen if that actually becomes uh an effective feature. Um. 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:57.439 But that's that's part of the issue, I think with 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:01.800 any kind of technology once you have kind of settled 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:06.560 on the form factor once, once the early battles have 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:09.520 have died down, and people are like, Okay, when you 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:14.000 say the words smartphone, this is the picture I think of, 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:17.600 because this is how we've all agreed to define what 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:21.960 a smartphone is. I think by definition, most of your 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:25.360 improvements from that point forward are just refining that design 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:30.679 as opposed to really really creating something spectacularly different. I 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:33.080 mean not that that can't happen, it's just really rare. 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:35.600 And I think that's why the patent battles have been 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:40.520 such a big deal anyway, is because people are saying, hey, 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:43.960 this is uh, you know, this particular feature is something 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:47.159 that we did in the smartphone market, and people like 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:50.600 our phones because of it, and we are going to 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:54.439 fight to protect it because that's that's what we have. 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:57.120 That this thing is our thing that sets us apart 0:20:57.160 --> 0:20:59.800 from everyone else, and we're gonna defend it until we 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:04.280 can defended any longer. And you know it's um yeah, 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:05.360 I mean there are there are a lot of things 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.080 like that in tech. You have a desktop computer, it changes, 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:11.480 you know, it used to be beige, well now it's black. 0:21:11.840 --> 0:21:16.199 It used to be uh, you know, ten inches wide, 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:20.000 now it's six inches wide, or you know so and 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:24.960 so tall, and then you start getting into weighs ten pounds. Yeah. 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:28.679 I picked up my Amiga three thousand one day a 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:31.240 long time ago, and the case on that thing, I'm 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:34.960 pretty sure is well, put it this way. It's metal anyway, 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:38.480 and I think it's steel, and it's much much heavier 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:41.639 than a lot of other desktops. Um, but yeah, I 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:43.959 mean that that was a computer that was the fiscal 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:45.960 case on. It was beige. The monitor that we bought 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:48.240 to use with it was beige. Black is a more 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:52.840 popular color now, but you know, basically it's a yeah 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:58.160 or or yeah um aluminium brushed aluminum and uh, you know, 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:00.960 I I have a desktop can Peter now that is 0:22:01.000 --> 0:22:03.480 my primary computer. I bought it because I wanted a 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:06.720 larger screen. There are days when I think, you know what, 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:09.000 I'd rather have a laptop just because I could carry 0:22:09.000 --> 0:22:11.440 it around with me. And then I go use a 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:13.320 laptop like, for example, the one the ones we use 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:15.199 here for work at how Stuff Works dot Com, and 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:18.119 I go, you know what, I hate this tiny screen. 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:21.720 I want a bigger screen, and I think it's gonna 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:23.920 be You know, there are there are things like the 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:27.000 chips too. You get into the U the Intel chips 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:29.119 and you know the Core I seven and like I 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:32.680 want that the faster processor. Well, you know, maybe I'm 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:34.880 playing games and then I get to a point where 0:22:34.880 --> 0:22:36.640 I'm doing other stuff and I just don't have time 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:38.760 for games anymore. And you know, I don't really need 0:22:38.800 --> 0:22:41.159 to upgrade my computer, And I think that that really 0:22:41.280 --> 0:22:44.679 is It gets down to whether the computer or or 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:48.200 or electronics manufacturers can get us to buy their new 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:52.160 thing because it's got that feature, that innovative new feature 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:56.800 that no one else has. Um you know, there there 0:22:56.800 --> 0:22:58.959 there was that time when people really wanted to upgrade 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:00.960 to the Xbox three, Stick to You or the PlayStation 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:05.040 three because hey, it's supported high deaf screens and oh 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:07.840 my gosh, you know, it's got a faster processor, more power. 0:23:08.280 --> 0:23:10.760 I can. I can look at the games they're putting 0:23:10.760 --> 0:23:13.480 out for this thing, and they really haven't refreshed those 0:23:13.840 --> 0:23:17.119 in quite some time, because well, there's not a new TV. 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:20.880 Um you know that that it has to support. There's 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:24.840 not a new they're just not that many new improvements 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:26.919 to the chips and to the things. And you go, 0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:29.440 you know, and I don't need to spend six dollars 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:32.719 on a new console, or I don't need to spend 0:23:33.040 --> 0:23:37.400 on a new um Dusktop machine because the one I'm 0:23:37.480 --> 0:23:40.840 using now, you know, I've taken care of it. I've 0:23:40.840 --> 0:23:43.639 backed up the hard drive, I've upgraded their memory, I've 0:23:43.720 --> 0:23:48.919 upgraded the the graphics card or the sound card. You know, 0:23:48.960 --> 0:23:52.359