37signals wrote a piece recently discussing the real world differences between the iPhones 3G performance and the blazing “twice as fast” demonstration in the commercial.
Web pages load immediately. GPS picks up instantly. Files download about 3x faster than I’ve ever seen a file download — even over wi-fi. I don’t think standing on top of a 3G tower antenna would even deliver such an experience.
It’s an interesting discussion. They also note that if this commercial was about features, then speeding up the actions wouldn’t be such a crime as they were just trying to cram as many in as they could within 30 seconds, but since this commercial is about speed, is it bait-and-switch to not show real world speeds?
My thoughts are that they continuously say “twice as fast,” which to the educated geek, means “twice as fast as the original iPhone.” And honestly, I’ve heard the real world use IS twice as fast as the original iPhone, but nothing is as fast as the commercial. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the commercial and a real iPhone trying to do the same tasks:
Personally, if this wasn’t Apple, and the iPhone wasn’t the best phone anyone’s ever used, the backlash would probably be severe. But for some reason, people just keep loving Apple, and forgiving them of doing some shady things. And for me, I’m afraid that if I complain too loudly they’ll take away my iPhone. I honestly know it’s b.s. that they put this in the commercial, but what’s the alternative? Boycott and use a Nokia phone? I really can’t go back at this point. I also am NOT an Apple fanboy. I don’t respect or admire the company, and I don’t want everything they come out with. But some of their tools are so much better than the competitions, that I’ll continue using them despite the fact that they’re slowly losing my respect and loyalty. We just need another company to make an honestly competing product (in operating system OR hardware) and then to get a community as passionate about software as they are about Apple.
Yeah,
It’s a bait and switch. The language of advertising is inherently deceptive. Always has been (though there are exceptions). So is it Apples fault? A little. Is it the consumers fault for thinking the commercial represents real life? Yes. Aren’t we past that? I’d say reality television has firmly crushed reality. Apple knows its a stellar product and many will buy it. They are only taking advantage of a given. Does that mean they are exonerated? Hell no. I think it’s lame that companies constantly come out with new products knowing full well they will re-release it with the problems straightened out. Get the product right, then release it.
Hmm. Interesting. I think people expect commercials to show the absolute best side of the product, take food advertising. Hamburgers never really look that good. However, they went to far. The entire spot is a demonstration but it’s a false demonstration. The sad thing, they could have avoided this if they just cut when showing different apps. Nobody needed to see it load when the VO is telling us how fast it is. But by making it a seamless showing, it is misleading. (Gavel sound here.)
George Huff
August 14th, 2008
There are a lot of factors that come into play with the 3g network - it’s inconsistent all over the map. This has to do with AT&T, not Apple.
Though I must admit - I’ve never had my iPhone behave as snappy as the commercial. But who wants to watch a commercial with a laggy phone? ;-)
On another note - you should respect the Apple, they are blazing a trail in the UI and design worlds - we are experiencing history right now.
Courtney
August 15th, 2008
Yeah,
It’s a bait and switch. The language of advertising is inherently deceptive. Always has been (though there are exceptions). So is it Apples fault? A little. Is it the consumers fault for thinking the commercial represents real life? Yes. Aren’t we past that? I’d say reality television has firmly crushed reality. Apple knows its a stellar product and many will buy it. They are only taking advantage of a given. Does that mean they are exonerated? Hell no. I think it’s lame that companies constantly come out with new products knowing full well they will re-release it with the problems straightened out. Get the product right, then release it.
Jason
August 21st, 2008
Hmm. Interesting. I think people expect commercials to show the absolute best side of the product, take food advertising. Hamburgers never really look that good. However, they went to far. The entire spot is a demonstration but it’s a false demonstration. The sad thing, they could have avoided this if they just cut when showing different apps. Nobody needed to see it load when the VO is telling us how fast it is. But by making it a seamless showing, it is misleading. (Gavel sound here.)