Apple replaces the tree as real measure of time

A Different View with Dave O’Connell

It used to be that geologists measured the passage of time by counting the rings on the bark of a tree – dendrochronology, they call it – but these days it’s easier to gauge it by the number that comes at the end of your iPhone.

Thus 2016 is defined for some by the iPhone 7, with subtle and seismic changes that will sufficiently excite them to see stay up all night just so they can get their hands on one of the first of the species.

They will revel in the changes from the iPhone 6 which they will feel fully justify the outlay of several hundred euro to replace a phone that works perfectly fine and was itself cutting edge as recently as Christmas.

But Apple needs more than its super-fans to keep turning over the billions – so over time it also fashions a plan that forces even the most reluctant of customers to make the change.

Never mind those who need a new phone because their old one fell out of the car or down the toilet – they will always provide a niche market.

This is about people who just want a device that can make calls, accept emails, play music, take a pic, bring you the news and sport, and entertain you in the quieter moments with a simple video game or two.

It’s a huge bonus if you can access free calls via Skype or Face Time and even better if the GPS or Google Maps allows you to find yourself when you get lost, without have to make an eejit of yourself by asking a stranger.

For them, the original iPhone – like Rocky, there was no iPhone 1, because back then there wasn’t necessarily a sequel – should be enough…in theory.

They don’t care about download speeds or the pixel quality of the camera, the screen quality for games or the width of their phone – because the first thing they did with it was put a bit heavy case on it to protect it when it falls.

So Apple has to force your hand by rendering your old phone obsolete – and it does this in a number of ways.

One is to limit its shelf life by cutting off updates for older models which means that some of the Apps you loved are now useless.

The other – and this is what they’re up to this time – is to change part of the phone’s hardware. Last time it was the charging socket and now they’re doing away with the headphone jack.

Officially it’s because the old headphone facility was three and a half millimetres in diameter – and because the new iPhone 7 is thinner, this will no longer fit.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.