Regret, Avoided; Opportunity, Missed

Well, today Apple held the WWDC Keynote address and unveiled their latest iteration of the iPhone hardware and (newly-renamed) iOS 4.  There were, as usual, the applause and cheering that Steve Jobs has come to expect of his keynote crowds.  I was able to avoid any potential buyer's remorse and Jobs missed a huge opportunity for a great announcement setup.

Jobs started off by covering some of the statistics with regard to the iPhone, iPad and the application store for their mobile stores.  He also discussed their new advertising platform for those devices that they hope will make themselves, and the application developers, even more rich (The Fugitive reference).  Then he went on to cover the main event.

The phone itself is largely what we'd been hearing about for weeks, especially after the prototype was purchased by a rumor site.  It's using the same (or similar) chip to the iPad, developed in house and has a substantially upgraded screen that packs a lot more pixels in, apparently.

What I thought was going to be the best part about the keynote, though, didn't happen, but it was perfectly set up to occur.  I'll explain.  When Jobs was demonstrating the new screen, he was going to have a side-by-side comparison between the screen of the previous iPhone and the iPhone 4.  Jobs makes mention of the network being unpredictable.  Asks people to get off of the WiFi (which I thought was a slight jab at the Google IO keynote a few weeks ago).  Later on, in another demonstration, more connectivity issues.  I had everything that would happen next mapped out in my mind.

The Steve shakes his head and sighs in exasperation while a sympathetic and loving crowd looks on.  "Can anyone help me?" he might ask.  Cut to stage left.  Ivan Seidenber, CEO of Verizon, strides confidently on stage.  "Maybe I can help, Steve."  "Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenber? How can you help?" "Well, I know that you've been having some network issues for, well, a while, and I think it's finally time that we joined forces.  We can show the world exactly what the best hardware, software and network can look like when they're together at last." "I think I'd like that, Ivan.  I think I'd like that a lot, but keep in mind that from now on, I own you." "Yes, sir." "Thanks for playing."  Then there'd be a freeze frame of everyone laughing at Ivan.

It was perfectly scripted.  It just didn't turn out that way.  So, here we are; mostly minor-sounding upgrades to a three-year-old device with a new form factor.  And the same horrible network that's been hampering it all along.  And here I am without the test I had been wanting.  The test to figure out if it was strictly wanting the openness of the Android which fulfills the philosophical arguments of freedom and choice, or if it was simply a case of justifying second best.  I still feel as though I would have gone with Android.  I have become more jaded with each Jobs keynote, picking it apart and taking everything he says with a China-sized grain of salt.  He's trying to get his followers to be excited about adding in features that have been available everywhere else for years, but they only become "innovative" when they come to Apple.  Multi-tasking, folders, WiFi video chat.  These are not new things.  They're just new to Apple.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go listen to Pandora while writing an email on my phone, which I've been able to do from day one.