The iPhone 5

Each revision the iPhone receives is portrayed as "Revolutionary."  Whether it's a faster chip, thinner design, higher resolution display, or new software features, the new model always changes slightly, but remains overall the same.  Many of the features are not new to the smartphone market, but rather adaptations from another company's design.  The iPhone 5, for example, has a taller screen.  There are many smartphones with very large screens, so this addition is more of a correction to changing markets than an unprecedented innovation.

The new dock connector makes me laugh because it seems like an obvious scam.  Oh, so you want the newest iPhone?  Well you're going to have to buy all new accessories.  I do admit that the connector looks to be improved and that a change would eventually have to occur, but it seems like an artificially created boost to the already over-saturated iPhone accessory market.

The new earbuds look promising, especially with the noise cancellation, although I'm curious to see if they actually work.  When I first heard that they were called "EarPods," I thought it was a joke.  It sounds like the name of a fake Apple product in a political cartoon bashing today's youth.

While most people look at the shiny pictures of the glass finish (and the revolutionary use of a new alloy called Aluminum (ˌalyəˈminēəm)), I find the hands holding them to be more interesting.  Who at Apple is the hand model?  How do they have such flawless hands and fingers?  Do they show pictures of their hand in Apple ads to their friends and family during social events as a conversation starter?

Their catchy phrase for this update is: "It's so much more.  And so much less too."  It makes sense when you think about it, but it creates a slight feeling of disappointment, like when you open up the largest present under the Christmas tree only to find a gift card inside.

A mysterious floating hand (and an iPhone too)