Matt Kiser

I really like my iPhone 4. It’s the first piece of technology I’ve owned that has truly enabled me to do everything I need (and want) to do. I’ve booked flights, video chatted with my mom, read books, watched live baseball and World Cup soccer, played graphic-rich games, found my way when lost, and generally become more productive because of my iPhone. It’s kind of funny to say, but people really love their iPhones. Literally. 

But it wasn’t all rosy. 

My first iPhone was a refurb 16gb 3G. I cracked the screen pretty much immediately. Despite that it was by far the best phone I had ever owned (previously a bunch of Nokia flip phones and a Blackberry Curve). Then I upgraded to iOS 4. And, my phone became a brick. 

It was beyond sluggish. Auto-correct would change text messages AFTER I TAPPED SEND. Apps crashed constantly. I was doing two or three hard resets a day just to keep the device on life support. It’s kind of crazy to think that people are trying to sue Apple because the update turned the device into “little more use than that of a paper weight.” But it’s true. My 3G had become useless to me. It was disconcerting and frustrating. I had considered getting an Android phone at that point. I tried to downgrade, but it seemed like way too much work and likely I’d eff it up.

I was six months or so away from an upgrade with AT&T, so I stuck it out and upgraded. 

I tell this story because the iPhone 3G is an amazing little device that was corrupted by a software update that ruined it. That update made me resent my phone. It was like a withering relationship and we were pissed off at each other all the time. It was terrible. Apple had cheated on me. I gave up on trying new apps. For someone who’s always been on top of technology, I felt like a luddite. 

It’s an odd feeling being totally defeated by good technology that goes bad. Especially when the underpinning hardware is just fine AND still much better than most devices out there. 

We put our trust in technology and often times it fails us. These broken promises are what frustrates the average person and makes them skeptical of technology. It’s also why they often opt for the cheaper and inferior products. 

In conclusion: great products simply work.