Please, do tell me the definition of ‘revolutionary'

The pressure to be revolutionary in the mobile market is an ever-present one. From the very first iPhone, which changed the way we thought about how we interacted with mobile devices (from us prodding at them with stylus’ to prodding at them with our fingers instead) to the idea of a notification drawer that keeps track of all possible alerts that could happen on a device.

With the next iPhone due to be announced in just under two weeks and many consumers declaring that the next iPhone had better be earth-shattering, it begins to make me wonder what needs to happen to satisfy users that enough has changed. Does Apple need to completely overhaul their UI? Do they need to use a completely different shaped phone? Or are under the hood revolutions enough? Not every change is visual, and many of those rumoured to be a part of the next iPhone aren’t obvious to the user.

A bigger screen may be somewhat normal in a world where Android dominates screen size, but a screen that combines technologies to create something thinner and lightweight is incredible.

Perhaps Apple set the bar far too high when they ‘redefined’ the smartphone, and now they need to essentially reinvent the wheel to impress consumers. To me, a technology enthusiast, a screen like that blows my mind, but to an every day person, the phone doesn’t appear to have changed that much from the previous design.

I can say confidently that consumers don’t really know what they want, but so far, Apple’s mostly managed to figure out that for them. Now that there’s so much choice in the market, ranging from phones that look more like tablets to phones that come equipped with barometers, is incremental change enough for Apple? Is changing their design once every few years enough in a sea of phone designs that seemingly never end?

Maybe. Or maybe they need to reinvent themselves, again.

(If you think you know the definition of revolutionary, go ahead and mention me, @findingnewo or email me)