Thousands of factory workers rioted, a consumer waited in line for eight days, Kris Jenner threw a hissy-fit, but was the iPhone 5 really worth all the trouble?
In Taiyuan, China, just three days after the release of Apple’s latest gadget, over 2,000 employees of a Foxconn factory—a company that manufactures for the U.S. tech giant—were involved in a brawl between workers and security guards that left 40 people injured. According to InformationWeek Mobility, a labor group blamed the violence on Apple’s rush to get the iPhone 5 to market.
So, was it worth it? Consumers may not condone the violence, but they do love their new toy.
On the release day, Sept. 21, Jessica Powell, 27, wrote in her blog, “I LOVE IT. Love it love it love it love it love it,” when she first set up her iPhone 5 after waiting in line for over 180 hours outside of New York’s Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. She had not one complaint about her waiting experience in relation to the worth of the phone.
But this girl’s a pro. A little less than a year before, she had waited 17 days for the iPhone 4.
Powell waited in line for the thrill and the purpose of blogging about it, but any other consumers who wanted to skip the whole waiting process could have paid someone on craigslist $40 to $150 to wait in line for them, according to CNET. The costs depended on the waiting start and whether they would camp or not.
At least the iPhone helped create more jobs.
Lucky for junior supply chain management and international business major Alex Polyakov, the wait on Sept. 21 in Columbia Mall’s AT&T store only lasted about two and a half hours. His wait was similar to a party.
He said, “When they opened the store people were cheering real loud. Everyone got along great. At one point it was more of a circle because all of us were just talking about the presidential election and sports—anything to pass the time. Everyone was real friendly and was having a good time. They offered us refreshments and donuts, if I remember correctly.”
Polyakov initially owned the iPhone 4 until he lost it in Puerto Rico, but he had to suffer through two months of a flip phone until he could get his new “mind blowing” phone.
Compared to the previous iPhone 4s, even after the iOS6 upgrade, the iPhone 5 has new features that make its consumers very happy: a faster a6 processor, thinner and lighter design, sleeker look, bigger screen with a better resolution, more durable backing cased in aluminum and capabilities of utilizing 4G and LTE networks.
David Rijos, a junior communications major, has owned every iPhone Apple has produced. He said, “Yes, its thinner, taller and lighter, but I’ve been a very avid Apple customer in the past years and all of its new features just make it seem toy-like.” He complained that the new shape of the phone seems to have been built for someone with “massive hands.”
But, without an upgrade, he was still willing to pay $581.94!
What about those who had not already owned an iPhone?
Junior finance major Daniel Atlas, whose mother woke up at 6 a.m. to pre-order the phone, had a BlackBerry for the past four years, which he referred to as a stupid smartphone. “The iPhone’s dope as shit!” he exclaimed. “I can do everything I want on it!”
Another previous BlackBerry owner, sophomore accounting major Alex Even said that she was very excited to get rid of her old phone in exchange for the much faster iPhone.
But was the iPhone 5 really worth the cost? The pricing can range from $199 to $849, depending on the contract, according to AT&T’s website.
“I think the phone is worth it if you have an upgrade, but if you do not then the price is very high for the small changes that were made from the iPhone 4S, which is what a lot of people have been complaining of,” she said.
Polyakov said, “A guy standing in line with me had the iPhone 4, 4s, and was buying the 5 at retail price so that was kind of crazy. I mean, I personally didn’t go out to eat, and I spent the least amount of money possible to save up for the phone.” He only paid $200, plus taxes.
Photo Credit: Gabrielle Kratsas