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‘Wait!! There’s a new iPhone?’ Britain’s youth doesn’t care!

Started by Ewan · 12 months ago

Samantha K is a regular SMS Text News reader. She’s an atypical reader — that is, she doesn’t work for a mobile operator, mobile marketing firm — in fact, she doesn’t work in any mobile related fields. In fact she doesn’t work at all. She’s 16 and a High School student here [...] ... Continue reading »

42 comments

  • James Burland

    12 months ago

    "So here is the problem with the iPhone: It’s rubbish." - 40% of your friends like rubbish?

    What phone(s) do the other 60% like?
    reply
  • Samantha

    12 months ago

    I will ask some people what they like, and I'll post in the near future.

    I should have asked that really...

    Samantha.
    reply
  • Ewan

    12 months ago

    Interesting question!
    reply
  • Ben Smith

    12 months ago

    Samantha - that write-up's like crack to us iPhone fan-boys... :-) So I'll bite...

    Why would you expect to pay £80 for a PAYG iPhone? The only other 16GB music / video phone on the market at present is the Nokia N96 and it retails (without contract) for > £600... At best £80 gets you a small-screen music-only device.

    And why can't you find a non-Apple MP3 player? A search on amazon.co.uk gave models from Creative, Samsung, Sandisk and Samsung just on the first page... and that's before you consider Nokia, SonyEricsson, LG or Samsung's mobile phones that feature MP3 players... including those in your £100-phone price range.
    reply
  • Samantha

    12 months ago

    I expect to pay something in the region of £80 because paying any more to me, is pointless. The pace at which technology moves now is rediculous, and why should I pay more when only the next month it will be outdated? As I said too, the iPhone really doesn't have great features, many of which are under-par with competing phones.
    The Nokia N96 may be £600, but look who buys them? It's CEO's or company people... What about the majority of people? It is totally in accessible to the majority of people, and in particular, the young people.

    As for the MP3 player, my standards are quite high, and I will admit, I am prepared to pay something in the region of £160 to £180 for my next MP3 player. Firstly it has to have a bare minimum of 30GB, which already emlinates Sony, Sandisk, and Samsung. As for Creative, I'm awaiting a new Zen series model; which will be more of an upgrade (I currently own a Zen Micro). Also, I'm really interested in seeing if Microsoft release their "Zune" over here. It looks lovely, it's a good price, but only in America (unless you buy off the internet, which I don't do).

    I have a Sony Ericsson W810i which I'm using as a slight replacement, but I have over 26GB of music, so it doesn't suffice.

    Thanks for your comment,
    Samantha.
    reply
  • Ewan

    12 months ago

    Just wondering: Why don't you buy on the internet?
    reply
  • Samantha

    12 months ago

    I don't trust the internet with credit card details. I'm fine with everything else, but it just makes me feel insecure knowing someone could hack into my account.

    Samantha.
    reply
  • Ewan

    12 months ago

    What about PayPal?
    reply
  • Samantha

    12 months ago

    Yeah, I've thought about it...
    I'll have to consider it more. Maybe in the near future.

    Samantha.
    reply
  • Ewan

    12 months ago

    Do you pay for transactions with a card when you are in the shops or a
    restaurant?
    reply
  • Samantha

    12 months ago

    You're going to laugh at this... But I haven't yet used my card.
    I only got a bank account in May sometime, and I haven't had a proper reason to use it as of yet. Plus, I'm weary of turning into an unconscious shopper. I still have most of my money in cash form; which is around one hundred and fifty pounds, if not more?

    I need to put it in my account, but I haven't got around to doing it yet.

    Samantha.
    reply
  • Ewan

    12 months ago

    Sensible, sensible.

    Do you ever pay for stuff with your mobile credit? e.g. Ringtones?
    reply
  • Samantha

    11 months ago

    Ringtones?
    No, I use MP3's where I can, or create my own. Say I want a short snippet of something for my Text Alert, I'll use Audacity to crop exactly what I want, save it at CD quality, and transfer it myself.

    I once bought some credits on Habbo Hotel, but that was when I was about ten or something.

    As for anything else, I don't buy what I can get free.

    Samantha.
    reply
  • TerenceEden

    11 months ago

    For ~£80 you can get a K800i PAYT. Good camera, acceptable browser, FM radio, memory cards (so you're not limited to 16GB), video calling. On paper, it pretty much beats the iPhone...

    Of course, you don't get the "Oooooh! Shiny!" of the iPhone, but then, you save a few hundred quid which, when you're stacking shelves on the minimum wage* is very important.

    The iPhone is a bit like a luxury sports car; very shiny, very wow, handles beautifully. But all cars go the same speed on the M25 - and all phones make calls and send texts at the same speed. So why spend an insane amount of cash on a Ferrari when a Skoda does everything you need.

    T
    *Or whatever it is that school kids do, nowadays..
    reply
  • Samantha

    11 months ago

    I'm in total agreement there. The iPhone is just an item for style and shallowness (sorry to everyone out there who has one), but that's all it is.
    It screams "look at me, I've paid way too much money for a rubbish contract, and a mid-line phone, that likes to pretend it offers something new... This is what money can buy!" and with that I have to ask, what exactly are you buying?

    As for the job thing.... I'm currently unemployed. I got declined jobs at Waitrose and Munch... I'm looking, and sent off my CV (well, the best I could rumble up), and have yet to receive any response!

    Thanks for reading,

    Samantha.
    reply
  • juliancooling

    11 months ago

    This might accidently qualify you for as the first taker for Ewan's jobs wanted page!
    reply
  • Samantha

    11 months ago

    Ahh you never know! I might even get paid higher than minimum wage.

    Samantha.
    reply
  • juliancooling

    11 months ago

    Congratulations on being Ewan's first successful plancement from his jobs wanted page. Thought I might drop past and grin.
    reply
  • Samantha

    11 months ago

    Aww, thanks.

    Samantha.
    reply
  • Constantine

    12 months ago

    i have a few questions, ping me via email. i use gmail and my nick is devilsrejection.
    reply
  • Ian

    12 months ago

    Well said Ben Smith!

    As for "MP3 giant Apple"... their biggest business is computers not music, developing the hardware and software of the fastest growing computer platform in the world today. It's not Windows!

    Samantha is likely one of those people that has known nothing but Windows and hates change, and believe the best source for music is illegal file sharing networks.
    reply
  • jMac

    12 months ago

    Actually, you will all find that Sam's views are fairly standard of that demographic.

    I have met dozens and dozens of people with exactly the same view. Its not shocking at all.

    ...and that is coming from an absolute Apple fanboy like me!

    Go for it Sam - good on ya for saying it as you see.
    reply
  • AJ

    12 months ago

    Based on my own straw poll of younger relatives - when a 16 year old says Apple killed the mp3 market, what they actually mean is that they cant believe someone is charging for music and getting away with it.

    Also, I doubt 16 year olds are the target market any more than they were with the ipod. Apple has never served this market - people seem to forget this but Apple is a niche company and has NEVER served the mass market.
    reply
  • GoodyGoody2

    12 months ago

    Now this kind of information is real gold.!

    Thank you Samantha for your thoughts and i hope that we get see more of your grass roots analysis of the mobile industry!
    reply
  • davidmcqueen

    12 months ago

    well here's another perspective if you like.
    I work in a number of schools each week in London and Hertfordshire either speaking or running workshops. One of the first things I do is tell students to take out their mobiles and switch them off (they usually shouldnt have them) but it is a way of creating trust. As of late I have seen blackberry pearls, n95's, lg slides and this is from grammar schools to tougher inner city academy's.

    I have an E61(business) and iPhone (personal) and so far this year I have seen six students with iphones. Apparently most dont have one not because of the screen but because they dont want to be mugged! Nearly all the students with mp3 players have some variation of apple with a few using Sony phones as their players (I hate music on mobiles)

    Samantha does pose and interesting response though and I think I may do a little survey myself the next time I go into schools about student preferences. Well written by the way Samantha.
    reply
  • Ewan

    11 months ago

    Ahhhh brilliant viewpoint, David!
    reply
  • Samantha

    11 months ago

    David,
    Thanks for the response. I haven't seen any Blackberry's (then again, my school is the Blackberry type, if you get what I mean), although there are a lot of Sony's (especially with the girls, the W580i) due to the MP3 playback.

    One of the comments, which I didn't include in the article that I got from my mini survey was about being mugged (and this was from a sixteen year old male), so it does suggest that there is a lot of worry about crime with phones.

    Thanks!

    Samantha.
    reply
  • vultuk

    11 months ago

    I am rather surprised that you can base a whole article on the opinions on 10 of your friends! For a decent result I would expect no less that 100 peoples opinions. In one of your responses you say you will pay no more that £80 for a Pay as you go Phone and up to £180 for an MP3 player that's £260 combined for these items. But when you consider with an iPhone you'll get both of those features in one package for (a yet unreleased price) yes ok £300-350. Or you could visit ebay and get a 2g iphone for £100 and put a £1 sim card in it.

    And to say that Britain don't even know about the iPhone... I received around 15 texts / phone calls on Friday evening to see if I'd managed to get the new 3g iPhone and 4 of those people were making me offers for my 2g.

    Always remember when writing an article to try and be less opinionated, you may not like the iPhone, and may not want to buy one and this is clearly shown in your article. I would also suggest changing the title of the article to something more descriptive of the article, maybe "Wait! There's a new iPhone? Me and 10 of my friends in *insert town here* don't care!"
    reply
  • Ewan

    11 months ago

    It's entirely opinion-based vultuk -- that's the whole concept behind the
    article. It's a viewpoint that engenders discussion!
    reply
  • vultuk

    11 months ago

    Then titles should be stated as such instead of being listed as fact. "Britain's youth doesn't care!" in a title is not an opinion. As stated in my previous comment the title should be reflective of the article. Stating, "Me and my 10 friends don't care" or even "I don't think Britain's youth care" would be a more suitable title.
    reply
  • Ben Smith

    11 months ago

    Yes catchy: "A young female contributor who has carried out an informal survey without scientific controls has provided us with the following impression of a summary of those views..."*

    *Actual views may differ from those described. Views may go up as well as down. Views may fade with use.
    reply
  • vultuk

    11 months ago

    Clearly stating that from a website who's tagline is "Daily news and opinion for 250,000 industry executives and mobile fanatics." Maybe articles should be highlighted as to whether they are news or opinion. And the way this article is presented in the title it sounds factual, where it is clearly opinion. :)
    reply
  • James Whatley

    11 months ago

    If it is, as you say, "clearly opinion", why are we wasting time talking about it?

    *sigh*
    reply
  • James Whatley

    11 months ago

    Maybe introduce a traffic light system of some kind?

    Green = News
    Amber = Opinion
    Red = Post liable to cause a comment frenzy, (see above for an example).
    reply
  • James Whatley

    11 months ago

    Perhaps you should get vultuk to screen your posts in future Ewan...
    reply
  • Samantha

    11 months ago

    Hi,

    I based the article on what I knew was the trend anyway. I was thinking about the lack of discussion, or even awareness, and decided to make a survey to see if my views were justified. Sadly, I don't know hundred people in this age group (who I could ask quickly and easily), and therefore I limited the numbers for my maths abilities (or lack of). I actually recieved a number of other responses, after I had written the article, and they all followed suit.

    The article wasn't about BRITAIN not knowing, but the youth. The teenage population has dominance of this and many other technological aspects of industry, and I found it mildly amusing that Apple had so badly failed to make barely anyone I know aware of their products.

    As for Geographical location, I'm based just outside Greater London (Sutton to be exact), we have a reasonable High Street which all of my friends visit frequently. To get to the main shopping areas you have to walk past a collection of Phone shops o2, Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U, Three, and there are Orange, T-Mobile, Vodaphone, Zavvi ( Virgin Mobile), and a number of other mobile shops too. So this isn't exactly a location scarce of mobile technology, in fact there are more Mobile shops than there are Fast Food restaurants, which I'm sure we can agree is quite a feat.

    As for the opinion... Well I was asked to share my opinions on things that I view from this industry; this is also a News and Opinion website. I'm not the only one who has shown a large amount of opinion (like or dislike) towards Apple. I'm not trying to persuade people from not buying an Apple, but highlighting my opinions, and the opinions of people the same age as me.

    The title... Well, that wasn't my choice.

    Thanks for reading,
    Samantha.
    reply
  • jpkcode

    11 months ago

    "Imagine the Mobile market like this? Imagine having no choice other than the iPhone? It’s horrible to even contemplate, and for this reason I want Apple to fail, it’s just I’m surprised that, based on things over the past few weeks, they appear to want to do the same too."

    This article is great. In all fairness, there isn't a huge market among 13-16 year olds for something as expensive as the first wave of the iPhone, but the new affordable ones are the benchmark of phones to come and such phones to come are the ones that are going to be used by Samantha's interviewed subjects. It is nice to see that the kids aren't impressed by the shoddy camera and the horrible network and the high price and ultimately aren't gobbling it up. The view that the iPhone's shortcomings creates room for market variety and space is one that is relatively unpopular (within the mobile blog world at least) but is true and is a breath of fresh air. Great job.
    reply
  • Samantha

    11 months ago

    Hi,

    Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you like it!

    I hope there is more inspiration in the mobile industry soon. I was in about three of the ten Carphone Warehouse's in Kingston earlier, and it's all so bland. Nothing stands out, and that I feel is a shame; escpecially when there are so many talented people out there!

    Thanks again,

    Samantha.
    reply
  • kmh

    11 months ago

    "and I found it mildly amusing that Apple had so badly failed to make barely anyone I know aware of their products. "

    That's either a completely false statement made in an attempt to substantiate your owns opinion of the iPhone or your friends have no access to any form of news media. This has been the most talked about product launch in recent memory!

    Both my daughters had the original iPhones "hacked" and working on T-Mobile and I've lost count of the number I brought back from the US for their friends.
    reply
  • Samantha

    11 months ago

    I can honestly say hand on heart, the results I received were from teenagers, my age, who have access to the internet, watch a lot of TV, do a lot of shopping in the local highstreet (which has a whole arrange of phone shops), and these answers are completely true.

    I have to say, I hadn't heard anything other than from my own findings and from here.

    Thanks for reading,

    Samantha.
    reply
  • Ricky Chotai

    11 months ago

    i am sorry i have to agree, its not just the UK's youth. My own social group (students) are exactly the same, if we look at the original iphone only one of about say 100 of my mates got one. The iphone 3g, no one as yet. I personally the believe the iphone is hyped up especially on mobile sites.
    reply
  • AJ

    11 months ago

    It would be interesting to see the results of a wider survey. I realise this article was only ever supposed to be one person's viewpoint but why not have another go? While your own experience is interesting I would love to see something a bit more representative. Given that your friends are likely to be reasonably similar to you it is not altogether surprising that they share your views to a certain extent so why not cast a wider net.

    Bear in mind also that there may be people who would like an iphone but are too intimidated by the threat of being mugged. I know a few relatives within the same age group who fall into this category.

    That bit about killing the mp3 market is a bit off though. What is that about?? I think of all the accusations you can throw at Apple this is not one of them.
    reply

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