Mobile Industry Review - Latest Comments in ‘Wait!! There’s a new iPhone?’ Britain’s youth doesn’t care!

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

MaManfie — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:40:43 -0000

Aww, thanks.

Samantha.

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

juliancooling — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:39:07 -0000

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

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

AJ — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:20:21 -0000

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.

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

rickyc — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:24:18 -0000

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.

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

MaManfie — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:17:16 -0000

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.

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

MaManfie — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:14:32 -0000

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.

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

kmh — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:12:43 -0000

"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.

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

jpkcode — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:09:51 -0000

"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.

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

MaManfie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:45:07 -0000

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.

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

MaManfie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:33:33 -0000

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

Samantha.

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

juliancooling — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:17:17 -0000

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

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

MaManfie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:01:33 -0000

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.

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

TerenceEden — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:18:31 -0000

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..

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

whatleydude — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:02:16 -0000

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).

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

whatleydude — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:57:03 -0000

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

*sigh*

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

vultuk — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:54:03 -0000

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. :)

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

bensmith — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:46:10 -0000

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.

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

whatleydude — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:06:11 -0000

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

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

vultuk — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:51:57 -0000

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.

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

smstextnews — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:05:08 -0000

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

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

vultuk — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:57:11 -0000

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!"

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

MaManfie — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:47:18 -0000

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.

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

MaManfie — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:43:35 -0000

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.

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

smstextnews — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:20:06 -0000

Ahhhh brilliant viewpoint, David!

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

davidmcqueen — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:30:28 -0000

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.