Skipping the 4S
I’ve been eligible for the full subsidized price of an iPhone 4S for a month now. I still haven’t run out and bought one though. The burning desire to have one just isn’t there. It occurs to me that I’m extremely satisfied with my iPhone 4 which I’ve had for 18 months. The 4S is faster but that doesn’t mean the iPhone 4 is slow. It’s still the best gadget I have ever owned. It doesn’t feel old or outdated. It doesn’t feel like a device near the end of its useful life. It’s in the prime of its life. I don’t believe in upgrading for the for the sake of upgrading. There has to be a strong and compelling reason to upgrade. I do believe in using my devices for as long as they can reasonably serve me. It’s my small way of saying “no” to consumerism. Yes, I know how self-serving that sounds considering just how much stuff I own. Minimalism is not about giving away everything you have and living with only the bare essentials. It’s about having enough and loving what you have. And I love what I have in my iPhone 4.
So I think I’ll be waiting for the next version of the iPhone. If Apple does indeed adhere to the pattern of alternating major iPhone releases with minor ‘S’ versions then being on an every-two-year major release upgrade cycle isn’t a bad place to be. The bigger question is… can I resist the lure of an iPad with a Retina display? And of course, if my kids or me drop my iPhone 4 and break the screen you better believe I’ll be upgrading to the 4S right away.
