back to article Woz labels Apple 'arrogant' over iPhone size inadequacy

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has called Apple "arrogant" and wishes the Cupertino firm would produce bigger phones. The bearded innovator offers familiar criticism of the company he helped to form in a podcast session with TalkCentral. Woz says the only reason the iPhone 5 doesn't have a bigger screen is due to Apple's …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "He points to iTunes availability on Windows as a significant step"

    Presumably he means it would be if it didn't crash and then wipe your phone whilst upgrading the OS, the main reason many of the people I know no longer use iOS. Curiously I know quite a few MS based techies who like the iPhone so much they bought Mac kit so it would work properly, but each to their own I guess.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Please do

      Offer a 4S sized phone and a larger me based on the Samsung S3 size.

      I will always go for the smaller on, it fits better.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Please do

        "Offer a 4S sized phone and a larger me based on the Samsung S3 size.

        I will always go for the smaller on, it fits better."

        Small hands......Small........

        1. Jediben
          WTF?

          Re: Please do

          Gloves!

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Please do

          Well

          Relative Prick Size = 1/(size of hands)

          If that is what you were trying to get to.....

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      NEWSFLASH Oz HERALDSUN

      'Mr T.W. Goannards a resident of the Galston suburb of Sydney has today begun court proceedings against Samsung. In a statement read out by his solicitors Mr S. Erves, Mr T.W. Goannards states that the continual use of the Samsung S3 has caused him injury, whereby he is no longer able to use his thumbs. The larger sceen has condemned him to painful joints of the thumb and is no longer able to engage in his usual skilled sexual activities. Samsung should have foreseen this problem and attached warning tickers to the phone.'

      Mr T.W. Goannards a male escort is suing Samsung for Aus $6,000,000.

      1. gkroog
        FAIL

        Re: NEWSFLASH Oz HERALDSUN

        Only in Australia :D

        1. solidsoup
          Thumb Up

          I'm happy with this size.

          I'm actually happy with 4 inches. It allows me to do anything I want to and still fits in my jeans. I know most people prefer larger ones, but it's not necessarily easier to hit the right spot. I guess sometimes it comes down to moving your fingers the right way too. All I'm saying is that size != functionality and bigger is not necessarily better. At any rate, I haven't heard any complaints from the ladies. Hold on, what were you guys talking about?

          1. Nuke
            Holmes

            @solidsoup - Re: I'm happy with this size.

            Woz is now getting on a bit, as is a whole generation who have grown up with mobiles, and eyesight gets poorer with age. Everyone here will one day need glasses to read the screen if they do not already. The bigger the screen is, the more that day will be delayed; simple.

            It might not seem cool to cater for older people, but phone companies cannot afford to ignore this increasing propoertion of the market.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @AC: " if [iTunes on Windows] didn't crash and then wipe your phone whilst upgrading the OS"

      Why would you upgrade the OS through iTunes when you can do it OTA?

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Presumably he means it would be if it didn't crash and then wipe your phone whilst upgrading the OS, the main reason many of the people I know no longer use iOS. Curiously I know quite a few MS based techies who like the iPhone so much they bought Mac kit so it would work properly, but each to their own I guess."

      And it didn't crash the PC at random more than Adobe Flash due to it hogging 85% of the resources when not in use. Tried using it to put MP3's on my iPod(around 2 gigs had to wipe the ipod) after an hour it said it was done transferring the files, when I looked there was nothing on the iPod... Went and got a 3rd party program which finished in 15 mins or so the same task, but actually did something and only took like 40% of the PC's resources while copying and dropped to almost 0 when done.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I agree that iTunes on Windows is a disaster but this is FUD. One big advantage of the iPhone is that it's constantly backed up by iTunes and/or to iCloud. So if your phone gets wiped, it's easily restored within a few minutes. (Well, it can take an hour or two for a full restore if you have a lot of apps, pictures, and songs, but it will be always be usable within a few minutes.)

      1. ZeroP
        Paris Hilton

        @AC 18:53

        I back up all my photos to Google+, my contacts to Google Contacts and usually keep my music on an SD card. When I play with custom firmware, my phone is fully up and running in minutes.

        Paris, because people get up her in minutes too.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @AC 18:53

          "I back up all my photos to Google+, my contacts to Google Contacts and usually keep my music on an SD card. When I play with custom firmware, my phone is fully up and running in minutes."

          That's nice about your contacts and photos but one thing about iPhone apps is that they are all nicely sandboxed and all their files are in specific locations that are easily backed up and restored. So when you do a restore of an iPhone, all your data for all your apps is restored. Meaning all your settings and any files you've downloaded and/or imported with the app, e.g., PDF files for a PDF reader, high scores for your games, message logs for your IM apps, etc. If you restore an iPhone you really can't tell that it was just restored. Looks and works exactly the same as it used to with no data loss. Very nice.

          1. Mark .

            Re: @AC 18:53

            Yes, yet another thing that works just like that on Android too. And Symbian before that.

          2. larokus

            Re: @AC 18:53

            Wow thats amazing. Thats the exact same thing that I do with Titanium Backup on Android. (all system user and app data restored on factory reset - including game progress)

    6. Shagbag

      Fat land monster should STFU

      He may be technically brilliant, but it was Steve Jobs that made Apple what it is today. SW is an attention seeking Asperger.

      1. CCCP
        Stop

        Re: Fat land monster should STFU

        @Shagbaaa

        Aspergers is a condition on the Autistic scale. Either:

        1) You actually think SW has Aspergers and should be ridiculed for it

        or

        2) You think Aspergers is a suitable derogatory term for people seeking attention

        Dickhead.

  2. toadwarrior

    This is a guy who, as best as I can tell, has had a career in talking crap after leaving apple and someone who claims he wants to live in Australia for the broadband while ignoring all the problems australia has.

    I'm going to give his opinion about as much weight as I give to the crazy homeless guy's opinion.

    1. Patrick O'Reilly

      Eh..

      He's also the guy who invented the home computer, and a freakin' genius!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Eh..

        No he didn't, any more than Lady Gaga invented the shoe.

      2. Malcolm Weir Silver badge
        FAIL

        Re: Eh..

        Oh, dear god, more balderdash about Apple's history.

        Apple did not invent the home computer. Nor the mouse, windowing, music players, smart phones or any of the other things that they often get credited for.

        The idea for the Apple 1 was conceived at the Homebrew Computer Club, which tells you everything: if Apple invented it, why was there a club for them to meet at to conceive it at?

        Bottom line: the Apple 1 was a "me too" product, so was the Apple II BUT the Apple II was marketed very much better than its technical competitors, which is how it became prominent. Marketing, not technology,

        Which is the case with all those other non-Apple inventions: they didn't invent them, they just packaged and sold them

        http://www.atariarchives.org/deli/homebrew_and_how_the_apple.php

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Eh..

        Erm Altair 8080 in 1975, a while year before the Apple 1.

        The Apple 1 only existed thanks to MOS and Chuck Peddle producing the 6502 which made home computing affordable. The MOS Kim-1 was one of the first more useful computers and the Apple 1 wouldn't have worked without Peddle debugging it and getting it going.

        Woz was a bad engineer back then, he went back to finish an engineering degree later on so he's fine now.

    2. Steve I

      What!?!

      The crazy homeless guy spoke? What did he say?

      1. Naughtyhorse

        Re: What!?!

        millenium

        hand

        shrimp

        bugrrit

        1. Steve I
          Thumb Up

          Re: What!?!

          Exactly. In most popular films and book, you ignore the crazy homeless guy at your peril. Or else... "YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO HIM, YOU KNOW. AND I HAVEN'T FORGOTTON WHAT YOU DID TO THE CAT."

    3. VeganVegan
      Flame

      Floppy drive controller

      He did come up with a cute way to run the floppy drive (the integrated Woz machine).

      Now he is just a Was.

      Pay him no mind.

    4. Chet Mannly

      "claims he wants to live in Australia for the broadband while ignoring all the problems australia has."

      And what Australian "problems" are you talking about exactly?

      As an Aussie I'm just curious. Booming economy, best beaches in the world, friendly people, great mix of cultures.

      Sure our cricket team is pretty rubbish at the moment, but they had a good run there not so long ago...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        As a Pom who often listens to Australian radio (good science output) via the interwebs, I've been given the impression your nation has concerns over water supply, droughts and also flooding.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "Booming economy"

        hohoho "booming economy" indeed. Lets' see how booming it is in 6 months eh?

        You forgot to mention "best recreational drugs on the planet" (apparently).

        Also "worst government since federation"

        Plus "suffocating levels of nanny-stateism and political correctness in general"

        Oh, almost forgot one "The Australia tax" where everything costs 3 times what it costs overseas.

        You want to pay $5 for a cup of coffee? Australia's the place for you mate!

        Just don't mind the hordes of knuckle-dragging bogans who are offset by the vast army of chattering class hand-wringers who are desperate to assuage their festering middle class guilt by jumping on every socialist bandwagon that comes their way, from gay marriage to global warming, they're "concerned" about it all and have no compunctions about enforcing their concerns upon the rest of the hapless, shambling citizens that make up this formerly great country.

        It's true though, the beaches are good (if you can find a parking spot of course)

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: "Booming economy"

          You want to pay $5 for a cup of coffee? Australia's the place for you mate!

          try any London Starbucks for your $5 coffee

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: "Booming economy"

            Starbucks sell nothing resembling coffee. Even a UK survey judged their brown water to be the weakest, worst coffee in the country. It's American. Americans do n't do tea, full strength coffee or beer, hence the Italian term for an espresson watered down to the point of tastelessness - Americano.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "Sure our cricket team is pretty rubbish at the moment, but they had a good run there not so long ago..."

        Womens cricket team have just won T20 world cup...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Women, playing cricket

          Shirley shome mishtake?

      4. Vic

        > Booming economy, best beaches in the world, friendly people, great mix of cultures.

        Shit beer, though...

        Vic.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "I'm going to give his opinion about as much weight as I give to the crazy homeless guy's opinion."

      A crazy homeless guy who has achieved more than you ever will!

      Well done for pointing out that your skewed opinions are worthless.

      Woz achieved more than the spotty critics on a 'tech site' blog!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    eh?

    " Keep the aspect ratio the same, horizontal and vertical the same, but just grow it in the other way,"

    Eh? Make it thicker?

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: eh?

      3D touch sensitive display? Cool.

    2. TheOtherHobbes

      Re: eh?

      The world's first phone with a four-dimensional UI.

      Woz wins teh Internet for being a visionary.

      1. Matthew 25

        Re: eh?

        "The world's first phone with a four-dimensional UI."

        You mean I can scroll backwards and forwards in time?

        Cool!

  4. Uncle Slacky Silver badge
    Stop

    Thumb use not recommended...

    ....AIUI too much "thumbing" could give you quite a nasty case of RSI.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    iTunes on Android?

    "Woz also wishes the firm had taken more steps to keep hold of its marketshare"

    Apple makes money from selling iPhones. How exactly would iTunes on Android increase the market share of iOS devices?

    1. Eddy Ito

      Re: iTunes on Android?

      It doesn't but Apple also makes money selling things through iTunes. I kind of see his point since by not selling to the Android space they are limiting the potential number of iTunes customers who would buy music, movies, etc. The rub is that unless or until Apple makes more money on iTunes than they do flogging hardware there's no reason to remove iTunes as a draw to Apple hardware and likewise it will be difficult to expand iTunes sales to such a level only selling to iOS devices.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: iTunes on Android?

        "It doesn't but Apple also makes money selling things through iTunes"

        Many of which are iOS apps ...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: iTunes on Android?

          ""It doesn't but Apple also makes money selling things through iTunes"

          Many of which are iOS apps ...

          So you're an Apple accountant now?

          Honestly, the bull shite!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: iTunes on Android?

            "So you're an Apple accountant now?

            Honestly, the bull shite!"

            Dearest little Obviously!, you even seem to fail at swearing. I am starting to get a bit of a Poe's law vibe from you.

    2. Malcolm Weir Silver badge
      Holmes

      Re: iTunes on Android?

      Ah, sorry this is confusing: Apple _also_ makes money selling music etc on iTunes; if you buy a smartphone from MS or Android or RIM, you can't give Apple money through iTunes. So Apple has already lost the (very small) margin they'd make on the phone, and provide no mechanism for people to give them high-margin dollars through iTunes.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: iTunes on Android?

        The margin Apple makes on its phones is by no means small. It's quite likely to be the biggest in the entire smartphone industry.

      2. Eddy Ito

        Re: iTunes on Android?

        We know iTunes gets a 30% margin but the hardware is generally higher with this article stating the margin for iPhone is close to 50%.

        1. Malcolm Weir Silver badge
          FAIL

          Re: iTunes on Android?

          Oh, dear.

          You people seem to think that only way to measure "margin" is "selling price" - "cost of components". And tat seems common -- even that linked article seems to think that sales channels are free (i.e. that Apple gets the entire selling price, an idea which is patently ridiculous).

          What you're missing is that Apple, and Apple alone, carries the development and infrastructure costs. This hammers their effective margin, but they're OK with that because the 30% iTunes profit turns the single unit sale into a revenue stream, which is far more valuable.

          (Haven't you guys been paying attention to RIM and Nokia? Evidently not!).

          As to the foolish remark suggesting that "many" of the iTunes sales are iOS apps, that rather ignores the reason why it's called 'iTUNES' not "iAppStore". You clearly don't know who the world's largest music retailer is....

      3. Frank Bough

        Re: iTunes on Android?

        If you think Apple makes small margins, you've missed the entire point of their business model. They are the example to the rest of the business world of why it pays to defy commoditisation.

        1. Mark .

          Re: iTunes on Android?

          It may pay for them, but I'm glad that not everyone follows the model of profits before customer, high margins rather than lower prices. Perhaps some CEOs care about more than simply making as much money as possible.

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: iTunes on Android?

      "Apple makes money from selling iPhones." So it doesn't make a penny from shitty iTunes?

      GET REAL!

  6. James Gosling
    Big Brother

    Woz is entitled to express his opinion

    As far as I am concerned Woz is free to express his opinion anytime he likes in relation to Apple. He has earned his stripes.

  7. bdam
    Facepalm

    "Siri, Apple has taken a lot of flak for their maps recently."

    "Can you give me an example showing they are not just a bunch of humourless wannabees totally regretting their decision to ditch Google Maps?"

    http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com/post/33227345172/the-southern-argentinian-boner-isles

  8. NoneSuch Silver badge

    Woz is respected for his honest opinion, pro or con. All he is saying is give consumers a choice. Something Apple is loathe to do with their "We know what is best for you" attitude.

    Cannot stand Apple, but love Woz. He invented and built computers by hand when most of you lot were still in nappies. Steve Jobs wouldn't have been able to sell anything if the engineering was not elegant. Woz did that for Apple and set them on the path where they are today. So when the founding lead engineer of Apple says something, you should consider it instead of automatically down-voting common sense.

    Down-voters obviously still live with their Mums.

    1. sabroni Silver badge
      Happy

      Downvoted, cos though I agree with your post the last sentence was too tempting to resist!!!

  9. Steve Knox
    Thumb Up

    Rule of Thumb

    ...Apple maintains a view that a phone's display should be easily navigated with just one thumb...

    I don't disagree with this idea -- but I can easily navigate a phone with a display a full inch wider than the iPhone5 with my thumb, due to my hands being larger than average. So, like Woz, I consider the iPhone5 somewhat narrow.

    Other companies and industries address human variation by either making multiple sizes (e.g, shoes, gloves, other tablets/phones) or adjustable systems (e.g, car seats), whereas Apple seems to consider it a case of the user not fitting the product, rather than the other way around.

    1. ChrisC Silver badge

      Re: Rule of Thumb

      "Apple seems to consider it a case of the user not fitting the product, rather than the other way around."

      Are you saying Apple are really just Dolman-Saxlil in disguise?

    2. Amonynous
      FAIL

      Re: Rule of Thumb

      "...Apple maintains a view that a phone's display should be easily navigated with just one thumb..."

      Yes, just been assaulted by the latest 'iPhone 5 - your thumb' TV advert, so they are definitely still peddling that line. For (allegedly) incredibly smart designers of products and UIs, that is one of the dumbest self-imposed constraints imaginable, same as the 'nobody wants a 7 inch tablet' thing, despite the fact that they are flying off the shelves and lots of people (without gorilla-sized hands and arm muscles) don't want to lug around a large tablet or take steroids to be able to hold it for more than five minutes.

      Of course most users will want to be able to operate their Smartphone UI with a swipe of their thumb whilst on on the move without having to juggle it from hand to hand. But users have different sized hands; my 11 year old, my wife, me, a 7 foot tall basketball player, etc. One size does not fit all; my child's dinky HTC/android is the perfect size for her, too small for me to use comfortably, and vice-versa.

      Of course users (many users I suspect since bigger is so obviously always better) would actually like a bigger display on their smartphone regardless of thumb reach. Some because they want to display more content, some because it's cheaper than buying a big car with a long bonnet, and some (like me) because we're getting old and have poor eyesight so would like a scalable UI on a bigger screen SO WE CAN READ EVERYTHING IN 1" HIGH LETTERS.

      The answer is of course bleedin' obvious (and therefore despite being obvious and probably a load of prior art Apple will eventually cotton on and win yet another patent battle over things so obvious that they should not be patentable). The UI and the screen do not have to be the same size (gasp!). A simple 'thumb reach' calibration exercise could be performed and the parts of the UI that need to be one-thumb operable constrained to the area reachable by the current user (I'm thinking the important parts of the home/icon screens, dialler, etc).

      Clearly such an approach would require Apple and App designers to think a bit differently about how they lay out their UI's, and not every App/UI element would be suit such an approach, but I'd contend that a lot of the problem areas would be things that you would be better off operating with two hands/thumbs anyway (e.g. pinch/zoom, game controls, etc.) It would probably also necessitate a move away from fixed-sized bitmap-type UI elements in the direction of a scalable vector system, but again with increasing processor and graphics subsystem horsepower now commonplace, that has to be the obvious way to go, otherwise every single app has to be re-written every time the screen DPI or size changes!

      Oh and I guess whilst you're calibrating for thumb size, you could check whether the user is "holding the phone the wrong way" thus dealing with another design issue that has cropped up before.

    3. Mark .

      And multitouch

      Plus if anything, when using a phone one-handed, I have hardest trouble with the region closest to my thumb, so smaller phones are harder to use one handed (unless they're the old style where the screen doesn't take up the entire front, and you only have a few buttons).

      But also, what about multitouch?

      I've got to laugh that on the one hand, Apple fans have for years praised "multitouch" as the single most important thing ever, just because it was the one thing Apple did first. I'd disagree it's that important (compared with say, touch in the first place), but there you are. But now, suddenly the most important thing is "Using a phone one-handed", because they think it's something you can't do with larger phones, and these days it's Apple's phone that is smaller than most.

      So I ask these people, how do I use multitouch on a phone one handed?

      Indeed, the biggest problem I have when using a phone one handed is not that the phone is too big, *but that the UI requires multitouch*. Which is why, if anything I think multitouch has been a bad thing - multitouch is sometimes useful as an optional extra, but a well designed UI should not require it, and should be able to be used one-handed. (E.g., I'm glad that Google have finally made it so you can zoom out with single-touch.)

      Only Apple could make a phone that is designed to be held one-handed, but requires two hands to operate the UI - and have people praise it for both.

  10. djstardust

    No problems with my average thumbs on the GS3. 4" is a good universal screen size however the iphone is too tall and not wide enough.

  11. Paul E

    My Prediction for the iphone 6

    is that it will be made wider to allow room for a extra column of widgets.

    The iphone 7 will then get taller to allow another row of widgets like the iphone 5.

    repeat.

  12. Steve Evans

    Dangerous...

    “I wish they had made a small and a large version of the iPhone; that would have been great for me. Keep the aspect ratio the same, horizontal and vertical the same, but just grow it in the other way,” he says.

    Careful Woz... I think Samsung might have a patent on that... Note 2, S3, S3 mini....

    1. Steve Evans

      Re: Dangerous...

      Ah, I see it's care in the community day for the humour bypass patients again.

  13. El_Fev

    ffs

    How many other types of phones are there, jesus its not like there's only two. The amount of people going on about iPhones and yet don't even have one, and state that they dont even plan to get one, so why do you continue to bitch about them? And this is coming from an HTC owner!

    1. Mark .

      Re: ffs

      Tell that to the media, always going on about iphones, even though most people have something else...

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "but there are plenty who just want an Apple regardless of the display size"

    Say it all!

    I just want a phone that offers the features I want and is not "locked in" to a specific 'ecosystem'.

  15. Gob Smacked
    Thumb Up

    Enough choice already...

    Got myself a whoooopppppping Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and all that real estate with easy to read pixels is a feast for my middle aged eyes.

    Yeah, there's definately no market for big screens and less-than-retinal pixels per inch... duhuh...

    Woz has a brain and uses it for more than just hypes. I applaud him for it.

  16. anaru

    What's really "arrogant"

    Is assuming people outside your own particular IT discipline apply so little rigour to their decision making that "a lot of people like the big screens" is a valid objection.

  17. gkroog
    Thumb Down

    I agree with Mr. Wozniak.

    Apple is obviously arrogant (for example, the back-pedal on 7 inch (or at least sub-10 inch) display size). The iPhone 5 is not the leap forward everyone was expecting. Apple's map app has quickly achieved notoriety for being legendarily bad. The increase in screen size stikes me as being a concession to the popularity the large screens of other phones.

    The iPhone 5 was the phone Apple HAD to bring out to try compete with the Galaxy S3 and other excellent Android driven iPhone challengers by other manufacturers. So to tighten the screws on their customers, they introduce a new connector size. Why? What was wrong with the old one? But now everyone who buys the iPhone 5 will have to buy all new spare chargers and cables.

    1. Frank Bough

      Re: I agree with Mr. Wozniak.

      What was wrong with the old one? It was shit. Too big, too clunky and too analogue.

      1. Matthew 25

        Re: I agree with Mr. Wozniak.

        "What was wrong with the old one? It was shit. Too big, too clunky and too analogue."

        And designed by a company that prides itself in industrial design. You can't have it both ways. Personally proprietary connectors are a turn off.

  18. mrd
    Unhappy

    Don't get 'arrogant'

    What is arrogant about having a size you believe is right and shipping products at that/those sizes and selling shedloads? Competitors are free to (and do) meet any market requirement for people who want larger phones.

    Plus having come from an iPhone 4 to an S3... Apple were bloody right. I can not use this thing with one hand at all due to the screen (and hence phone) width.

    1. BristolBachelor Gold badge
      Trollface

      Re: Don't get 'arrogant'

      I'd love to see your face when the garage deliver your new car; painted bright magenta, with yellow dots, and tell you that they decided that is the colour you want; after all, they know better than you.

  19. mIRCat
    Paris Hilton

    "Why don't we get iTunes on Android now?" he states.

    Because convincing users to download a bloated music player to a device with limited resources is harder than it sounds?

  20. Mark Simon

    The right tools for the right Jobs

    Woz is a genius, but he may be missing a point here.

    I own an iPhone, which is small and handy, as well as an iPad, which has larger screen for reading and browsing. Two sales to Apple. And maybe I will consider an iPad mini, if I feel the need for a pocket-book sized screen.

    I don’t want to read or browse on a screen if it’s too small, and I don’t want a phone if it’s too big. I have two tools for two jobs, and Apple have two sales.

    1. Mark .

      Re: The right tools for the right Jobs

      Wait, wasn't it people telling us that Apple were amazing for making a phone you could do reading and browsing on?

      If all you want is a simple phone, then I wonder why you bought the most expensive one on the market.

      Many of us want to do browsing on a phone - it's why we don't have a dirt cheap one. And 4.5-5" is the perfect size that's as large as possible, whilst still fitting fine in a pocket, and being hand held. Meanwhile, 10" is the size of a laptop/netbook, with the functionality of a phone.

      Plus you're missing the point. No one's arguing against having different sizes, it's the idea of one size fits all. If you want 4", for years Apple didn't offer that, but other companies did, and still do. If you want 4.5", you're out of luck with Apple. Indeed, if you want 3.5", you're now out of luck. And you've also got no choice for a 7" device, unless you're seriously buying something that doesn't exist.

  21. Confuciousmobil
    Facepalm

    While I disagree with Woz on this (you can see why SJ made the marketting decisions) I am appalled by all the people slanging him off here.

    Without him there would be no Apple. I also understand that some people might say that would be no bad thing but really?

  22. PeterM42
    FAIL

    Woz - Don't forget to add....

    - An industry standard Micro-USB connector (which doesn't break easily)

    - Allow user memory upgrades (MicroSD card)

    - Replaceable battery

    - Non-lock-in software (ie: NOT iTunes, etc)

    And you MIGHT just get near a Samsung Galaxy.

    Oh, I nearly forgot - make it a reasonable price as well.

    1. Lallabalalla
      WTF?

      Re: Woz - Don't forget to add....

      Surely, if you want that stuff, you BUY A SAMSUNG GALAXY. Duh!

      Or if like me you want an iPhone - you buy an iPhone. Duh again! Oh, and maybe a cheap (is there another kind?) pendrive.

      A replaceable battery would be fantastic though - I really need to carry another lump of stuff around instead of that easily-stashed almost weightless charging cable. Oh, wait...

      1. Lallabalalla
        Devil

        Re: Woz - Don't forget to add....

        Genius. 2 thumbs-down presumably from people who have either just realised that their broken phone won't ever be replaced or that now have to carry around a pocketful of batteries instead of a dinky cable.

        <in the voice of Nelson from the Simpsons>Ha-haaa!</voice etc>

  23. b166er

    Maybe it would sell even better if they got rid of their crap adverts, I mean, explaining that the screen lengthening is some kind of Apple magic (despite the fact that it took 5 generations of the device to reach that conclusion) and some muppet screaming eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

    at me in my living room, makes me want to run away, fast.

  24. jbuk1
    Stop

    The reason i got the iphone 5 and not the s3 is that the s3 was too large.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "The reason i got the iphone 5 and not the s3 is that the s3 was too large." or, BAAAH!, because, BAAAH!, I had to , BAAAH!, follow the rest of the, BAAAH!, sheep!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Sheep?

        this is usually used, at least in these columns, to mean the mindless majority and, as Androidians like to keep saying, more sheep are buying Android than IOS or Windows. So who are the sheep?

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    from a smug but non-obsessed apple user

    As an everyday 11" Macbook Air user, iphone size smart phones are spot on (not that I have one, as I prefer WP). It's tablets, large or small, I have trouble finding a use for, other than touch gaming.

    I wonder if Woz requiring a bigger smart phone, finds his ipad isn't fitting into his life like the mac fanboys will have everyone believe?

    If I had to rule out travelling with the Air, then I'd happily go for a proper big (and hopefully more productive) smart phone like the Galaxy Note, and have a much bigger laptop for the house, again skipping tablets.

    To think I begrudged paying the extra dollar for the Air, but with cheaper gadgets falling in place around it and avoiding tablets, it's worked out quite well.

  26. CaptainBlue
    Gimp

    Size Isn't Everything

    As I keep telling girlfriends.

    If the iPhone 5 was as big as that Samsung Galaxy S III I wouldn't have bought one. The 5 is as big as I want my mobile phone, thanks. If I want more screen size I can go for an iPad, Netbook or laptop, thanks. The 5 fits in my jeans and suit pockets and is lightweight and thin so it wins.

    Any larger and I wouldn't buy one.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Size Isn't Everything

      Small hands...smaller.........

    2. Crosser
      Facepalm

      Re: Size Isn't Everything

      You must have missed the bit in the article when he suggested they should make a smaller and a bigger phone.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    omg.....

    "Why don't we get iTunes on Android now?"

    the reason being, most android owners chose android because they don’t want anything to do with itunes...

    no market share, no profit, no point.....

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple could be arrogant back in 2007. yes they did have the bost (at that time) handset.

    It's 2012 and their competitors have leap frogged them.

    Only fanbois/and tech illiterates (which make up the majority of iPhone owners) would disagree.

    Those with 1/2 a brain cell can see that iPhone is inferior to other handsets on the market.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    bigger, smaller, whats it matter, its an IClone. Nobody wants to be a clone.. well at least only less then billion people want to be clones, the rest of us dont.

  30. Alan Denman

    Never the twain' with Apple

    Obviously with a middle size sensible people will manage with only need one tablety device.

    So they think small and sell more bigger iPads.

    Crumbs, we the public are meant to be thankful.

  31. Lallabalalla
    FAIL

    You idiots who are wildly biased to Apple or Droid

    ... you're idiots.

    That is all :)

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like