Disappointment. That's how I would describe Apple's event on Tuesday, which despite intense rumors turned out not to be a launch of the fifth generation of the most successful smartphone in the world. Instead of unveiling the highly anticipated iPhone 5, the mother of all smartphones, they instead presented the same thing in a different wrapper. People want more than new features; they want a new design. Cellphones have become a status symbol, and if you shell out for a new phone, you can't help but want everyone to know. With the 4S, though, which looks exactly like the iPhone 4, no one can tell. They could have at least provided new colors, adding color options to the standard black and white. Tuesday's event was the equivalent of selling last season's shirt but saying that it was woven with new mesh fibers. Big deal. No one can see that it's new. Go ahead: spend the money on an upgrade and then tell everyone your phone is the iPhone 4S and not an iPhone 4. With no new design to speak of, will anyone believe you- Until Tuesday, the anticipation was rife that Apple would unveil a new device that paving the way for all smartphones for the next year, but it didn't happen. And it wasn't just consumers who were disappointed. Competitors were also let down. All of Apple's major competitors were watching intently with hopes of seeing where the wind was blowing, but Apple gave them no indication of what the next generation of phones will be. Instead, the company spoke mainly of its future intentions and showed off some programs that are still in development -- programs that the competition already has -- while trying to prove that it can do them better, that Apple is still in the picture, continuing its tradition of innovating technology and staying miles ahead of their competition. At Apple's launch event, however, the opposite was revealed: They are no longer so far ahead, and the company is fretting about the advancement of Android devices. Android devices are proliferating rapidly, and Apple needs to hold on to its loyal customer base, which will struggle to find a good enough reason to upgrade from the iPhone 4 to the 4S. Tuesday's event was also the first time Apple spoke about the future, though it didn't actually reveal any real future plans. The same tradition of secrecy exists, and it can be seen in the fact that not a single person outside of Apple suspected that Tuesday's event would end without the iPhone 5, nor does anyone know how it would look or what it would be capable of doing. Apple is trying to keep its audience in suspense a little longer, but it can no longer be certain that consumers, let down on Tuesday, will continue to wait as patiently as they once did.
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