'BLING BLING, BLING BLING' 'Hello, yes, my iPhone is made of GOLD' The Apple rumour mill is approaching lightspeed, fuelled by a growing number of insiders talking up a C-3PO-like gold iPhone 5S. Today's iOS mobes are only available in black and white, but more and more anonymous sources are piling in online to claim the next-generation model - due out on 10 September - will sport an optional …
So you don't like apple. big frigging deal. There are others here who have the same opinion about Samsung.
so what?
If you don't like an article why ---- bother reading it and even worse adding an inane comment to it. It really adds nothing to the debate at all.
{before anyone asks, I don't own an iPhone/iPad. I am currently using a Samsung Galaxy mini as the battery on my Nokia 6310i has died. The Samsung is a total POS but that it probably because it runs Android 2,.3}
I am not your 'Honey'.
I don't wear knickers (womens ones)
And my undergarments are not in a twist.
I'm just a little fed up with inane and frankly pointless comments from people like you.
Those who say 'you are holding it wrong' are just as bad IMHO.
These cheap points really add nothing to the topic being discussed.
Ok, so let the mass down voting begin.
You haven't added much to the debate yourself Steve?
That aside, who actually gives a fruit about the color of the phone, when you eventually clad it in a bumper because the god-dam screen is so fragile.
I think it's about time that Apple innovate rather than change the appearance, but hey ho, at least it will be a truly shiny shiny.
No joking. OK, then, serious now; I actuallly mean it. (And, although it won't pacify Steve, this also applies to Samsung.)
The reason for a 'gold' iPhone should be obvious. Show that it's an iPhone 5S, not an old iPhone 5 which you otherwise couldn't tell.
I've called high-end-mobiles 'Veblen Goods*' more than once. You will find them with people who neither need the functionality, nor are they able to use it to it's full potential. In this case the mobile is a fashion status symbol.
As a fashion article, it only serves it's purpose if it clearly shows that it IS high fashion. Hence the overwhelming branding on FCUK and Abercrombie & Finch wear or the Dolce & Gabanna handbags.
What if you can't tell the new from the old? You would have wasted your money on an article that does not immediately show that you're a trendy person, and thereby does not serve it's main function.
A Samsung Galaxy 5 that looks like a Galaxy 2 is a no-status phone, you might just a well have the old one.
An iPhone 5S in gold states that you have a distinguishable 'new' model, as last year's model only came in black or white. Even better, if the gold model is, let's say, £50 more expensive. This shows that you are successful enough to not have to worry about paying 10% above the average price.
The most clever thing about all this is the actual price point of the article. You couldn't afford an Aston Martin DB9 to show off, neither to have it resprayed in gold. But everyone can afford an iPhone. It might mean that there's £30 a month less to go around, but that can be picked up somewhere, it's only £7.50 a week. This is, in matters of inconvenience, much cheaper than a Breitling or a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti** sneakers.
See, Steve, no offence. This is not an Apple issue at all to me. This is a 'tech fashion' issue.
And no-one does this better than Apple.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good
**No, I didn't know that name either; I just googled for an example.
Then I for one will be very interested in seeing if a wider product portfolio does good things or bad for Apple's bottom line. I enjoy casual mockery of iStuff as much as the next fandroid, but I'd honestly like to see the new strategy pay off (not least because Apple are the largest single employer in the city I live - if they were to pull out it would be disastrous for the place).
I want them to fail for the perfectly selfish reason I've chosen a Galaxy S4 for my work phone over a iPhone 5 (work not willing to wait to offer me a 5s) and my self esteem will get a boost if the 5s is the same as the 5 with a crappy finger print scanner, tacky gold colouring and fisher price inspired icons.
Ah, more pretentious prat for pretentious, self-proclaimed Apple uppercrusters.
Really. A good number of iPhone users see themselves as classy, educated and simply better because they have chosen a material object that they perceive as better - Apple products. Not all Apple users, mind you, but a goodly number.
So now those type of people get their [tiny] little egos stroked more. Surprise?
...because, as we all know, (a good number of) Android users would never THINK of prating on about their tech devices of choice are the be-all and end-all, in order to (get their [tiny] little egos stroked more).
(Not all [Android] users, mind you, but a goodly number.)
Posted by an Android phone (ZTE) and iPad owner.
A good number of iPhone users see themselves as classy, educated and simply better because they have chosen a material object that they perceive as better - Apple products.
It's funny, because a lot of Android users see themselves as classy, educated and simply better because they haven't bought an iPhone. What's the difference?
As will a certain grape growing region of France, since as we all know Apple invented not only rounded corners, but the colour gold and the name champange!
<full disclosure>
I own a mac, but don't own a mobile phone of any variety :O
</full disclosure>
In fairness to Apple, they know a thing or two about design. I'm not expecting them to **** this up. However...
Gold. Really? That's the best you can come up with? It has a whiff of 'chav' about it.
IMHO, the iPhone design is looking rather dated and could do with modernizing. If I'm honest the whole thin and aluminium look is getting rather stale.
"In fairness to Apple, they know a thing or two about design."
Wrong, So So Wrong!
Glass and stainless steel, know a thing or two about design?
Abandoning their original designs, and they know a thing or two about design?
Designers are appalled. Plebs think it's the best thing since the stinking pastic cheap coloured iMac!
PLEASE! You have no clue.
Aluminium does make it feel more solid, although it really is perception, my Saitek equipment has quite a bit of it in the design whereas the CH Pro gear doesnt. Both are good enough for their purposes and the thing that matters the most(the internals) need about as much maintenance for both after a decade.
Still, I like aluminium for design much better then most other materials, except for Brass, that beats everything. Always go with Brass!
iCare - thats why its gold. If theres a market, leave it to apple to sniff it out. The gold makes sense, flashy people like iphones, how else are they going to waste cash on needless bling if you cant have one in gold!
Personally i want a furry pink case with black and yellow dots, might be a while till that rolls out of the factory combination though.
Putting aside all the above personal views wether your in to the Iphone bling or not,
its going to be interesting to look at one of these if it comes about, as Ive been involved in anodising for a long time, paticularly the colour gold..
to get a true 24ct gold colour is quite difficult,
1. you need to use a very high grade purity of aluminium, which is not suitable for mas production machining, ie Iphone body.
2. the anodising is done in hot sulphuric acid to get any decent thickness of aluminium oxide, then ,
3.the metal needs to be polished to a high degree before any anodising is done,
4. then the most difficult bit, is dyeing it in the gold colour solution.
5. Length of time in this tank and colour saturation are critical to get consistent results over a production run of thousands.
My guess is that there will be colour variation , apart from colour fading over time.
some colours are very fast, yellow is not one of them.
hope this forewarns potential purchasers, Look at it before you buy to make sure its what you expect.
Its a great finish if everything comes right.
6. Finally, sealing in sodium silicate solution helps it last longer.
For daily wear? not the best colour..
I don't believe for a second that Apple is going to produce a gold-coloured phone. Honestly, they simply have better taste than that.
This makes almost as much sense as the third-year-in-a-row rumour that a cheap iPhone will be introduced. When will people realise that the cheap iPhone is always the previous model??
this way the muggers will know who to target, thanx u fn geniuses. Jobs rolling over with ur egotism. Pink phones would deter theives, duh! " but since people have to buy new phones if theirs gets stolen, theft is 25% of ur business model, 25% replacing broken iphones. people have been shot for iphones. will apple ever accept responsibility for having crap kill switches for phones?
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
