Quite Thought Full

The hysteria over the iPhone 5 and other Apple technologies has always been a curious occurrence. On Friday, we will watch as some of our friends and loved ones, or even ourselves, simply freak out, trip over themselves and nearly die with excitement about the release of some great piece of aluminum, plastic and chips (not the potato kind) that will supposedly transform the way we live. Again. This is not the first time we have seen this happen, nor will it be the last.

So what makes this freak out different from the last? And, more importantly, what improvements can we predict to shock us in another couple of months?

To begin with, there is the obvious faster and better 4G network that service carriers across the world are thrilled about. Throwing billions into creating the fastest 4G network available and slowly killing off the 2G, which is expected to be extinct by 2015, and the 3G network is coming to fruition with the iPhone 5. That is, of course, until 5G networks are created and our fingers, curiosities and egos won’t be able to google and tweet things fast enough.

Then there’s the body of the phone which is reportedly tougher and stronger than the iPhone 4S. When will Apple take the hint and just build a bulletproof/shatterproof/waterproof/dog-proof phone? Maybe the iPhone 23 will meet those demands. This is an improvement I actually find wonderful because maybe this will mean that the iPhone will finally be able to survive those adventurous tumbles down entire staircases that cell phones simply love to take and come up without a single crack or scratch. We love our smartphones, but we have to be careful with them unless we don’t buy the $50 bullet-proof case for them.

And speaking of iPhone accessories, have you heard about the new earphones? Beg your pardon, the EarPods? Apple has reportedly studied thousands of ears from around the world in order to create an in-ear ear phone that will have better protection against water and sweat and they will be sure to stay in your ears while running. This is truly great news because, for the world’s fattest nation, keeping your jams actually in your ears during your morning jog is one of the greatest concerns for our country.

The EarPods supposedly also have far better acoustics as the earphones are teardrop shaped to fit better in your ear and will allow sound directly into your ear canal. Hopefully your hearing aids will work just as nicely because whoever threatened our parents’ generation with early deafness for being too close to the speakers at rock concerts had no idea what we would be listening with at full blast every waking moment of our lives. It makes you wonder if Apple will begin receiving lawsuits about deafness from Mac lovers in a few decades.

So Apple has done it again. It has shocked the world all over again and we are supposed to be just as excited as we were the first time they changed the world of technology as we knew it. Just think of how excited we will be the next time the fruity company thinks of something new to amaze us with.

 

Katie Walsh is a senior English and philosophy major and can be reached at walshk2@duq.edu.