Why Apple's 'Why iPhone' page following Samsung Galaxy S4 debut is not good enough

Apple has launched a new page on their site entitled, "There's iPhone. And then there's everything else."

Just two days after the Samsung Galaxy S4's extremely popular debut, the page is Apple's latest attempt at convincing the public why iPhone is the best and why Android sucks (without actually publishing the word 'Android' or 'sucks', of course).

Honestly, though, it seems like Apple is truly trembling in their iPants right about now. Just imagine the spoiled, little kid on the playground whose new iPhone 5 has just been one-upped by another kid's newer Samsung Galaxy S4. The Apple kid isn't happy. And even if the Apple kid knows he's been beaten, he won't let the world just forget about he and his iPhone-- Oh, HELL NO! He'll continue rattling off overly-defensive and even irrelevant points about he and his 5 until his mom finally comes to pick him up and assure him that, "It's okay, honey. We'll go get you a new GS4 this weekend."

That's how I imagine the whole situation, anyways.

However, here's really why Apple's new 'Why iPhone' page is simply not good enough to beat the competition (namely, the Samsung Galaxy S4). If Apple wants to really compete, they had better release an iPhone that actually stands victorious in the never-ending hardware-software battle.

So here we have it. Artsy photos of iPhone 5s laying in neat, angled arrangements with colorful on-screen images. Surprised?

And, yes, Apple has even included a picture of their Fall 2012 J.D. Power & Associates "Highest Customer Satisfaction" award. To the left of the award's picture, Apple's classic passive-aggressive and competitive marketing attitude is at work in the caption, "Apparently love can be measured."

I have to hand it to the copywriters at Apple. They've really mastered the art of getting customers to adopt the 'Us Vs. Them' mentality, haven't they?

"Apparently love can be measured."

Don't forget about the 'Retina Display'! Apple coined the term after all. But with the iPhone 5's meek 326 ppi, Apple's state-of-the-art smart phone is simply left in the dust, especially considering the HTC One's dominating 468 ppi screen. That's not to say the iPhone 5's screen isn't nice. It is. It's bright, crisp, and certainly not 'pixelly' looking. But, then again, it's not even 720p. Most high-end phones are 1080p by now. 

And then Apple continues, listing the A6 chip (which is, again, fast but not top of the line fast), Siri (which Google's voice recognition software easily beats in every way except for giving skeuomorphic sports scores),  wireless and LTE technology (really?), iOS 6, iCloud, and "the world's most popular camera" (according to Flickr numbers), as the reasons why iPhone really is the best of the best.

But for anyone who really knows what the market has to offer, Apple iPhone is just the old, jaded, wrinkly yet dedicated dude at the gym who just won't stop trying to be the best. 

I'd honor the iPhone for staying in the game for so long, if only they weren't so passive-aggressive and cult-like in their approach. Maybe a more humble attitude might suit them? Maybe not. Only time will tell... (aka the iPhone 5S).

R.I.P. Google Reader, 10/07/2005-07/01/2013

Yesterday was a mournful day for RSS and Atom feed junkies everywhere across the Internet as Google announced that their popular Google Reader content aggregator platform will be retired on July 1st of this year.

In the official blog post, "A second spring of cleaning", Google acknowledges that Google Reader has a "loyal following" but that usage has declined over the years.

At first, the news made me sad. But after reading through the comments in this reddit post, though, I'm much more optimistic. Google Reader was great, sure. It was the first web-based content aggregator I ever used. But it's also dated, lacking a sleek, native interface and, of course, the ability to share articles instantly on your Twitter and Facebook accounts since Google+ came along.

Image courtsey of Chron

I say, "Sayonara Google Reader!"

Meanwhile... some users simply can't accept Google Reader's inevitable end. There are multiple petitions on Change.org urging Google to keep Reader alive. Here's one. Here's another one. And even one more.

For me? I'll just calmly meander over to Feedly. Feedly provides a clean, easy-on-the-eyes service that will automatically sync your Google Reader subscriptions with their service. Done and done.