I Can't Think of an iPhone 5 Feature That Would Make Me Buy It

I love my iPhone 4. It does everything I ask of it and more. I read Kindle books on it. I tweet. I do basic and advanced iPhone photography (defined as Instagram and Camera+). I record a lot of sound and sometimes post it with Audioboo. I stream music with Rdio and unlock my Zipcars with their app. I play fantasy football and read longform with Instapaper. Before I realized that I was wasting too much time, I played Angry Birds and Bouncedown. This phone is sturdy and this phone is fast. Having had the iPhone 3G and the 3GS, I can say that the iPhone 4 is a much better device than either.

This is all great and makes me a loyal iPhone user. But there's a problem for Apple at the company prepares to launch its new phone tomorrow. I can't imagine what they might unveil in the iPhone 5 that would make me throw down money for the new device. I'm sure there will be upgrades. The camera will be better. The messaging might work differently. The form factor will evolve.

But I like my current phone so much that I'm not primed for a new device launch. And besides, now that iPads have a regular release cycle, too, I've got to think about whether I'd like an iPhone 5 at some point or an iPad 3 at some point. My guess is that the latter will be a bigger upgrade.

Apple reinvented the smartphone category. But that they can't do that every year.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/10/i-cant-think-of-an-iphone-5-feature-that-would-make-me-buy-it/246062/