What's in a name? Apple naming and the iPhone 4S.

Reading the live blogs last night, I was surprised by Apple’s choice to call the new iPhone an iPhone 4S, as opposed to an iPhone 5. I think for many consumers, the fact that it hasn’t been incremented by a model number implies a smaller change, and I think that the number of people frustrated by the lack of a tapered ‘iPhone 5’ in a new enclosure would be smaller if they had merely named the new handset the iPhone 5.

I’m surprised at this choice by Apple and I’m not sure why they did it. One theory is that there is a “true” iPhone 5 that’s just around the corner. Maybe it’s been delayed due to manufacturing issues, maybe it’s waiting on a new LTE chipset or wider LTE roll out, but for whatever reason Apple will launch it in the next six months.

I think this is unlikely. Another theory is that Apple is establishing a “tick-tock” strategy (think Intel), whereby they upgrade the enclosure on every second upgrade, and do a more specs focused upgrade inbetween. While the naming reflects this (iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S), I’m not 100% sure I buy the underlying theory - the difference between different iPhone generations, looking at performance, has been relatively similar, and generally limited by the technology available. I also feel like Apple was slightly painted into a corner by the timing of their new handsets vs the timing of the network technologies of the day. Calling the iPhone 3G an “iPhone 2” wouldn’t confused customers (second generation device, third generation network), while calling the iPhone 3Gs (the third device) the iPhone 3 would’ve created major confusion between it and the 3G. I feel like Apple had escaped this by the time the iPhone 4 was launched, and have now lost the plot again!

You could also argue that Apple wants to minimize the differences between their 4 handsets in the $99 to $399 range. But even writing this, I feel like I’m grabbing at straws - Apple’s marketing message does not reflect this at all. So does anyone have any theories as to why they named it the iPhone 4s?

It’s also interesting to note that it’s unusual for Apple to have incrementing model numbers for a product - the new iMac is just the new iMac, until it’s the current iMac, and then the old iMac. I think this “increment-less” naming convention is very effective - it keeps Apple’s branding consistent and messaging pure, and I believe that the consumers who are concerned with the new vs old model know enough to tell the differences. So why does Apple need an incrementing model number for the iPhone? I think one reason is that they continue to sell the old model(s) at a lower price point, and so need to differentiate between the different models. And secondly, I think they feel that a different model number encourages the network supported high frequency upgrade cycle. You buy a new Macbook because your old Macbook died or is too slow. You buy a new iPhone because your carrier will subsidise it for you! 

A new look for Prophecy.co.za

Update: The new site is up and running. Thank you for all the positive feedback we’ve got from customers - it’s a bit overwhelming - thank you! If you spot a bug on our website, please send an email to bugs@prophecy.co.za. We are giving away an iPod Nano to one random customer who reports a bug. 

This weekend we will be giving our site a major visual overhaul, and rolling out some improvements and new features for the site. As a result of this, we expect the site to be down for some time over this weekend. We will try and keep the down time to a minimum, but the site unfortunately will be unavailable for much of this weekend.

We are excited to offer our customers an awesome new design for our site. We’ve put a lot of work and thought into the design, layout and appearance, and we are eager to hear what you think. 

 

Some questions you might have: 

Will this impact the delivery or timing of my order?  
No, we do not anticipate this having any impact on the normal functioning of the shop

Will I need to create a new account, or change my password? 
No - your existing account will continue to function as normal 

If I experience a bug or problem on the new site, what can I do? 
Please, let us know if you do! You have the following ways to contact us:
- If it’s during office hours, feel free to call us - 011 888 2858 
- On our forums, you can post in this section (You do not need to create an account).  
- You can post on our Facebook Page.  
- You can contact us on Twitter - @ProphecyZA for the shop, @PaulJohnston for me, and @FirestarZA for Henk.
- You can post in the comments on this blog.

Become part of the Prophecy team - we have a few positions open.

Update:

We filled all positions at the moment. Thanks to everyone who applied!

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We are looking for people to fill the following positions at Prophecy: 

Full time Driver

• Requirements: 
  • The candidate must have a valid drivers licence (standard car licence), 
  • be able to drive well, 
  • be able to succesfully interact with the staff at our suppliers. 
• The driver will be responsible to collect stock from the suppliers each day, using our vehicle. 
• Entry level position, but with room to grow. (Our previous driver is now a technician with us!)
• Once returning to our offices with stock, the driver will help us with the shipping process.
• Salary: R3000 to R5000 a month, depending on experience. 
• We will provide an entry level Medical Aid Plan. 

Full time PHP/HTML/XML developer 

• Junior to mid level position
• We are looking for a “rockstar developer”, or someone who aspires to become such a developer!
• You must be self motivated, ready for a challenge, and willing to develop your skill set. 
• The ideal candidate will be someone who is frustrated with the bureaucracy of a large company, and wants to take responsibility for projects from start to finish with little supervision. 
• We are looking for a candidate who is willing to be challenged, to develop their own skill set, and to work in a dynamic environment as part of a small team. This is not a corporate job! 
• Salary - Salary will depend on experience and seniority of the candidate, and we are willing to reward good results. 

General Requirements and Information for working at Prophecy

• All candidates must be friendly and have a helpful attitude towards customers and co-workers.
• All candidates must be willing to work hard.
• Work hours 8 - 5pm, business days.
• This is a small company, so you will need to occasionally fulfill a role that is not listed in your job description. You may need to jump in and close a gap or fill a requirement that we didn’t directly hire you for - the ideal candidate will look forward to this opportunity and diversity! 
• Prophecy.co.za is about customer service. Therefore, every candidate must have a “customer first” attitude and be willing to work hard to achieve excellence when dealing with customers.
• Salaries negotiable based on experience.
• We don’t care what degree or diploma you have, we care what skills you possess and what your attitude is. Degrees/Diplomas not required. Willingness to learn and work hard is required.

Contact us at the office (011 888 2858) and ask to speak to Paul or Henk if you’re interested in a position and we’ll discuss it with you!

Ama Wheelies Charity Raffle - your chance to win a beautiful painting & an iPod Nano 8gb

Ama Wheelies is raffling off a beautiful painting donated by Cape Town Artist Michele Batchelder:

When we heard about this we thought we would get involved, and have donated an 8gb iPod Nano to Ama Wheelies as a “bonus prize” to go along with the painting. To enter this great competition, head on over to the Ama Wheelies blog.

Who are Ama Wheelies and what do they do? Quoting from their website: 

Ama Wheelies is a quadriplegic centre, opened 27 November 2010, to take care of persons with spinal cord injury. Accidents cause severe neck and back injuries, resulting in paralysis. A paralysed person, unable to use hands or feet, is referred to as a quadriplegic. It is for such individuals, unable to take care of themselves, that Ama Wheelies provide accommodation, employment opportunities and quality of life. A secondary objective is to provide training and guidance; empowering quadriplegics and paraplegics living on their own or with families to cope better.

You can also check out their Flickr Stream to see some of the great things they are doing! I’ve been following this charity since they began fund raising, and I can tell you that they are definitely a worthwhile cause, doing great work and making a real difference in people’s lives. 

How to stop your Macbook Pro 2011 from experiencing a Kernel Panic when tethered to an iPhone

So Apple unfortunately has quite a frustrating bug in on their 2011 Macbook Pros (and possibly other systems) whereby the machine will intermittently experience Kernel Panics when connecting to the internet via USB tethering using an iPhone. Reports are that this happens on multiple versions of both Snow Leopard and iOS, and that it’s very likely to happen on 2011 Macbook Pros, but can also happen on older machines. As both Henk (Firestar) and Paul (Artagra) have Macbook’s and iPhones, this was an issue for us! 

Image Courtesy Apple Inc

Click to read more ...

"It's evil 2133mhz Memory...." Or why we suggest 1600mhz or *gasp* 1333mhz Memory for most customers

I had the following conversation earlier today with Chris, one of our staff. As you can see, neither of us are a huge fan of high frequency memory! 

So why do we strongly suggest that most customers avoid exotic memory such as 1866mhz and above? Well, the short answer, is because it makes very little performance difference, is not worth the price, and often causes a lot of compatability issues. 

Click to read more ...

Intel recalls the Sandybridge Motherboards - P67 and H67 boards affected.

As you may have read, Intel has discovered a bug in the Core 2011 “Sandybridge” Motherboards - this effects the H67 and P67 motherboards.

Click to read more ...

When to buy online, and when to go to your local retail store.

Considering I own and run an online shop, I’m obviously a believer in online shopping! However, I still believe that there is a place for retail stores - online shops and retail stores are complementary, and the computer market in South Africa is well served by having both.

Click to read more ...

iPhone 4 Launched in South Africa - pricing announced. UPDATED

Well, the iPhone 4 launched last night on both MTN and Vodacom. And while the carriers could get a fancy launch party right, listing actual pricing in a simple and understandable way still seems beyond them!

Click to read more ...

Twitter and Facebook Competition!

We are keen to engage more of our blog readers and shop customers on Facebook and on Twitter - they are great mediums for engaging with customers - answering your questions, providing interesting content, and posting specials and news about what Prophecy is up to. So to provide you with some extra incentive - we are running a competition!

On the 31st of August we’ll be giving a R500 gift voucher to one of our followers on Twitter and R500 gift voucher to one of our fans on Facebook.

Prophecy on Twitter: @ProphecyZA
Prophecy page on Facebook: Prophecy.co.za

We are giving away R500 on Twitter and R500 on Facebook - R1000 in total. Enter on both and your chances of winning are better!

Bonus: If you retweet about the competition on Twitter after following us, you get an extra R250 if you win!

Rules:

- No employees or contracters of Prophecy, or their Family members, are eligible.
- One entry per person per service, three entries in total.
- The prize is in the form of a Gift voucher on Prophecy.co.za , to spend as you would like.