New iPhone 5 release creates campus buzz

Javier Janeiro, manager of the AT&T on Main Street, said the store has received more than 100 iPhone 5 orders from excited students since the Apple product was released on Friday.

“Our hands are pretty much tied behind our backs with orders for the first couple of weeks,” Janeiro said. “Apple just sends us what they have in their supply.”

Sophomore Olivia Prinzi said she is required to get the brand’s laptop because she is a visual communications major, and she said she notices a clear difference in performance between her Macbook and a PC.  

“Apple just has a better reputation than Windows,” Prinzi said.  “They have better technology, a clearer image and a better variety. They are more modernized than Windows.”

Over time, Apple has become an identity for people, Prinzi said. She said the brand name is about reputation and keeping up with technological trends. 

Computer technology professor Xiaoming Li said the company’s products have become a fashion, not so much a technology. Apple is good at making complex things easy to use while being fashionable, he said.

“Users don’t realize how the changes between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 affect their daily use,” Li said. “I would say there are three main ways Apple succeeds – the physical look, their marketing and their user experience.”

He said regardless of the physical changes from each technological generation, Apple’s user experience remains constant. He said the company keeps their product in such large demand by successfully building an image that surpasses other technological brands and maintaining creativity. While finger-touch technology is not hard to implement, Apple was the first to make it usable for and affordable to consumers, Li said.

Li said that as someone who is interested in computers, he notices great changes in each updated version of technology such as alterations in the software. However, he said for the average user, the overall feel is still the same.

“They are good at steering changes into good transitions, easing customer feel and usage,” he said. 

Junior Brett Herskowitz said he has the iPhone 4S and a Macbook. He said while he feels he gets his money’s worth out of both products, most of the need for the iPhone comes from the brand name and the appearance.

“It is just the way society is— everyone wants the coolest laptop, phone, et cetera,” Herskowitz said. “People will always want the newest technology.”

He said other phone companies might have better products on the market, but Apple and the iPhone offer a sense of identity to consumers.  He said the brand is successful in everything they do, from computers to their apps.

However, some students find the features of the phone make them less efficient.

Junior Krista Adsett said she feels aspects of the iPhone would harm her everyday life rather than help her.