iOS 7 — Apple’s revamped mobile operating system — will be available for all consumers by tomorrow. It will be a shock for every John and Jane out there. Will they hate it or love it?
Today — and over the following few days — tens of millions of unsuspecting customers will happily upgrade their iPhones and iPads to find a completely different experience after they restart the gadgets their professional and personal lives depend on every day. It’s a big gamble for Apple.
While the change is not as deep as Windows 8, many regular consumers — I’m not talking about the fanbeciles who follow every move by the Cupertino company, but normal people who bought a nice iPhone — will be surprised by the many changes iOS 7 introduces. Visually and functionally, it’s a very different experience.
Dave Winer asks many good questions about what could happen:
It’s got major user interface changes. And lots of end users who don’t know that the basic operational features of a computer can change will find out, they can.
And their patterns of use will change.
Brain cells will burn.
Will the users shrug it off or even cheer, as Apple expects/hopes?
Will users respond as they did with Windows 8 by rejecting the update?
Will they have an option of going back to a previous version or is this update irreversible?
Or is it mandatory? Can you not update your devices? If so, how?
I don’t think there will be a major backslash because it isn’t a radical departure from the old version. But I’ve no doubt that there’s a very real risk for the Cupertino company.
Personally, I like the new clean design. In fact, the only thing I don’t like is that Apple didn’t have the machined aircraft-grade aluminium balls to go for a deeper change in terms of functionality.
We will see what happens over the next few days. Gizmodo will follow people’s reactions closely.