For years I defended Apple against the phandroids. Apple (check that, Steve Jobs) innovated the most useful device since the personal computer. Yet the phandroids would talk about their superior hardware, bigger screens, yada yada. They may have had those things, but they simply copied a great product and made it better. Apple's phone just worked better, undeniably, in that the flow was superior, apps were more consistent, easier to use, and there was a large developer base to grow the app ecosystem.

I still defended them back in 2012 when I got my samsung galaxy nexus, which had terrible battery life but which was truly a great phone otherwise. I wanted a bigger screen, and LTE, neither of which the iPhone had at the time.

However, in the last year, and particularly as of today, I cannot defend this company any longer. They are no longer innovaters. They had one magic ingredient that no one else in the world has, and he passed away, sadly. For some reason, not in an angry way, I am disgusted when I hear Tim Cook talk. He claims that he is "excited" to announce the "most advanced" iPhone ever. Either he is lying and is not excited, or he is literally the most boring human being alive on the planet. I mean, Tim Cook is so unspirational, so sterile, so boring, so dry, so apathetic, that Janet Yellen giving the keynote today would have been an upgrade in the enthusiasm department.

I cannot wait to hear the Apple fanboys talk about how great their phones are and how they can now use them to pay for things. I've been doing this forever with my phone. Apple, welcome to mid 2012... what once was a great company is now just a shadow of what it used to be. They once innovated, now they are simply playing catch up. What they do have are loyal customers who will literally pay anything (see Mac) for hardware that is in every way inferior, and software that is good enough to make it bearable.

(the one thing I wish android phone suppliers would do is to just adopt the stock nexus look and feel, as it is superior in every way to their cheap looking alternatives)

last edit: this is not a knock on people who have iPhones. I have had them and love them. My family has them and loves them. They are good phones. But they are not original, and are not really better than other things out there.

To me the biggest leg up Apple has is in the app department. Having designed and dealt with companies creating apps for both, Apples apps are usually better built and designed. I believe this has to do with their tight control over the app store. Apple was about creating an ecosystem that was the best to use, I am afraid in doing so they have begun to lag in every other department.

Not to knock Al Brooks, but I think he could have done the presentation better then Tim Cook.