The Most Important Thing You Need To Know About The iPhone 7

What if I told you that your cell phone could have better battery life, weigh less and feature improved audio quality – you’d be on board, right? What’s the catch, you might ask. Okay, there is a slight catch, but all you have to give up is technology that is 52 years old.

Would you do it?

Seems reasonable to give up something that is so outdated for major improvements, doesn’t it? But, as Apple’s latest iPhone reminded us last week, when it comes to change, we are anything but reasonable.

Apple announced that its latest phone will not have headphone jacks. No, they aren’t preventing us from listening to music or podcasts. They aren’t even getting rid of our ability to use headphones. They are simply changing how we use them.

And, like many people, my first thought, was “this is crazy. What are they thinking?”

Turns out, they are thinking of us, the consumer. Apparently, the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack is considered to be a very old technology. In fact, it hasn’t changed since it was introduced in 1964. In what other aspects of our life do we settle for ancient utilities? That would be like getting a new flavor of Pop Tart and having to heat it up using a candle (okay, so maybe the iPhone is nothing like a Pop Tart…I must be hungry).

The jack may seem small on the outside, but like a stuffed crust pizza (still hungry), it is huge on the inside. So big, that is it one of the bulkiest components of our phone. By removing it, phones will get thinner, waterproof and sound better.

In time, people surely will like the results of killing off the headphone jack, but for now it hurts. As I have written about many times, we hate change — people even hated street lights when they were first invented. Even when change is for our own good, we still hate it. We focus on the initial difficulties — will I have to get new headphones, how will I charge my phone and listen to music at the same time?

Yes, those things will take some time adjusting to. But if we step back long enough to see the positives, we will see that this change (and many others like it) isn’t so bad after all.

Change & Apple’s iOS 7

I’ll admit it…I don’t do well with change. I am very structured and like a routine. It is often difficult for me to handle change, even when I know the new situation will actually be an improvement.

This is just something I have always struggled with and constantly have to work through. That fact was highlighted the other day by my cell phone.

This week Apple introduced its new operating system, iOS 7. It is the latest big thing from Apple and has been met with much anticipation.

Since I am not too techy I didn’t think much about it and wouldn’t normally worry to much about my iPhone. I was all set to update until I started to read about the new upgrade and changes.

From everything I found, the iOS 7 is a massive makeover to the design and features of the iPhone. Reading this made me nervous. I’ve had my iPhone for a couple of years now and have become very comfortable with the features, the settings and everything else that goes into it. It took awhile but I’ve grown to become attached to the phone.

And now Apple is changing everything on me?

As a self prescribed change-aphobe that is hard to deal with. What if I don’t like the new settings? What if I can’t find my favorite apps?

I know this sounds silly but those were real thoughts running through my head. I started to fear that the new operating system would be too difficult for me to handle.

But that is crazy. Why would Apple, one of the most successful companies in the world, make something new that people couldn’t handle? Why would they take a great product and turn it into something awful?

There have been mixed reviews on it so far, but I have to believe that the new system is a good change. Apple knows what it is doing and this new system has to be for the better.

But just the fact that it is different is hard for me. Change is hard.

So how do we deal with change. And more importantly, how do we convince ourselves that we can handle it and actually accept the change?

Those are tough questions to answer.

I decided to take this iPhone example and use it as a learning experience.

I thought about it and found that I need to do three things:

1) I have to focus on the good things.

2) I have to be open minded.

3) I have to accept that the change will take some adjusting but eventually I will be better off for it.

In the reviews that I read, there were many good things that people had to say about the new iOS 7. From the Control Center to iTunes Radio, the new features sound pretty cool. Instead of focusing on the negative, I need to spend more time thinking about these new, good things.

I already said I am not a techy guy. Knowing that, I should have no problem being open minded about new technology.  After all, what do I know about cell phone operating systems? I have to have an open mind and realize that Apple knows what it is doing.

Finally, I have to accept that it will take time for me to adjust to the new phone system. Just like it took time to get used to the system when I first got an iPhone. But I adjusted just fine back then and can do the same again this time. Like I already said, Apple would not come out with a product that was too difficult for me to figure out and enjoy. They don’t make billions of dollars by making bad products.

So that is how I am convincing myself to update my iPhone. That being said, I did get some advice to wait a week to update so that Apple can work out all of the bugs first. But I am not using that as an excuse to avoid change. Rather, I have convinced myself that I can handle the change and am now excited to go through with it.

How do you guys deal with change? What did you think of my three steps and do you have anything to add to that? And if you have already updated your iPhone, what do you think of iOS 7? Let me know in the comments section below.