Sprint: we want you to compare Instinct with the iPhone
There's often a certain ambivalence in the message behind iPhone-like handsets, as if the creators aren't sure how to pitch them without admitting they've become market-followers. Sprint and Samsung, however, with their new iPhone vs. Instinct spots, understand that comparisons are necessary. It's what we do, it's what you do, and the only way they can influence it is to do it themselves, loading the matchup with its own bias.
There'll be 5 videos in all, with this GPS ad being the first. The rest are coming on Thursday.
iPhone vs Instinct: GPS [Nowisgood.com]
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Bwahahahaha! The iPhone loads the map before the Instinct even shows the progress bar.
It's funny because the entire time I was thinking: the Instinct's user interface is more complicated...
But, props to narrator for using the word ginormous.
If you need a cell phone to tell you where you are-- you need more than GPS to help you out.
Maps are meant to help you find where you are going, and Apple's solution is good enough-
Sorry Sprint, you fail on that one.
Every day I wake up and think I'm back in the jungle.................
WELL THINK NO MORE!
Wow, what a stupid ad. I can't say I've ever liked the iPhone, but in this spot it looks so much nicer. It instantly pops up a map while the competitor is loading ... loading ... a simple menu. And the iPhone has a larger screen with a more colourful map. The Instinct just looks utterly unattractive next to it. FAIL.
OTOH, the next step (zooming in) is a little faster on the Instinct, and, hey, props to them for showing it as it is instead of fudging the demo. Still, putting it next to an iPhone makes it look bad; this will be even more so when you see them 'in person', as the Instinct has a rather modest display resolution. I'm not convinced that showing a comparison is a good way of not making it look like a me-too product.
#3: I see nothing wrong with wanting GPS on a phone to get around and let you know where you are. If you believe that maps are not there to help you find out where you are, then perhaps you've never been lost in a city you're not familiar with. Besides, you need to know where you are to get to where you're going.
I definitely consider this to be a weakness with the iPhone, which is irritating because I like other things about it, and I'm hoping there'll be a way to use an actual GPS receiver with it, particularly for something like geotagging photos somehow.
On the other hand, from the demo in the video, Sprint's "you are here" map is a bad example, as it's zooooooooooomed in too far, and makes the map look difficult to use, whereas the Google map looks way more functional. They should show routing if they want to show how it might be better.
Maps may be intended to help you find where you are going, but GPS and nav systems are intended to get you there. Progress, my man, progress!