Being easily excited by newfangled gadetry, I waited with glee for Apple to announce the iPhone 6. However, it was not without trepidation. In spite of my eagerness for a new device, I feared the new iPhone would be significantly larger than the previous iterations and for good reason: I’m a delicate 5’2″. Electronics are greatly exaggerated against my slight frame.
Upon receiving the package, my excitement tempered when the iPhone 6 turned out to be larger than my hand. Cue the sad trombone.
Immediately, basic maneuvering between applications became yoga for my thumbs as they stretched as far as possible to reach once-accessible buttons. Texting, previously effortless, became arduous, requiring more concentration and balancing skills than I care to admit. Pinky fingers turned into stabilizers with not-so-deft precision in order to mitigate the unwieldy phone body in my small hands. Panic ensues when it slips from my grasp after trying to lock it with upstretched fingers.
Even though it has not even been a week since I abandoned my trusty iPhone 5 for the newer model, I miss it greatly and am considering apologetically returning to it. I use the iPhone 6 less each day than I did my previous phone, which may or may not be a problem according to my boyfriend who finds me somewhat addicted to my data plan.
While this super-sized experience is not uncommon for me, it still makes me angry. Why can’t today’s technology be sized for everyone, rather than just an average male? Size often does matter, and not in the way you think.
Take the Apple Watch into consideration, or any wearable for that matter. On my wrist an Apple Watch would be enormous, failing to seamlessly integrate into my life as Apple would like. Even a Jawbone UP band is obtrusive on a small-boned person. I’m not alone in feeling like this.
Layering various technologies on one’s person combined with jewelry in a stylish way will not be possible if device size continues on this larger trajectory. I doubt even Vogue Magazine could dream up an editorial where multiple wearables could look chic on a model’s arm.
What’s the solution? I’d have settled for a thinner iPhone 6 Minus (see what I did there?) which is still thin but more easily managed in a woman’s grasp. Admittedly, another option is to curtail my obsessive desire for the newest technology and take into consideration how things will affect me. But that’s not me, so here we are.
Not that Apple is asking, but my dream iPhone would include the sloping frame of the 3G, weight and screen resolution of the iPhone 5S, and the compact size of the 4. Until they make that option, I’ll learn to love the iPhone 6, become quite attached to it, and vehemently complain when I purchase the 8 in two years time