Survey of Regent Street iPhone 4S Line Reveals Record Crowd and Other Tidbits

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regent street iphone 4s survey
UK insurance firm Protect Your Bubble today conducted a survey of the iPhone 4S line at Apple's Regent Street retail store in London, finding a record line of 778 people just as the store opened for sales.

Analysis of the data, comparing against previous Regent St exit polls on the iPhone 4, iPad and iPad 2 launches, shows that the crowd of 778 people for the iPhone 4S comfortably beats the previous record holder of 668 for the original iPhone 4; 662 for the iPad 2; and 451 for the original iPad.

The company has also put together an infographic highlighting a number of pieces of data collected in surveys of the crowd. Among the most interesting results:

- 53% of those in line were there because they missed the pre-order window, while an additional 7% thought the iPhone 4S was only available in-store. A substantial fraction of the crowd was also there primarily for the experience, with 18% saying that simply wanted "to be there" and 11% noting that they were there because they were "die hard Apple fans".

- Nearly half of the crowd was upgrading from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S, while 35% were lining up to purchase their first iPhone.

- The new 8-megapixel camera was cited most frequently (37%) as the "standout feature" of the iPhone 4S, with Siri (34%) registering in a strong second place. But 33% of the crowd viewed Siri as a gimmick rather than a truly useful feature.

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Top Rated Comments

kalsta Avatar
kalsta
187 months ago
People need to remember that Siri is still beta software. Of course it's not perfect on launch day, but how could you look at it and not be impressed?!

To anyone who says this is just a gimmick that we'll all forget about in time, all I can say is that you truly lack the vision to see where all this is going. In five years, you're going to wonder how you ever called a phone 'smart' before you could have a conversation with it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayducharme Avatar
jayducharme
187 months ago
it's standing as a gimmick is strictly dependent on how useful it is. If it works, no longer a gimmick
Exactly. The mouse was a gimmick when it first appeared. Eventually, it became an indispensable part of working with technology. Siri will be the same.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mal Avatar
Mal
187 months ago
Exactly. The mouse was a gimmick when it first appeared. Eventually, it became an indispensable part of working with technology. Siri will be the same.

Yep. Remember that it was Apple who took the mouse from gimmick to indispensable too, even though they didn't invent it.

Theres a slight difference here.

The mouse was brand new technology at the time, never before seen.

Concepts for Siri style devices were demoed by apple in 1987. There are thousands of voice controllable AI products out there...its not new....its just new to phones (even then not really since similar products have been on Android for a while).

Give it a year and Siri will be forgotten. Give it a month and you'll no longer be using it.

I'm not going to be that pessimistic. You could be right, but Siri is so much better than the Android and other voice solutions, and on a device with so many potential uses (especially if it becomes extensible so that other developers can add their own hooks to it), I suspect that we'll eventually wonder what we did with phone before voice control. Granted, there are many situations in which voice control is not beneficial, but for many situations, it will be very useful. Hands-free operation while driving a vehicle just got much safer, for instance.

jW
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
subsonix
187 months ago
100% of the participants in the poll had never used it, since it took place in the queue outside. So the 33% figure is a measure of expectation, nothing else. The most facsinating thing about it to me is the calendar scheduling and the geo-fence feature and the fact that it learns from behaviour and remember things about you and your contacts, sort of like a personal secretary.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B
bryanl
187 months ago
Before the concept of pre-order, I could totally understand the lines. Now I'm just baffled.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
azzarocks86
187 months ago
Please check statistics before re-publishing them

Thought the statistics for Mac owners, PC owners and "both" owners seemed a bit odd and after 5 seconds of thought and some kindergarten math I realized why...
39% I own a Mac
34% I own a PC
12% I own both

This leaves 15% of people lining up on launch day apparently not owning a computer? I know apple are pushing to make iOS devices a replacement for a desktop or laptop but I hardly think this change has happened in the year between the release of the iPhone 4 and the 4S, certainly not amongst the consumers who are willing to line up on launch day.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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