It feels old because it hasn't changed in 5 years, but I personally appreciate that. All of the original mechanics make perfect sense, and the new mechanics (such as app folders and multitasking) have been introduced in a way that minimizes interference with the existing look and feel. As someone who uses a lot of music production apps that can't talk to each other, I do wish there was something like a filesystem, but I also want it to be introduced in a way that does not change the basic look and feel of the device.

What's amazing is that an original iPhone and iPhone 5 look and feel largely identical for basic uses, even though the latter is a far more capable device. That's a testament to the strength of the original design.

>All of the original mechanics make perfect sense

this is the same thing thats spouted by fans of the iphone. We don't need a smaller ipad 10" is the perfect size. We don't need a bigger phone screen, this fits the perfect size for all hands. All this is said till Apple actually does it.

I'm not saying that there's no room for improvement. Frankly, I want a smaller iPhone, a pressure-sensitive display, and a physical button to take a picture that's always active. What I don't want is for any of these improvements to fundamentally change the way the phone UX works (i.e. moving to a menu system or something).

The only "bad" design elements, in my opinion, were notifications and Siri. They fixed notifications but I had to turn Siri off.

> It feels old because it hasn't changed in 5 years, but I personally appreciate that.

And I think Apple is betting on a "conservative" majority that does not want change for the sake of change (I'm certainly part of it) - just observe how similar all the iPhones look, or all the laptops, displays... The only exception I can think of are the cheaper iPods.

And that's because they are cheap enough to buy on impulse, and/or to make an affordable gift for the holiday season that is clearly the hottest and newest available.

I don't see much stagnation:

(1) Maps is probably the biggest thing they've done since the original phone's launch;

(2) they are moving more and more of the interaction to voice every year;

(3) they are moving more and more of the users' data to the cloud every year.

It was pretty clear that he was talking about visual design and interaction. None of the things you list here are in that domain. One is a new app, one is a voice UI and one is an Internet-based storage service.

"None of the things you list here are in that domain. One is a new app ..."

Since the very sentence I was responding too was about apps ("iOS is stagnant, reviews of recent Apple designed skeuo-heavy apps bemone the lack of functionality") I fail to see how talking about app functionality is some huge leap of logic on my part.

"he was talking about visual design and interaction. None of the things you list here are in that domain"

How is voice control not about interaction?

Perhaps it should be read as "visual design and [visual] interaction."

You think voice integration isn't interaction? That's literally a form of interaction with the device that was not there in iOS 1.

I feel pretty sure there was a "visual" in there you're ignoring.

Didn't know you meant visual(design and interaction). Still though, it's a little frustrating to say they've stagnated. Apple is very, very long-term focused.

IMHO it's definitely running in place

1 - replaced what they already had and then moved it up to feature parity with the competitors

2 - pioneered it then let it sit, is Siri really that much better and personally assisting me today then at launch?

3 - which appears to be only a response to the competition's great cloud integration

perhaps stagnation is too strong a word... tread-milling perhaps?

Wasn't Siri bought from another company which was already competing against similar products like Vlingo? Saying Apple pioneered it is a bit of a stretch. Especially considering how effective Android's voice commands were well before Siri was introduced.

It's more or less Symbian or Palm Pilot with touch. What was groundbreaking in terms of interface was the method of input not the way the OS was designed. It's still just icons and a pointer.

I see a lot of this type of sentiment here on HN, and I think it is because we are people who build technology and therefore study technology obsessively. Anything that stays the same for 5 years will feel ancient.

Most people, though, just want to use technology to accomplish other things. For them, radical interface changes reduce rather than improve value.