September 21st 2012 is Apple iPhone 5 debut day.

After I have had a big and relaxed Friday lunch and desperately need some exercise, I get out of office and walk to the corner of Swanston St. and Bourke St. in the city. Plenty of sunshine, people are smiling and I know iPhone 5 is going to hit the shelf.

Telstra, Optus and Voda "you failed" fone all have opened shops in heart of the CBD. My first stop is Optus shop.

Surprised me, there are not a lot people inside the shop. But when I try to get in and have a look, I'm rejected because today is for Optus V.I.P. only. 

As a not-so-valuable Optus customer, who pay NIL for Optus monthly service fee and make none phone call, dressed-up Optus girls at the shop entry ask me kindly and politely to "bugger off". Feel very very disappointed, I move on to the Vodafone shop next door. 

Comparing to empty space in Optus shop, where you can set up free range chicken farm, it's quite crowdy in Vodafone shop. I notice a few pretty girls in the shop but just can't find the demonstrated iPhone 5. People queue up to pick up their already ordered iPhone 5 from counter. No one seems interested in asking me open the box for them, make a virgin voyage "down under" the product, then offer them some professional expertise. They just cherish something shining they have been waiting for so long and finally owned.

Another big disappointment, I come to Telstra super mall.

As the biggest telco in Australia, Telstra has the biggest showcase room in town. There is one counter set up with a dozen of iPhone 5 for demo. People already queued up to have a taste the latest hot gadget one by one. 

I follow a queue with less people. The first impression when I hold iPhone 5 heartlessly is it's so lighter in hand. So light make you feel it's a product cheapish. Slide the bar and unlock the screen, I know why this queue has less people. The phone has been switched to a non-English, non-Latin, non-Chinese, non-Oriental, god damned know language and keyboard input!  
 
"Go to hell you bloody dickhead ..." I swear and curse the person who made this stupid stunt. However, depends on my memory, a few minutes tweak later, the phone is back to English, so I can start my testing now.

Physically iPhone 5 is slimmer and slender comparing to iPhone 4/4S. Same width and longer screen make you feel like watch an extreme wide movie in the cinema. But not sure such screen ratio is perfect for a smart phone. 

I already feel how light it is and iPhone 5 is also thinner. Almost the same buttons, camera, connector layout except headphone jacket moved from the top to the bottom. Why Apple made this change? This subtle change maybe reflect a deep thought in designers' mind. Retina screen remind you when its first debut in iPhone 4. 

Software is the heart of a product as I said before. 

iOS 6 makes the same feeling as the previous version iOS. Although RAM has been doubled to 1GB, new A6 processor has been claimed two times faster than the old one, but from an end user's experience, you won't notice such change, like jumping from a Toyota Yarris to a Nissan GT-R. It's almost the same. 

iOS 6 applications are all the same too, except Apple Maps, a replacement of Google Maps after the bitter divorce with Google; and Passport, a payment solution because lack of NFC in iPhone 5.

Apple Maps is promising, the 3D effect with a real building photo is better than 3D model in stencil in Google maps. Apple still need time to catch up with Google on this, and also fix the obvious common errors in the map. 

What else, what else, not much. The simple conclusion that iPhone 5 is not a revolutionary but a renovated product, Make it better, but not impressed.

The revolutionary iPhone is the first generation and iPhone 4/4S. Especially iPhone 4/4S, with the weight, the size in hands, the screen, the colour in eyes, all well balanced. I still believe this. Sadly, iPhone 4S which is worthy of only $250 now after only 12 months old (this is the price offered by merchants who want to buy back a working iPhone 4S). iPhone 4 maybe worthy much lesser. This is the result of consumerism desperation.

Twenty minutes later, I walk out of Telstra shop. Breathing the fresh air and I see a cohort of maniacal Apple's addicts are queuing outside the shop.

I wonder whether these people who pay the premium on an iPhone 5, worthy nothing two years later (how can you teach your kids about such sucking investment); who must buy and own iPhone 5 on its first day; who driven by the marketing and propaganda of capitalism, are either have brain damaged or just completely mad.