It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The september iPhone 7 and AppleWatch Series 2 keynote was awesome (link provides 10 minute recap) and here's why:

First of all, it is great to see Tim Cook making a real effort to give the keynote a light entrance, a fun tone and an entertainment factor that people forget is one of Apple's core identities: technology and the liberal arts. The entrance with James Corden's Carpool Karaoke was fun and did put a smile on my face even though Cook does have a seriousness to his way of being and presenting, but it is who he is and he is not trying to be someone else, he is showing he isn't all work and stress.

Next is someone we all know and love! THE Mario Bros.!
I could not be happier to see Nintendo bring Mario to iOS! In all honesty I believe it has been long enough for Nintendo to enter the ecosystem which has the most number of gaming devices ever: Apple's iOS platform which has a 106% growth per year!

In terms of education, Apple does more than people realize to help improve the "great equalizer" that education truly is. I am glad there are large initiatives that take advantage of government partnerships to better something as crucial as education. Plus I have been taking a look at Swift Playgrounds and it looks promising to pull youth and new people into getting to know Swift coding and these people becoming the new generation of developers.

The AppleWatch has been out and about for 18 months and in just 8 became the second most important watch brand in the world (below none other than Rolex); and of course, #1 in customer satisfaction according to JD Power study. This customer satisfaction truly impressed me, because I personally do love my AppleWatch, but I really feel the first generation product struggle that it has had before watchOS 3 and series 2. It was quite the slow and confusing product at first, and even so I felt satisfied with what I was able to do with it (to know more, read my 2 part AppleWatch pieces: part 1 and part 2).

It is promising to see Apple implicitly agreeing to making the AppleWatch a more sports and health oriented product. The iPhone is your life technology hub, you iPad is your reading and browsing tool,  your Mac is your productivity device and your AppleWatch is now being depicted more and more your health engine. AppleWatch series 2 takes all the knowledge the "series 0" (original AppleWatch) provided and doubled down on that aspect. Better battery life, smart GPS tracking, MUCH faster dual core processor and Nike Plus Partnership is back! It would be an understatement to say i am just excited to get the new watch because I love running and swimming; I will appreciate the health and exercise partner the series 2 will provide.

Last but not least (and quite controversial i might add) is the iPhone 7!!! :)

The best selling product of its kind in history, such high demand that this years' launch wasn't demand based as normal (they sell as much as people buy), it was supply based! (they sold as much as they could make). Take a minute to let that reality sink in. The iPhone sales have dropped for the first time in history... and yet Apple now launches per as much as they can make.

The home button is an illusion because it is taptic engine based instead of a physical button you can press in. It is water and dust resistant as much as the first AppleWatch (which I can tell you from experience is A Lot More than you think). Once again the camera has been maxed out for the 7 and a dual camera system for the 7 Plus allows depth of field, better zoom and all in all an amazing new camera system. A brighter display is VERY welcome so we can see our screens under the sun specially in tropical countries like mine (Costa Rica).  Stereo speakers make the phone twice as loud with dynamic range. Oh and yes, the 120 year old headphone jack is finally GONE! (more on the headphone dilemma on my latest piece)

I highly recommend people to get the iPhone 7 if you believe in the future technologies. Also recommend the watch series 1 to sports people and series 2 to swimmers.