So, there are all these charts trying to blast the iPhone 4 away because “its megapixels aren’t good enough” or “512 MB of RAM is nothing!” My feeling is that these specifications shouldn’t mean anything. It’s not even uncommon for people to have 512 MB of RAM (or less…) in their home computers, so why is it a big deal that the iPhone 4 doesn’t have 1 GB? I feel like these numbers are a hold out from the PC era, where everything was about specifications plus a general ignorance about the market.

I mean, people still think more megapixels = better pictures. This has been proven over and over to be not true. These numbers (processor clock, memory, storage, etc), are put on charts to try and judge a device. The intention is, that someone could look at this chart and decide that something is better. The bigger the number, the better the phone, right? It matters to people because their ignorance is high, and so are “the numbers.” These days, since every mobile phone environment is more controlled, it’s more a matter of “How well does my phone run?” rather than “What’s in my phone?”

If my phone streams to bluetooth speakers, scrolls through lists smoothly, runs all my apps and games, and never gets in my way,.. then why do numbers matter? It’s about the experience those numbers provide, and more numbers, doesn’t mean it’s a better device. So all those folks with “irrelevant” G1s, Droids, iPhone 3Gs, Palm Pixis, and Blackberry Pearl Flips - do you like your phone? Does it run well? Does it get in your way?

Ignore the number folk, they just don’t get it.

Idea via Engadget