In this day and age, technology has come to the forefront of human innovation. Technology impacts our lives each and every second of each and every day. A huge piece in this technological hurricane that has engulfed the 21st century is the smartphone. The most popular smartphone is without question Apple's iPhone. However, there are lots of questions as to why this is the case. I am interested in the question as to why the iPhone is consistently chosen over similar smartphones of other brand names because it is a phenomenon that is in my everyday life. My whole family has iPhones, including my extended family. My friends all have iPhones, my teachers do, and the fellow South Carolinian I pass while crossing the street has an iPhone also. Personally, I have been confronted with this issue when I went to the store to get a new phone because my contract was up. Upon my arrival, a sales associate was trying to talk me into a newer (and more expensive) android smartphone. I was adamant that I wanted the iPhone. The sales associate was perplexed, and asked me why I was so adamant about the iPhone. To my surprise, I really had no answer. And that is why I decided to research this topic, because I have realized the phenomenon that is the iPhone as the most popular smartphone and being that this affects my everyday life, this makes me extremely qualified to talk about this topic. This question does affect my values, because it is a question about the value that I place on a certain product and why I decide to take one product over another, and this decision making process is one that is integral to my everyday life.

In "Our Guide to the iPhone 6s/6s Plus," the Wirecutter.com team of Dan Frakes and Michael Kennelly assert that the iPhone is "still the best smartphone for most people." They say that the iPhone is by far the easiest phone to set up right out of the box. It has simple step-by-step guides that come up on the screen to easily allow the new owner to get their phone running. The new iOS software is better than Android's, according to Frakes, and the Apple team has also added new and cool features such as the "Live Photo" feature, which allows one to see the couple seconds before and after a picture was taken. This article deals with the interests of new users. It asserts that the iPhone has more customizable features that are seamlessly introduced to new users in a friendly interface that allows young kids and elderly grandparents both easily use the phone. This core value of Apple to appeal to the masses could be pointed to as a reason for why they have skyrocketed past the other smartphone competition. This Wirecutter article is very credible because Wirecutter is a site dedicated to gadgets and gizmos and reviews for these said technological items. However, there could be a little bias in the article. This is because the authors of the article admitted to being an iPhone user, which could then affect his review of the new iPhone 6s/6s Plus.

In addition, the adoration of the iPhone continues in the article "9 Reasons Why iPhones Are Better Than Androids."  In this article, Steve Kovach lists many ways that support the iPhone-centric community of smartphone users. He notes that Apple has a monopoly on the best apps, with many coming out months earlier for iPhone users than other smartphone users. Apple also always ensures that their products are aesthetically pleasing as possible, and pride themselves in their fast and helpful customer support at their numerous Apple Stores. Also, the many cool features Apple has, from fingerprint sensors to child tracking to the ability to control household utilities from the phone, definitely is a cut above the Androids that are out there. This article obviously values features the most when it comes to smartphones. The article doesn't really talk about the actual mechanics of the phone or the speed or whatnot, but instead focuses on the aforementioned features and assets that the iPhone has, such as the newest apps and the cool designs. This is a Business Insider article, and that gives the article instant credibility. I don't sense much bias in this article, as the author doesn't state anything that would allude to an underlying preference for the iPhone. On the contrary, the article just states facts that the iPhone does well while the Androids lag behind at the same items. 

Lastly, the same conclusion is made in "iPhone Competitions Comparisons: Why iPhone Is The Best." In this article, the author notes that the iPhone was the first of its kind. After the iPhone was conceived, nearly every technology giant made a smartphone to compete with it. These were all answers to the original. The iPhone is truly the granddaddy of them all. The iPhone also owns the application market as stated in previous articles, and this is huge because a huge chunk of what makes a smartphone a smartphone is the applications on it. The layout of the iPhone is also very appealing and many people prefer it to that of other smartphones. In addition, the apps have different layouts on the different phones, and once again the most aesthetically pleasing layouts are found on the iPhone. This author values the opportunity cost of a particular item, in the case smartphones. He puts the iPhone up against every one of its competitors, and notes what you give up and what you gain when you choose one over the other. When highlighted this way, it is clear that the iPhone is the best overall package when it comes to a smartphone. If you need a smartphone to be an extreme asset in one particular area or another, then there are phone that are a better fit for you than the iPhone. But, if you don't fall in one of these niche markets, then the iPhone is the phone for you. Since the majority of the population isn't in a niche market, this explains the iPhone superiority. However, there could be arguments made discounting this article's credibility. The site that it is on is not a well-known site, nor does it specialize in news articles pertaining to technology, business, or communication. Also, the author's full name isn't even given, making it look more like a blog post from a person sitting on their computer spitting out opinions rather than facts. But, all the facts in this article match up and are correct. So, in the end, this information is definitely credible. 

The question of why most Americans prefer the iPhone is extremely arguable, because there are so many angles that can be taken. Also, the entire argument can be discounted by someone saying that it is simply not true that most Americans prefer iPhones, and that the smartphone usage of America is spread out between the different brand names and their products. Some agreements I found in my research were that the Apple iPhone has access to the best apps faster than any of their competition, and the race to get these apps isn't even close. Apple wins by a longshot. Also, most people find Apple products more pleasing to the eye, as they do with the layout of these products. Some disagreements I found pertained to how easy it is to seamlessly use the iPhone, especially when it is fresh out of the box and being set up. This is a very important issue, especially with users of phones becoming younger and younger, and older and older, every single year. In order to serve this market, the smartphones need to be easy to use. I also saw some disagreements over the quality of service and customer support that Apple provides for its iPhone, with some saying the customer support went above and beyond expectations, and others saying they felt that Apple decides to try to sell a customer a new phone rather than fix an old one in order to increase profit margins. These perspectives made me realize just how much of a monopoly Apple has on the smartphone industry. I never realized, for instance, how Apple owns the application market and how big of an effect this has on sales and public perception. If I could revise my research question, I think I would try to see more of what the better phone is between Apple and its customers, and why this is the case. I feel that this would be more argumentative and cement than the open ended question of why us Americans love iPhones so much. 
