A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about Apple’s up-and-coming iPhone 5 launch. The rumor at the time was in regards to the possibility of Apple simultaneously launching an iPhone 5 as its new flagship phone and an iPhone 4S as a less-expensive phone that was to be either prepaid or may have only been shipped to emerging markets. The keynote presentation that busted this rumor wasn’t as optimistic as the rumor mongers had hoped.

In fact, on a scale of 1 to disappointing, it landed somewhere near our hopes for an undefeated ISU football season. (At least we still beat the Hawkeyes, right?) They decided to go with a modified iPhone 4, now named the iPhone 4S, that will include a better camera, a dual-core processor. Apple also decided to let Sprint join in on its money-filled pool party. Apple spent the first half of the keynote presentation going over its numbers and revealed how many iOS devices have sold so far, which was 250 million.

Looking back, it was at this point that we should have seen it coming. This number in and of itself proves Apple’s reasoning behind its decision to launch a standalone iPhone 4S and to hold off on any iPhone 5 aspirations. The thought process, I’m assuming, was somewhere along the lines of, “Why should we work harder to innovate and develop new phones when you’ll buy our slightly modified current product lineup regardless.”

Apple did what could be compared to the GOP’s current presidential candidate lineup, i.e. mediocrity. It decided to stick to the tried and true formula for smartphone life-cycle success: add more pixels and add a faster processor. Why waste the research and development capital on adding in a 4G-capable radio when you can make 3G more efficient? Why lower the price when people will still pay $200?

Apple would never admit it, but Google’s Android OS has lit a small campfire under Apple’s iOS division, forcing them to actually maintain their lead in the game, but any real advances seem to only be minute adjustments to already existing features. Let’s be real, voice recognition is a great idea, but it’s taken this long to make it “just work”? Bitch, please.

And that’s just how brilliant Apple’s marketing and sales division is, only bringing the noise when sales have slowed and when competition has caught up. The company did the same song and dance with the iPad. Why wasn’t there a camera in the first iPad? Because they knew you couldn’t resist the first one and would drop another $500 when the second came out. Why sell the features people want in a phone when they’ll buy your product now, wait for the upgrade and then buy that product, too? Capitalism at its finest.