Two of the foundations of "easy to use" are familiarity and consistency. They enable users to leverage prior knowledge and their progressively learnt new behaviour.
When a long-familiar thing/system/process changes drastically, it can shake the perception of ease of use. And this may happen with the transition to iOS 7.
"the current iteration of iOS 7 may actually be far too ahead of its time [the user base’s level of understanding]."
Moving users from the familiar skeuomorphic world to a "modern" one with borderless buttons can be tough for those who have been sheltered from drastic changes since the iPhone's debut in 2007.
Like it or loathe it, skeuomorphism provides MASSIVE cues. If something looks like a real-world button, dial or switch, it is a button/dial/switch. The new minimalist world of iOS 7 on the other hand provides relatively, well, minimal cues.
Inconsistencies are an inevitable part of any transition. Different aspects of a system will, for a hopefully short while, operate differently: some in the new way, some in the old way, and others somewhere in between the two.
The gap of deciphering and understanding change and disruptions must unnecessarily be bridged by user effort. This will be required at every touch-point until users learn the appropriate new set of behaviours, and the system beds down over time.
I am curious about the user response when iOS 7 is released later in the year. What do you think?
(Quote above from this site.)
