Eric Schmidt and Mark Zuckerberg are standing on the shoulders of Steve Jobs. If there was never an iPhone, do you really think Google would have spontaneously generated Android? Would Facebook be so ubiquitous without the popularization of an easy to use and understand pocket computer by Apple?
History says Google acquired Android before iPhone was launched. In the absence of iPhone, Android would not have turned out the way it is. But it was on the way to being "spontaneously generated".
You've bought up the same point many times before, and your point has been refuted convincingly each time.
I for one can not be any more excited about what the future will bring in terms of Apple problem-solving products. It will be amazing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dasanman69
What are these 'problems' you speak of?
Problems like: How can we have, instantly available to us from the Cloud anywhere we happen to be, Penelope Garcia from the BAU, Abby Sciuto from NCIS and Finch from "Person of Interest", to solve in real-time any logistical questions and decision-making issues when they crop up as obstacles to be negotiated successfully, right now...???
Your attempts at playing semantics aren't working. It's the same thing. Next you'll be arguing that they don't use a blue 'e' so they can't be compared. The bottom line is both companies give away a product in an effort to secure customers for other products. It doesn't matter that you can fork Android and not use Google's services at all, their assumption is that vendors will use it and those that don't are likely still adding to Google's eyeballs and ecosystem… which is exactly what is happening. You queried, "Why couldn't they make their own OS?" and the answer is most don't have the know-how or resources to make that happen. Google's goal to shore up a lot of marketshare right away was to give it away."Look it's free. How wonderful is that. What can go wrong?" with the clear assumption they would reap the benefit of most of the advertising dollars from the platform. The option to fork is there but when it pulls your brand from the ecosystem you don't win which is why Google has reported over 1 billion "activations" which I'm repeatedly told are only counted if they are using Google's services, not from a forked OS. So why isn't Google worried that everyone will fork Android? For the obvious reasons already stated. Samsung could (and I think should) fork it and that is the gamble Google took when they hatched this Trojan OS but they probably figured, and rightly so, that the chances of a single vendor getting an excessive dominance to make that happen would be slim. I think Samsung needs another 10 or 15% of Android marketshare before that's really viable for them as a move.
I'll agree that there are similarities between Google and MS, but there are also differences. MS had a huge preexisting user base that they exploited that they basically forced to use IE. When the "oh snap we need to followAApple's lead not BB's" version of Android came out BB was king with the iPhone quickly gaining. Google decided to allow their OS to be used by anyone to gain some market share but I don't think anyone would think BB would take the nosedive that it did. It's funny because how many times have I read on here how important making the software and hardware is but how did that work out for BB and Palm? They most certainly had the know-how and resources. Why did they fail? And yes BB is well on it's way to failure. If they couldn't slow down Apple's growth who could? So now tell me ol' Seeker of Truth if what Google has done is so wrong where are the antitrust/anticompetitive suits?
You've bought up the same point many times before, and your point has been refuted convincingly each time.
Wow, you don't give up, do you!?
I agree with stelligent that it wasn't spontaneous but I disagree with the implication that Google bought Android OS when they in fact bought software intended to run on other mobile OSes. Who knows when Google decided to convert Android into an OS. This may be the contention that Steve Jobs had with Eric Schmidt, and perhaps Google wouldn't have considered such an undertaking at all if they had thought there would be no opportunity for them to come in under the potential iPhone game changer. Or perhaps that was their plan all along. We may never really know, but we do know that at some time after they decided to make Android a mobile OS they completely shifted gears on the type of mobile OS they would make.
Why don't you tell us what the global share is if you take out China (since Apple is not on China Mobile), India (where Apple is just getting started), and all the low-end crap that passes off for 'smartphone'. Have you taken a look at Samsungs's laughably pathetic ASP?
That's right!! Do us all a favor and protest your distaste of DED by canceling your account and never returning to AI. That's will make DED think twice before posting such nonsense!! Go ahead. We're right behind you.
That's right!! Do us all a favor and protest your distaste of DED by canceling your account and never returning to AI. That's will make DED think twice before posting such nonsense!! Go ahead. We're right behind you.
I love DED's editorials because they flush out and expose the Apple hating trolls lurking here. His editorials are no more right or wrong than the editorials from professional Apple haters like Rob Enderle, Henry Blodget, Dan Lyons, etc. But since they are always pro Apple the trolls and haters come running out of the woodwork like cockroaches just sprayed with RAID. Kinda nice to see AI fumigated now and then.
Eric Schmidt and Mark Zuckerberg are standing on the shoulders of Steve Jobs. If there was never an iPhone, do you really think Google would have spontaneously generated Android? Would Facebook be so ubiquitous without the popularization of an easy to use and understand pocket computer by Apple?
Say what?
So it wasn't the dedicated Facebook button on my HTC ChaCha, an Android powerhouse of yesteryear.
I love DED's editorials because they flush out and expose the Apple hating trolls lurking here. His editorials are no more right or wrong than the editorials from professional Apple haters like Rob Enderle, Henry Blodget, Dan Lyons, etc. But since they are always pro Apple the trolls and haters come running out of the woodwork like cockroaches just sprayed with RAID. Kinda nice to see AI fumigated now and then.
I wonder if he can keep them up once a week. He might have to move into making more predictions about the future or talking about how Apple's competitors are doing it the right or wrong way to keep the momentum going. I hope he has a path laid out because I do enjoy them during the tech news lull the weekend brings.
All of the above. Why couldn't they make their own OS? Apple did it, Palm did it, and BB did it. Do Apple, Google, and MS have the only programmers able to make a mobile OS? Nobody forced them to hitch their wagon to Android.
Because free is cheaper than developing your own. Apple developed iOS because the mobile OSes sucked at the time. I don't know if using palm is such a good example since they don't exist anymore.
I don't believe iOS is slipping in popularity either. But I also don't think it's true that 90% of tablets in use are iPads. Reading is a form of use, no? And is it true that iPhones 4, 4S and 5 remain the three most popular ones "on the planet"? Can you cite recent statistics to back that up (now this is a proper situation to ask for this)?
I don't know about the 4S but the 4 and 5 are the top two phone models in dec12 qtr.
1) In the first part of the AnandTech review of the Galaxy S4 this was mentioned. I seem to recall the answer was to keep the brightness on auto. I keep my iPhone on maximum.
2)Just keep the screen brightness down and don't display anything that use a lot of white. Maybe that's why Android doesn't rate high on web usage stats. Too many websites with white backgrounds¡
3) I don't blame them for trying to keep it quite. Apple surely wouldn't want this to be known. The real question are: How widespread is it? And, how strong is Samsung's mind share that this will become a major issue even if it's affecting only a small number of users. Apple might have less than dominate handset market share for the world but they have a dominate marketshare for modern high-end phones and mindshare that even Google Now is installed on more iPhones than on Android phones. In the coming days this issue may be a way of seeing just how strong the Samsung and Galaxy brands really are.
When Anandtech benchmarked the Nexus 4 it couldn't complete without throttling from overheating. So they list the Nexus 4 twice, once in the freezer and once at room temperature.
When I saw the Anandtech review of the GS4 they also had a"freezer" listing when running Sunspider.
Daniel Eran Dilger becomes more and more verbose and overly theoretical in his attempts to defend the declining might of Apple. Simple arguments don't cut anymore as it is easier to find holes in 'em. In my view, the power of Apple came from its perennial ability to PUSH (the Principle of Unity of Hardware & Software). Apple did it for one and only purpose - to make devices that are easiest to use. This is what made Apple great under Steve Jobs leadership.
Not anymore. Under Tim Cook, Apple still PUSHes... but in a wrong direction. Its devices are not any more the easiest to use: try interacting with or typing on a narrow iPhone screen, rely on unreliable iCloud, or be nearly forced to use Apple Maps.
Paradoxically, as Tim Cook more and more focuses on profits and shareholders instead of making the easiest to use devices, Apple profit growth start to slow down and shareholders eventually lose.
Linux "occupies every form and price range under the sun" but did not ever become as "dominant or as ubiquitous as Windows."
The thing is tho, Linux is useful for specific tasks where you want flexibility you hand craft (servers, dedicated devices) and you don't want to pay for somebody else's integration. Linux hasn't become very popular on PCs because the integration work Microsoft did was more valuable than the ~$15 it charged OEMs.
In smartphones, the integration work Apple does is generating far greater profits. That model is also supporting Mac sales, which are holding up a lot better than Windows PCs and not losing any ground to Linux. In fact, if you want to do Linuxy things, you can buy a Mac and use the command line for your technical needs, then return to a well mannered desktop to run apps and games. Once that became a reality, the Linux PC market essentially disappeared. Nobody want to fiddle with a desktop PC, and certainly not a notebook, running DIY software.
Uhhh, Android is Linux-based. And fairly "ubiquitous." Linux also rules in other areas. Though it's clear that any true desktop Linux will never win a big user share.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fredD
I agree. Very silly article, when iPhone's market share worldwide is threatening to drop to single digits in Q3 and when Apple has dropped to less than 50% of the tablet market share (a market many pundits thought they would dominate forever) and clearly heading rapidly to 20%
Yes, Apple's mobile business is clearly heading the same way as their Mac business did - niche devices with a small market share. By next year we are going to see apps debuting first on Android before iOS, and having better versions there, e.g Facebook Home. The downwards momentum is pretty strong for Apple at the minute.
The only way Apple is like Microsoft is that they both make lots of money, but their share price will remain stagnant for the next 10 years.
Profit share is a more important metric to Apple than market share, where they're whuppin' butt). Samsung (among device makers) makes at least 90% of the Android profits and most are losing money (and market share). Still, you need to maintain a decent market share in the long run. So an open question down the road, but you're exaggerating the issue in the short run.
Also, not exactly a strict comparison if the tab market figures include Kindles/semi-dedicated e-readers.
On the other hand, why one of the world's best-capitalized companies continues to produce six models of current notebook computers and multiple others in various form factors and market niches in a declining market (and even two iPad sizes), I'm still gabberflasted that they continue to act as if they still think one phone fits all.
Just. don't. get. it.
And just read this article which does pose a credible challenge for Apple:
Recent research shows the Android platform already has more download potential for developers and revenue is I think less but also catching up. The revenue element is obviously most important, but that will very likely exceed the iOS platform by next year.
Your source? Apple device owners have always spent more per user on software (PC and iDevice), buy more apps for as many years as matter. Remember, 40% of Windows users are still running XP.
Wanting a larger-screen phone, I've strongly considered Android (and also for more control over/ready access to files I create), but knowing my learning curve for what to do with all my music, e.g., without iTunes and needing unknown multi-party solutions to other things I do (though I'm not a user of Mail, Calendar, iPhoto, Safari and other parts of the "ecosystem," and will use SugarSync for cloud backup, and Office when it's available - with Keynote being my only Mac-only go to software), the lack of a single go-to for device/OS support (and support in general), the fragmentation and often non-existent OS upgrade path, etc. has dampened the impulse.
And many Android users I know, a few geeks aside, being generally less sophisticated, download few (or no) apps, not even free ones. So I'm not expecting a deluge of Android-first "killer apps" anytime soon. And the Android true tablet app market is still not so much fragmented as fragmentary.
I imagine Android rules in both the malware AND anti-malware app segments, however....
Quote:
Originally Posted by DED (in the article)
Even many satisfied Android smartphone buyers also buy an iPod touch or iPad to have access to Apple's iOS platform, rather than seeking out a Galaxy Player or Nexus tablet.
Cheap iphone, improved iWorks for iPad and wider availability of iBook and ibook editor and Apple will be we on their way to extending their reach in every aspect of users working and personal lives. The Apple eco system and the fantastic apps there in is the glue to Apple's future, just as Office was the adhesive for MS.
Improvements in iOS and OSX will enable this to remain fresh and the hardware will need to remain reliable, enabling and sexy.
Give folk the access to this eco system and the rest will look after itself.
I agree iWork for iPad could be better, but as the owner if both an iPad and an android tablet, I can honestly say that nothing on android comes even close to iWork.
"Apple has a roadmap of do's and don'ts to follow"???
Ugh. The danger Apple faces isn't failing to defend the stickiness of their platform. That just doesn't work. Microsoft tries desperately during the 90s to make sure Windows remained sticky, and they identified two threats to that stickiness: the World Wide Web and Java. This was the era of "embrace, extend, extinguish" tactics. Microsoft pushed "Best Viewed in IE4" badges on Web sites, and tried to add Windows-only libraries to Java until Sun won a lawsuit against Microsoft that ground that to a halt.
Defending stickiness is NOT a long-term growth strategy. It's a short-term time-buying strategy. If you have to actively defend it, then market trends are making your platform irrelevant. The forces that make it irrelevant will reward (new) players who adapt, and wipe out those that try to oppose it. The forces that finally felled Windows are: fast ubiquitous 3G/4G Internet, touch screen phones and tablets (iPads, for the most part), and consumer appetite for using technology to access web services such as Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and Instagram and Pandora, more than to run Windows-specific applications. Ironically, one of Microsoft's technologies, XHR, helped make this possible (Microsoft may have originally wanted XHR to be Windows-specific, but they didn't stop anyone else from implementing it, thus seeding Windows' future doom). The shift to using technology to access Web services (from anywhere) with connected, always-on portable devices is what will decimate Windows and PCs in consumer markets. PCs will still be relevant on the content creation side for the foreseeable future.
For Apple, the threats to "iDevice" stickiness will be streaming media. The iPod (and later iPad) owes much of its popularity to the popularity of iTunes sourced content (which have grown from just songs to movies, TV, and books). If Spotify or Netflix (or Google Play or Amazon Instant MP3/Video) start to eat into that, that will be an early warning sign that Apple had better get on the winning side of that trend. Inflection points for new technology can flip perceptions and consumer market share in as little as two Christmases. If Apple is smart, they'll offer the best streaming music and/or video service before anyone else does. If you think about it, on demand streaming music (personal radio) is something that would even make iCloud irrelevant for media storage, because your music is already on a server. Higher wireless data caps and/or even better music compression could be a tipping point for this.
There might be other trends that'll make smartphones passé. Wearable computing is one of them (smart watch or Google Glass). Advanced natural language human interfaces (talking to your device as fluently as talking to another person), are all longer-term bets about the next big thing that'll replace the smartphone/tablet as the trending way to access data and services.
Apple shouldn't follow Microsoft's do's and don'ts, and I don't think they will. It's not in their DNA. Apple has to do two core thing right to stay on top:
1. See where maturing technologies are coming together in the future to form great new products and services
2. Don't be afraid to cannibalize your own markets.
Agree to everything you said.
The best way for them to keep a dominant position is the same as always, keep making good products. All other rules aren't important.
Daniel Eran Dilger becomes more and more verbose and overly theoretical in his attempts to defend the declining might of Apple. Simple arguments don't cut anymore as it is easier to find holes in 'em.
In my view, the power of Apple came from its perennial ability to PUSH (the Principle of Unity of Hardware & Software). Apple did it for one and only purpose - to make devices that are easiest to use. This is what made Apple great under Steve Jobs leadership.
Not anymore. Under Tim Cook, Apple still PUSHes... but in a wrong direction. Its devices are not any more the easiest to use: try interacting with or typing on a narrow iPhone screen, rely on unreliable iCloud, or be nearly forced to use Apple Maps.
Paradoxically, as Tim Cook more and more focuses on profits and shareholders instead of making the easiest to use devices, Apple profit growth start to slow down and shareholders eventually lose.
Not this Jobs meme again. Remember MobileMe. The iPhone has pretty much the same width since inception.
Comments
You've bought up the same point many times before, and your point has been refuted convincingly each time.
Wow, you don't give up, do you!?
Quote:
Originally Posted by hydr
Well-written article ... ...
I for one can not be any more excited about what the future will bring in terms of Apple problem-solving products. It will be amazing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dasanman69
What are these 'problems' you speak of?
Problems like: How can we have, instantly available to us from the Cloud anywhere we happen to be, Penelope Garcia from the BAU, Abby Sciuto from NCIS and Finch from "Person of Interest", to solve in real-time any logistical questions and decision-making issues when they crop up as obstacles to be negotiated successfully, right now...???
I'll agree that there are similarities between Google and MS, but there are also differences. MS had a huge preexisting user base that they exploited that they basically forced to use IE. When the "oh snap we need to followAApple's lead not BB's" version of Android came out BB was king with the iPhone quickly gaining. Google decided to allow their OS to be used by anyone to gain some market share but I don't think anyone would think BB would take the nosedive that it did. It's funny because how many times have I read on here how important making the software and hardware is but how did that work out for BB and Palm? They most certainly had the know-how and resources. Why did they fail? And yes BB is well on it's way to failure. If they couldn't slow down Apple's growth who could? So now tell me ol' Seeker of Truth if what Google has done is so wrong where are the antitrust/anticompetitive suits?
I agree with stelligent that it wasn't spontaneous but I disagree with the implication that Google bought Android OS when they in fact bought software intended to run on other mobile OSes. Who knows when Google decided to convert Android into an OS. This may be the contention that Steve Jobs had with Eric Schmidt, and perhaps Google wouldn't have considered such an undertaking at all if they had thought there would be no opportunity for them to come in under the potential iPhone game changer. Or perhaps that was their plan all along. We may never really know, but we do know that at some time after they decided to make Android a mobile OS they completely shifted gears on the type of mobile OS they would make.
Why don't you tell us what the global share is if you take out China (since Apple is not on China Mobile), India (where Apple is just getting started), and all the low-end crap that passes off for 'smartphone'. Have you taken a look at Samsungs's laughably pathetic ASP?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheShepherd
DED is an idiot
That's right!! Do us all a favor and protest your distaste of DED by canceling your account and never returning to AI. That's will make DED think twice before posting such nonsense!! Go ahead. We're right behind you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sflocal
That's right!! Do us all a favor and protest your distaste of DED by canceling your account and never returning to AI. That's will make DED think twice before posting such nonsense!! Go ahead. We're right behind you.
I love DED's editorials because they flush out and expose the Apple hating trolls lurking here. His editorials are no more right or wrong than the editorials from professional Apple haters like Rob Enderle, Henry Blodget, Dan Lyons, etc. But since they are always pro Apple the trolls and haters come running out of the woodwork like cockroaches just sprayed with RAID. Kinda nice to see AI fumigated now and then.
Say what?
So it wasn't the dedicated Facebook button on my HTC ChaCha, an Android powerhouse of yesteryear.
I wonder if he can keep them up once a week. He might have to move into making more predictions about the future or talking about how Apple's competitors are doing it the right or wrong way to keep the momentum going. I hope he has a path laid out because I do enjoy them during the tech news lull the weekend brings.
Because free is cheaper than developing your own. Apple developed iOS because the mobile OSes sucked at the time. I don't know if using palm is such a good example since they don't exist anymore.
Outselling iOS or the iPhone?
Yes, it's called the warehouses of the vendors.
I don't know about the 4S but the 4 and 5 are the top two phone models in dec12 qtr.
Meanwhile, Samsung Galaxy S4 are suffering from overheating...
http://www.thenewstribe.com/2013/05/05/samsung-galaxy-s4-overheating-rumors-spreading-on-social-media/
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/464683/20130506/samsung-galaxy-s4-heats-up-quickly-iphone.htm#.UYcp9ZXd78s
http://www.redmondpie.com/samsung-galaxy-s4-overheating-yes-say-some-owners-video/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+RedmondPie+(Redmond+Pie)
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Is-your-Samsung-Galaxy-S4-overheating_id42616?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Interesting how they are trying to keep it quiet.
1) In the first part of the AnandTech review of the Galaxy S4 this was mentioned. I seem to recall the answer was to keep the brightness on auto. I keep my iPhone on maximum.
2)Just keep the screen brightness down and don't display anything that use a lot of white. Maybe that's why Android doesn't rate high on web usage stats. Too many websites with white backgrounds¡
3) I don't blame them for trying to keep it quite. Apple surely wouldn't want this to be known. The real question are: How widespread is it? And, how strong is Samsung's mind share that this will become a major issue even if it's affecting only a small number of users. Apple might have less than dominate handset market share for the world but they have a dominate marketshare for modern high-end phones and mindshare that even Google Now is installed on more iPhones than on Android phones. In the coming days this issue may be a way of seeing just how strong the Samsung and Galaxy brands really are.
When I saw the Anandtech review of the GS4 they also had a"freezer" listing when running Sunspider.
deleted
In my view, the power of Apple came from its perennial ability to PUSH (the Principle of Unity of Hardware & Software). Apple did it for one and only purpose - to make devices that are easiest to use. This is what made Apple great under Steve Jobs leadership.
Not anymore. Under Tim Cook, Apple still PUSHes... but in a wrong direction. Its devices are not any more the easiest to use: try interacting with or typing on a narrow iPhone screen, rely on unreliable iCloud, or be nearly forced to use Apple Maps.
Paradoxically, as Tim Cook more and more focuses on profits and shareholders instead of making the easiest to use devices, Apple profit growth start to slow down and shareholders eventually lose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Corrections
Linux "occupies every form and price range under the sun" but did not ever become as "dominant or as ubiquitous as Windows."
The thing is tho, Linux is useful for specific tasks where you want flexibility you hand craft (servers, dedicated devices) and you don't want to pay for somebody else's integration. Linux hasn't become very popular on PCs because the integration work Microsoft did was more valuable than the ~$15 it charged OEMs.
In smartphones, the integration work Apple does is generating far greater profits. That model is also supporting Mac sales, which are holding up a lot better than Windows PCs and not losing any ground to Linux. In fact, if you want to do Linuxy things, you can buy a Mac and use the command line for your technical needs, then return to a well mannered desktop to run apps and games. Once that became a reality, the Linux PC market essentially disappeared. Nobody want to fiddle with a desktop PC, and certainly not a notebook, running DIY software.
Uhhh, Android is Linux-based. And fairly "ubiquitous." Linux also rules in other areas. Though it's clear that any true desktop Linux will never win a big user share.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fredD
I agree. Very silly article, when iPhone's market share worldwide is threatening to drop to single digits in Q3 and when Apple has dropped to less than 50% of the tablet market share (a market many pundits thought they would dominate forever) and clearly heading rapidly to 20%
Yes, Apple's mobile business is clearly heading the same way as their Mac business did - niche devices with a small market share. By next year we are going to see apps debuting first on Android before iOS, and having better versions there, e.g Facebook Home. The downwards momentum is pretty strong for Apple at the minute.
The only way Apple is like Microsoft is that they both make lots of money, but their share price will remain stagnant for the next 10 years.
Profit share is a more important metric to Apple than market share, where they're whuppin' butt). Samsung (among device makers) makes at least 90% of the Android profits and most are losing money (and market share). Still, you need to maintain a decent market share in the long run. So an open question down the road, but you're exaggerating the issue in the short run.
Also, not exactly a strict comparison if the tab market figures include Kindles/semi-dedicated e-readers.
On the other hand, why one of the world's best-capitalized companies continues to produce six models of current notebook computers and multiple others in various form factors and market niches in a declining market (and even two iPad sizes), I'm still gabberflasted that they continue to act as if they still think one phone fits all.
Just. don't. get. it.
And just read this article which does pose a credible challenge for Apple:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/technology/apples-rivals-see-an-edge-in-using-wireless-accessories.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130506
Quote:
Originally Posted by fredD
Recent research shows the Android platform already has more download potential for developers and revenue is I think less but also catching up. The revenue element is obviously most important, but that will very likely exceed the iOS platform by next year.
Your source? Apple device owners have always spent more per user on software (PC and iDevice), buy more apps for as many years as matter. Remember, 40% of Windows users are still running XP.
Wanting a larger-screen phone, I've strongly considered Android (and also for more control over/ready access to files I create), but knowing my learning curve for what to do with all my music, e.g., without iTunes and needing unknown multi-party solutions to other things I do (though I'm not a user of Mail, Calendar, iPhoto, Safari and other parts of the "ecosystem," and will use SugarSync for cloud backup, and Office when it's available - with Keynote being my only Mac-only go to software), the lack of a single go-to for device/OS support (and support in general), the fragmentation and often non-existent OS upgrade path, etc. has dampened the impulse.
And many Android users I know, a few geeks aside, being generally less sophisticated, download few (or no) apps, not even free ones. So I'm not expecting a deluge of Android-first "killer apps" anytime soon. And the Android true tablet app market is still not so much fragmented as fragmentary.
I imagine Android rules in both the malware AND anti-malware app segments, however....
Quote:
Originally Posted by DED (in the article)
Even many satisfied Android smartphone buyers also buy an iPod touch or iPad to have access to Apple's iOS platform, rather than seeking out a Galaxy Player or Nexus tablet.
Yup.
The big question is.. if Apple is the new mainstream - who is the new punk?
I agree iWork for iPad could be better, but as the owner if both an iPad and an android tablet, I can honestly say that nothing on android comes even close to iWork.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
"Fated to go the way of Windows"???
"Apple has a roadmap of do's and don'ts to follow"???
Ugh. The danger Apple faces isn't failing to defend the stickiness of their platform. That just doesn't work. Microsoft tries desperately during the 90s to make sure Windows remained sticky, and they identified two threats to that stickiness: the World Wide Web and Java. This was the era of "embrace, extend, extinguish" tactics. Microsoft pushed "Best Viewed in IE4" badges on Web sites, and tried to add Windows-only libraries to Java until Sun won a lawsuit against Microsoft that ground that to a halt.
Defending stickiness is NOT a long-term growth strategy. It's a short-term time-buying strategy. If you have to actively defend it, then market trends are making your platform irrelevant. The forces that make it irrelevant will reward (new) players who adapt, and wipe out those that try to oppose it. The forces that finally felled Windows are: fast ubiquitous 3G/4G Internet, touch screen phones and tablets (iPads, for the most part), and consumer appetite for using technology to access web services such as Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and Instagram and Pandora, more than to run Windows-specific applications. Ironically, one of Microsoft's technologies, XHR, helped make this possible (Microsoft may have originally wanted XHR to be Windows-specific, but they didn't stop anyone else from implementing it, thus seeding Windows' future doom). The shift to using technology to access Web services (from anywhere) with connected, always-on portable devices is what will decimate Windows and PCs in consumer markets. PCs will still be relevant on the content creation side for the foreseeable future.
For Apple, the threats to "iDevice" stickiness will be streaming media. The iPod (and later iPad) owes much of its popularity to the popularity of iTunes sourced content (which have grown from just songs to movies, TV, and books). If Spotify or Netflix (or Google Play or Amazon Instant MP3/Video) start to eat into that, that will be an early warning sign that Apple had better get on the winning side of that trend. Inflection points for new technology can flip perceptions and consumer market share in as little as two Christmases. If Apple is smart, they'll offer the best streaming music and/or video service before anyone else does. If you think about it, on demand streaming music (personal radio) is something that would even make iCloud irrelevant for media storage, because your music is already on a server. Higher wireless data caps and/or even better music compression could be a tipping point for this.
There might be other trends that'll make smartphones passé. Wearable computing is one of them (smart watch or Google Glass). Advanced natural language human interfaces (talking to your device as fluently as talking to another person), are all longer-term bets about the next big thing that'll replace the smartphone/tablet as the trending way to access data and services.
Apple shouldn't follow Microsoft's do's and don'ts, and I don't think they will. It's not in their DNA. Apple has to do two core thing right to stay on top:
1. See where maturing technologies are coming together in the future to form great new products and services
2. Don't be afraid to cannibalize your own markets.
Agree to everything you said.
The best way for them to keep a dominant position is the same as always, keep making good products. All other rules aren't important.
Market share isn't important either.
Not this Jobs meme again. Remember MobileMe. The iPhone has pretty much the same width since inception.