This wont be a popular opinion but Apple is a lousy software developer on any platform other than their own. iTunes on Windows has always been horrifically bloated and buggy, and even on Mac it has questionable design issues. Apple Music launched to a big "meh" on the Android side, though it's rapidly improving. Anyone remember Safari for Windows? Pretty awful stuff.
Apple has a lot of work ahead of them to compete in the cross platform software and services space that Google and Microsoft has a lock on.
iPad revenues will go back up because of the Apple Pencil. As they add it to the iPad Air (and eventually to the mini), people will be forced to buy a new iPad. Beyond that however, what are they going to do? That's just next year, and just a blip.
Apple really doesn't seem to have a clue in how to make the iPad market grow in the long term. Not only that, they seem to be moving in the wrong direction (with the noted exception of the Pencil).
I think you're right about that.
The big problem with the iPads (from Apple's standpoint) is that they have been fantastically well-built and long-lived devices. Much more so than Jobs anticipated.
I am not sure about being better than Jobs anticipated. I am going into my sixth year on my Mac, and I am already on my third iPad. I got the third one because the 30 pin connector got tweaked. Had it not I probably would have waited for 3rd gen Air. Different devices will have different upgrade cycles. The iPad was a new thing and nobody knew for sure how long people would keep them. I am sure Jobs anticipated them lasting past the point where people would choose to upgrade for features rather than failures.
iPad revenues will go back up because of the Apple Pencil. As they add it to the iPad Air (and eventually to the mini), people will be forced to buy a new iPad. Beyond that however, what are they going to do? That's just next year, and just a blip.
Apple really doesn't seem to have a clue in how to make the iPad market grow in the long term. Not only that, they seem to be moving in the wrong direction (with the noted exception of the Pencil).
Also, who really gives a rodent's behind about the super-rich Apple employees work benefits? Most of the employees at Apple (barring the retail ones) are millionaires already. They already have the kind of working conditions one would expect in Canada or Europe and are thus far above the rest of the American population already. Why should I as a customer of Apple care that they now have even more?
Bringing certain services to Android can be of great benefit to Apple. Apple Music on Android makes it easier for Android users to move to iOS, as its one less thing they will have to leave behind in the switch. Apple brough iTunes to PCs and the iPod, and iTunes sales, benefitted greatly from that. When a service represents something universal, like music, I think it doesn't make sense to segment it into our universe versus yours. Apple is judicious in its decisions about such things.
Funny because of this news this is the FIRST time in my life I've considered buying an Android device(I HATE Android). The iPod comparison makes little sense. You didn't need iTunes on Zune for people to switch to iPod. I don't get the logic at all.
Why should I buy an iPhone now if I can get the whole ecosystem on a $50 competitors phone? This is literally the FIRST time I've ever thought of replacing my iPhone with a cheap knockoff. Pretty scary really.
If my cheap $50 iPhoney can run REAL ORIGINAL iPhone software then I'm not missing anything. Hell Apple just made my knockoff device 100x more valuable.
EXACTLY. Why should Apple give me reasons to buy a cheap 'droid? If this comes to fruition I'm switching to android.... and this is the only reason why.
Unfortunately, previous ventures into the Windows front with iTunes, Quicktime, and Safari have fallen fairly flat.
Evidence that it "fell flat?"
(I think your claim is makes no sense. As proved by the massive adoption of iPods -- and now iPhones -- in the Windows world. A few whiners on Windows forums amount to a hill of beans.).
iPad revenues will go back up because of the Apple Pencil. As they add it to the iPad Air (and eventually to the mini), people will be forced to buy a new iPad. Beyond that however, what are they going to do? That's just next year, and just a blip.
Apple really doesn't seem to have a clue in how to make the iPad market grow in the long term. Not only that, they seem to be moving in the wrong direction (with the noted exception of the Pencil).
Also, who really gives a rodent's behind about the super-rich Apple employees work benefits? Most of the employees at Apple (barring the retail ones) are millionaires already. They already have the kind of working conditions one would expect in Canada or Europe and are thus far above the rest of the American population already. Why should I as a customer of Apple care that they now have even more?
iPads won't ever really take off in their current form. Tablets are good as companion devices, but even the iPad Pro isn't a laptop replacement. Some people with basic uses can get by with an iPad Pro, but that's about it.
iPad sales are stagnating because after the original rush people have come to realize that they really don't need an iPad/tablet after all.
I hope that more cross-platform services -- e.g., all of iLife -- will be Apple's next big move. (But not MacOS).
I've been calling for it on these forums for many years now, and usually all I've got is pushback about Apple exclusivity and why it would not be a smart thing to do.
I think it'd be a very smart thing to do, since people will see what they're missing -- how much more organic the experience can be -- on the hardware front. It's the availability of the Apple ecosystem experience on Windows, especially iTunes combined with the iPod, that pushed people in droves to switch to Apple hardware.
This is the same strategy MS is trying with its services & Windows Phone and that's not going so well for them, to the point where Windows Phone is hanging by a thread. I don't agree that being a pure play services company a la MS, Google, Facebook is the right way to go for Apple. That's not in their DNA. They need to emphasize tight integration of hardware + software + services and use services as a way to make their own platforms more desirable and monetize their user base.
The Windows phone (I.e., Nokia phone) never had any traction, so that's a false comparison.
As to services, I can assure you that I use -- as do a bunch of colleagues of mine at work -- Office365, especially Word and Excel, on my (and their) iPad Pro every day, multiple times. It's all very well implemented. (I prefer KN to PowerPoint, though). It's one of the reasons I switched to an iPad Pro right away.
I wondered how long it would take for Apple in the Cook era to offer most of their services on other platforms. And it seems like its going to be sooner rather than later. I don't think Jobs would of liked the idea of all Apple services offered on other competing platforms (especially Android which he hated!)
When you think about it they already offer a lot of free cross-platform services because an Apple ID is all you need to access all iWork applications on iCloud using just a browser.
iWork is of little use in a garden-variety professional work environment, where for better or worse, Office rules. Small businesses have Google Docs (also, I find that Google Docs is buggy on an iOS device), so they don't care as much.
I think that iWork for Windows was too late to the game.
Bringing certain services to Android can be of great benefit to Apple. Apple Music on Android makes it easier for Android users to move to iOS, as its one less thing they will have to leave behind in the switch. Apple brough iTunes to PCs and the iPod, and iTunes sales, benefitted greatly from that. When a service represents something universal, like music, I think it doesn't make sense to segment it into our universe versus yours. Apple is judicious in its decisions about such things.
If my cheap $50 iPhoney can run REAL ORIGINAL iPhone software ....
There is no $50 "cheap iPhoney." You're just making it up. Also, if you can't figure out the lifetime cost and benefit of ownership of a device (including its resale value), I really do not know what to say.
Finally, you may have missed the part in my post about how the ecosystem software is more organic on Apple hardware.
The big problem with the iPads (from Apple's standpoint) is that they have been fantastically well-built and long-lived devices. Much more so than Jobs anticipated.
I am not sure about being better than Jobs anticipated. I am going into my sixth year on my Mac, and I am already on my third iPad. I got the third one because the 30 pin connector got tweaked. Had it not I probably would have waited for 3rd gen Air. Different devices will have different upgrade cycles. The iPad was a new thing and nobody knew for sure how long people would keep them. I am sure Jobs anticipated them lasting past the point where people would choose to upgrade for features rather than failures.
You could have bought a $15 30-pin to 8-pin adaptor instead of a new iPad, if that was your real reason...
People don't want browser based web apps. That was a dumb idea.
The iPads, iPhones and macs in my house get used every day multiple times. Different uses for different devices. Our iPad3 is still going strong and probably gets more use than my iPad Air.
I think people are making more out of Cook's Music comments than they deserve. Of course Music on Android is just a test of Apple services on another platform. But unless iPhone growth really is stalling I don't see anything else coming to Android anytime soon. Apple's strength is controlling the whole widget.
Bringing certain services to Android can be of great benefit to Apple. Apple Music on Android makes it easier for Android users to move to iOS, as its one less thing they will have to leave behind in the switch. Apple brough iTunes to PCs and the iPod, and iTunes sales, benefitted greatly from that. When a service represents something universal, like music, I think it doesn't make sense to segment it into our universe versus yours. Apple is judicious in its decisions about such things.
Apple Watch for Android makes sense, IMO. That'd really open up the market, and it would follow the path of the iPod.
You really think there's that many Android users who would want an Watch. I'm skeptical.
I was in the Apple Store yesterday and tried out the iPad Pro with Pencil. I did not find either very compelling, at least not for my use case scenario.
Not gainsaying you, just using this opportunity to say:
I have been waiting for the Pro ever since rumors started over two years ago. It took a while, but I finally got one last week. For my niche use, it is fantastic, and has completely met my expectations. I snagged a Pencil this week, and it is a real pleasure to use so far as well.
For those suggesting that opening up the Air 3 to Pencil compatibility will help iPad sales - how are all those buyers going to get a Pencil, especially as an impulse buy? Right now, they are as rare as the Nintendo Wii was, the first holiday season it was released. (The Apple retail employee that rang me up congratulated me, for crying out loud.)
Oh and I think Apple needs to get A LOT better at services before they start bringing things to Android. And how about giving iMessage a little more love?
If my cheap $50 iPhoney can run REAL ORIGINAL iPhone software ....
There is no $50 "cheap iPhoney." You're just making it up. Also, if you can't figure out the lifetime cost and benefit of ownership of a device (including its resale value), I really do not know what to say.
Finally, you may have missed the part in my post about how the ecosystem software is more organic on Apple hardware.
This wont be a popular opinion but Apple is a lousy software developer on any platform other than their own. iTunes on Windows has always been horrifically bloated and buggy, and even on Mac it has questionable design issues. Apple Music launched to a big "meh" on the Android side, though it's rapidly improving. Anyone remember Safari for Windows? Pretty awful stuff.
Apple has a lot of work ahead of them to compete in the cross platform software and services space that Google and Microsoft has a lock on.
This is another issue I wanted to touch upon. Apple has little control of another companies device. Of course it won't be the best and this can backfire pretty bad. Imagine all the android users who stay away from iPhone because "Apple stuff sucks!"
iPad revenues will go back up because of the Apple Pencil. As they add it to the iPad Air (and eventually to the mini), people will be forced to buy a new iPad. Beyond that however, what are they going to do? That's just next year, and just a blip.
Apple really doesn't seem to have a clue in how to make the iPad market grow in the long term. Not only that, they seem to be moving in the wrong direction (with the noted exception of the Pencil).
Also, who really gives a rodent's behind about the super-rich Apple employees work benefits? Most of the employees at Apple (barring the retail ones) are millionaires already. They already have the kind of working conditions one would expect in Canada or Europe and are thus far above the rest of the American population already. Why should I as a customer of Apple care that they now have even more?
Let me disagree with you. Your argument is that the Pencil will be the driving force behind any growth in iPad sales, but to me looks flawed. First the trivial one, I will buy the next Air the right moment I can put my hands on it, I don't have any interest in the Apple Pencil, so hardly an argument here for upgrading, ditto for the smart connector. Second, Tim has been specific about the moment in which the grow will resume, late this year. If it were to happen because of the Apple Pencil why not expect the sales to pick up this spring, or summer? the iPad Air 3 will be launched in April, and the Air is the volume model. So why late in the year? By then the Air 3, the volume model, will be in its third quarter of sales, so its novelty would have fade away and its appeal as a holidays present probably worn out.
But Cook has been specific in the date. That leads me to what I think could be the real reason and a more sustainable one in time. A bigger differentiation between iOS 10 for iPad and iOS 10 for iPhone, In 2015 they introduce split view as an exclusive feature for the iPad, back then only the iPad Air 2 was capable of use it, now all the new models can use it, Mini 4, Air 2 and Pro, so why not expect that they expand the iPad exclusive features? If that happens they will be exclusive of late models, and as usual the new iOS version will be available later this year.
The cross platform stuff is a good idea if it is done right. Unfortunately, previous ventures into the Windows front with iTunes, Quicktime, and Safari have fallen fairly flat. Part of the problem is Apple can't account for what systems will be, so the software tends to run slowly and the legions of Windows users badmouth the software, so it is rarely if ever used. (I use iTunes and Safari on a couple PCs with little to no issues, but that is definitely not the case for most.) A suspect Android with the wide variance in hardware and versions will see a similar issue.
If they can get over that hump -- and I think it is a huge hump -- then Apple would do well to have multi-platform software.
The reason they fell flat is because OS X has AWESOME frameworks not available in Windows or Android for that matter. That's why the services being ported make more sense than the apps.
Safari sucked on Windows and was dog slow not because of the code for Safari but because of the underlying operating system but because it was so slow everyone blamed Apple when in fact it was Microsoft that caused the problem.
The cross platform stuff is a good idea if it is done right. Unfortunately, previous ventures into the Windows front with iTunes, Quicktime, and Safari have fallen fairly flat. Part of the problem is Apple can't account for what systems will be, so the software tends to run slowly and the legions of Windows users badmouth the software, so it is rarely if ever used. (I use iTunes and Safari on a couple PCs with little to no issues, but that is definitely not the case for most.) A suspect Android with the wide variance in hardware and versions will see a similar issue.
If they can get over that hump -- and I think it is a huge hump -- then Apple would do well to have multi-platform software.
The reason they fell flat is because OS X has AWESOME frameworks not available in Windows or Android for that matter. That's why the services being ported make more sense than the apps.
Safari sucked on Windows and was dog slow not because of the code for Safari but because of the underlying operating system but because it was so slow everyone blamed Apple when in fact it was Microsoft that caused the problem.
If this was the case then how come Chrome and Firefox didn't suck on Windows?
Comments
Apple has a lot of work ahead of them to compete in the cross platform software and services space that Google and Microsoft has a lock on.
(I think your claim is makes no sense. As proved by the massive adoption of iPods -- and now iPhones -- in the Windows world. A few whiners on Windows forums amount to a hill of beans.).
iPad sales are stagnating because after the original rush people have come to realize that they really don't need an iPad/tablet after all.
As to services, I can assure you that I use -- as do a bunch of colleagues of mine at work -- Office365, especially Word and Excel, on my (and their) iPad Pro every day, multiple times. It's all very well implemented. (I prefer KN to PowerPoint, though). It's one of the reasons I switched to an iPad Pro right away.
I think that iWork for Windows was too late to the game.
Finally, you may have missed the part in my post about how the ecosystem software is more organic on Apple hardware.
The iPads, iPhones and macs in my house get used every day multiple times. Different uses for different devices. Our iPad3 is still going strong and probably gets more use than my iPad Air.
Not gainsaying you, just using this opportunity to say:
I have been waiting for the Pro ever since rumors started over two years ago. It took a while, but I finally got one last week. For my niche use, it is fantastic, and has completely met my expectations. I snagged a Pencil this week, and it is a real pleasure to use so far as well.
For those suggesting that opening up the Air 3 to Pencil compatibility will help iPad sales - how are all those buyers going to get a Pencil, especially as an impulse buy? Right now, they are as rare as the Nintendo Wii was, the first holiday season it was released. (The Apple retail employee that rang me up congratulated me, for crying out loud.)
http://www.amazon.com/HUAWEI-ASCEND-ANDROID-SMARTPHONE-TOUCHSCREEN/dp/B00IJCRAU4/ref=sr_1_4?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1454630228&sr=1-4&keywords=android
Comes with AppleMusic, iTunes, and more!! /s
Of course everything will be better on iPhone but why even switch when you're getting the same services?
This is another issue I wanted to touch upon. Apple has little control of another companies device. Of course it won't be the best and this can backfire pretty bad. Imagine all the android users who stay away from iPhone because "Apple stuff sucks!"
But Cook has been specific in the date. That leads me to what I think could be the real reason and a more sustainable one in time. A bigger differentiation between iOS 10 for iPad and iOS 10 for iPhone, In 2015 they introduce split view as an exclusive feature for the iPad, back then only the iPad Air 2 was capable of use it, now all the new models can use it, Mini 4, Air 2 and Pro, so why not expect that they expand the iPad exclusive features? If that happens they will be exclusive of late models, and as usual the new iOS version will be available later this year.
Safari sucked on Windows and was dog slow not because of the code for Safari but because of the underlying operating system but because it was so slow everyone blamed Apple when in fact it was Microsoft that caused the problem.
If this was the case then how come Chrome and Firefox didn't suck on Windows?