See what I did there?() Marketing is the (re-)writing of headlines or at least that's the way Apple approaches it. Everything is always better, bigger smaller with revolutionary features. It resembles the old car industry 'new model' hype. Just a few minutes in the ad and you wondered how you even managed to get the children safely to school with last years model.
Apple's CEO came up on stage to boast that the new, newer latest iPad was 70 times as fast as the first model T. It's amazing but I never see Dell's founder taking the stage to tell us the latest pc is a zillion times as fast as the original IBM of the seventies.
Apple is playing the wrong card here. It became a lifestyle company and lesson one is that you never even speak of specs if you want to sell a Rolls Royce. All these silly incremental changes only provide arguments for people already lusting for an iDevice, but won't convince a new customer to hop on the gravvy train known as Apple's walled garden.
*What Apple should do is talk about a different class of iDevices. Not some minor improvements. And the real story of tonight is that they could have done so. With the A7 processor they could have introduced a MacBook Air running on the same processor as their new iPads and iPhones.
If Tim Cook had returned on stage with a 'and one more thing' announcement of a 10" Airbook for a price never seen before the crowd would have gone wild. If he subsequently would have stripped it from it's keyboard and shown it to be the same iPad Air with a keyboard cover Apple would be back on the front pages as a true innovator.
Alas, the reality is that Apple doesn't innovate and lost control over the headlines. We have to settle for a 15% here and a 30% over last year's model there and get used to the sound of yawns. With great market share comes great responsibility and unfortunately bean counters will now run the Apple show. The luxury of being a nobody in a given market is gone.
*The factual version of my headline
-iPad Air from 9.4 to 7.5 mm. Apples says it's 25%.
-ipad Mini 2 from the original 308 grams to 331 grams. Apple is silent
-ipad standard size: same price, iPad mini 2 $399 while the original was $329
I don't understand. If Apple has truly lost their way, why do millions and millions of people keep buying their devices? Wouldn't people simply vote with their wallets and move onto something else?
Seems to me that they have lost their sense of "cool" and have simply become a company that people want to buy from.
Sure +Chris Bennett It''s just a company and it's doing well on it's current customer base.
But it was a company winning extreme market shares in new markets like phones and tablets…
Chris Bennett, why do millions and millions of people buy McDonald's when there is far better food out there? I am not saying that IDevices are comparable to McDonald's, I am saying that what sells and what is good are not always, or even often, related.
OS X iOS integration is happening in 2015. I think it is a given among industry insiders. Sure, Apple should have focused on wearable devices already but that's another story. I do like the Mac Pro…. for the type of work that I do. Also, Apple has bigger plans. That's why they renamed the iPad to iPad Air. iPad Pro is coming next year. That's what my sources are telling me.
Some people find it hard to believe that Apple is just a company because of the aura of Steve. But Jobs or not, Apple was only ever a company. There's no magic, just hard work. And a damned good supply chain.
You forgot to mention the 30% weight loss in the iPad Air which is quite an achievement. And for me, upgrading from an original iPad to the new retina mini will be a big improvement in many ways.
I left out a lot of the incremental advantages over older models +Marc Jeuken but I did say All these silly incremental changes only provide arguments for people already lusting for an iDevice
+Max Huijgen agreed that, even though I'll likely be buying one anyway (I've had a preference for 8-9" tablets for a long time, which is why I bought a Galaxy Tab 8.9 back in the day…), the price points on the iPad Mini are puzzling. I would have expected Apple to keep the price the same for the new better spec model instead of going to $399 apparently, and drop the price of the iPad Mini last gen. much more steeply to say $229 (instead of now $299).
That's what they are doing with the new full-size iPad "Air" vs. the 4th gen. Only explanation I can think of is that Apple is having production issues with the new Mini as was previously reported, and is opting to stick with "scarcity pricing" for now. However I consider this approach dangerous in light of its recent tablet market share losses.
We shall see. Bit of an overstatement I would say on the #innovation angle (though there are definitely kernels of truth in there too), in fact there are plenty of people who think bringing the A7 and 64-bit to the iPad(s) is actually a bigger deal than on the iPhone.
And they just shaved the weight of the iPad Air to 1 pound (by 25%), which is what my Galaxy Tab has weighed with an 8.9" screen but much less screen-resolution/horsepower/battery (1/2 or so!) for a while. So not bad on packing things in tight/light.
As per my prediction, the form factors are all going to the Mini's thin-bezel. Agreed that something novel in the form-factor department would be welcome… soonish… 🙂
Come on +Alex Schleber the Xperia Tablet Z is about the same weight as the iPad Air. Aboutish 480 gram is just the 2013 reality of 10.1 devices (sony) so it's troublesome that Apple couldn't deliver a 9.7 at a substantially lower weight.
How can we even think of buying the ipad mini knowing that there is the Nexus7 out there at half price and more functionality?
P.S. Looks like Nokia is inching towards your dream:
http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/nokia-lumia-2520/4505-3126_7-35829245.html
More reasonable (as tablet) 10.1", with a keyboard cover that looks more solid/usable than the Surface's covers? Not 100% sure how it attaches, but it looks like a stable clam-shell? Which would make 1,000% more sense than the loose/floppy Surface keyboard attachment with kickstand…
Interesting as this is for most practical purposes now MSFT competing with itself (Surface RT). Still a little on the large side for my tastes, here is a run-down of current offerings' dimension specs:
iPad older: 9.5 x 7.3 x 0.34 (always thought this was too large…)
iPad Air: 9.4 x 6.6 x 0.29 inches
GTab 8.9: 9.2 x 6.25 x 0.34
Nexus 10: 10.4 x 7 x 0.35 (a bit ungainly IMO)
Nokia Lumia 2520: 10.5 x 6.7 x 0.35 (better than Surface by far, but still a bit large for tablet use, especially height in Portrait Mode viewing)
Surface RT: 10.8 x 6.7 x 0.37
Will have to hold both the Lumia 2520 and new iPad Air in person to be able to see how I like them as tablets.
Hmm, a reduction from 1.4 to 1 pound sounds more than incremental to me +Max Huijgen. The exact specs may get lost on average consumers that's why Apple decided to add the Air moniker to the new 9.7" iPad (also maybe to make room for a bigger model). I think Apple is forced to talk numbers because the competition was starting to make dubious claims which were parroted by the news media. We're back in the Mac vs. PC era on that front.
P.P.S. Found it extra interesting that Apple will give away their new OS update completely for free now (last round was still what, $29?). Android has changed a lot of things in the world of OSs…
Maybe they have another trick up their sleeve and will surprise us with something truly innovative and game changing. But right now, you're right, their marketing sounds like the old PC marketing of years past.
race to bottom +Alex Schleber and complete reliance on core business.
+Max Huijgen most answers here tell you why Apple settled: average consumers want them to. They just want to buy iStuff for the sake of it and of telling people "oh, mine is 25% cooler than yours"…
+Max Huijgen had never heard of the Xperia Z, but decent job by Sony certainly. The devil is in the details however:
The Z has less screen resolution (1920×1200 on 10.1, vs. 2048×1536 on 9.7 for the iPad) 224ppi vs. 264ppi, and that 20% more does cost some extra battery to run. Yet the iPad has about 9 hours of battery life vs. supposedly 7 for the Xperia 10.1.
It IS very nice and thin, but fluffs things up with the total dimensions a bit, and its weight is actually about 1.5 oz heavier. So Apple has 30% more battery life, on a 20% higher resolution screen, while maintaining a 10% weight advantage.
These things add up…
+Raffaele Terracciano for the record, the only Apple device I own is a 2011-gen Macbook Pro 13" (non-Retina). Both my mobile devices are Android. I don't understand why these things cannot be discussed dispassionately…
Speaking of which, looking at the Apple.com store just now, it dawned on me that Apple has finally dropped BOTH the CD-ROM drive AND the HDD from their laptop offerings COMPLETELY, as my Macbook Pro (non-Retina) 13" form factor is now gone for good (as well as the 15")… all Retina, all SDD Flash drive, all non-CDR Pros from here.
The baseline model with the new Haswell chip and 9 hours Battery at $1299 is not cheap, but likely best in class. In line with the engineering challenges Max and I are discussing, the question now becomes if the MB Air form-factor can be made to hold enough battery for the Retina screen down the road.
+Max Huijgen upon thinking more about your "complaint"/case against Apple, it strikes me as having some resonance with this Fox vs. Hedgehog "archetype" juxtaposition from Nate Silver via +Venkatesh Rao via +Gregory Rader on Venkat's Tempo Blog:
http://www.tempobook.com/2013/02/19/the-cloistered-hedgehog-and-the-dislocated-fox/
"…in Nate Silver’s book The Signal and the Noise regarding the fox and hedgehog archetypes. As I haven’t yet read Silver’s book I’ll have to reference Venkat’s paraphrasing of Silver:
…while all humans are terrible at predicting the fate of complex systems, foxes (“knows many things”) tend to do better than hedgehogs (“knows one big thing”), and improve over time, while hedgehogs tend to do worse, and get worse over time as they grow more doctrinaire.
Silver’s assertion may be surprising to people who are familiar with studies, like those by management guru Jim Collins, which associate preeminent business leaders with the hedgehog archetype. Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code and Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule are other popular themes that would seem to favor the hedgehog."
—
Apple is definitely more towards the Hedgehog continuum in terms of knowing "one thing" extremely well, i.e. engineering perfectionism/"point shaving". Which in order to stay healthy long term DOES require the occasional "jump to the next curve".
And you Max are right that Tim Cook has not yet proven that he can produce this next jump. We'll see. Ballmer certainly failed at this for MSFT…
Nice car
This to me sounds like a haters comment. I say this because all the argument used just seem incorrect.
e.g.:
one handed use( without the weight being to much after many minutes) for iPad was the biggest request from actual users.
Laptop with ARM: do you like Windows RT ?
question: do you still think android is full open source and stuff ?
I think you left out the obsolescence where slightly older models are excluded from the latest OS and hence the latest versions of common apps. Like Google Maps and Plus. Not only is the new shiny thing only an incremental improvement, but your old shiny thing has reached the end of its life and is now worthless.
Now where's my 1TB iPod Classic?
… and everyone puts a case on their iPad, negating the incremental size changes. #context
Just wait until they'll release the iPad mini Air with Retina Display and Touch ID…
It's no wizardry +Gary White Just talking with all your suppliers and using all their tech developments an your assembly.
I love you apple
+Max Huijgen How on earth can Apple introduce a Macbook that uses the A7 processor? Such a device would not be able to run Windows.
There is a thin line between pointless rant and welcomed debate +Andy Nicolaides .
I, for one, enjoy hearing from a variety of people who have a variety of views on the subject. I don't agree with them all, I don't respect all the opinions and some certainly deserve less time than others, but shining light on a company's flaws shouldn't be looked down on. Neither should highlighting their skills.
In other words, whilst these may well be rants, I'd disagree that they're pointless. They have us talking. They (hopefully) have us evaluating what we believe to be true.
Job done.
+Gary White Samsung.. Lg…. Sony… There's three who makes more significant updates every year.
The changes aren't big enough to require engineering feats.
+Andy Nicolaides you don't have to read or comment either smart guy.
What's new on the mini to warrant the almost $70 increase?
+Ron Harris we'll see if this is still the case (no pun intended) with the iPad Air; I don't have one on my GTab 8.9, and it grips and has held up well.
+Christopher Li-Reid There's a large profit margin on iOS devices so nothing really "warrants" the price increase. The cost of the A7 processor and the cost of designing and making the high resolution screen probably accounts for the $70 according to Apple's non negotiable profit margin. A huge number of people are willing to pay the money for iOS devices even though it is possible to get more for less elsewhere. Still, the A7 processor does sound interesting at least in terms of potential although I'm not sure that the average user would need that much power.
A processor upgrade doesn't warrant a $70 increase on a $300 unit on any planet.
They should have had retina screen to begin with Lol.
I think Apple is doing fine, without money from the haters. If they just keep their customers, at this point, they will stay ahead in the iPad device space. (See what I did, I named the space of all tablet/portables after the iPad, and you knew exactly what I meant. lol That's the power of their position…defining a platform.) Haters are going to hate. Philippians 4:8 lol
+Bobby Roybal apple are winning in the tablet space now, but are predicted to be eclipsed by android soon. So whilst they may be technically fine now they have every right to be fighting hard to change the trend, which is android eating into their market share.
They certainly could rest on their laurels… In that case they can ask Microsoft and BlackBerry how that worked out for them.
+Craig Russell predicted? Way past that point… Everyone is waiting around for significant apple updates to their products but they've let everyone down on every product they make…there's nothing new. except price.
+Christopher Li-Reid the price increase is to keep the mini from canabalizing the iPad Air sales. They have the exact same specs. Make the mini too cheap even if it stays at around 40% profit margin. It will kill the iPad Air.
+Craig Russell Apple owns the space. They define it. Others have done well to replicate in some way or another, but Apple dictates it's direction. Apple doesn't rest. While many feel they are not as innovative as they could be…this is America. Get out and do it then. Oh wait. They don't/can't. Android is an OS…it has grown into a culture of people who want to tinker and control their devices a specific way. Meanwhile…the rest of us use, and are happy with our iPads/iPhones, and Macs. I have a few of everything in my house, PC, Linux, Mac, iOS…etc. (Even my RasberryPi and OUYA) But much respect goes to Apple. Everyone else needs to remember they are standing on the shoulders of giants. And yes, Apple is the biggest name right now. Blackberry…there BES servers were always Crap. Microsoft lost their way. Google…much respect.
Lmfao at Google +. Google made it's own propaganda site disguised as a wanna be Facebook. I don't think I've seen 1 positive Apple related post here in over a year of browsing.
+Emmanuel Bourmault this is the way the post was intended to be. I accidentally cut out the end. Maybe it makes a bit more sense to you now.
+David C I think in 2 years I didn't see 1 message on my facebook page!
Oh that's normal I don't use it!
But if I'm an idiot (like you) I can say Facebook is empty and a ghost town!
And even more idiot of you replying to a post that you supposedly don't see.
Facebook for my friends/ish and Google+ for my interactive news and reading. I even use Yahoo for my viruses and spam. 😉
+Max Huijgen hiw was this any different than any other tech company introducing their products? Even seen a Samsung or Sony presentation? You're right with the Dell statement but in the PC days no one really talked about the yearly updates, which I think is silly anyway. It's the fans that decided to take it there.
+Bobby Roybal I'm not sure which stats you're using to state that Apple own the space? They may have created the space. But have a look at recent market share figures.
Unless you're using a different measurement of ownership, in which case do tell.
+Gary White you think its some sort or engineering masterclass, that they have managed put exactly the same innards (bar the battery and screen) from the iPhone 5S into a full sized tablet? Whilst its a huge welcome the iPad is now actually going to be comfortable to hold in one hand, I hardly think it was a miracle they achieved the new weight reduction etc
You're right +Christopher Li-Reid looks like Android has already overtaken iOS in some markets.
+Bobby Roybal a post for your perusal. http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/28/android-tablets-reportedly-overtake-apples-ipad-marketshare-approach-in-revenue-earned – of course this post is heavily biased (in Apple's favour) but shows the key facts: Apple do not own the tablet space. They are being squeezed out of the very sector they created. Same trend with smart phones by the way.
Not a hater; just offering up raw stats. Interpret as you please.
This was a great read. Thanks
#Apple are about to lose a few customers to #Android due to the fact that there are no longer many innovations. When they managed to keep secrets until the product was announced everyone was amazed. Sadly this is no longer true, due to the leaks. I know that I am looking for another tablet at the moment, I know that is not going to be an iPad with the problems that I am having with the home button on this one.
+Bobby Roybal , that is a ridiculous statement. They neither own nor define anything. The fact that you think Android users are all tinkerers…and worse, that you believe they all want to use their device in a certain way, tells me that you are out of touch.
http://bgr.com/2013/08/05/ios-android-tablet-market-share-2/
In one year, Apple and Android have flopped places. And while I still think that raw sales numbers have little to do with the quality of the product, it does put your statement about "the rest of us" into perspective. Android is no longer just a niche community of tech-savvy hobbyists, and iOS is no longer the choice of the majority of tech purchasers.
+Craig Russell I see why I confused you. Apple is a company, Android is an Operating System. Android doesn't own anything…you can't buy stock in Android, and it doesn't sell a product…so it can't own a market. Apple makes a product you can buy. They sell it. They make money, and keep it. They can own a user. Android is like an ideology. Apple is the government you work for, that maintains your right to have those ideas. I don't need statistics on how many different mobile devices from different mobile companies share the space with Apple. I know Apple is the big fish in the pond. Hence the concept I was trying to convey…of owning the space. Sorry for not being clearer in my earlier post. 🙂
+Bobby Roybal , if iOS doesn't have a majority of the market share, they aren't the big fish.
I wonder if there is a bias of Google+ users, and Android users. Hmm…any correlations.
Probably. That doesn't change the numbers.
+Tejas Richard You need to rethink who Android is, and who Apple is. One is a company…one is software. Go buy some stock in Android, and while you do that…I have a bridge in San Francisco I'd like to sell you.
And you need to rethink what it means to own a market place. Google has proven that you don't have to make the physical products to do so.
You are confusing innovation with wanting to be wowed. The fact is that Apple has set the bar so high, we expect too much. We want the "One more thing…" moment EVERY time. It isn't possible.
The Apple media event yesterday was lackluster. The products they showed us were not revolutionary, groundbreaking or game changing. They were, however, great. Well, the Mac Pro is a game changer for the high end market, but let's face it, we want consumer product sexiness.
There is no need for a 10" MacBook Air. the 11" screen is already too small. You want a game changer, we need a 15" MacBook Air at a great price.
Mavericks is a solid looking OS that is designed for today's user. There is a lot to be said for that. As for the hardware for iPad and MacBook Pro, good stuff. Nothing to make anyone swoon, but still good stuff.
Apple has gotten to a place where it can only be truly judged against itself. Everyone else is just living in Apple's world. This used to be true for Microsoft and could eventually be true for Google.
Before you can have desert, you need to eat your vegetables. That is what we got yesterday and in this case, they were still some pretty damn good vegetables.
Google doesn't own the mobile marketplace! lol They own advertising revenue. There is room for each company to make money. The difference is how one dictates the technology and hardware, and the other attempts to monetize my interests and activities.
How saturated is the mobile space with android?
Ask yourself who makes all the profits off tablets and phones. If your answer is android, you should get a clue.
U suck.
whoever made this post is a loser.
Max is far from a loser, Ben Palmer.
+Dragos Neacsu , that is a silly thing to say when you don't know anything about me. 🙂
Google knows it doesn't need a penny to make money from mobiles using Android. They embed all their we services into it…and sell all the information to big companies. Apple may gather some info…but their goal is to sell you stuff. IPads music downloads, tvshows…etc.
The point is, Apple created and controls the actual Device space, where Google has taken over the user experience. On my iPad…I still search Google, and gmail, and google+ But I will buy the next iPad to do it with. I'm just saying…I'm hardly alone.
I have an android pad and an iPad. When I want to tinker with tech I grab the android device. When I want to be served by the product to do work (write, edit photos, surf the web, post something like this) I grab the iPad. Just sayin…
Dragos: OK, man. If that is what you would like to believe. I mean, thats the only thing that makes sense, right? It certainly couldn't be that I simply think what OS people are using is of far more importance than what device they are using it on, right? Right.
iPad mini heavier than the one I have now? I guess those retina screens are heavy! LOL… Glad I bought the 64 GB one a couple months ago before they hiked up the price.
You aren't alone, +Bobby Roybal , it's just that 2/3's of all the users will be making a different choice…so, while you aren't alone, you are far from in the majority, either.
Good thread, +Max Huijgen ! See you around the plus, man! 🙂
+Bobby Roybal I realise that Android as a product doesn't belong to any one company (it doesn't belong to any company) and that as such the combined sales of all Android devices doesn't amount to profit for one manufacturer. I mean, of course it doesn't. No one is claiming it does.
My argument was against your statement about Apple owning the tablet area. They don't. Apple own 100% of the iPad tablet market share. They own less than half of the global tablet market share. And this number is decreasing based on current trends.
Apple may well sell more tablets than any one other tablet manufacturer, but this doesn't constitute anywhere near ownership of the space in my humble opinion. Right now, the space is up for grabs certainly, with Android owning the space. That may well mean collectively Samsung, Amazon, Sony, Asus et al, own the space. But really, the development and progression of Android is what is defining the tablet space now, whereas it used to be iOS which defined it.
Again, all in my humble and often wrong opinion.
I think Apple lost their way that's right coz the iOS7 is really bad in compared with the iOS6 there are some basics that Apple should conceder the iOS7 device freeze and that's some thing never happened with iOS6 but even with all that Apple still the better .
+Fernando Maldonado You ask 'how was this different from any other tech introduction' and my answer is: the continuous boasting of metrics.
It's relatively new for Apple, but it's also unusual in competitor introductions. The almost overload of stats and metrics made me conclude that Apple now resembles an old-style car-maker. And there is a reason most car brands stopped doing that…
+Max Huijgen that's an matter of opinion and for most people that doesn't matter. No one is going to stop caring or buying Apple because they release specs. It's kind of silly to even vent about it. And again every single tech company that introduces a new product does that. Remember the S4 presentation? A lot of useless specs were given only to arm their fanboys for their crusades. Apple is far from the only company that does it.
+Craig Russell Google owns the Android os and they made something like 8 billion from it last year. (I believe it was 8 billion and not million since that seems small. Can't remember eh number 100%.)
+Max Huijgen then why – if it's so simple – can't the other OEMs ever just outright match the build quality? (and especially hadn't circa 2007 – 2011…)
Did you ever use a recent Sony +Alex Schleber You wouldn't ask the question if you did.
I remember the S4 introduction very well +Fernando Maldonado and the one thing which stood out that it was not technical. People were critical of the musical approach to features, but it was certainly not a parade of specs and percentages.
+Ron Harris: "and everyone puts a case on their iPad, negating the incremental size changes."
— Wrong reasoning, everyone had put the old iPad inside a case too.
That's like discussing the point in lightweight racing bicycles when the weight gain may not be greater than carrying a banana and a muesli bar.
We must have watched two different presentations then. I recall a lot of specs being put out there. Snapdragon that capable of this. Quad core this capable of that. Screen size this bigger than last year by this percent while keeping the phones footprint basically the same. +Max Huijgen you must have forgotten the presentation. Lets not even mention Samsung's Next Big Thing slogan.
The criticism at that time was that there not enough tech specs +Fernando Maldonado There are youtubes of the event. Check them.
See also the discussion here where people actually complain Samsung almost ignored the hardware and the specs https://plus.google.com/+Scobleizer/posts/QjrooRqPCLC
To summarise: thinner, lighter, faster is just incremental technology, not innovation.
+Max Huijgen some people just don't understand your point and they are so caught up in Apple's marketing strategy. They believe everything they are told, therefore, its very hard for them to "see the woods for the tree's" so to speak. I wouldn't bother wasting your time if I were you. If they can't understand that saying something like "its 25% thinner" is more misleading than simply saying "its 2mm thinner" then they deserve to be overcharged. I own an iPad 3 for the record amongst a plethora of other mobile devices, and I can categorically say, that Apple overhype and overcharge for all their products…
+Max Huijgen http://m.intomobile.com/2013/03/15/samsung-galaxy-s4-gimmicks-galore-presentation-product/
Notice he talks about Samsung announcer talking about specs but that the show took away from it. Even the official YouTube videos from Samsung has the announcer from the show speaking about specs and I remember it as well. +Gary Downes I'm not debating Apples fact but pointing out that ALL companies do marketing in this way. It's not exclusive to Apple and anyone claiming it is is blinded more than I am. 25% thinner is a fact even if it turns it to be 2mm thinner. Which one sounds more marketable. Which one sounds easier for the consumer to understand. 25% thinner sounds more appealing than 2mm thinner. It's called marketing and EVERYONE does it. Wonder how many times +Max Huijgen pointed it out when it was done by someone else. (Fact is on one is talking about it because they were facts. No one cares who touts what.) Maybe I should sink to your level and and say it's Google fanboys that spread these idiotic posts. How about we critique something substantial like how the iPad 2 is waaaay overpriced and THAT is an Apple misstep.
+Fernando Maldonado Google do not own Android. The minute a company open sources a product, they relinquish ownership.
For a very modern and concrete example, take the Amazon Kindles which run a forked version of Android. Google has no control over that. Google makes no money from it and Google's app store doesn't even come installed on it. In that instance, Amazon own that version of Android.
Google maintain one version of Android, which is a very popular version of course. However, they do not own Android as a whole, not any more.
+Max Huijgen I pointed out further up that I had never heard of the Xperia Z 10.1, but I also took the time to study the specs in detail, and the Sony will be about 50% behind the iPad Air in terms of the total package as outlined above (did you see that detailed comment?).
I'm sure it feels good in hand, and if anyone has (used to have) a reputation for premium quality AND pricing it is Sony… so what gives? The price for the (now behind again) Xperia is $499 as well…
More importantly, the gist of my point was about HOW LONG it took the PC OEMs to catch up with Apple build quality on all fronts: Laptops and desktops especially, where they arguably have STILL not caught up (and no, this is not a discussion on price).
I agree with you that if anything, the greater perceived threat from the iPhone and iPad kicked them into much higher gear than previously, especially for the iPad/tablets, where they did not want to repeat the 3 year lag of the smartphone category…
+Craig Russell are you seriously saying Android doesn't belong to Google even though they bought it? Read this article and let the oems know that.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/3/
I'm not saying Google doesn't have a firm grip over Android, +Fernando Maldonado . It does. They are very clever with their strategy. And whilst their version remains the most popular version, they can force OEMs into adopting the Google Play Services package, as well as all the others.
But whilst the Android source is freely available, there is always the possibility of a company doing something useful with it. Yes they have to go it alone and build the whole ecosystem to make it worth their while, but that is what every single manufacturer wants right now. They want to be one with the ecosystem which tempts customers off of Google and into their world.
Amazon are making a good go of it. They won't be the last company to fork Android.
I honestly don't think we'll see another company become more popular than the main Android version anytime soon, but it is short sighted to rule it out altogether.
+Craig Russell I'm thinking that companies might just create new os like Samsung is doing. I'm sure Samsung doesn't want to upset Google and be kicked out their circle. No forked Android and they can make a new one without getting kicked. No other company has an eshop like Amazon, Google, Sony, or Apple.
I used to think I wanted a Samsung until we bought a few test devices in at work, +Fernando Maldonado . i can't believe how bastardised the software is that comes with Samsung phones. I don't think they'll do it it soon, but with the sheer amount of supposedly value added services Samsung add, it certainly looks to me like they're paving the way to cut loose from Google.
The biggest risk to Google is if Samsung successfully produce a fork and keep bringing in the numbers of users they currently get.
All that said, I've stopped recommending Samsung devices to friends and family as they are so bloated. The first thing you'd have to do is flash stock Android onto it and my non-techy friends looking for a new device don't have this as an option.
+Craig Russell yeah I agree with the Samsung point. They're just throwing stuff on the wall seeing what sticks all in the name of innovation. I prefer the nexus line myself. Moto X looks great as well. I also understand that there's demand for skins as well. That's a pro to the Android os. Many choices.
Well, apple may be stuck more into incremental updates than true innovation (though so is the competition – maturing market?), the iPad Air sure is one heck of an update to my aging iPad 1, the original from almost 4 years ago. It weighs next to nothing, looks tiny despite the screen size being the same and it's blistering fast. Yes i bought it. And it runs all the applications I have gotten used to over the years.
Truth is, once you bought into one of the systems, the invested interest in purchased software makes it harder to switch. Which kinda makes the hardware toys of the competition irrelevant. Not really applicable to me since I own both systems, but still. And because I actually actively use both systems on a daily basis, I can honestly say I like both. But iOS still more polished and mature in my opinion.
+Max Huijgen this may represent some proof for you that 2011 was the high water-mark… NYC Apple Stores' iPad launch "historical" line count data… 🙂
businessinsider.com/the-ipad-air-is-more-popular-than-analysts-thought-2013-11