Steve Jobs sounds off on Android, BlackBerry, and 7-inch tablets | Tech Sanity Check | TechRepublic.com via kwout
Jobs does make some very valid points in his comments on the Blackberry, Android and 7 inch tablets.
In addition to pointing out that Apple has surpassed RIM in selling smart phones Jobs also points out that RIM has not gone beyond sustaining innovation and to have any hope of catching Apple they must:
…move beyond their area of strength and comfort
RIM is the next text book example of the effects of disruptive innovation–I have been saying this for the past two years.
Perhaps the best part of the whole article was Jobs’ assessment of Android’s problems being an issue of fragmentation. He points out that the “Open” platform of Android is actually it biggest problem and as a result many Android apps only run on selected Android versions and on specific devices. In contrast Apple offers an integrated platform in which everything just works and the user doesn’t have to become a system integrator. While there is a fair amount of truth in the fragmentation argument and we have over a decade of evidence from the Linux world to attest to the hindrance of fragmentation we haven’t see a company as focused as Google involved in the development of and OS so there may be hope that Android will beat the odds and unite all parties.
Putting his biases aside Jobs makes some very relevant points and as the current leader of disruptive innovation he has earned the right to make the claims that he does and we should at least consider his arguments.
Good point – but it isn’t only Apple that runs into the version issue. I have experienced these issues in all versions of Windows and as much as I like Linux one of my major grips are all the patching and upgrading problems.
I don’t want to come off as an Apple evangelist or fanboy but moving from different versions on the iPhone OS has been relatively trouble free compared to other platforms–at least is has been for me so far. It is the Mac OS that has caused more problems and this is where I agree with you completely.
I will also add that Apple designs in obsolescence and some things simply stop working all together when you move from version to version.
As an owner of an older iPhone, I have to add a clause to Steve Jobs “it just works” theory – it works for the first year you own it, until a newer version comes out, and then you have to become a “version” integrator (“does this work on my version or not?” “do I have all of the features on my older version to use this app or not?”).