It seems that many industries are adopting iPads to replace or supplement other tools. I wonder if this would be a good opportunity for RIM to leverage their knowledge of strong encryption and working with Outlook servers to offer some sort of competitive advantage that Apple doesn’t have.
NFL Team Replacing Paper Playbooks With iPads.
August 29, 2011
Apple has recently been making a few announcements during their World Wide Developers conference, many of which center around iOS5, the latest version of their mobile operating system.
On the one hand it is a bit silly to point fingers at tech companies who mimic others. The normalization of features is seen across many industries. For example, look at automobiles. With the exception of a few cosmetic design elements all cars are essentially the exact same thing.
However, on the other hand it does look as if maybe at this point in time Apple is now the trend follow and not the trend setter. Many new iOS features have been found in other devices, some of which for many years. For example, Twitter integration is nothing new to Android. The new iOS messaging system is something that BlackBerry has been doing for many, many years in the form of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). Let that sink in: Apple is copying BlackBerry.
In addition, the new iPhone notifications look nearly identical to the Android. What is maybe even more interesting is that Apple is basically copying the features of third-party applications. This should not come as a surprise, but it does beg the question regarding future patent infringement lawsuits. Something I find somewhat humorous is Steve Job’s excitement about busting the PC down a notch by not requiring the iPhone to be tethered to one. This is shocking news. Or, at least it was a few years back when Android did this.
Apple is also introducing the iCloud service. With Google and Amazon years ahead of them, Apple is a bit late to the game. However, with an entrenched user-base does showing up late matter?
Androidcentral.com has a nice, fun (and perhaps a bit smug) article summarizing many of the iOS5 updates.
The Point: Apple revolutionized the consumer smart-phone market and other developers rushed to the scene to develop their version of the next ‘iPhone Killer.’ Recent Apple iOS5 announcements suggest they are following other developers instead of blazing the trail. Is this just a typical normalization of features demanded by customers, or could this suggest a decline in innovation coming from Apple?
June 6, 2011
Jul 162010
According to the New York Times Google will be releasing an application maker allowing those of us with zero programming skills to create mobile phone apps for their Android smart-phone operating system. Users can start by going to the Google App Inventor website and read their FAQ and prime their phone and computers to get cracking.
I think this is a fantastic move by Google on two fronts.
First, this brings programming to the masses. Computers and other computing devices (e.g. smartphone, tablets, et cetera) are a staple in our everyday life. However the programming structure of these devices are relatively foreign to the vast majority of uses. We hit the power button, click the application, and expect some sort of result. Users who are otherwise intelligent and talented may be barred from creating tremendously useful applications simply because they do not speak the language of programming. By providing the ability for non-programmers to enter this arena I believe Google is leaping forward by bringing programming (maybe app building is a more appropriate term) to a near commodity level.
Secondly I think this is a great marketing move by Google to differentiate their approach to mobile phone apps with the approach taken by Apple. Even though the volume of applications available to iPhone/iPad consumers is quite significant, Apple has developed – regardless of any truth to the rumors – a reputation for being notoriously difficult in approving applications for their devices. By taking the exact opposite approach, Google has developed a different aspect of the market in which they can compete and will likely dominate: Customer user-made applications without micr0-management from Google. Granted I am sure Google and Google fan sites will be flooded with requests of budding amateur programmings lost in the sea of app creation, but I think the direction that Google takes with allowing the option is worth the cost of any user frustration. As it stands now Apple will clearly not play in that same small portion of the marketplace and with the brute force of Google, will likely never enter that arena.
I do not expect that there will be a massive amount of mind-blowing apps that will be developed with the App Inventor system, although I would image there will be a few amazing app outliers. Regardless of the number of apps that are created, I am excited that the option is available and stands in stark contrast to Apple’s classically closed or otherwise tightly controlled development system.
July 16, 2010
May 042010
I am not an Apple fan.
I would not got so far as to say that I hate Apple and I would even be forced to concede that there are many activities Apple performs admiringly well. It is just that I am not a huge fan of a company that tends to favor proprietary hardware and software and has effectively contributed nothing to the greater good of open source programming.
Now we have this soap opera drama of Apple going after a reporter for Gizmodo who paid (allegedly) $5,000 to purchase a next-generation iPhone prototype. Police raided this reporter’s house, taken various documents and computers, and it now appears that the buyer and seller in question may have broken some California laws.
I’m not a huge fan of Apple.
However I support Apple 100% in this matter.
To start with, profiting from the “finding” of lost material is underhanded and unethical. The iPhone seller, Brian Hogan, did not appear to make genuine and full-faith efforts to return a device to it’s proper owner (i.e. Apple). Then this person made the conscious choice to fence the product to tech blogs. Gizmodo took the bait and paid a significant sum of cash to obtain property that was known not to be that of the seller.
With a risk to their intellectual property as well as potential loss of sales, Apple has every incentive, and right, to protect their intellectual property to the fullest extent of the law.
Now the seller is apparently regretful of his actions. I sure bet he is. How exactly did he and Gizmodo expect this to pan out?
How can somebody be surprised that the selling and buying of stolen intellectual property from a major company might come back and bite them in the ass?
Shocking, isn’t it?
Again, I care not much for Apple but I am unquestionably behind them in this matter.
May 4, 2010
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