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Steve Jobs Lashes Out At Android
Ponca City writes "Steve Jobs doesn't usually make a guest appearance on Apple's post-earnings conference calls with analysts, but this time he made an exception, attacking Google for marketing its operating system as 'open' versus Apple's 'closed' iOS. 'Google loves to characterize Android as "open" and iOS and iPhone as "closed." We find this a bit disingenuous, and clouding the real difference between our two approaches,' said Jobs. 'Android is very fragmented. Many Android [manufacturers], including the two largest, HTC and Motorola, install proprietary user interfaces to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The user's left to figure it out. Compare this to iPhone, where every handset works the same.' Jobs stated that the real debate is between 'fragmented versus integrated' and which is better for the consumer. 'When selling to users who want their devices to just work, we believe integrated will trump fragmented every time. And we also think our developers can be more innovative if they can target a singular platform rather than a hundred variants.' Jobs also criticized the Android Marketplace, pointing out that there are at least three other app stores being launched by vendors, causing confusion for users and work for developers. 'This is gonna be a mess for both users and developers,' Jobs said. 'Contrast this with Apple's integrated App Store, which offers users the easiest-to-use, largest app store in the world, preloaded on every iPhone.'"
Three cheers for conformity! "I Want To Be A Clone" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksP2jYr7mS8
Calm down Apple fans - I own a Mac too
(all the way back to the Quadra days).
It's chust a choke!
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
The problem with this as it relates to the market is that a vanishingly small percentage of the population would even know what cd means, much less make. These markets serve people that want to get stuff done (email, phone, text, post to websites/blogs/etc...) and are not remotely interested in using the device to geek out on it. They use the devices that allow them to do what they want while staying out of the way. My principle complaint of the Android devices when I had one was that a simple OS update meant reinstalling all of my apps! Why in the world would someone allow that to be shipped? I swore off Android at that point, but may look at it again some time in the future.
For now, iOS lets me do what I need to do without getting in the way or making me find the right libraries or compile anything. When I spend time compiling software for the iOS, I want it to do something new and perhaps make some money while doing it.
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Wow. For the vast majority of people who are affected by the difference in these platforms, this means exactly squat.
Glad you're impressed. Now you see why Steve Jobs is CEO of the second-largest company in the US, and Andy Rubin is a geek at Google.
I certainly don't hold material gain above all else, but Rubin's reply shows exactly the kind of hubris that Google is getting a bad reputation for here in the valley; it's a bunch of geeks on a power trip in many cases, hence the arcane and off-topic interview question highlighted in today's Mercury News. Google makes engineers feel special, Apple engineers look at the numbers and balance sheets and say: "Our products rock". They don't need to be told how special they are simply because they can decipher a piece of code. They can see it in customers' faces.
Consumer walks into a shoe store and sees 136 types of shoes:
"No! No! I'm so confused! I'm left to figure it out. Why doesn't every shoe look the same? I want my shoes to just work, and I believe integrated will trump fragmented every time. I also think shoe designers can be more innovative if they can target a singular shoe type rather than a hundred variants. Just look the Android Shoe Marketplace, where there are at least three other shoe stores being launched by vendors, causing confusion for consumers and more work for shoe designers!"
Let's not even get into Android vs. iPhone sales trends.
There are two channels on iTV (appleTV), the communist party channel and the channel that says turn back to the party channel!
I was and there is always a price to pay for being an early adopter. But then I was also an early adopter of iOS and it has not bitten me yet. It just seems more refined and polished than even the current Android OS, so that is what I am using to get work done.
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You can do the same thing with the Mac OS X kernel. I guess that makes Mac OS X open as well? Rubin's tweet exemplifies what Jobs was saying, that the "openness" of Android is being exaggerated.
Android is nowhere near as open as Linux, but all the Android fanboys like to act like it is. Likewise, they act like iOS is Stalinist Russia with Steve Jobs peeking over everyone's shoulders. Reality is nowhere near perception here, but this is Slashdot, and since the Year of Linux on the Desktop has been postponed indefinitely, and the netbook Linux revolution was stillborn, a vocal group here will instead act like it's the Year of Linux(Android) on the Handheld.
iOS continues to outsell Android, and that's in spite of carriers offering free Android phones, and iPhone only available on one carrier in the US. Android is doing well, and it's certainly nothing to scoff at, but the common perception here on Slashdot is so far out of whack with reality that it really makes me embarrassed to read the comments sometimes.
the gray area of "all you have to do is spend X days, Y hours hacking on it and Z dollars buying cables and spare parts and you can *likely* get it to work, if you've followed the unofficial/hobbyist-written documentation correctly."
Apple's way saves you time and money. You know the limitations immediately, leaving you free to address them using other products/tools that are appropriate to the task. That is actually the Zen of Apple.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
That's great and all, but you do realize you don't own the software you are running on your device(s). The software is licensed, and unfortunately you agreed to this when you installed it, so to cry wolf now after the wolf has been let in and given his own master suite, is a little late don't you think?
On the other hand, you could just install linux and own the whole experience. Granted, you still don't really own any of the software, but at least if you need to change something, or understand how it works, you can now.
All the worlds a stage, and I'm the guy running the lights...
Good luck "making a bit of money" when you're already negative from the get go!
This is one of the single most idiotic arguments that the "free" and "open" software crowd can, and far too often does, make. Even RMS tends to stray away from the cost argument.
If your app is only 99 cents, that means you just have to sell about 150 copies per year to make back your developer fee. As for the computer, a Mac mini is $699. If you really want to go cheap, you can even build a hackintosh (Apple won't know the difference, and they won't ask either). But if making back $99/year, and a one time $699 is difficult, you aren't really making much money in the first place. People who work buy tools, and they buy those tools because they help them make more money than they would without them. Telling someone, "hey, don't buy these tools, you can work over here with cheaper tools" is like saying, "don't make $100k/year, minus $798. Instead make $10k/year, minus $299. It's way better!"
And if your app is free (not ad supported, but completely no-strings free), then you're clearly doing this as a sort of hobby and at $99/year, it's quite inexpensive as far as hobbies go.
You're correct that git and make don't mean anything to a customer but it does if you consider that developers have to embrace the platform before the customer has an apps to use!
Short run: make your money on iPhone. Long run: Android wins out. Trust me on this one.
Consumers prefer Apple devices. Being able to compile the kernel does not entice consumers, and it with the hundreds of thousands of apps, it doesn't seem like the inability to git the iOS kernel is keeping them away.
You like Android, you like the freedom it provides. You like the tool-like hackability, even if you never fully take advantage of it yourself. That's fine. In fact, that's great. Even if I never use Android myself, I'm glad it's there for the people who value those features. But just like all the "Year of Linux" cries from years past, it's foolish to extend this into thinking that it's going to take over the world. It's not. People don't give a shit about "open". Not after a certain point. Rightfully so. Open is just one aspect of a product.
They also want to nickel and dime you on the content you consume. Sure, there are some free apps, and some free music, and some free videos.. but you are still in their store getting it.
Speaking of intellectually dishonest... have you never heard of simply encoding your own music and videos and loading them up?
As for applications, well, yeah, some people want to get paid for the applications they write. That's their choice thanks to a lovely concept called "copyright law". If you don't like it, stick to the free alternatives, or move to another country where they don't have such a concept.
I am looking at leaving iOS because the one thing it utterly fails at - is working.
I can't even tell you how many nightmares of synching I have had with iPhones + iTunes. Heck, nearly 2 weeks ago, iTunes removed 1/2 my contacts from my phone. I have still not been able to get them to sync back up.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Steve....how about you STFU and fix your software. Stop wasting time knocking you competitors and make your crap work.
Thank you very much!
Are you the same doofus who complains that they can't mod the firmware of their microwave?
I have an HTC Evo since the day it was released. Since then, I've been through a few minor updates and a major release (Froyo). I have never had to reinstall apps and I've never had to worry about libraries or compiling anything at all. For that matter, I've never known anyone to have to compile anything for Android with the exception of a developer I know.
Great. Nobody ever said otherwise. Reread your P and GP. Maybe you are talking about Andy Rubin? He was actually trying to make a point for Android with the fact that you can compile it. The point of the iPhone supporters in this debate is that you cannot compare Android with iPhone. However you can compare android phones to an iPhone. Then the waters get a little muddier for Android.
So, I don't know what phone or Android version you're running, but it can't be anything recent. I think your issues could be compared with someone bashing Ubuntu because way back when they ran Linux, they had to compile everything from source.
Stop beating the dead horse. He was not talking about his phone but about the quote of Andy Rubin. And I suspect you perfectly got that and are just trolling.
As for Apple, I have two iPod Touch units, one 3rd Gen and one 4th Gen. I've had to reinstall different software apps several times and had some just stop working after a time (don't know if an update caused the problems). Of course, when something stops working on the iPod/Phone, there's really nothing you can do except uninstall and reinstall and see if that fixes your issue. Other than that, well, just uninstall and hope you can get your money back if it's an app you paid for. Those issues were with the 3rd Gen.
I've had an iPhone 1st gen and an iPhone 3GS. Never had to reinstall an app. Ever. Sometimes a reboot after 4-5 month of uptime when things seems to go berserk, but that's all. So see, YMMV.
I can't really speak for the 4th Gen as it only worked for a couple of days before I had to send it back to Apple. Apple service was great, but I shouldn't of had to send the damn thing back in the first place.
Of course. Apple should not ship defective products. Maybe we should tell Steve Jobs about it. It's actually a great way to improve user experience! And of course HTC has never shipped a defective Evo. Ever. If we needed more proof that you're a troll, there it is.
I didn't have to pay any money for the repair, but it did cost me several hours trying to figure out what was wrong + a trip to the UPS store to have it shipped back to Apple.
At least, there's that. Same cannot be said for all Android handsets. Some, for sure. Most maybe. All never. See my first point above.
Oh, and don't even get me started on iTunes...
Point granted.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
But people give shit about being able to make a call on a fucking phone, and not to be told how to hold it. And it shows.
Record-breaking 14+ million iPhones sold this quarter. Yeah, people are really shying away from iPhone.
BTW, stop being such a bitch of apple and grow a pair. Your beloved company is going the same way it did 20 years back when the 'fragmentation' of Windows trumpeted the 'it just works' shit of apple.
Sorry man, I'm just going by the facts. Android is a great system and I'm glad it exists, but Android fanboys make even the most rabid Apple fanboy look like a Rhodes Scholar.