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Woz Says Android Will Dominate
cloudcreator writes "Woz [said] that Android smartphones, not the iPhone, would become dominant, noting that the Google OS is likely to win the race similarly to the way that Windows ultimately dominated the PC world." Update: 11/19 04:54 GMT by T : Apparently, Woz's words were taken slightly out of context.
Gaming will play a measurable role in this. As things stand now, iOS is trouncing Android, as far as gaming is concerned. Pretty much the only leg up that Android has is the fact that there are multiple emulators available directly from the market, with no need to mod your phone in any way to use (don't even have to click the "non-marketplace applications" option.)
Besides that though, iOS is handily beating Android when it comes to gaming. Some developers are finally starting to wake up, and are either porting things over or making things specifically for it. I maintain that until there are more quality games out there for Android, iOS will continue to have a substantial lead.
Note: I'm not implying that gaming alone is the reason for the divide, but it certainly plays a role.
Living With a Nerd
Android needs to insure that it's not difficult to write a single application that will run on every decently modern ( 2 year old) android phone, or else it would give up what is probably its biggest advantage.
No it doesn't. That would certainly help but it's not necessary. If you read the very short article:
However, he then conceded that, "Android phones have more features," and offer more choice for more people. Eventually, he thinks that Android quality, consistency, and user satisfaction will match iOS.
Emphasis mine. You're mostly right about Windows (I think marketing should be mentioned) but Android could fail on 5% of the phones that ship with it and I think it will still be okay if it can match iOS in the above categories. I think everyone knows that two or three years from now Android will be the clear winner. There would have to be earth shattering changes made on either Android or Apple's part in order to shake off course what has been set in motion. Even the market analysts have been saying this.
Let's face it, there's going to be some applications written on Android that demand multitouch support or the screen resolution of a tablet. And they won't work on the vast majority of smartphones that don't offer that kind of thing. That's not a bad thing, it's just the reality of targeting all the devices made by the Open Handset Alliance. That's a lot of devices. That's a lot of choices. They're doing the best they can but at some point you just can't magically give hardware support to a device that doesn't have the hardware. And I think that problem is inseparable from the choices Android wants to give consumers.
My work here is dung.
All that matters is that it's open to third party hardware and third party developers in general.
The three major video game consoles are less open than even an iPhone, yet consoles beat PCs in sales in several genres.
the iPhone's biggest problem is the fact that most people DO NOT WANT AT&T as a carrier.
I know a lot of peole that have android phones that really like my iPhone4 but say, "Great phone, too bad you are on AT&T"
Honestly, Apple needs to pull the stupid exclusivity with AT&T, it's the #1 thing keeping people from even considering an iPhone.
The #2 is the misconception that it's "expensive" and has an "expensive plan" I run into that a lot and most every one looks at me saying really? when I say the phone is $399 and I pay $89.00 a month for 1400 minutes and unlimited data (Grandfathered! suck it peeps!) but even not grandfathered it's still less than $99.00 a month. Buddy of mine is paying $115.00 a month for his verizon plan with 2gb data.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
iOS is open provided:
1: You develop on Macs only. Hackintoshes do not count because the BSA comes down hard on people using pirated operating systems for commercial gain. Android code is happily written on Windows, OS X, Linux or BSD.
Apple does not provide iOS development tools for non OS-X computers, correct. Third parties do provide such tools.
2: You have your ducks in a row 100% before submitting the app for approval. If something causes it to be rejected, your app won't be in the new apps list and will have no visibility in Apple's App Store. There is also a delay when getting critical updates out. Your app has a show stopping bug that is causing customers to demand refunds from Apple? Expect to wait 1-2 weeks if not more time before your update gets on the store to fix things. Android, initial app submittal and updates are immediate. In fact, one of the cool things about Android's store is how often and fast devs update their apps. Some devs are *extremely* responsive, and I've seen apps take a suggestion one day, and have it in the app the next.
This is a pro/con. The great thing about Marketplace is any app can get in. The bad thing about Marketplace is any app can get in. The good thing about App Store is not every app can get in. The bad thing about the App Store is not every app can get in. As a user, I have never been in a situation I could not get functionality I needed from the App Store. As a user that is all I care about.
3: I do not need to jailbreak for basic functionality. Say an app crashes and I need the files it is storing. On Android, I can just fire up adb, tar off the files. On iOS, unless I jailbreak and ssh in, all my work would be lost.
Everyone has their own definition of basic functionality. I can't recover data from an encrypted OS Hard drive either. If data is important, back it up in multiple locations, same as it has always been. I haven't jail broken my phone, and I have rarely wished for additional functionality.
4: I have to JB iOS devices in order to get widget functionality. To some, it is ugly, but to others, being able to see weather, a snippet of E-mail, tasks, and maybe the latest FB gossip is a good thing.
Again its a pro/con thing and user preference. Customization is great, until you try to walk someone through something and they've customized beyond the point of being able to follow the same steps. Apple is a "whole picture" company. They make decision based on this. User experience drives repeat business.
5: Android devices don't need to be tied to one single PC. All they really need from a PC is perhaps to have the memory card backed up once in a while, or music copied to the device. iOS devices will not work unless they have a "home" machine that activates them and copies music. Of course, there are third party utilities to help with this... for now. Apple can easily change the connection spec between iTunes and the iPhone to render those products irrelevant in a heartbeat.
iPhones are activated in the store. You never have to plug it into a computer. If you have it shipped to your house, you can go to AT&T store and get it activated. No computer needed.
Of course, jailbreaking is what a lot of people do and as of now is a solution... but there may come a time where the iPhone is so difficult to jailbreak that it does not get Cydia on it until the next model is out.
And you have to jail break android in the US to install a non carrier supported ROM. You trust the carriers to never modify android to the point of removing its openness? They already have. Tethering is not available in carrier supported ROMs without paying for it. Same as iOS.