I tweeted about this sometime back.. here is the exact tweet.. (which eventually becomes the reason to write this blog post)
Apple Vs Android has become more like Linux vs Windows of old days where half of the people bash the other product just for the heck of it.
I have been watching this Apple vs Android arguments since quite sometime.. and today was the day when I actually got pissed off and decided to note down few things.. I am really not sure what runs into the mind of Apple or Android Fanboys but let me tell you what runs in my mind and this might openup the minds of many fanboys or Apple haters with half knowledge about the product.
Apple vs Android – Sales: Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android are just operating systems. Apple’s iOS is a closed system which caters just to Apple owned devices. And Android is an open OS which can be ported into any device by the manufacturers. So, logically, sales of Android devices are always going to be higher than Apple ones. So there is no point in comparison here.
Now, if you ask why Apple does not allow to port iOS to other devices then the simple answer will be, it’s their choice afterall, it’s their own OS, they have every right to decide what they want to do with it. Google decided to keep Android open and it was their choice, that’s about it.
I have xx feature and you don’t have it: This started with Copy / Paste. All windows fanboys started saying, Apple did not have basic Copy / Paste options and what not but even first version of Windows Phone 7 did not have it. Android had it but there is no point in discussing this. Yeah, Apple did not have it. It was pretty basic thing but there has to be some reason behind it. (I am not the right person to answer)
One more funny thing is, whenever Apple announces some new features.. all Anti-Apple guys add the tag of “Innovation” and bash Apple about it. This happened with FaceTime to start off with. People laughed over it saying, we already had video chat in our old smart phones so what’s so new in it? The point is here is not about new, the point is about how to make people use that feature and how easy it is to use.
Even my old Sony Ericsson phone has video chat but it’s pathetic. It’s a hidden feature. There is Skype for desktop and phones but frankly speaking having a native video calling app integrated with the phone book is damn simple and anyone can use it. So the key here is, ease of use not the innovation.
The recent example in this is, Siri. People started assuming lot of things and started cooking up funny stories. I was going through some tweets. One guy was even arguing on baseless stuff like “If Apple bought Siri then why it killed it from the App Store” haha this was really funny to ask. If Apple bought it then don’t you think it’s their right to do whatever they want with the Application? Do you see Tweetie anymore after Twitter bought it? haha
Siri is innovation. Yes it is but not by Apple but by the guys who built it. The role of Apple comes in terms of making the application much better than earlier and integrating with the core of the system.
Now, why Apple does not allow in iPhone 4 or older version is their business decision and it does not make any sense to argue about it at all.
Patent wars: Apple sued Samsung for using their patented stuff without taking permission from Apple. And many Samsung fanboys started bashing Apple. (Without even knowing what were the reasons for Apple suing Samsung) From what I understand, the patent wars are mostly (obviously not all) related to the business than the technology. It’s an open fact that Samsung openly copied many things from Apple. Their app screen looked exactly like iPhone’s, the icons, the box and even the power adapter haha
The simple fact behind these patent wars is, increasing sales of Samsung’s Galaxy phones is hurting Apple. It should hurt why not. Let’s assume that, if your competitor copies part of your product and sells it without your permission then wouldn’t it hurt you? Won’t you try to stop them from doing it? I will definitely do it. Anyone will do it.
So let’s not take these patent wars personally.
Processor Wars: This one is another funny war. My phone has Dual 1.5 GHz and it’s 6 months old. Your phone has just launched and has only 1 GHz processor. Yea Okay, it’s possible but do you actually need that much of processing power on a phone? I am okay with whatever processor iPhone 4 has even processor in 3G worked without any issues with the older version of iOS.
The list is just never ending.
But the point here is: Is it even worth criticizing Apple for every other statement they make? Yeah, they must have made few wrong decisions, they too must have killed some products but everyone in the business does that. The simple fact is, everyone loves to copy Apple. They started with iPhone and everyone started copying iPhone and introduced touch screen phones. Same features and what not.
How many phones in the market are usable? Android has reached a good level just now. Samsung Galaxy 2 is something really good from Samsung but that surely does not make Apple products bad. Apple’s sales is increasing. Be it iPhone or Macs. Obviously it won’t reach the level of Android devices or Windows based machines (Unless these 2 giants make some huge mistakes) but it’s growing really well and I don’t think it’s growing so much just because of the hype, there is definitely something good about the product which is helping the company to generate the sales.
So, finally, ending the long article. Let’s not crib about Apple or Android all the time. Let these 2 giants fight and compete. We will eventually get a better product in the end haha
And yeah, I love Apple products. I use iPhone, iPod Touch, Macbook Pro and Mac Mini and Apple’s 27″ Cinema Display is in the wish list already. The next recent purchase is going to be iPhone 4S so I can gift iPhone 4 to my wife haha But that surely does not make me Android or Windows hater or doesn’t even make these 2 products bad. They both are good at their own places but I love Apple products and that’s about it.
Cheers,
Deep
Image Credit: The raging battle between Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android by Tsahi Levent-Levi
Agree with you! Both product are good at their own places 🙂
I would have liked this a lot better, but your being bias in this whole thing. You were supposed to be telling why you were pissed off, and you went and did the same thing. I don’t want to argue with anyone. I use a mac, but i prefer to use phones and tablets that have the android operating system.
Hey David,
Thanks for the feedback. The post was about speaking out what was there in my mind about Apple vs Android thing. I could be biased towards Apple as the points I have come across (from the people I know) are mainly on the silly things. But I would love to hear the views from the other side.
Regards,
Deep
Deep,
How dare you bash Android! :p
It’s great to see Apple, Google, Microsoft fight. Competition keeps everyone on toes!
I prefer to use Android for two reasons:
1. Personal. I have a grudge against Apple and therefore avoid using it’s products. They dump their leftovers in India.
2. Android being open source, I can tweak if time permits. I don’t know whether I will ever do it or not, but that possibility keeps me excited 🙂
I’ve been using various Apple computers for well over ten years and quite naturally when it came time to upgrade my smartphone went out and got an IOS device. I was shocked at how little I could do with it due to the closed architecture and several months later went out and got an Android phone. I’m now at the stage of upgrading computers and for the first time in well over a decade am looking seriously at abandoning Apple products entirely and going back to Windows. Apple’s recent closed approach is getting to the point where it is making their products less useful, and them bringing this into their computer line is in my mind the last straw. The recent information on Mountain Lion indicates that they are headed toward the same close system approach and software purchases through their app store that is present on IOS in their computers, and although this can be turned off in Mountain Lion, it would not surprise me if it can’t be turned off in the version after that. When I buy a computer, or phone, I don’t want to be dictated too on how I can use it by the company who made it.