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John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

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Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#51

Post by nickelplate »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #33
frederickcook wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the PC market, Apple competes on quality, Microsoft (with hardware manufacturers) competes on price. This is the world Ballmer imagined for the smartphone market, but when Google knocked the floor out by giving away the OS (or even paying the carrier a cut of the search revenue), there is no place left for Microsoft to position itself. Unless Windows Mobile is a vastly superior product to Android (and how likely i…

They could just lose money, up to tens of billions, for a decade while working their way up to a solid 3rd place position. Worked for Xbox.

I think it is still too early to say that. Microsoft has yet to recoup the money they invested in the Xbox, and they probably won't anytime soon. And while they are still ahead of Sony in the console race, the PS3 has picked up quite a bit lately. Microsoft could very well finish the race dead last at the end of the current generation, with Sony at the top spot and Nintendo a close second.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#52

Post by endtime »

sausagefeet wrote: post #48
endtime wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm less anti-Microsoft than most (disclaimer: I worked there for a summer), but since WPS7 will be out before my current iPhone/AT&T contract ends, my plan is to switch to a Windows phone. I think the UI looks great (though practical usability is still in question), and I've always preferred Outlook to Gmail. My main gripe would be using an IE7-based browser, but as long as I can install Opera Mobile that shou…

Interesting you find the UI to be pretty. From the stuff I saw it looked very hacked together and disgumbled. I'm looking forward to seeing an actual phone though. I have no interest in switching (I just got an Android based phone and love it) but I'd like to see what the actual user experience turns out to be.

Aesthetics and UX are definitely linked; as you say, it's really hard to evaluate either until one can actually get a feel for the navigation, etc. But I think that as long as the UX is coherent, the visuals will be there.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#53

Post by dave1619 »

czhiddy wrote: post #25
dave1619 wrote: post #12

It appears to me the biggest news from google I/O was the release of flash on android, just a couple weeks after Steve Jobs says it wasn't practical. Google just didn't demo it and give a release date several months away, but they delivered it (with reports of folks getting 2.2 pushed already). Seems like Apple needs to reconsider their position on Flash... already.

Flash could run at 100% native app speeds with no battery hit and Apple still wouldn't support it. Why? It's not part of their overall plan to give Adobe power over the platform. So no, Apple doesn't need to (and won't) reconsider their position on Flash.

Why couldn't Apple let flash play in the browser but just not allow flash apps into the Appstore? I think users wouldn't mind that.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#54

Post by stanleydrew »

andreyf wrote: post #36

Take the current URL from your PC web browser and push it to your device, over the air. If it’s a web page, it’ll open in the Android web browser; if it’s a Google Maps URL, it’ll open in the Android Maps app. Meaning that now, not only can spyware pop up porn on my parents' home computer, it can also push porn to my kid sister's cell phone? Ditto for apps... I imagine spyware is a thing of the past for most Googlers…

The push to phone functionality is initiated by the user.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#55

Post by adamp_android »

holman wrote: post #22
anr wrote: post #17

I'm not sure Apple is ahead on backup & restore with the iPhone / iPad. You shouldn't need a desktop (with an OS that runs iTunes) in the first place. I read that the first thing you need to do with iPad is to connect it to iTunes.

What Gruber was getting at is that Apple has a far better syncing strategy since Android wipes everything between updates and Apple neatly brings all your data with you. That said, the cloud-based syncing that Android will eventually ship looks like the "right" solution. I doubt anyone at Apple considers USB syncing to be the end game, though; I'd be shocked if they didn't have some sort of over-the-air syncing in th…

Android as a platform doesn't require data wipes to update. A few handset manufacturers have chosen to go this route for certain devices but other devices such as the Nexus One preserve all user data during an update. The cloud-based syncing will certainly improve things for users migrating from one device to another.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#56

Post by tomjen3 »

adbge wrote: post #42

Gruber's thoughts can be summed up as: Google vs Apple, bring it on, but where's Microsoft? While he isn't wrong, it's not exactly much more than some common sense. I also think he _seriously_ underestimates Microsoft.

It is certainly possible that Microsoft could turn around, but I doubt it: they have a huge cash reserve, yes but that is not going to make them relevant.

What would be interesting would be if they got an entire new board + CEO, Steve Ballmer isn't ready to lead and never will be.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#57

Post by curiousfiddler »

freetard wrote: post #45
andreyf wrote: post #36

Take the current URL from your PC web browser and push it to your device, over the air. If it’s a web page, it’ll open in the Android web browser; if it’s a Google Maps URL, it’ll open in the Android Maps app. Meaning that now, not only can spyware pop up porn on my parents' home computer, it can also push porn to my kid sister's cell phone? Ditto for apps... I imagine spyware is a thing of the past for most Googlers…

Steve Jobs, is that you?

Ha ha ha! Awesome ;)

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#58

Post by juanefren »

dave1619 wrote: post #12

It appears to me the biggest news from google I/O was the release of flash on android, just a couple weeks after Steve Jobs says it wasn't practical. Google just didn't demo it and give a release date several months away, but they delivered it (with reports of folks getting 2.2 pushed already). Seems like Apple needs to reconsider their position on Flash... already.

I up-vote this, you are specifying what does it appears to you. I also agree with you, it is true that probably flash isn't the future from the web, but at least is part of the present.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#59

Post by Maktab »

Tichy wrote: post #50
symesc wrote: post #11

His footnote is interesting: "Although there’s still no decent Android-based equivalent to the iPod Touch." He's right. Based on price, there is no equivalent. On features, the equivalent is a Google Nexus One without a SIM card. Trouble is, that's about to not be available from Google directly. I'm wondering whether we'll be able to buy an N1 without a contract ever again. Disclosure: I bought an N1 directly from Go…

How long will people keep on buying MP3 players? Eventually, phones will be good enough to replace them 100% Also, will iPhone OS 4 be available for iPod Touch? I rather doubt it?

Apple have already stated that iPhone OS 4 will be available for the iPod touch, though only the third-generation touch will get multitasking.

I'm not sure why you would have doubted it. How would it have made sense for Apple to exclude it from the new software release?

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#60

Post by jonknee »

rimantas wrote: post #46
jonknee wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But yet he mentioned the number of total phones sold (1.3b) while talking market share so he didn't mean smartphones. Apple has a tiny sliver of the total phone market and that's what he meant. Microsoft has an even smaller sliver, but he said he wants/prefers a large chunk of that total market: > But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I’d prefer to have our software in 60 percent or…

Apple has a tiny sliver of the total phone market and that's what he meant That was mentioned in the article: Apple has 10x less market share than Nokia and still more revenue.

More profit, Nokia has significantly more revenue. Apple only sells very high-margin phones while Nokia sells at all levels.
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