Tuesday 11 October 2011

OS vs Web vs Apps

This post provides excellent advice on anyone planning to develop a mobile app. Infographic republished here, as it is so good (from Vision Mobile originally):-


Tuesday 4 October 2011

Apple over-hyped

Having just seen the Apple event liveblog today (thanks @arstechnica), I'm actually disappointed.  I shouldn't be, but I am.

Is it because there was no iPhone 5, just an updated iPhone 4S, with some upgrade bits inside? Not really.

  • It doesn't have 4G support, just lots of +ve spin about new twin antennae that make it 'faster than most 4G phones claim' - so Apple are reduced to fighting claims with claims now?  I thought they left that to lawsuits.
  • It has a new camera, which is x% better than the old one - which was perfectly adequate.  Let's face it, we're never going to be doing portraits or feature films on phones, so who really cares?
Is it because iOS 5 just copies a bunch of stuff from Android (notifications, universal messaging, twitter built-in)? Not really.
  • It still doesn't have Android's killer feature: the universal 'share' button.  Imagine the built-in Twitter, but not just for Twitter, for any app that you allow.  So you want to share that document/pic/webpage to your blog? Fine. To Evernote? Sure. To another NFC device? No prob, if your phone can do it.
  • It still doesn't have WebOS's brilliant way of handling multi-tasking, with card decks and swipes.
  • iCloud is just doing what Android already does with Google (email, calendar, contacts) and Amazon (books, music, vids); it's probably more seamless, but taking 5 years to untether your iPhone from your PC/mac is rather more self-serving than customer-centric.
No, what bothers me is the same level of hyperbole, the same reality distortion, but without the innovation sparkle that used to justify the swagger.  I get the sense that Apple have reached an innovation plateau, like every successful company does, and rather than consolidating, toning down the hyperbole and just modestly pushing out these modest updates, they continue to shout about being the all-time most successful and revolutionary company of all time.

The Apple fan community doesn't help matters, as they all want the scoop on the next 'revolutionary' product, but I rather suspect that the next truly 'revolutionary' product is a few years away.

Apple, you're good: be comfortable with that. Tone it down and delight people with your modesty: don't let your words outstrip your actions.