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Apple Ecosystem Ping!
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Posted on 12/11/2010 9:55:10 PM PST by Swordmaker
Google’s power in the mobile computing world seems to grow with every new product announcement and Android device that comes to market. But for all its reach, the search giant is missing one piece of the puzzle that Apple does better than anyone else: product integration.
It starts with one device. Maybe it’s an iPod; maybe it’s a first Mac; but from that first product, you discover Apple’s unique take on technology. Apple treats each device it manufactures with care, sweating the little details like font choices and icon design, and thinking about how it all fits together. Each device Apple creates plays a part in the overall ecosystem, and the links between them are clear.
I recently stepped outside the cozy Apple ecosystem and purchased an Android phone, the HTC Desire. It was on sale at a steep discount, and I thought I would be able to integrate it into my work/life flow. I was wrong, and the phone is being returned.
The phone was powerful, and had some very interesting features, but it was so entirely different from the rest of my Mac setup that nothing felt right. I could go into detail about application crashes, frustrating hardware, the sordid Android Market (I wouldn’t let my kids browse through it), and other annoyances, but suffice to say that it simply didn’t measure up to the expectations I’ve developed from using Apple devices.
Apple is the only computer company that creates all of its own hardware and software; they control the entire package. Personal computers are a mishmash of parts and pieces from different sources. Hardware from one company, software from another. By contrast, many modern smartphone and computer makers get hardware from one place, and an operating system from another. BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion is a notable exception to this rule, but a recent interview with their co-CEO Mike Lazaridis seems to suggest the company’s leadership at least has little sense of what smartphone consumers really want.
HP, which recently purchased Palm, is another exception to the rule. The stage is set for the computing giant to build its own tightly integrated smartphone environment, if they have any interest in doing so. HP now sells the Palm Pre, but unfortunately, the Pre, once seen to be a strong iPhone competitor, seems to be lagging behind. Not a single one of these companies can design and test integration between phones, tablets, computers, and online services as well as Apple can, because none controls each of these aspects the way Apple does.
Does Apple’s degree of control occasionally border on the excessive? Yes. But consumers end up benefitting from that control more often than they are harmed. It’s only because Apple controls the entire product line that you can rent Inception in iTunes on your Mac, and know that it will play on your iPad, your iPhone, and your Apple TV. It works reliably, consistently and predictably.
When you live in the Apple ecosystem, you make a deal with Apple: I’ll pay you, and in exchange, you make sure everything plays nicely together. Google doesn’t seem to be interested in providing that kind of tightly integrated experience, at least not yet. What Apple does best is remember that technology only exists to serve its users, and goes far beyond a list of features and hardware specs. And that’s why Apple will continue to drive the future of computing, regardless of whether Google and others end up winning the numbers game.
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sorry, but this is a “Puff Piece”
My iphone battery life is poor and the phone does things I dont ask it to do..
and wont do things I do ask it to do....
and AT&T service sucks
I also got charges for things I didnt order...
You may say thats not Apples problem, but I beg to differ...they have joined with AT&T in an exclusive deal and so I blame them BOTH.
Interesting regarding mention of an Apple ecosystem. never thought of it that way. At this moment, I’m typing this on a ten-year old Mac G4 that I bought for a little over $100. It’s running OS X, and is fully compatible with all my other Apple gear, including my iPod, iPad and MacBook. Try installing Windows 7 or Vista on a ten-year old PC and see if you can run your Windows apps - not an easy task. Many people I know have switched to Apples because everything just works without hassles.
I agree on one item. My Android phone is awesome except it has no integrated music management system. Win amp is getting close, but it is still not as convenient as my IPod with Itunes.
“the phone does things I dont ask it to do..”
Boy that says it all. I had to hold my nose and install iTunes on this PC last week after discovering it was the only way to burn some CDs that I’d paid to download. Had I known that in advance I never would have done so. I hate hate hate iTunes, as the first experience it crashed a hard drive.
For those who like the Apple experience, fine and good. But being given no choice is kinda like living in a world where NPR was the only station on the radio dial.
“Get ‘em in young and brainwash them. Condition them like Pavlov’s dogs to pant and salivate when they see the Apple logo. Condition them to unquestioningly buy Apple products”
“Condition them so that daggers will shoot out of their eyes (like in Village of the Damned) at anyone uncool enough to buy a Windows laptop”
After 7 or 8 PCS, I Bought a MacBook Pro two weeks ago. Very clean, well thought out product, but no Delete key? and no right mouse button?
One very good feature is the magnetic external power connection, a big improvement over female socket connections soldered to a mother board, which are so prone to damage.
That's pity, not anger.
I just bought a MacBook Air and it has been frustrating.......going back to my desktop PC at work and having to wait for everything. My MacBook boots up faster than a lot of programs load on a PC, 14 seconds.
I just looked at a picture of a MacBook Pro and there is a delete key on the upper right corner of the keyboard. I also think you can get right click functions by clicking with two fingers on the touchpad.
You didn't notice that there wasn't a left mouse button, either?
You can click with two fingers for a right click. Or hold down the control key and click, or use a USB or bluetooth mouse. In the system preferences (in the Apple menu), you can also designate the right-hand side of the trackpad as a right-click spot.
You didn't notice that there wasn't a left mouse button, either?
You can click with two fingers for a right click. Or hold down the control key and click, or use a USB or bluetooth mouse. In the system preferences (in the Apple menu), you can also designate the right-hand side of the trackpad as a right-click spot.
A basic tutorial for Windows-to-Mac switchers: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#switcher
Control-click works -- as well as two-finger click -- for right-click -- and I'm not always hitting the wrong trackpad button like I do on my Dell Laptop.
The Air is, so far, a great machine. I'm going on my first business trip with it this week. I'm looking forward to not having all the weight from the old laptop in my backpack.
My wife and daughter each have an iPhone, and I find that using iTunes is kind of a pain. I used to sync up my daughter’s iPhone, but now she claims that she loses a whole bunch of data (phone numbers etc.) whenever it gets synced, so now won’t let me sync her iPhone to the computer, thus failing to get whatever new songs and apps are loaded in it. Maybe I was somehow doing it wrong, but if so, it’s not very intuitive.
Your post is classic projection. It describes exactly your opinion but you project it onto us Apple fans. Get a life dennis! You must stop living just to make an ass of yourself on these threads.
You have been told over and over there are 500+ of us who asked Swordmaker to keep us posted on Apple products and activities. We are not here to decide between products and we don’t appreciate your constant negative interference. I imagine you may be about to go the way of some past detractors.
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