Rubber Tangents

Some reports are coming out that Android devices are outselling iPhones, which spells doom for Apple. I think it’s an unfair assessment. Besides the fact that Verizon, the primary provider of Android devices, is much larger than AT&T, there are also dozens of Android phones available on several…

Unfair? I do believe Apple made the conscious choice to limit which service provider sold their hardware, and if I may say so - AT&T was a poor option on several fronts especially considering other providers approached Apple at the hint of departing from AT&T.

That aside, I think what the LA Times piece isn’t taking into account is Apple may not wholly intend on dominating the market in any one thing. It’s hard to put a facade of being more than the devices sold if the devices sold are the only ‘true’ option in the eyes of the public. Everyone loves the underdog; they’re ‘the other white meat’ - the small alternative which offers the same things, differently to a group of people that enjoy a feeling of being on the fringe of trend and culture. So, even though the report is claiming that Apple is losing their ground (July stats aside), the only people not flustered by this ‘fact’ is Apple … that ought to tell people something meta.

What I don’t agree with you on Myke, is that the iOS spanning across devices should be what’s taken into account. It begins to compare apples to oranges (no pun intended). For example, my iPod Touch does use the iOS, but can I make a call on it? Not without Skype. Can the iPhone? yes. Is this a result of two different OSes? no, the same OS, which means that ability to call comes mainly from the hardware and not the software. Additionally: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_devices

If we were to be comparative in the same fashion, I think we’d find that in the future the Android OS has a more expansive capability than the iOS given that soon the Android OS will be on computers and TVs. Just my thoughts…