For my first post of Bane Tech, I feel like I need to say something about Apple. Take for example their most recent ad series… “If It’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone.’ In 2015 this couldn’t be more true. This year was dominated by the iPhone, so far it has been the top selling phone every quarter and has net Apple hand’s over fist full of cash. Apple is even overtaking markets where they previously were fighting more of an uphill battle.
But most of the readers of this and every other blog out there are Android users, so why does this become relevant? Lets look back to one of my favorite quotes of all time, “Those who are serious about software need to develop their own software.” And while were at it… “Apple Controls both the hardware part and the software part.”
And this is where Android keeps making its own pitfalls. I keep hearing people say on the web or on dedicated YouTube Channels Android is amazing because you can customize everything. To which I say, “Really?” It’s not until Android M that you can control app permissions and do a complete iCloud style backup. Every single year new Android phones are released they are either amazing in every area (S6 camera, HTC One M8 Overall build quality) but lacking in some key position (S6 battery life, HTC One M8 camera).
In my not-so-humble opinion, Google is the most prolific technology company of our time. They truly have developed tools that I can’t imagine the world without. They were the first kind of cloud based company I ever used, starting with Gmail, and so many of their Android based products like Google Wallet are simply out of this world and arguably ahead of their time. The ability to have information at our fingertips is something we take for granted in 2015. I’m young enough that I don’t know a time when I didn’t have a GPS in my pocket. Since were using Apple as a lens in this discussion the first navigational tool on the iPhone was Google Maps. I remember when YouTube was a preloaded app on the early iPhones. So its not that Google’s products aren’t excellent.
One market where we can see the need for a software meets hardware solution is with mobile payments. Google Wallet was alive well before Apple Pay and who can forget Softcard (besdies…all of us). But then why is it that we only saw a ramp up in Mobile Payments when Apple Pay became a marketable mobile payment solution? Because it was seamless and perfect.
This is my question: When will Android manufacturers rise to the challenge and make the perfect combination of software and hardware? Stop trying to be all cute with your edges on your phones or your mis-optimized battery life. Until Android can be an all in one solution they will not take over iOS or the Apple Eco-system anytime soon…#iPhoneOrNothing.
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