Apple vs. Google and my thoughts
There was a very good article in the New York Times about the battle between Apple and Google as the two companies compete in the mobile platform business. It is fierce and it’s said that things are getting personal. Oh, such drama!!!
As everyone knows… Apple is setting industry standards ever since it introduced the iPhone back in 2007. iPhone is enormously popular as people use it to go online and download apps. Before iPhone came into existence, there was not a ecosystem of mobile app developers. Now it’s a big business. Google on the other hand is pushing hard into the market with its Android OS which is licensed to various manufacturing partners, like HTC and Motorola.
Apple’s iPhone (and the upcoming iPad) is all about control! Apple makes the software and hardware and operates iTunes to sell media and apps all by himself. Google on the other hand is all about openness as different companies can take Android and put it on different phones and even tablet computers.
Both companies’ philosophies and strategies go all the way to what they are at the core. Apple is a software company that is quickly moving into the media distribution business. Google is in the advertising business. Apple wants to keep people buying its software and hardware and wants people to consume media through them. Google wants to make sure people continue to use its search engine and a long list of Internet services so it can continue to serve up ads.
Make perfect sense, right?
Except that the two companies wanna achieve their business goals with very very different philosophies on mobile computing. For Apple to succeed, it needs to encourage people to keep downloading songs, videos and apps to their hardware, whether it’s the iPhone, iPad or whatever future products there may be.
Google want to make sure Apple doesn’t further dominate the smartphone business and possibly prevent people from using Google’s services in the cloud.
So there, two very very different visions of the mobile computing future.
I have an iPhone and I love it. Despite its price I think it’s been a good purchase – very much worth the money I paid! But still… if I had to pick side and say which company’s vision I’d agree with more. I’d go with Google’s. As an Internet entrepreneur myself, if I needed to develop a mobile product or service… I’d make a site fitted for a smartphone’s screen and would not wanna bother with making different native apps for different platforms (iPhone OS, Android, Windows Mobile 7 and older, Nokia’s S60 or even Palm’s WebOS).
In fact, someone I know is looking into making a mobile version of his web application. I suggested to him to consider making a mobile site instead of building the apps. He’d only need to do it once and it’d cost a lot less because the site is already there. He’d only need a separate UI for the phones.
Anyway… it’s still early to see what will happen. Apple’s strategies could still evolve if Android eventually eats into its market share. In the meantimes, here are some things to closely monitor:
1, the continuing evolution of the hardware — My main complaint about the mobile web is that the screen is small and inputting data is still not easy enough. But more tablet computers and MIDs are coming out and soon maybe there’s something that could give us a user experience on a mobile device that could rival the one we’re used to on the desktop.
2, the continuing evolution of the Internet browser on these mobile devices — Not only Flash is not supported on neither Android or iPhone OS, when you use your phone to browse the web today, there are still many limitations. These limitations give native apps the advantage as a native app can potentially deliver a better user experience and more functionality. However, if I could run complicated and powerful web apps on my mobile browser, then obviously the need to download native apps is diminished. To this point, you have to wonder if Apple has incentives to continue making the Safari browser better and better.
3, the success of app stores other than iTunes — They are many other mobile app stores out there. It seems everyone runs one these days… Apple, Google, Microsoft, Palm, Samsung, Nokia, etc. etc. Even China Mobile, for crying out load. So far no one can match Apple’s success in selling apps. If other companies can have better success in selling apps, more developers’ resources will be put into making apps. In that sense, it will validate Apple’s vision for a world full of native mobile apps. On the other hand, if no one other than Apple can sell enough apps, then people will have incentives to stand behind Google’s vision. We’ll see…
Soon people will access the web more on their mobile devices. One way or another, this is going to be interesting — expect to see a lot more innovations!
What the iPad can do…
At last Apple announced its much anticipated tablet computer, the iPad… And let me start this post by saying I think it’s quite a disappointment… It is for the most part a large size iPhone. Nothing revolutionary…
But it is still a nice device at a decent price and it carries the Apple logo. I wouldn’t bet against how well it will sell and lead to more choices of tablet computers in the market.
However, let’s not focus on its limitations. What’s significant about the iPad is that it will be the beginning of a big change in how we consume the various formats of media. (Actually Amazon’s Kindle has already started the process by getting more and more people to read books on an e-reader.) Think about how much space in our homes that we have devoted to shelving and storing books, CD’s, video types or DVD cases right now. That’s about to change. And think about all the tress that can be saved when newspapers and magazines no longer exist.
Even more interesting to me is that I think there will be a convergence of the different media formats. I think what this will do is, instead of saving the print media, actually killing them. I don’t mean the companies that produce printed content today will all die. But rather… it means they will be forced to produce the same content but in a mix of formats and deliver it in a different manner.
Think about it… On the iPad when you read the New York Times via their iPad app, you will read articles (text) but you will also see video content as well. Not to mention all the “social” features that can be built into such an app. Sooner or later, the New York Times won’t be your good ol’ print media company. No one will be.
A device like the iPad allows us to demand media content to be interactive, social and mobile. It will not be like what it used to be!
I’m excited about it. I already read news on the Internet and don’t watch TV much. I think the media industry will continue to be re-shaped by the emergence of new technologies. It means a lot of opportunities will come of this evolution!