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Steve Jobs is just now highlighting Android’s “fragmentation” and discussing Android’s openness. He is also talking about upcoming tablets and their 7" screens.

by ugh 16y ago

Steve Jobs is just now highlighting Android’s “fragmentation” and discussing Android’s openness. He is also talking about upcoming tablets and their 7" screens. (Trash talking them, that is. No 7" screen from Apple anytime soon.) Ars Technica is blogging: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/10/liveblog-q4-2010-earnings-call.ars http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/10/liveblog-q4-2010-e...

solutionyogi 16y ago
Select Q&A: Q: What do you think about the 7" tablets? A: one naturally thinks a 7" screen offers 70% of the benefits of a 10" screen, but this is far from the truth a 7% screen is only 45% as large as a 10% screen because the measurements are diagonal. This size isn't sufficient to create great tablet apps, in our opinion. One could increase the resolution to make up for the difference, it's meaningless unless the thing also includes sandpaper so users can sand down their fingers. Another comment by Steve: "It's being grabbed out of our hands. I talk to people every day in every kind of business who are using iPads boards of directors, nurses, doctors, etc. The more time that passes, the more i am convinced that we have a tiger by the tail here." Q: Could this be your second biggest business behind iPhone? A: I try not to predict, I just report. Q: Any updates on you stance on Flash? A: Ah, Flash memory? We love Flash memory! [I wonder if the reporter who asked the question understood the joke. ;)] Q: So if the market starts to move toward lower-functionality smartphones and dramatically lower price points, and you feel you can't make an appropriate product on those price points, you'll throw in the towel? A: You're looking at it wrong. you're looking at it as a hardware person who doesn't know much about software. who doesn't think about an integrated product and thinks the software will just take care of itself. You assume the software will just somehow come alive on this product you're dreaming up, but it won't. Because these app developers are taking advantage of products that came before it, with larger screens and more capabilities. it throws you back to the beginning of the chicken and egg problem again most developers won't follow you. Pure gold from Steve. Competitors better listen to this call and learn from the man himself. ------------------------------------------------- You really gotta hand it to Steve. Absolute no corporate speak (aka bullshit) when he talks. Compare this with recent email from Steve Ballmer, "I sent a message to the world that we’re ‘all in’ when it comes to the cloud. In that speech I noted that Ray’s Internet Services Disruption memo nearly five years ago, and his work since, stimulated thinking across the company and helped catalyze our drive to the cloud." (from http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/oct10/10-18steveb-mail.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/oct10/10-18ste... ) Cloud? Why do executive use the word 'cloud' when the word 'Internet' is so much better. 'Stimulated thinking'... 'catalyze our drive', looks like someone has been reading too much of Dilbert. The difference between Steve Jobs and Steve Ballmer is staggering.
- ugh 16y ago
  Aw, cute! Q: Any updates on you stance on Flash? A: Ah, Flash memory? We love Flash memory!
- butterfi 16y ago
  Interesting article in WSJ about some research around the language used by lying CEO's: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/08/11/how-can-you-tell-if-a-ceo-is-lying/tab/print/ http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/08/11/how-can-you-tell-if-a-... I'm not saying Ballmers lying, it's just interesting to read the quote above after reading the article.
- kenjackson 16y ago
  Actually the term "cloud" and "internet" generally mean different things. The cloud refers to services sitting on endpoints that you don't maintain (or likely don't own either). The internet generally refers to the communication infrastructure between endpoints. You can be all in on the internet and not care about the cloud. The opposite is more difficult though. Also Steve's 7" answer seemed odd. The iPod Touch is a 3.5" tablet. He's saying that he can't figure out how to create a device that made good use of twice the diagonal?
  - ugh 16y ago
    I believe Jobs was talking about fragmentation. You would have to especially adapt the UI for a 7" device, like you have to especially adapt the UI for a 3.5" and 10" device. You can’t just shrink it down or blow it up. Jobs seems to believe that Apple shouldn’t fragment their product line any further. He seems to think that 3.5" (pocketable) and 10" (more stationary and more capable) are sort of local optima and that Apple should stick to those.
    - glhaynes 16y ago
      Yep. And he made it sound specifically like they think of 10" as a minimum for the iPad line, not necessarily a maximum. Edit: I've always thought that was the biggest problem with a 7" Apple device: either you have to scale 3.5" iPhone apps up or 9.7" iPad apps down. Neither of which is optimal. And I don't believe you're gonna be able to (or even that you want to) get devs to adapt their existing apps for a third "sub-platform".
marze 16y ago
There were rumors of an Apple 7" device earlier this year. I wonder if they were deliberately started by Apple to send competitors down what they considered a blind alley.
- CamperBob 16y ago
  More likely Apple's feverishly working on a 7" device but it wasn't ready to be announced yet. This is a recurring trope in Steve Jobs's speeches -- slag an idea as being unworkable or undesirable, only to announce it at the next major conference.
  - leviathant 16y ago
    I'm not sure why you got downvoted for that. It's demonstrably true that Jobs has talked down certain product lines before releasing something in that field. Remember that post-iPhone joint talk with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, where Bill Gates was all about the tablet-format computer, and Steve Jobs dismissed that, focusing instead on the phone? When the iPhone first came out, third-party development was, in Jobs mind, to be relegated to HTML and javascript. John Carmack had 'a fairly heated argument' with Jobs that had him saying "I have an iPhone right now and it's a platform I would enjoy developing for but Apple is not taking progressing steps in regards to [gaming]." I' sure there are more (better) examples, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that when Steve Jobs ramps up the negative rhetoric towards something, Apple is simultaneously testing and developing something along the lines of that thing being dissed.
- cletus 16y ago
  I don't buy into this kind of conspiracy thinking. Apple builds more products than it releases. It's entirely possible (if not probable) that Apple developed a 7" prototype. Just like I'm sure there's been a CDMA iPhone prototype. That means nothing however. Just because there is/was a prototype doesn't mean there will be a product. I believe the 7" competitors come down to two things: 1. The competitors might feel like they need to differentiate themselves from the iPad; or, more likely, 2. Apple has tied up the world supply of 10" capacitative touch screens so the competitors needed to go for parts they could get. Unfortunately a lot of these Apple rumours are started and propagated by people who simply don't understand how Apple operates or are simply link-baiting.
DougBTX 16y ago
Not wanting to point out the obvious, but Apple is the leading seller of 3.5 inch tablets - the iPod touch.
- ugh 16y ago
  I’m only quoting Jobs here, not presenting my own opinion but I think I can shed some light on that point: iPad and iPod touch do not use the same UI, they do not have the same intended uses. Jobs obviously seems to think that 3.5" (where you sacrifice functionality for compactness) and 10" (where you sacrifice compactness for functionality) are local optima.

by ugh 16y ago

solutionyogi 16y ago

Select Q&A: Q: What do you think about the 7" tablets? A: one naturally thinks a 7" screen offers 70% of the benefits of a 10" screen, but this is far from the truth a 7% screen is only 45% as large as a 10% screen because the measurements are diagonal. This size isn't sufficient to create great tablet apps, in our opinion. One could increase the resolution to make up for the difference, it's meaningless unless the thing also includes sandpaper so users can sand down their fingers. Another comment by Steve: "It's being grabbed out of our hands. I talk to people every day in every kind of business who are using iPads boards of directors, nurses, doctors, etc. The more time that passes, the more i am convinced that we have a tiger by the tail here." Q: Could this be your second biggest business behind iPhone? A: I try not to predict, I just report. Q: Any updates on you stance on Flash? A: Ah, Flash memory? We love Flash memory! [I wonder if the reporter who asked the question understood the joke. ;)] Q: So if the market starts to move toward lower-functionality smartphones and dramatically lower price points, and you feel you can't make an appropriate product on those price points, you'll throw in the towel? A: You're looking at it wrong. you're looking at it as a hardware person who doesn't know much about software. who doesn't think about an integrated product and thinks the software will just take care of itself. You assume the software will just somehow come alive on this product you're dreaming up, but it won't. Because these app developers are taking advantage of products that came before it, with larger screens and more capabilities. it throws you back to the beginning of the chicken and egg problem again most developers won't follow you. Pure gold from Steve. Competitors better listen to this call and learn from the man himself. ------------------------------------------------- You really gotta hand it to Steve. Absolute no corporate speak (aka bullshit) when he talks. Compare this with recent email from Steve Ballmer, "I sent a message to the world that we’re ‘all in’ when it comes to the cloud. In that speech I noted that Ray’s Internet Services Disruption memo nearly five years ago, and his work since, stimulated thinking across the company and helped catalyze our drive to the cloud." (from http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/oct10/10-18steveb-mail.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/oct10/10-18ste... ) Cloud? Why do executive use the word 'cloud' when the word 'Internet' is so much better. 'Stimulated thinking'... 'catalyze our drive', looks like someone has been reading too much of Dilbert. The difference between Steve Jobs and Steve Ballmer is staggering.

ugh 16y ago
Aw, cute! Q: Any updates on you stance on Flash? A: Ah, Flash memory? We love Flash memory!
butterfi 16y ago
Interesting article in WSJ about some research around the language used by lying CEO's: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/08/11/how-can-you-tell-if-a-ceo-is-lying/tab/print/ http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/08/11/how-can-you-tell-if-a-... I'm not saying Ballmers lying, it's just interesting to read the quote above after reading the article.
kenjackson 16y ago
Actually the term "cloud" and "internet" generally mean different things. The cloud refers to services sitting on endpoints that you don't maintain (or likely don't own either). The internet generally refers to the communication infrastructure between endpoints. You can be all in on the internet and not care about the cloud. The opposite is more difficult though. Also Steve's 7" answer seemed odd. The iPod Touch is a 3.5" tablet. He's saying that he can't figure out how to create a device that made good use of twice the diagonal?
- ugh 16y ago
  I believe Jobs was talking about fragmentation. You would have to especially adapt the UI for a 7" device, like you have to especially adapt the UI for a 3.5" and 10" device. You can’t just shrink it down or blow it up. Jobs seems to believe that Apple shouldn’t fragment their product line any further. He seems to think that 3.5" (pocketable) and 10" (more stationary and more capable) are sort of local optima and that Apple should stick to those.
  - glhaynes 16y ago
    Yep. And he made it sound specifically like they think of 10" as a minimum for the iPad line, not necessarily a maximum. Edit: I've always thought that was the biggest problem with a 7" Apple device: either you have to scale 3.5" iPhone apps up or 9.7" iPad apps down. Neither of which is optimal. And I don't believe you're gonna be able to (or even that you want to) get devs to adapt their existing apps for a third "sub-platform".

marze 16y ago

There were rumors of an Apple 7" device earlier this year. I wonder if they were deliberately started by Apple to send competitors down what they considered a blind alley.

CamperBob 16y ago
More likely Apple's feverishly working on a 7" device but it wasn't ready to be announced yet. This is a recurring trope in Steve Jobs's speeches -- slag an idea as being unworkable or undesirable, only to announce it at the next major conference.
- leviathant 16y ago
  I'm not sure why you got downvoted for that. It's demonstrably true that Jobs has talked down certain product lines before releasing something in that field. Remember that post-iPhone joint talk with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, where Bill Gates was all about the tablet-format computer, and Steve Jobs dismissed that, focusing instead on the phone? When the iPhone first came out, third-party development was, in Jobs mind, to be relegated to HTML and javascript. John Carmack had 'a fairly heated argument' with Jobs that had him saying "I have an iPhone right now and it's a platform I would enjoy developing for but Apple is not taking progressing steps in regards to [gaming]." I' sure there are more (better) examples, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that when Steve Jobs ramps up the negative rhetoric towards something, Apple is simultaneously testing and developing something along the lines of that thing being dissed.
cletus 16y ago
I don't buy into this kind of conspiracy thinking. Apple builds more products than it releases. It's entirely possible (if not probable) that Apple developed a 7" prototype. Just like I'm sure there's been a CDMA iPhone prototype. That means nothing however. Just because there is/was a prototype doesn't mean there will be a product. I believe the 7" competitors come down to two things: 1. The competitors might feel like they need to differentiate themselves from the iPad; or, more likely, 2. Apple has tied up the world supply of 10" capacitative touch screens so the competitors needed to go for parts they could get. Unfortunately a lot of these Apple rumours are started and propagated by people who simply don't understand how Apple operates or are simply link-baiting.

DougBTX 16y ago

Not wanting to point out the obvious, but Apple is the leading seller of 3.5 inch tablets - the iPod touch.

ugh 16y ago
I’m only quoting Jobs here, not presenting my own opinion but I think I can shed some light on that point: iPad and iPod touch do not use the same UI, they do not have the same intended uses. Jobs obviously seems to think that 3.5" (where you sacrifice functionality for compactness) and 10" (where you sacrifice compactness for functionality) are local optima.