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None of these are developer features. I think the claim with iOS being "less fragmented" has to do with developers having a relatively solid set of APIs that t

None of these are developer features. I think the claim with iOS being "less fragmented" has to do with developers having a relatively solid set of APIs that they can call. There are a couple of APIs that degrade on older hardware but the number is small enough that a senior developer could write you a list in a job interview.

buster 14y ago
Yes, my point just was, that this is one manufacturer with one operating system and a small set of devices. It's always compared with lots of manufacturers and lots of completely different devices. I don't see the problem. Of course, different hardware, different software, but it's so much more devices, it's not fair to compare. A fair comparison would be fragmentation on symbian devices vs fragmentation on android devices (for example).
- pooriaazimi 14y ago
  The number of developers giving a damn about Symbian, compared to those who do Android and iOS is probably less by 4 or 5 orders of magnitude, that's why no one is talking about Symbian. We're not living in a dream world, many are trying to be realistic and compare the two most vibrant and important platforms because they have to make a call in their startups: Do I want to develop for iOS, or Android, or both, or first iOS and then Android. Most people on HN are developers and try not to be as stupid as average commenter on Engadget, falling into pointless, grad-scholl-link arguments about whose platform is cooler.
  - buster 14y ago
    You had me at "We're not living in a dream world, many are trying to be realistic". My whole discussion thread is about being realistic. Is it realistic to have exactly one OS version deployed worldwide on hundreds of differenct device models created by dozens of different manufacturers with dozens of different hardware configurations ranging from low-end to high-end? No, it is absolutely not. And so noone should complain about that ghost named "fragmentation" because it's a stupid discussion and it's an unfair comparison.

buster 14y ago

Yes, my point just was, that this is one manufacturer with one operating system and a small set of devices. It's always compared with lots of manufacturers and lots of completely different devices. I don't see the problem. Of course, different hardware, different software, but it's so much more devices, it's not fair to compare. A fair comparison would be fragmentation on symbian devices vs fragmentation on android devices (for example).

pooriaazimi 14y ago
The number of developers giving a damn about Symbian, compared to those who do Android and iOS is probably less by 4 or 5 orders of magnitude, that's why no one is talking about Symbian. We're not living in a dream world, many are trying to be realistic and compare the two most vibrant and important platforms because they have to make a call in their startups: Do I want to develop for iOS, or Android, or both, or first iOS and then Android. Most people on HN are developers and try not to be as stupid as average commenter on Engadget, falling into pointless, grad-scholl-link arguments about whose platform is cooler.
- buster 14y ago
  You had me at "We're not living in a dream world, many are trying to be realistic". My whole discussion thread is about being realistic. Is it realistic to have exactly one OS version deployed worldwide on hundreds of differenct device models created by dozens of different manufacturers with dozens of different hardware configurations ranging from low-end to high-end? No, it is absolutely not. And so noone should complain about that ghost named "fragmentation" because it's a stupid discussion and it's an unfair comparison.