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I think this article highlights a legitimate weakness in Apple's one size fits all product line. Smart phones are as much luxury fashion accessory as communicat

I think this article highlights a legitimate weakness in Apple's one size fits all product line. Smart phones are as much luxury fashion accessory as communication tool now. Like other luxury fashion items people believe they're making some kind of statement about themselves by choosing one product over another. And there's not really that much you can say about yourself by choosing the same single iPhone model that Apple sells to everybody else. I really think this year is going to be pivotal for Apple. They can recover their momentum if they broaden their product line and demonstrate some vision in UI. If they continue to stubbornly cling to the tactics that brought them their recent successes they're going to continue to slide. They are, to some extent, a victim of their own success. Android 2.x was so rough that Google didn't stand to lose much in a bold redesign and they leapfrogged iOS with ICS. Apple has a huge userbase used to iOS as it looks and works today and they risk alienating them if they make the changes they need to make to stay relevant for another product generation. As much as I criticize some of their decisions I hope they do show some new life because iOS is currently the only mobile platform that enables the kind of real-time multimedia apps I want to write.

jarcoal 14y ago
Creating a bunch of different iPhone product lines sounds like a great way to confuse the rest of us that don't care about the fashion statement. I think they need to work harder on making iOS more customizable, that should help satisfy everyone.
- ksec 14y ago
  Yes. The problem is, there are two screen size for iMac, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air and iPad. And yet they only have 1 for iPhone. I dont agree with different product line either. But Just 1 more, 1 more larger screen size. There are a world of people who NEEDS to use their both hand anyway. ( As the article points out, those who actually needs to write their languages instead of typing it. )
snogglethorpe 14y ago
> iOS is currently the only mobile platform that enables the kind of real-time multimedia apps I want to write Why aren't such apps (not sure exactly what you mean) "enabled" in Android etc?
- cageface 14y ago
  The main issue is unacceptably high audio latency and the complete lack of any kind of MIDI stack. There's some hope that the audio issue at least might be fixed in 4.2 but even if it is it will be a while before developers can comfortably require that API level.
- vor_ 14y ago
  To put it simply, in Android's current state, you will never see a competitive Garageband clone due to the latency and missing features of the audio technology in the OS.
svachalek 14y ago
Having tried both systems from early times, I've never been able to like Android due to the cheap look/feel of the devices, the horrible battery life, the clunky missed-the-point UI decisions everywhere. But times change, and I have to say when my contract is up, I am sorely tempted to get one of those big Samsung screens. iOS is starting to look really dated and the half-hearted updates we're getting lately don't give me much confidence that Apple is running out in front of where the smartphone market is going anymore. I would love to be surprised this year, but we'll see...
- cageface 14y ago
  Android wasn't really comparable to iOS until ICS. If you haven't tried a modern Android phone running 4.1 or 4.2 you haven't seen what it's really capable of. I think the iPhone 5 is still a physically nicer device than any current Android phone but that's more than offset by the larger screen and superior flexibility and efficiency of the Android OS.

jarcoal 14y ago

Creating a bunch of different iPhone product lines sounds like a great way to confuse the rest of us that don't care about the fashion statement. I think they need to work harder on making iOS more customizable, that should help satisfy everyone.

ksec 14y ago
Yes. The problem is, there are two screen size for iMac, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air and iPad. And yet they only have 1 for iPhone. I dont agree with different product line either. But Just 1 more, 1 more larger screen size. There are a world of people who NEEDS to use their both hand anyway. ( As the article points out, those who actually needs to write their languages instead of typing it. )

snogglethorpe 14y ago

> iOS is currently the only mobile platform that enables the kind of real-time multimedia apps I want to write Why aren't such apps (not sure exactly what you mean) "enabled" in Android etc?

cageface 14y ago
The main issue is unacceptably high audio latency and the complete lack of any kind of MIDI stack. There's some hope that the audio issue at least might be fixed in 4.2 but even if it is it will be a while before developers can comfortably require that API level.
vor_ 14y ago
To put it simply, in Android's current state, you will never see a competitive Garageband clone due to the latency and missing features of the audio technology in the OS.

svachalek 14y ago

Having tried both systems from early times, I've never been able to like Android due to the cheap look/feel of the devices, the horrible battery life, the clunky missed-the-point UI decisions everywhere. But times change, and I have to say when my contract is up, I am sorely tempted to get one of those big Samsung screens. iOS is starting to look really dated and the half-hearted updates we're getting lately don't give me much confidence that Apple is running out in front of where the smartphone market is going anymore. I would love to be surprised this year, but we'll see...

cageface 14y ago
Android wasn't really comparable to iOS until ICS. If you haven't tried a modern Android phone running 4.1 or 4.2 you haven't seen what it's really capable of. I think the iPhone 5 is still a physically nicer device than any current Android phone but that's more than offset by the larger screen and superior flexibility and efficiency of the Android OS.