>Six months ago it was obvious to knowledgeable people that Android would surpass iPhone, and I'm pretty sure that was true a year ago, too, notwithstanding the occasional contrary opinion.
The dominant opinion was absolutely that Android wouldn't crack the iPhone's dominance. Of course it's all clear now though, and everyone has carefully adopted new positions.
>Some people want it to be market share even though the real name of the game is profit.
Wow, I care so incredibly little whether Motorola or HTC or Samsung makes boatloads of profit. In fact I think I would be a bit offended if they bragged about their great margins (who would clutch onto their copy of Windows and crow about how great a profit margin Microsoft made on it? That is just perverse). Profit margin, unless you're a material shareholder or have options, are irrelevant.
I care about the platform that I develop for, that I use, that empowers or limits us. That is what matters to me, and it's why I care. I don't care if Google doesn't meet their quarterly numbers.
>Comparing iPhone to Android isn't comparing apples to oranges. We're talking about one phone versus a host of phones on a host of carriers.
This is the new talking point, and it's a curious one. The strength of the iPhone all along has been paraded as the single vendor solution: It is consistent and high quality and you know who's behind it...what's with all this crazy Android fragmentation from who knows who?
> The dominant opinion was absolutely that Android wouldn't crack the iPhone's dominance. Of course it's all clear now though, and everyone has carefully adopted new positions.
This is simply wrong. I don't know how you could have developed such a misreading of popular analysis, but the idea that 6 months ago most people didn't know Android would overtake iPhone is laughably false. Six months ago several of my coworkers already had Android powered phones and there were numerous reports of many more Android phones from multiple vendors on the way.
> Wow, I care so incredibly little whether Motorola or HTC or Samsung makes boatloads of profit. In fact... [snip]
> I care about the platform that I develop for, that I use, that empowers or limits us... [snip]
Well, then why are you so excited that Android has greater market share than iPhone? That's not relevant to how you're scoring. Lots of developers vastly prefer programming Linux or Macs over Windows, and it is often for intangible reasons as you suggest.
> Now that's the weakness?
No, that continues to be the strength insofar as it empowers entrepreneurial software developers. This is along the lines of your last point. Developers will choose the OS that helps them reach their goals, which in many cases is money.
It is a weakness with regards to market share since it is one phone on one carrier. How could this be any more obvious?
>Well, then why are you so excited that Android has greater market share than iPhone?
Am I? How am I excited? What's exciting is that the iPhone is no longer in a position where it is dominating, or poised to dominate, the emerging smartphone ecosystem. THAT is exciting, for exactly the reasons I mentioned.
The dominant opinion was absolutely that Android wouldn't crack the iPhone's dominance. Of course it's all clear now though, and everyone has carefully adopted new positions.
>Some people want it to be market share even though the real name of the game is profit.
Wow, I care so incredibly little whether Motorola or HTC or Samsung makes boatloads of profit. In fact I think I would be a bit offended if they bragged about their great margins (who would clutch onto their copy of Windows and crow about how great a profit margin Microsoft made on it? That is just perverse). Profit margin, unless you're a material shareholder or have options, are irrelevant.
I care about the platform that I develop for, that I use, that empowers or limits us. That is what matters to me, and it's why I care. I don't care if Google doesn't meet their quarterly numbers.
>Comparing iPhone to Android isn't comparing apples to oranges. We're talking about one phone versus a host of phones on a host of carriers.
This is the new talking point, and it's a curious one. The strength of the iPhone all along has been paraded as the single vendor solution: It is consistent and high quality and you know who's behind it...what's with all this crazy Android fragmentation from who knows who?
That's been the line.
Now that's the weakness?