An Apple Fan wants Android to Survive

Apple recently posted it’s quarterly earnings reports. $46 billion in Revenue. $14 in pure profit. They now have $97 in cash… cold hard cash. They sold 37 smartphones. They are now the number one smartphone maker by themselves. This quarter puts them #4 all time in the world for earnings in a quarter. All because of a little piece of metal, plastic and glass that you put your ear up to.

Right now, the blogosphere is going nuts. Apple fans are ringing the bells from on high about their favorite company. Apple’s success is so strong it blew the socks off a lot of naysayers. John Gruber over at Daring Fireball has been firing off claim chowder like Rambo in the jungle.  People have been saying that Apple can’t keep this up, and yet it continues to do so.  So what’s the problem?  I personally see a cloud near this silver (hell… platinum) lining.

First, allow me to establish my Apple Hipster cred. I’m an Apple fan since the 80s. My elementary school teacher taught me basic on an apple IIe and my parents got me an Apple IIc a few years later. I was a little late to the Mac but I got my first Centris 650 in College and never looked back. My house is an Apple house, with an iMac, Time Capsule, and two iPhones. I have a plan of getting a replacement iMac, plus a mac mini to set up a media server, as well as an iPad and maybe an Apple TV, depending on what comes out in the next couple of months. So yes I’m very pro Apple here, this is not going to be an Apple bashing article.

Now, why do I see a problem here?  Apple is doing great, why should I be bothered?  It’s not Apple that I’m really worried about, per se.  It’s us.  You and me.  Mr. and Mrs. consumer.  We are consuming these delightful little devices because they do what we want and they entertain us.  Before Apple, the market for these devices was weak.  Why?  Because no one had the right total experience to make the market go nuts.  Smartphones once were only for ubergeeks, now they are for everyone who has the money for a cell phone plan.  We demanded better, and Apple delivered.

Now why did Apple deliver?  Because Steve Jobs had a vision to deliver better.  He wanted to make something that he thought was cool and thought a lot of people would agree with him on.  He did it because he thought he could do better than what came before.  And there’s the problem.  Apple is arguably the best at what it’s doing, so good, the competition is having problems.  If Apple has no one to be better than, how does Apple improve?

The iPhone in 2007 was lightyears ahead of competition.  Blackberry was the big phone at that time, mostly because of their messaging software and strategy to go after corporate customers in large deals.  Blackberry is now on the ropes, bleeding cash, can’t release new software on time, and it’s Co-CEOs just stepped down.  Palm, a company that created the first digital assistant in the 90s, was bought by HP and eventually spun down and anything based on Palm’s technology was sold in a firesale.

The current competition is Android, a phone OS that runs on multiple handsets.  If you have a phone from HTC, Motorola, or Samsung, you are probably running Android.  Android is a pretty cool OS with a lot of nice features.  In fact, Android has a notification system which Apple partially copied to improve it’s own notification system.  Android is also known for being popular with nerds who like to tinker and configure their phone on a very detailed level.  Some Android models were very cheap or free with new contract, and are on just about all cell phone carriers worldwide.  Android expanded rapidly thanks to Google laying the groundwork, and by licensing the OS for free, farming out the manufacturing to other companies.  Really the Android effort is a partnership of multiple companies worldwide, so with so many resources available, it’s not surprising it’s rapid growth.

However, Apple has stayed the course, making adjustments as needed, cautiously but cleverly branching out into new areas so that they did their best to offer a good experience to those involved.  Where Android expanded everywhere rapidly, Apple took things one step at a time.  Android had the advantage of networks, numbers, price, and incentives.  But then what happened to Android?

First, in the US, the iPhone was only on AT&T, but then expanded to Verizon, and recently to Sprint.  In other countries, they had already expanded to the best networks, unlike in the US, where they had to use AT&T as a leg up.  Android still has the super cheap market, but recently a local carrier in Alabama got the iPhone 4S.  And to compound things, Verizon, the largest carrier in the US, said that 55% of the smartphones they sold last quarter were iPhones.  They outsold HTC, motorola, Samsung and every other Android manufacturer combined.

Second, Android’s numbers advantage dwindled.  They had multiple manufacturers, but HTC is recording losses, Motorola Mobility got bought by Google, and Samsung just got eclipsed as the #1 smartphone maker in the world… by Apple.

Third, Android was cheap or free with new contract, as I said, but the iPhone 3GS price was lowered to $0, and suddenly a whole bunch of people can now get into the iPhone experience just by paying for the service.  And this will probably continue, as Apple’s price structures have been pretty predictable.

The only advantage Android has left is incentives.  Salesreps at cell phone stores are paid incentives to push certain phones onto customers.  While this works at the fringes for someone on the fence, a lot of people don’t like pushy sales reps.  They know what they want, they’ve made up their mind.  The Apple store gives people the opportunity to relax and experience the technology with or without a rep, and the reps are trained to know what they are showing you.  I visit frequently, and the stores are always packed with people.  Incentives were never a very great advantage to begin with, and the Verizon figure helps prove that.

Okay that took a long time to set up.  Back to the point, why am I worried?  Well, Android for a few years was providing competition, but Apple systematically picked that competition apart. Android is far from done, and it might rebound.  If it doesn’t, Apple will have no competition.  It will be king of the hill, the best of breed.  And it will have no one else to compete against in this market.  Competing against other choices is what got Apple to where it is now, and without it, even Apple could slow down it’s level of creation.

I like Apple, but I like choice above all else.  I like when companies are competing for my dollars, and the more companies generally the better.  In the computing industry, we generally like standards so that all our techie devices work together simply, and business managers like to use a small set of technology in order to lower costs, but economists like choices so that one player doesn’t control everything.  I personally also like more than one player because those players can “steal” each others best ideas and get better.  The race to the top of the economic heap is unending and should never end.  When one company dominates all, they have a tendency to fix prices and sit on their laurels, or worse, use that power to get into another market and dominate that.

Now, I do want to clarify that I don’t yet think Apple is a Monopoly, legally speaking, and I don’t think Apple will start acting like an evil monopoly.  If you do, not only do you not understand what a Monopoly is, but that’s also another debate.  If you think Apple is too controlling and “evil” because of certain things an ubergeek can’t do with an iPhone, I don’t want to talk to you, that’s not what this is about.  What I am saying is I want Apple to always get better, and one way to get better is to have a measure of how much better you have to be over the competition.  If your behind, you know where you have to get to.  If you are ahead, you want to know how far you have to get to stay ahead.  If you are so far ahead, or there’s no one in the race, you relax too much.  And let’s face it, Apple’s products are not for everyone, as much as some people would say.  Android is a great alternative for some people who need to do certain things that the Apple ecosystem won’t let you do without lots of tinkering and voiding of the Apple warranty.

The last thing to say on the point is to address people who will say “well Apple will never do that!”  Really?  Never?  Probably not in the next few years, but what about the next 5? 10? 25?  I want the Apple that’s been around for the past decade to be around for much longer, and continue to push things.  I want other players to provide healthy competition.  I want Apple to be great, and I want the market to drive Apple to be great.  I don’t want Apple to be the next Microsoft.  I don’t want Apple to crush Samsung or Google.  I want to continue to have debates with an Android fans about why I like iOS over Android, and exchange ideas and make the whole world of technology better.  I refuse to simply give over my trust to any company, even Apple, without good old fashioned healthy competition.

I’m probably the only Apple fan who looked at Apple’s recent quarterly earnings announcement with a twinge of trepidation.

Debunking abuse of life affirming slogans

A lot of clever slogans have cropped up the past few decades. These slogans are primarily meant for those to help the disenfranchised, downtrodden, and depressed pull themselves up by their bootstraps and take on life.

The problem is that these slogans are now abused by underachievers, slackers, twits and doofuses not willing to do the work that it takes to live or not willing to learn how to properly deal with people. This post debunks the abuses of these slogans and tries to refine them so that abusers will realize that you will be held accountable!

“I don’t care what people think.”

It’s true, you shouldn’t care what people think. If someone thinks you are odd because you like comics or dress weird, their opinion should not matter to you. But you should care how people feel. That’s a significant difference. Don’t be an asshole! Don’t be rude! Listen to what people say and work with them. This slogan is often adopted by some people who act like jerks and think it’s okay to act like jerks, thinking people are being overly PC. What they don’t realize is that their behavior is disruptive and destructive to personal relationships. These same people will say “I don’t think I’m being a jerk” but have trouble dealing with the logic of the argument that they are. Then they get upset and get defensive and accuse you of doing the same thing you are.

“People should just accept me for me.”

This is abused by slackers who don’t perform the jobs they are asked to do or by people who don’t understand the consequences of their actions and are constantly making bad decisions that can hurt themselves or others. These people want to be accepted and hate when people deride them for their choices. For example, dating an abusive partner, drinking too much, being an absent parent, smoking heavily around children, etc. These people may think the world owes them a little something, but in fact they owe the world a little bit, like responsible behavior. It’s very hard to get through to them anything logical and repeat their behavior over and over.

The lesson here is that I accept you as a human being but your behavior is unacceptable and irresponsible. Your actions have consequences and you will face them whether you like it or not.

“I work very hard.”

Sounds simple, right?  Many people do work hard. Sometimes dumb people work hard too. But I have news for you, working hard is no substitute for working smart. And those who don’t know how to do the work often fake it, and then defend themselves not being able to do the work by acting like criticism is unfair and that they “have worked very hard.” What matters most truly are results, did you accomplish your task?  If go outside and chop down and bunch of trees, you worked hard, but if I asked you to build a computer, well you didn’t really do the job you were asked, so telling me you were working hard is completely pointless.  Now, you might say “hey I might not know how to build a computer.”  Well the only people I know who abuse the phrase “I work very hard” are people who have accepted a specific job but then don’t know how to do it.  If you have accepted the job, then you need to accomplish the job.

“I’m just speaking my mind”, “I’m not into Political Correctness”,”People need to stop taking me so personally”

Sometimes our society prides politeness over honestly… and sometimes you are a rude asshole.  This motto and variations of it are used by people who don’t have a proper filter between their brain and their mouth.  The problem with people who speak their mind too much is they don’t think about what they are saying.  On one hand, I agree that people spend way too much time on how people are saying things than what they are actually saying, and things of value get lost.  On the other hand, some people use this as an excuse to talk about weird or stupid stereotypes that piss them off for no good reason.  You may think you are being a Maverick by being “un-PC” in your quest for the truth, but just remember this excuse is the same one that is used by Neo-Nazi’s and skinheads to justify their bigotry, as if racial equality is just a “Politically correct fad” or something.  The secret here is to think if what you are saying makes sense before saying it, not just spouting an opinion and removing all doubt that your a moron.

“I can’t do anything without being criticized!”

Personally, I feel my mother criticizes me a lot.  I know she does it out of love and the urge to drive me to be a better person.  But I also know that’s our dynamic, and I can take criticism.  I can also produce good results when I need to.  Some people can’t.  Some people make bad decision after bad decision.  Stop making decisions based on bad emotions!  There are people that just think “This is what I want” and attempt to do it.  Everyone around them tells them why it’s a bad idea, but they dig in their heels and insist on doing it, and it blows up in their face.  And they never learn.  Sometimes people criticize constantly because it’s in their nature, and some people belong to cliques and the clique pushes them to do things not because it’s right but because it’s what the clique wants.  And some people just deserve criticism but can’t take it and can’t fix their bad behavior.

Slogans are useful to give a simple philosophy but as with everything, they can be twisted and abused.  These are “justifying” slogans, which justify what you’ve done after the fact.  They are oversimplistic and bad.  Good slogans are one that helps you think about how you should be doing something before you do it, like “Always look to improve yourself in some way” or “listen first, then think, then talk.”  Slogans like these above are for the lazy who don’t want to beyond their own bad behavior for a better way.

Incompetance sucks

“Ignorance is bliss… until you are asked to do some work.”

-Me

I respect the idea that not everyone knows everything. I respect that many people may seem ignorant of one subject but are geniuses in another field. I also feel that just because a banker gets paid more than a homemaker, that this doesn’t make the homemaker stupid, because that homemaker could be very smart in keeping house and running a family.

What absolutely drives me up a wall is when someone interviews for a job, gets a job, and when they sit down to do the job, have abso-fucking-lutely no idea what they are doing. I believe most everyone has some kind of ability to do a job at least decently, but not everyone is good at everything, so why are you doing this job?

Many of my friends and family do not know how to configure a computer or troubleshoot problems. That’s okay, these people aren’t stupid, they just don’t know computers like me. What drives me nuts are the people who run IT departments in companies, or are accountants trying to do accounting, who don’t understand their own jobs!

If the average person doesn’t understand what USB is, that’s okay, that’s not important to your job or your life and such a person should be given help as needed. If you are in IT and you don’t know what USB is, how to use it, or how to troubleshoot it properly, you need to learn incredibly fast or you need to find another job.

“Stupidity” is a relative term and there’s really no level of knowledge that one could say one is smart or stupid. However, incompetance is real and measurable… and it sucks when you have to deal with incompetent people day in and day out.