Posts by Mark .

Re: A flawed statistic - but amazing Apple can't even claim the one stat that's biased towards them

I'm not sure that being a clear number is useful, if we're agreed that it doesn't show anything useful. I mean, "Company that sells most phones starting with a lowercase letter" is pretty well defined, but it doesn't show anything useful.

And the problem is that the media aren't just noting this as passing trivia, they are parading this as being important - as justification for why Apple should be treated as the best. Indeed just look at this headline - it's not "Best Selling Single Device", it's "world's favourite smartphone". The media aren't leaving the interpretation open to the readers at all, they're concluding it makes Apple the winner, and the iphone (which is a platform, not an individual phone) the best.

(Not that I mind praising the S3 - the fact that Samsung win best selling company, and Android wins most popular platform, means that for once the stat is in agreement. But most the time this stat is biased towards Apple.)

Re: Samsung? No surprise!

Well, if we're including Apple's other phones, then sure - Samsung also sold around an extra *38 million* Android phones, as well as several 10s of millions of phones running other operating systems on top of that.

It's pretty normal for phones to have initial short periods of exclusivity - I've not seen any evidence that it's a permanent exclusivity (which would indeed seem pretty stupid - ideally manufacturers should want phones on as many networks as possible, and only grant short term exclusivity deals to get that network to publicise it hard in that period).

Clicking on a grid of icons, and only running one application at once - how 80's. What next, releasing something with the functionality of a mobile phone the size of a huge brick, and calling it progress?

Re: Pathetic..

"the thing is near identical to look at"

Pro-tip: You can always tell the Apple products, by the big tacky Apple logos they plaster all over their products. (The only thing that would make them more tacky is if they lit up.)

Re: Any one else going to use these?

They don't use "retina" as that's an Apple trademark. It would be like asking why Apple don't have PureView. But many of them do use high resolution displays, with many manufacturers offering devices with higher resolution than Apple's "retina" display. My Galaxy Nexus beats an iphone 5 resolution, and the Nexus 10 beats an ipad 4 - both at much cheaper prices.

Even in a professional context, it's a big problem. Are you going to replace all your machines with Apple PCs? Or have them have to go and use a separate Apple PC, rather than the one on the desk? Or have everyone with two computers, taking up more desk space? As for "hackintosh", I don't believe that would be legal, and not advisable for professional use.

What if I'm a professional but independent/contract worker? Same problems as for the indie/casual developers. And it's not just about cost. It's convenient to develop on what's your main machine, rather than having to switch to a separate one. And what if I'm travelling? There are two problems here. Firstly, I prefer to have both a non-mobile machine (e.g., desktop, or large laptop) and a mobile machine (ultra-portable, laptop etc), to get the best of both worlds. So firstly to replicate that, I need to buy not one but two Apple computers. Secondly, if I'm going away, rather than taking just one machine, I've got to take two - or either not be able to do development, or switch to using the Apple laptop entirely.

Extra machines are also extra ongoing hassle in terms of admininstration, upgrading, etc.

No, the idea that IOS has easy development is yet another myth. I do fine with Android, as well as Symbian come to that.

And the idea of having to share an account to get by is laughable - no thanks, I'd rather have complete control over my own account.

Re: Proper graphs please!

Indeed - the media have been following this fallacy for years, praising iphone since 2007 for large relative growth, and doomongering Symbian for lower growth, or worse, looking at change of market share (which is also meaningless in a growing market). The reality was that from 2007-2011, Symbian was (a) number one, (b) growing, and (c) often growing at a faster rate (in absolute numbers) than iphone. Symbian remained number one until Android overtook it in 2011, and sales didn't really decline until the WP switchover.

Strangely, they don't follow these rules most of the time when it comes to ipads - we should hear doom and gloom about its falling market share, but now the media seem to focus on absolute sales, because now that favours Apple, rather than companies like Nokia...

Re: Microsoft have been clever

Correction, Android vastly outsells IOS on mobile devices, Apple only lead on the niche of 10" tablet devices. And they only did that because of the vast amounts of free hype and advertising they got from the media even before it was announced, as well as vast support from shops, whilst Android devices have been largely ignored until recently. Hardly surprising really...

WP is still doing better than iphone in its early years. Surface however is far closer to Windows desktop, not WP - unlike ifads, it's not an oversized phone, but an actual computer.

As for your equation, well that's Apple all over - they make money by selling high profit overpriced devices to a niche. "Millions" may seem a high number, but it's ordinary for a multinational, and nothing compared to high selling products (e.g., the hundreds of millions of mobile devices that Nokia and Samsung sell a year).

Same as Apple

Of course to anyone with any sense, profitability is not a good point for everyone except the shareholders. It's proof that the product is overpriced, selling cheap components at high prices, as opposed to products with low or zero profit, where you get all of what you pay for, and any savings are passed onto the consumer.

But, this story is still important, as it's what Apple fans (including the media) have been praising Apple for. If they love Apple products for having high profit margins, they must love the Surface even more. There is no logical rational position that praises ipads and iphones, and criticises the Surface (though you can be sure the up-Apple's-arse media will try).

Re: Operating system

Erm, an ipad mini doesn't have GPS. I'm not sure which doesn't have access to an app store (or what "proper" means)?

And all of them make the OS update available when it's ready - the reason that this isn't the same day as when the vanilla Android becomes available is because they don't run vanilla Android. E.g., I've seen JB on the S3, and lots of the new things are new things in TouchWiz, nothing to do with what's on my Galaxy Nexus.

This has zero relevance to IOS (or, I could just as well say that ipads are rubbish, because you don't get the OS release on the same day as the Nexus - it makes just as much sense). Plus with Android you get choice - if you want to run vanilla Android, get a Nexus and stop whining. You won't get vanilla Android with an ipad - and if you don't want vanilla Android, it doesn't matter.

OS updates would only be an issue if manufacturer OSs were delayed such that you got new features after they were available on Apple. But (a) as I say, this time is taken to add the additional features on top of Android, and (b) it seems it's Apple users who have to wait months/years to get basic features like maps, multitasking, copy/paste, apps, after everyone else anyway.

Re: Jesus..

To be fair to the Register, I think they are trying to give awareness to tablets that most the media prefer to ignore.

But yes, I do hate the way that most of the media either cover nothing but Apple, or when they do, it's always presented as an "i-whatever competitor". It's got nothing to do with who's top dog or who sells the most. The ipad got vast amounts of media coverage even before it was announced (remember istale?) so had nothing to do with sales or specs. And the iphone platform has never led in hardware specs, OS features, or sales, yet has had nothing but vast amounts of media coverage, whilst leaders Symbian then Android (or by company, Nokia then Samsung) remain largely ignored.

Indeed, pixel *density* is completely meaningless. Since density is (pixels / area), it favours devices for having a smaller display. But on my Galaxy Nexus, I like my large display. If someone took my phone, made it smaller, then the PPI would go up. But hang on, you've just made it smaller! That's not what I want.

In fact, you could take the device, reduce the resolution and make it smaller, but such that the PPI was higher, and claim that therefore it's better. But hang on, you've now reduced both the resolution *and* display size!

If anything, we should be looking at (pixels * area). Or better yet, just record them as separate specs.

Density is useful when comparing entirely different classes of devices - e.g., I wouldn't necessarily expect as high a resolution on a small device compared to a large device. It also might be a reason not to criticise a smaller device - e.g., if a smaller device has lower resolution, but the same density, you could argue that that's only that it's a smaller device, rather than having two things wrong with it. But it is absurd for anyone to claim that the smaller device is *better* simply because the density is higher.

This is the only statistic that Apple claim to lead on, and it's a meaningless one. And as you say, they've been well and truely outdone at their own game - with many phones and 7" devices having higher resolutions and densities than Apple. And now the Nexus 10 completely outdoes Apple's 10" tablet.

I think the reason people complain is not so much that PPI is an issue, but that it is judging it by Apple's own standard. And if you don't care about PPI, then there are zero reasons to get it - especially when it's also priced £100 more than the competition!

(I just wish we'd see higher than 1024x600 on netbooks - resolution is much more important on these devices, than it is on oversized phones.)

Re: 15%

"Couple of years ago android phones were portrayed as cheap and underpowered ... hasn't taken long for them to catch up and perhaps in some areas overtake iPhone."

They were portrayed that way, but it was always a myth - the iphone had to play catch up for years to other platforms (3G, copy/paste, maps, even apps!) If Android was ever behind, this could only have been in the very early days - when other platforms (like Symbian) were way ahead of iphone anyway.

Re: 15%

Indeed, Apple do make money by selling overpriced products to a small niche. Not something that the rest of us should be praising.

It's the textbook Apple response to a lacking feature: "It's better not to have it!"

Yet when they do finally add the feature, you'll be first in line saying how revolutionary Apple are to have such a feature, that they'll be pushing as their flagship feature...

Re: Silly question

That fall that still leaves them as number two, second only to Samsung, and way outselling Apple...

Re: Silly question

You'd want to compare by platform, not manufacturer. Consider, I have the Galaxy Nexus, and with the amazing Nexus 4 announcement, I may stick with a Nexus phone when I upgrade. But hang on, the Nexus phones are now made by LG - so you're saying I'm disloyal, even though I've stuck with the Google Nexus phones?

More generally, the problem with comparing loyalty is that it simply punishes companies that are similar. Consider if 90% of people like companies A and B, but switch evenly between A and B. Meanwhile, company C has 10% share, who are loyal to them.

So companies A and B have loyalty 50%, whilst C has 100%. But it is ludicrous to imply that C is more popular! It isn't, by far. Nor does it mean that C will become more popular - in my example, all three companies are stable.

Consider a modification: C now has 90% loyalty, with 10% moving evenly to A or B. So now, A and B will rise in popularity, whilst C is falling, despite it having higher loyalty!

So that's why even a seemingly high figure of 75% is devastating for the iphone platform. Looking at the loyalty of other companies doesn't tell us the full picture, as changes there may just be people shifting between different Android manufacturers.

Re: I think Apple's glory days may be over unless...

"iOS is still light years ahead in UI experience"

Did you finally get copy/paste?

"Maybe the future is no smartphone and we allow a small device to connect to the mobile network and then refeed the audio through 7" tablets/bluetooth?"

I fit that 7" device in my pocket how?

Re: I think Apple's glory days may be over unless...

The original iphone was not a must have product - sales were poor, the entire platform sold less than one single symbian model from Nokia. It was only since iphone 4 that sales have risen to be reasonable (though still way behind Android, and 3rd place behind Samsung and Nokia).

The ipad was never a must have product. Most people don't have one. It's just that it got vast amounts of free advertising from the media, even before it was announced.

The glory days have more been in the way that the vocal minority and the media have given them so much hype - and I agree, it is looking increasingly laughable as other platforms move so far in front of them, in both performance and sales.

Re: Empires Rise...

"their customer service is second to non"

Yeah right, you only have to sue them to get service: http://forums.reghardware.com/post/1566157

Re: And how does it compare to other brands?

Given the overwhelming and increasing success of Android, I'd say Android would win on any loyalty survey.

And scoff at Blackberry all you like, but they outsold Apple for years, and it's still unclear if Apple have caught up to their numbers. Blackberry were selling smartphones years before Apple's iphone was still a dumb phone that couldn't even do apps.

Re: Bought one yesterday after the price-drop

Nokia once had over 50% of smartphones, but were you or the media mentioning that when Apple's iphone sales were abysmally low, as they were for years? No, all we heard was Apple hype. So let's now hear it for the massive growth of the Google Nexus tablets.

Having over 50% of "10" non-phone tablets" isn't really a useful stat, you might as well say Apple have 100% share of ipads. When we look at mobile devices as a whole, Android still dominates.

Re: Bought one yesterday after the price-drop

Newsflash - most people don't have an ipad. Most people's tablets are their smartphones, most of which run Android.

If non-phone or larger tablets become more than a niche market, it won't be because of Apple. After all, if most people wanted an ipad, why don't they already have one? No, either they don't want a tablet, or they are waiting for something different.

Re: That Death Star thing..

Also remember that Apple have had 3 years of growth, compared to the Nexus 7 only just appearing. It was years before Apple's ipad sales grew to anything non-trivial. Whilst Apple will stagnate, Android will soon shoot way ahead - as it already has dominated on phone tablets.

Not to mention that Apple gets vast amounts of free media advertising (which it got even from before it was announced), whilst Android tablets are virtually ignored. Once coverage of Android increases, Apple will become even more an irrelevance.

These sales don't include the new Nexus 10 - specs way better than an ipad, at £80 less.

Re: Confused

Yeah, wake me up when your ipad finally has copy/paste and maps that actually work.

Now I like Android myself, but the arguments against Windows as a whole being doomed make no sense. If it's true that the Windows tablets are doomed because people like their PCs to stay as PCs, then so what - sure, the Windows tablets are doomed, but MS will carry on selling Windows on those PCs that people still buy, and ipads will stay a niche fad.

OTOH, if tablets are the future, then it's not true that Windows tablets are doomed - even if they don't retain their 90% share, MS will still continue to grow in sales. Apple manage to get lots of love even when their share is often a pathetic 10%.

Personally I'm not giving up my keyboard anytime soon, but that also means I'm going to continue buying PCs, not oversized feature phones.

Unless you're suggestion that both Windows is doomed because people don't like touchscreens, but also everyone will throw away their devices for touchscreen-*only* devices. That are far more locked down than MS. Then, I just know you're an Apple shill.

Re: Both products are a big fail.

Well you might use one for that, but it's still nothing that hasn't been done before by devices (most obviously by actual mixers). Also sad to hear software only being produced for the minority of Apple users - we hear Apple uses whining when companies "only" support the 90% of Windows users, but now it's okay to only support the minority with an ipad? I find this sad.

Re: Build Quality??

Noted. If I want a tablet to act as a door stop, or prop up a broken table, the ipad is the one for the job.

Re: Build Quality??

But the issue was "build quality", not performance - are you suggesting that some CPUs just fall apart or something? But Apple's don't because of the "design"? If you're talking performance, then that's a spec that can be measured. And that's precisely the thing that the Apple fans here are claiming shouldn't be used to compare - it's not about performance, they say, it's all about "build quality".

Really, I'm with the OP - what is "build quality"? We're talking phones, not furniture. It reeks of "let's make up a random hard to measure stat, and just assert Apple are the best" tactic that Apple fans love to play.

Most of the design is by ARM, btw.

Re: Sorry, the Apple products aren't yet "the same as everyone else's".

I don't know what Amazon have done to Android, but if they've really botched it, just get a Nexus 7 or Nexus 10. Better specs and lower prices than equivalents from Apple, and the user experience is just as good if not better (finally get copy/paste, did you? How are those maps looking?)

"Remember when the iPod first came out, and all the reviewers said it would fail because on technical, point-by-point features"

No, all I remember is wall-to-wall media hype and free advertising, just like every Apple product gets before its released, whilst other better alternatives are ignored. The media don't claim Apple will ever fail - that's reserved for products like Symbian, Android, Windows (all of which have gone on to sell far more than Apple's platforms).

Plus comparing on specs is all Apple and its fans do these days - remember PPI and "Retina"? Oh wait - it's okay to compare on a meaningless spec and parade it as the single most important thing ever when it's Apple that it benefits (same with multitouch), but when they're outdone on the very thing they said was important, you suddenly retreat to this wishy-washy argument of "well specs don't matter, it's better because of this magical reason that I can't explain why".

No, competing products do just fine on user experience.

Re: How big is the model in the photo?

Good point - particularly ridiculous when we consider that Apple's marketing for the iphone 4SS, and the claim by Apple fans, is that it's just right to hold one handed. So 4" is just right for everyone to hold one handed - and so is 8"?!