Apple has over 1-billion customers. Google’s Android devices number over 2-billion so how is it that Apple keeps giving Android smartphone makers a big headache? Catching up to a moving target is not easy.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once quoted from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” In other words, Apple keeps moving forward while competitors skate to where Apple was.
Changing Gears
Think about the smartphone industry before Jobs introduced the original iPhone in 2007. Those so-called smart phones were not so smart. They were a pain in the patootie to use; every keyboard and screen was different, and no two models worked the same way. It was a train wreck industry. Apple’s iPhone changed the industry and that gave Android its first headache.
Andy Rubin, once an Apple employee, started a smartphone company called Android which later was purchased by Google. When the iPhone was introduced Android looked much like BlackBerry back in the day.
The iPhone in 2007 represented the puck’s then current location. Everything else– Treo, BlackBerry, Windows, and Android– represented where the puck once was. After seeing the iPhone’s introduction, Google’s team started over on Android.
Almost two years later, long after Apple released iPhone 3G and was about to launch iPhone 3GS, Android’s first new generation iPhone hit the market. Look familiar?
Ever the copycat, Android’s early OS modeled iPhone but never skated to where the puck was going to be. Yes, Google bolted on hundreds of features in a vain attempt to differentiate Android OS from Apple’s ever changing iOS, but changes in both Android software and hardware have always been iterative, not disruptive, and not representative of where the puck would be in the future.
Along the road, Apple introduced Siri, launched Retina displays, and developed a fingerprint sensor that actually worked, all while Android, Samsung, and other copycats flailed about with bolted on differentiation that did little to move the industry forward. OLED displays? They were mostly crummy until an Apple-designed OLED arrived on iPhone X. Fingerprint scanners? Again, they didn’t work well and didn’t get used often until Apple’s Touch ID.
Guess which of these two smartphones point the way to the future?
Uh huh. We’ll all be using a stylus in a few years.
Likewise, facial recognition has been around for years but nobody used them because they didn’t work well. Read the reviews about Face ID on iPhone X. Apple keeps moving to where the puck will be while Google’s Android and Samsung duopoly keep skating to where the puck once was.
Apple’s iterative innovation works well with the company’s tradition of disruptive innovation. Touch ID-like fingerprint sensors are common on Android phones these days, but if you want to see Android’s future, look at iPhone X. It may take a few years but Android will catch up to where Apple’s puck once was.
Alex says
Monday, November 13, 2017 at 10:25 PMI couldn’t agree more. I’ve been preaching the same exact points for years. There’s only one thing that Samsung pushed the envelope but it has only been a way to gain customers and maintain loyal fans and that’s Samsung Pay which gives you points and rewards with your purchases. But again, is to gain and maintain. Every time I have converted android users to Apple, whether be friends or family, they never go back to Android and express how Android Gabe then such big headaches.
Eno says
Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at 12:57 AMI think this is a horribly biased article. Apple has been busy copying software and hardware features that have been in Android for literally years.
iggy pence says
Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at 2:20 AMDid you RTFA? Biased? Android is a clone copy of iOS. That’s fact, add on features notwithstanding.
Android devices did not have and do not make major envelope-pushing advancements. Apple does. See the list, read ‘em and weep.
Giovanni says
Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at 6:03 AMAre you serious? Samsung screens have and still are the absolute best on the market; so good that Apple used them for their “revolutionary” iPhone X. Bezeless screen wasn’t copied from android? How about no physical home button….not from android? Notification drop down? Quick toggles? Wireless charging? Fast/ rapid/ quick charge? Should I go on?
Casey says
Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at 8:05 AMYou could go on but don’t, please. Trolls are not allowed here except for entertainment.
Here’s the deal. The ‘Samsung’ manufactured screen in iPhone X is an Apple-designed screen. Every review of significance puts it as the best OLED display. Period. Stop arguing that point and give it a rest.
What you’re doing is typical of Samsung trolls specifically and Android trolls in general. You stack up a list of Android features that have been bolted onto various phones; almost none of which work very well or get used much, and the yell out ‘WE’RE FIRST’ as if first means much.
Remember EVERYTHING Android started with iPhone in 2007.
You need to understand the argument. Mac vs. Windows is an invalid argument. Android vs. iPhone is an invalid argument. Android and Windows are operating systems. The Mac is a personal computer. iPhone is a smartphone.
Android is an ‘operating system.’ It may be popular for the great masses of unwashed and mostly illiterate smartphone users, and the tool of choice for online trolls, but that’s as classy as you get.
John Chong says
Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at 6:51 AMAgreed 100%.
Applefanboy here says
Wednesday, November 22, 2017 at 6:30 PMGiovanni. Sheesh all of your arguments are so funny. Apple copied that to samsung? Bezeless screen is apple’s idea samsung knows that they’re going to use that on they’re upcoming iphone that’s why samsung copied it before apple launch they’re products. Do you know why samsung always launching their products before apple? So people like you and android fan boys LIKE YOU will think that its androids ideas and apple just copied it. What do you think happened to samsung note 7? They’re rushed on launching it, then the rest is history haha.