I feel like lately Apple has sidestepped a lot of the “normal” ways of implementing cloud services in a way that might make them look naive, but is actually very subtle.
The main example is iMessage. People have been looking for the next thing to replace email for a while. Companies like Facebook, Groupme etc are all on the case, trying to get people to alter their behavior. Meanwhile SMS is still what most younger people use, despite its ridiculous costs. Apple steps in and makes the service that should always be free, actually be free, and normal people don’t even notice. This is a huge deal though, and could allow apple to innovate on this in ways that no one is expecting, just because they mimic the previous behavior of SMS so well. It’s not SMS though, so anything is possible, iMessage API, app store integration…
The other example is iTunes Match. I didn’t think I would use this much, because I’m happy with the amount of music i can sync on my iOS devices. What I didn’t appreciate was that it completely abstracts the idea of syncing and managing music. Everything you have is simply everywhere. Not only all your songs, but the playlists, playcounts, ratings, everything. This is a big deal, since you also still have your files. In my opinion this is better than Spotify/rdio streaming options. You can stream if you need to, but usually you don’t have to. Again, offering all the benefits and more of traditional cloud offerings without making people do things in ways they don’t want to.
I love the idea of an open market, but when I think about why Apple is in a position to do this sort of thing, I can’t help but think it’s because they completely own the platform. This is somewhat troubling, as I don’t think Facebook could make something so usable on iOS, but I think the main message is more important.
Just because Apple isn’t making websites and things that look like traditional “cloud” offerings doesn’t mean they aren’t sidestepping the whole thing. A smart company with a ton of advantages in hardware and software might end up making services that look different than a 5 person startup, yet address the same needs.
That’s maybe my biggest problem with Google. They release something, and I no longer have any faith that it’s going to be any good. It’s hard to get excited about a company like that. It’s the same reason why it’s hard to get excited when Microsoft and Yahoo release new things. The track record just isn’t there any more. The faith is gone.
The announcement that Nexus One users won’t be getting upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich led some to justifiably question Google’s support of their devices. I look at it a little differently: Nexus One owners are lucky. I’ve been researching the history of OS updates on Android phones…
Put another way, “Your phone is for talking to people on the other side, it’s not a computer.”
I don’t think this is a plan for the future.
Steve Jobs died today. I’m really surprisingly sad. My first computer was a mac 512k. I remember being so excited coming home to use it. Connecting to the internet on macs later. Being an “apple person” was something I associated with myself.
It’s been so long, but I can still remember how the power switch felt, unseen, how it sounded turning on, and the world it opened to me.
The internet is everywhere now, and computers are in our pockets. But the magic is there too, and I thank Steve Jobs for a lot of that.
Horace Dediu’s analysis is some of the smartest, most interesting online.
Without a doubt, my favorite image of Steve Jobs.
another awesome chart from Asymco!
