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Blog Post: Get Your iPhone Jabs In Now

It’s still about a month away from the rumored iPhone (and other Apple product releases) announcement on September 10, and people are already ramping up their negative comments about it. We’re at the point where no matter what is announced, it won’t be good enough.

This article form The Next Web does it’s best to keep from spilling any condescension all over the story, although I’m sure a separate opinion piece by an expert will do so.

I’ve heard it already in a podcast and two other Internet posts: it’s not going to be revolutionary, but an iteration. It’s predecessor wasn’t that great either so don’t get your hopes up. Even the camera hardware and software, which were once thought unparalleled in the market, is being trashed by recent competitors.

Frankly, I don’t have any skin in the game other than the fact that my whole family uses Apple products. I would sure love it if Cupertino shut everyone up, but it won’t upset my day if the event is a dud. I am invested in the ecosystem and I don’t have any reason to change at the moment.

Which, of course, is the only thing that matters right now to many customers. If we are in the market for a phone right now, chances are it’s not our first. We probably bought an Android or iOS device already, and don’t want to have to pay for the apps and songs again. So, we’ll keep buying whatever we have for now.

I think Apple product work together very well, and there isn’t a single Windows machine in my house. When a company that provides software or media services would be worth the shift, my wife and I won’t have a problem. It won’t come from Microsoft for sure at this rate, and the other products are in the same boat. 

When you read comments from these cynics, just remember that they change their mind all the time and anyone who writes about this stuff is wrong a lot. If you want a new Apple product, September 10 will be a great day. If not, the announcements coming a week earlier will probably be of interest.

I’ll just be patient and remember that my experience holding the device is what matters, not someone else telling me what does.

Blog Post: Get Your iPhone Jabs In Now

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Blog Post: How Concerned Should Apple Be Over iPad Market Share?

This time last year, Apple’s share of the tablet market was still in a dominant position. Even though Android was technically higher in terms of tablet OS use — 51% to 47%, respectively — the split of Google’s platform among all the OEMs can help make iOS more appealing to developers.

Unfortunately, a lack of innovation and release of new products has changed that argument tremendously.

With a 14% decline in iPad shipments this past quarter, Apple now only owns 28% of the share of the tablet market.

2012 vs. 2013 Market Share

Many are pointing to the lack of a new version of both the 10-inch and 7-inch iPads as the main reason for such a steep decrease in sales. With more recent releases from Samsung and Google, in addition to the Windows offerings, the competition has more than caught up to Cupertino.

Earlier this year, I read projections by many industry experts reporting that Apple’s lead in the tablet market will remain for much longer. Of course, those reports weren’t counting on Apple standing pat for this long. Some are now opining there won’t be an update to the iPad Mini in 2013 period.

That sound you hear is the continued drop in Apple’s stock price.

I still have hope in the fall announcement that Tim Cook promises will be ground-breaking. Who knows what it will include, but if it’s anything like last September’s it should be a doozy.

One could argue that it may not be enough, in time. We shall see.

Blog Post: How Concerned Should Apple Be Over iPad Market Share?

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Blog Post: #Apps of All Kinds

Sometimes I am jealous of all the mobile conferences that happen globally. If I had a choice, there would be a designated amount of time where my company allowed employees time for exchange of ideas and networking. Unfortunately, there’s work that needs to be done. So I’m left with reading great recaps like this piece from Venture Beat.

As usual, companies are a little reluctant to throw all their eggs into one basket. With the mobile industry still so new, it can be difficult to make product decisions based on what could be considered a “fad”.

The senior VP of Salesforce concluded that in the future, more and more work will be done on mobile devices. For now, though, it’s impossible to employ a mobile-first strategy. Reading the tea leaves, many decision makers (even at my company) believe too much work is done on traditional computing devices to warrant a change in product road maps.

Problem being, it’s not going to be that way for much longer. Companies that want to innovate should be making the changes to their planning now if they want to beat the rush.

I have tried something the last couple of months at work, with some degree of success. Instead of carting my bulky laptop everywhere to monitor email and instant message queues I have been taking my iPhone. Strangely enough, I get just as much done and my interactions are limited just because I don’t want to be on my phone too much during meetings.

Of course, documentation still has to be written. For that, I need my bigger screens and a keyboard. That, of course, could be remedied with an iPad and Bluetooth keyboard.

Mobile devices are not just for consuming content. These powerful devices are just as capable of creating the content, and I need apps to help me do so.

Blog Post: #Apps of All Kinds

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Blog Post: Why iTunes Radio Might Rule Streaming Music Soon

Today’s link brings some very interesting points in regards to how valuable iTunes Radio might be when iOS7 hits devices this fall. The Guardian’s Charles Arthur argues that the rate Apple is going to pay could potentially make the service very attractive to record labels.

It’s no secret record labels love and hate the team in Cupertino because of how iTunes affected music sales, but the viability of free streaming music gets harder to make money off of every year. That’s where the cash Apple has on hand comes in handy:

What the other streaming services have discovered repeatedly is that it’s hard to make such a service profitable, because the music costs don’t fall as they grow – in web terms, it doesn’t “scale”. Thus Spotify has put a 10-hours-per-month ceiling on free listening, and Pandora blocks people outside the US from listening.

So, while labels have been publicly supporting Spotify for some time, it will be difficult for labels to not throw their good stuff to Apple when they pay 10 times more.

Add to it the easy integration with iTunes to purchase what you are buying, and this looks to be an easy win for iOS. It’s crazy to think that the announcement was merely a footnote in the WWDC keynote presentation.

Blog Post: Why iTunes Radio Might Rule Streaming Music Soon

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Blog Post: Google Makes It Rain Rejections

I love this article, mainly because it proves something Apple fans have been saying for years. While it is nice to have a big open field to play in, you can’t be upset when the local weirdos come over to throw the frisbee.

It’s been all over the news today, but a ton of apps have left the Google Play store. I don’t want to gloss over the fact that not all were at the behest of Google, most of them were.

Now that services such as Applause can actually quantify that the quality of apps are higher for iOS, looks like the Android owner decided to do something about it.

I have actually come to appreciate some of the perks associated with Android lately. When most of your team walks around carrying HTCs and Samsungs you start to ask why. The argument against the platform is niche, and can seem a bit elitist. I’ll admit it. When over 60k apps get booted because of spam or quality, however, the argument becomes germane again.

Blog Post: Google Makes It Rain Rejections

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