The Macalope will submit to you, his winsome and devil-may-care readers, that there is nothing—nothing!—funnier than being lectured by an overly-earnest open-source enthusiast.
Apple needs to learn from Android for iPad 3
Yes. It certainly couldn’t be more obvious that Apple needs to learn from Android about how to make tablets.
The news that record numbers of iPhone and iPad jailbreaks are now happening (one million in three days) should tell Cook’s crew all they need to know about user trends: iConsumers want more freedom with their Apple gadgets and are starting to look longingly at their Android counterparts more frequently.
Or it could be that Apple’s just selling a mess more iPhones than ever and people want to be able to use them on networks they’re still not available on.
But it’s probably open ponies. We all know how everyone loves rooting phones so they can satisfy those obscure user scenarios that can’t be met by a stock iPhone populated with the apps in the App Store.
That’s not to say that Apple’s got it all wrong up to now…
Oh, well, that’s very magnanimous of you.
But smartphone users are moving from buying the iPhone as the de facto gadget to purchase if you’re looking to move into the world of apps to more discerning handset owners – the rise and rise of Android sales is testament to that, and searches for ways to customise the experience on a new smartphone is hitting an all time high.
Whew, you picked a pretty bad time to make that argument, as this past quarter Apple sold more iOS-based devices than all Android devices combined and the iPhone even tied Android in total U.S. sales last quarter.
Total control over the user experience has absolutely been the right idea up until now – but that’s not going to last forever.
Just how good do Apple’s numbers have to get and how not-open does Android have to get before open-source enthusiasts stop thinking they have something to lecture Apple about? It was already silly, now it’s just stupid.
[Editors’ Note: In addition to being a mythical beast, the Macalope is not an employee of Macworld. As a result, the Macalope is always free to criticize any media organization. Even ours.]