On 9th January 2007 Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. On November 5, 2007 the unveiling of the Android distribution was announced. Apple currently delivers a unified mobile OS for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch for their users, whereas Google has two Android tracks: one for tablets and one for smartphones. But, Ice Cream Sandwich is the name of the next generation Android operating system, and is Google’s most ambitious effort in the mobile world to date. It's been a neck and neck fight since the beginning, but the competition between Apple, Google, and Microsoft is about to heat up even more.
Looking at the facts and company's philosophys though, you can see the vital defining differences between Apple & Google...
Apple's Philosophy
- closed devices
- walled garden of apps
- complete control over platform, content and user
Google's Philosophy
- open and free platform
- open garden of apps
- no control over platform, content and user
Preferences of users is one of the most dominating aspects of this war in mobile computing, because the users are the ones to really determine the outcomes. But the questions are: do you feel comfortable leaving the software and content decisions for the company to sort through, so they can perfect, polish and present it to you? Or do you want to be rained with bugged content and software, with no real idea where/what the good stuff is? Are you prepared to make decisions you know nothing about?
According to Galen Gruman's comparison article from infoworld, "There's no question which is the better mobile OS: iOS 5 beats both Android systems in almost every category. iOS 5 has significantly widened the lead in several areas, including applications, Web and Internet, and user interface."
In the overall scheme of things, it is completely up to the users preferences when it comes to mobile computing, but I think i'm just gonna leave it to the experts... *cough thanks Apple!* Let me know what side you are on in your comments. Thanks for reading!
Online sources
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2011/10/17/google-goes-after-apple-with-ice-cream-sandwich/
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/mobile-deathmatch-apple-ios-5-vs-google-android-os-169752?page=0,5
http://au.askmen.com/entertainment/guy_gear_200/234_iphone-vs-google-services.html
