Consequently,
there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any
being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself, under
the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance
of surviving, and thus be naturally selected – Charles Darwin
When the original iPhone debuted in 2007 it changed everything. I think it’s safe to say that its introduction was the first truly revolutionary smartphone device. However, despite how every manufacturer and their dog now likes the throw the R word around (Apple themselves more guilty than most), it seems the original iPhone was also the last of its kind.
By the time the iPhone 4 came around, Apple had a firm grip on not only the fiscal market but also the imagination and adoration of countless tech enthusiasts and status seeking hipsters. It was delivering a product that each time came with a promise of striking design and unparalleled functionality. It was delivering something that worked and worked well and for a time it was exciting. The company isolated itself from the competition; subconsciously reassuring consumers that its products were a treat for the elite and that they themselves stood separate from those other manufacturers who scrabbled and clawed in the dirt for scraps of the market that Apple would no doubt in time convert.
This was their position and it seemed to be working wondrously. However it seems their hubris led the Cupertino conglomerate to become almost stagnant in their quest for perfecting the human/computer interface and even after the reveal of the iPhone 4’s incredible design and screen technology, they could surely hear the footsteps of strange little green robots all about them.
These little green robots, these “Androids” were nothing more than a nuisance, surely. How could they hope to compete with the mighty Apple in the arena that they had renovated to such a degree they would claim to have built it from scratch? Impossible? Improbable?
This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. – Herbert Spencer
But the little green robots were growing, and they were learning and they were doing this at an alarming rate. Soon enough Apple would find themselves surrounded by their enemies and standing on the other side of a line they themselves had drawn. The Androids were quick to understand and adapt, to learn from their mistakes (and there were many.) They were able to do this so quickly and so forcefully because within their overpopulated fraternity there was something that Apple had always lacked, there was competition.
This healthy competition between manufactures led to opportunities to expand and explore. Maybe phones could have bigger screens? Maybe they could have faster processors? Maybe game pads, styluses, widgets and more? There was nothing to stay their imagination for they had to do something different, something drastic to simply survive. Still however, even with their enemies at the gate, Apple were not so easily frightened. But they were roused.
In their minds at least they still confidently believed that they were the best and not even a robot with a sweet tooth could alter that paradigm. Apple became angry, petulant almost and thought that if they couldn’t punish the Android’s seemingly mechanical approach to imagination, they would punish their perceived inspiration. How dare the little green men enter the arena and attempt to compete with the mighty Apple. There was a line and it wasn’t to be crossed so easily. In an attempt to keep the segregation alive, Apple took the Androids before a judge and cried ‘plagiarism.’ It’s a move that although not entirely unfounded has corrupted the market to this day with the consumer becoming collateral damage that is all too easily accepted. However fight as they might, it was too late. The Android movement was no longer mere rebel skirmishes. It had become an all-out civil war.
Google introduced two incredible weapons in quick succession; Ice Cream Sandwich and later, Jellybean. Their OS had evolved. The Androids had become self-aware and only now is the iPhone beginning to look in the mirror feel aged; only now in the wake of its unrelenting opponent can it see that since its 2007 revolution, very little has changed.
The iPhone has always set its own bar. It hasn’t ever been concerned with anything outside of its own aspirations. Google’s Android however seems to have no bar and is content with devouring brothers and enemies alike in order to keep reaching further. One was raised caged in a zoo, pampered and aided with little need for panic. The other was raised in a jungle, hungry and afraid with its champions being naturally selected.
Only the strong survive and it seems that for the very first time, the balance of power is shifting.
When the original iPhone debuted in 2007 it changed everything. I think it’s safe to say that its introduction was the first truly revolutionary smartphone device. However, despite how every manufacturer and their dog now likes the throw the R word around (Apple themselves more guilty than most), it seems the original iPhone was also the last of its kind.
By the time the iPhone 4 came around, Apple had a firm grip on not only the fiscal market but also the imagination and adoration of countless tech enthusiasts and status seeking hipsters. It was delivering a product that each time came with a promise of striking design and unparalleled functionality. It was delivering something that worked and worked well and for a time it was exciting. The company isolated itself from the competition; subconsciously reassuring consumers that its products were a treat for the elite and that they themselves stood separate from those other manufacturers who scrabbled and clawed in the dirt for scraps of the market that Apple would no doubt in time convert.
This was their position and it seemed to be working wondrously. However it seems their hubris led the Cupertino conglomerate to become almost stagnant in their quest for perfecting the human/computer interface and even after the reveal of the iPhone 4’s incredible design and screen technology, they could surely hear the footsteps of strange little green robots all about them.
These little green robots, these “Androids” were nothing more than a nuisance, surely. How could they hope to compete with the mighty Apple in the arena that they had renovated to such a degree they would claim to have built it from scratch? Impossible? Improbable?
This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. – Herbert Spencer
But the little green robots were growing, and they were learning and they were doing this at an alarming rate. Soon enough Apple would find themselves surrounded by their enemies and standing on the other side of a line they themselves had drawn. The Androids were quick to understand and adapt, to learn from their mistakes (and there were many.) They were able to do this so quickly and so forcefully because within their overpopulated fraternity there was something that Apple had always lacked, there was competition.
This healthy competition between manufactures led to opportunities to expand and explore. Maybe phones could have bigger screens? Maybe they could have faster processors? Maybe game pads, styluses, widgets and more? There was nothing to stay their imagination for they had to do something different, something drastic to simply survive. Still however, even with their enemies at the gate, Apple were not so easily frightened. But they were roused.
In their minds at least they still confidently believed that they were the best and not even a robot with a sweet tooth could alter that paradigm. Apple became angry, petulant almost and thought that if they couldn’t punish the Android’s seemingly mechanical approach to imagination, they would punish their perceived inspiration. How dare the little green men enter the arena and attempt to compete with the mighty Apple. There was a line and it wasn’t to be crossed so easily. In an attempt to keep the segregation alive, Apple took the Androids before a judge and cried ‘plagiarism.’ It’s a move that although not entirely unfounded has corrupted the market to this day with the consumer becoming collateral damage that is all too easily accepted. However fight as they might, it was too late. The Android movement was no longer mere rebel skirmishes. It had become an all-out civil war.
Google introduced two incredible weapons in quick succession; Ice Cream Sandwich and later, Jellybean. Their OS had evolved. The Androids had become self-aware and only now is the iPhone beginning to look in the mirror feel aged; only now in the wake of its unrelenting opponent can it see that since its 2007 revolution, very little has changed.
The iPhone has always set its own bar. It hasn’t ever been concerned with anything outside of its own aspirations. Google’s Android however seems to have no bar and is content with devouring brothers and enemies alike in order to keep reaching further. One was raised caged in a zoo, pampered and aided with little need for panic. The other was raised in a jungle, hungry and afraid with its champions being naturally selected.
Only the strong survive and it seems that for the very first time, the balance of power is shifting.
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