Before someone starts on me, I like Google and I like Microsoft too

[G+_George Kozi]

Before someone starts on me, I like Google and I like Microsoft too. 

 

Originally shared by George Kozi

 

The essence of Apple's genius.

 

I just watched a normal video on youtube, where a normal person was comparing two products.

 

He said: This one is quite complicated, it offers a lot of choices, but also a lot of headaches and ways to make mistakes. The other one is just like Apple. You plug it in and there's only one way it works. Little can go wrong. 

 

He is right. This simple truth is the reason behind Apple's success. 

 

Apple says to a normal person: plug it in, this is how it works.

 

Android says: thank you for your purchase. Now lets see which software version you have, on which machine, and determine the list of choices you must make before you can use what you bought. But be careful, not all the apps work on all the versions, and some features in some versions may or may not be available to you, depending on what machine you have, your location, the weather on Mars, and the score in the last Giants game...

[G+_Jeff Miller]

While there is a lot of truth to this , Google must be doing something right. The numbers speak for them selves .

[G+_dawn ahukanna]

Exactly!

[G+_Dave Trautman]

The Giants Score always tripped me up on my new Windows machines too.

 

Complicated is a matter of choice. I've trained hundreds who only learned Windows by rote. Someone showed them a way to do something and they did it that way all the time. When helping people in their home they complained their machine did not work as easily as their workstation at their job. They failed to recognize the people working in the background to make their job easier (and safer).

 

I've only trained Macintosh systems to people who needed to know how to do a certain thing. Rarely did I have to delve into settings or system configuration. The most telling of these situations is connecting my MacBook to a projector. I wait a few seconds and the resolution "adapts" to the connected display. Not until Win7 did I have reliable display detection. Don't get me started on Linux.

 

Funny enough, I've notice as Android expands its reach it is getting more walled in where if you want all the parts to interact well together you have to leave it the way you found it. Bloatware is still an issue with phone carriers and the update pushes need to be taken out of their hands (like Apple has done).

 

What I know how to do inside the Mac OS and inside my mobile devices is drawn from considerable experience. The vast majority of people who want a device just want it to work the way the advertising said it will. Very few people I know who use an iPhone have gone exploring to see what more it can do beyond the basics.

 

Now that Google Now can get you the Giants Score when you need it, then perhaps setting up non-Apple devices will be much easier than those first few years.

[G+_Scott C.]

I see normal people buy android phones everyday and just turn it on and go. Not brain surgery. You have to know what you are looking for if you want to do complicated things on android.

 

I recently went back and tried ios and I was totally lost. Couldn't figure out how to go back to previous pages. Sometime back button is at the top sometimes it's at the bottom. Very fragmented from app to app.

[G+_Eric Lemley]

And that's why my grandma calls her quilting-bee friends on an Apple while I am hacking the space station with my Android ;-)

[G+_Don Crowder]

I prefer Linux.

[G+_Douglas Jenkins]

tma:dr  (too much apple: didn't read)

[G+_Greg Tassone]

Thanks George Kozi -- I enjoyed the post and agree with the sentiment. Of course, there are valid exclusionary cases on both sides of the equation:

Are there deeper places to go inside of iOS to "tweak" the system?: Yes. Do most people need to go there?: No.

Has the Android universe gotten better through its lifespan?: Yes. Is the Android platform as easy to use as the iOS platform, for non-technical folks: No.  (By the way, anyone disagreeing with that last point is either drinking too much Kool-Aid, or doesn't work hands-on with a diverse set of mobile customers.)

 

To each, his own. Choice is a good thing. Anyway, I agree with Don Crowder : I prefer Linux. :)

[G+_Art Ilano]

George Kozi There's some truth in your analogy but it's mostly exaggerated. Especially now that there are finally more Jelly Beans than Gingerbread in the wild (from Jelly Bean onward differences are nearly irrelevant). And don't forget that Apple is fragmented too. Apple says: Be careful, some features may not be available to you, depending on what machine you have.

[G+_Greg Tassone]

Bob Bolin I don't see what's contradictory. Those two things are mutually exclusive. My field observations on ease-of-use has nothing to do with choice being a good thing (which it is).

[G+_Mark Harry]

I've had smart phones since the original Palm phone. I had an iPhone 4 for 18 months and it was pure hell. It wouldn't do anything that even my first Palm would do. Being a business owner maybe my needs are different, but it led me to say "The iPhone is a smart phone for stupid people", sorry.