SYNAPSE CIRCUIT APPLE TALK

 SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
APPLE TALK
Good evening, Synapse Circuit Readers. How are you? I hope that all is well with you! It seems as though summer is coming to an end here in the UK... It’s cloudy and heavy rain is expected here in London while it rains elsewhere in the UK!

Here are some observations that I have made with Apple...

#Apple #Samsung #Google #SteveJobs #TimCook #iPhone6 #iPhone6Phablet #GalaxyNote4 #GalaxyAlpha

APPLE TO RESURGE?
The tech-media have it in mind that Apple is set to make a massive comeback and that Google should be frightened. Is this the Apple bias that we discussed last night? But according to Apple notably Tim Cook, “...the iPhone and iOS operating system are the best selling in the world...” So, how can Apple resurge if they are out ahead against the competition?

Yes, the tech-media say that Apple have mass produced 150 million iPhone units and is set to make a massive deal regarding the launch of the iPhone 6! Now this I have gotta see! Personally, I do not believe this... I don’t believe that Apple have mass produced 150 million iPhone units as I have stated in another article. They may as well have a trillion iPhone 6 devices ready to unleash upon the world!

SMOKE ‘N’ MIRRORS
In previous articles I exposed how the iPhone 5 and 5S bombed; yes sales were respectable but Apple wasn’t expecting respectable results. Apple was expecting a landslide of iPhone sales and it didn’t happen. Apple, Cook and co has a habit of exaggerating everything from the operating system being the best in the world to “record sales”. Then further on down the line the true figures are revealed and down goes the share value of Apple Corp.

Sometimes it is hard to tell if Tim Cook is fooling himself (and Apple) or the public with such boasting that has no basis in reality. Yes, I understand about PR and how it is important to present a positive outlook to inspire the public and that this could in turn increase sales but the stark reality is that Apple has fallen behind mobile device innovation since the iPhone 3. Some could argue that the closed nature of the iOS operating system meant that it was behind from the get go! It is certainly an interesting point... The harsh reality is that there are so many handsets out there that have beaten the current iPhone many times over! The most dangerous threat to Apple is the Chinese manufacturers that have produced high-end handsets at a mid-range price!

THE WIZARD OF ODD
That’s right! I am talking about the late Steve Jobs! What’s Apple’s worst enemy – if you want to put it in such terms – that has damaged the image of Apple (beyond repair perhaps)? Google? Google’s Android has certainly permeated the world and has markets yet to explore. Samsung? Samsung has gone from strength to strength with handsets and tablets to the point where it covers all the market points: premium – not just one handset but two, Galaxy S and Note. But no, it is not Google or Samsung. Apple’s worst enemy is the spectre of former CEO Steve Jobs. By all the accounts that I have read about the man he comes across as a megalomaniac and that divide between the showman and the mask slipping has created a schism within Apple whereby current CEO Tim Cook feels or felt that he has had to carry on with the ‘us against them’ campaign towards the competition. All these mad utterances about going “Thermonuclear” etc against Google Android have done Apple no good at all.

Apple can talk the talk but is just not able to walk it – at least up until now! Lately, it seems as though Tim Cook is making steps to burn that crazy mask of megalomania and drop the Patent Wars with Samsung outside the USA. Cook is also said to be in talks with Google to re-evaluate the patent system. These are very good signs indeed that Apple is, at last, ready to move forward. This is what I call exorcising the ghost of Jobs! May the man rest in peace... Amen. Cook has been straight jacketed with regards to moving Apple and its mobile devices forward...

PO-FACED


What you know about design is what I tell you is design...
Originally the iPhone was designed around your thumb and now it’s designed on Android screens.

Every time I see the documentary style videos featuring Jony Ives yammering about the importance of “design” I almost wet myself with laughter because the iPhone hasn’t undergone any real design in appearance. That Ives can sit there in all seriousness and go on about the virtues of Apple’s design principals without cracking a smile is beyond me. I think the iPhone is the worst design of all the handsets on the planet combined. The iPhone is awful! I don’t mean to offend the diehard Apple fan but you have to acknowledge that the Samsung Galaxy S5, Notes 2 & 3 looks better as does the LG G3 and HTC One M8 for starters! As mentioned before the Chinese manufacturers are creating beautiful looking handsets of a very high standard such as Oppo, OnePlus, Huawei and Xiaomi to name a few! Oh, let’s not forget Lenovo that has recently acquired Motorola! The Chinese are hungry and the aforementioned manufacturers are earning their way to top positions – each one of them are seeking Samsung’s crown at the very top!

From what I have seen of the iPhone 6 leaks it does not look like a major design departure just a little bigger! It seems to me that tech-media with a leaning towards Apple are more in love the designs of concept artists versions of what could be the iPhone 6! It would be good – great even – if Apple surprised its loyal fanbase with a revolutionary design for the sixth incarnation of the iPhone and the phablet 5.5” version – even though the notion of any handset below 6 inches can no longer be considered as a “phablet”. The phablet has evolved to be between 6 and 7 inches due to new designs that includes a thinner bezel.

Apple just has to look at what Samsung has done by the way of design with its flagship Galaxy S4 and S5 to understand that a “back to basics standard” approach does not yield in great sales due to the fact that design is very much what the consumer sees as part of the innovation. Consumers want the future yesterday! Design is the key to any mobile device manufacturer! Apple will do well to revisit its design ethos! What Apple should do is to continue to build bridges with Google, Samsung, Microsoft, etc and get back to competing with actual innovation instead of all the pointless litigations that tells the consumer that the competition must be better than Apple because they aren’t doing anything innovative and throwing a tantrum will not change that fact.

iPAD
Recently it has been acknowledged that the iPad has lost the grip it once had on the tablet market and it is not surprising as such a premium tablet does not have much of a lifespan. The addition of the 7.9” iPad mini – against the wishes of Jobs – has effectively cannibalised the 10” iPad. The price of “premium” standards has put the iPad and mini variations out of the reach of most people. You only have to look on the streets to see that the iPad and tablets in general haven’t yet taken off like the handsets. It looks to me that Apple has conceded that it is unable to compete with the vast array of Android tablets and it appears as though they will use the iPad in a different way (as mentioned in another article): a personal or business digital assistant. But does it have to be this way? Why can’t Apple use plastic like Android for future iPads that ought to reduce the costs somewhat? Why does an LTE version have to be so expensive? Apple - like with the onetime immovable ideal iPhone size – has boxed itself into a corner because it prides itself on using premium costly materials that do not stand up to the shocks of everyday use; it is too precious to take out in wild of the streets. So, what’s the point? In any event I see the iPad used by businessmen / women and students mostly. This is a very different thing compared to Android tablets whereby I’ve seen the average person – for want of a better expression – using tablets from Samsung, Google and Asus as they would a smartphone.

It is said that the market for tablets is waning but I do not think so. From where I am standing it looks as though many people are waiting for new products to be released – especially first time tablet buyers like me. I know that there are many people waiting for the new Nexus tablet or tablets. I know that some people are considering waiting for Android tablets with a built in mobile broadband connection. The sales of tablets seem to pick up towards the end of the year as that’s when folk make seasonal purchases i.e. going back to school in September and Christmas. I would be curious to see the sales figures for tablets for the Fall! I am sure that there will be a sharp increase of tablet sales. ~

Second hand iPad devices make a lot of sense of Apple fanatics but even then they are still quite expensive. I am curious to see what will happen to the iPad once the much rumoured 5.5” version of the iPhone 6 is released; this anticipation is why the iPad sales have stalled. I know for a fact that some impatient iPhone and would be iPad users have defected to the Samsung Galaxy Note as it offers the advantages of a big screen, mobile connectivity and pretty much a good set of applications for business. I do think that the quality of the apps for the iPhone has been a little overplayed because when you think about business use, for example, you just want a good set of equivalents to the Microsoft Office components: Word, PowerPoint and so on. Android is more than capable as a tool for business. Sure, it may be lacking more of the creative applications but that situation seems to be changing all the time as developers release tablet oriented apps. Through reviewing a few tablets of late I came to understand that there is a whole other world of applications that exist just for the tablet. No, not even for the phablet but the tablet! I wasn’t totally convinced before but now I want a tablet!

For Apple fanatics it would be ideal for the Macbook to lose the keyboard and become a tablet! How expensive would that be? But therein lays the problem for both Microsoft and Apple: the laptop is small enough so that the tablet seems surplus to requirements. The Surface tablet is ridiculously expensive compared to that of a decent and powerful PC laptop and the iPad seems like overkill if you already own a Macbook.

TABLETS:
THE ANDROID ATTRACTION
What makes the Android tablet more of an attractive proposition to both PC and MAC users is that the Android tablet is cost effective and compact. When I had a state of the art laptop costing just under £2k (yeah, I know) I hated to take it on the road with me. I worried about theft, forgetting and dropping it. It only takes a few seconds for a thief to snatch a laptop in a public place; you think its resting in a chair in a cafe but while you’re chatting away the person walking by has picked it up as though it is his or hers and the customers do not even notice. The Android tablet can be used more like a sketchpad to complete projects on the PC or MAC but the quality of the apps are so good that one can complete a number of creative and business projects. As everything is going digital one does not have to think in terms of physical printing anymore. There are a few decent eBook apps for Android for the creation and publishing of eBooks. While this is also true of the iPad the drawback is the cost and cost may be less of an issue if the iPad is used as the sole computer.

However, there is a growing trend for Android tablets to feature an inbuilt mobile broadband 3G and 4G for far less than an iPad plus a vast majority of such tablets feature memory expansion through the microSD card! The Android tablet user appears to have it all: mobile broadband on the go, the possibility to make and receive voice / video calls, storage to microSD and cloud! All the above costs considerably less than the iPad and mini variants! Wow!

That’s something to think about!

THANKS FOR READING...
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