"Tim (Fractal Footwork)" (fractalfootwork)
11/13/2013 at 12:00 • Filed to: Economics, Smartphones, Millenials, OppositeLock
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"Tim (Fractal Footwork)" (fractalfootwork)
11/13/2013 at 12:00 • Filed to: Economics, Smartphones, Millenials, OppositeLock | 0
| 6 |
Over the last few years, smartphone adoption has begun to slowly transform itself into something different, something that resembles automotive culture. Brand loyalty, attachment to out of date hardware and software lead by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (lest we start adopting !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), and software updates containing mostly user interface changes all contribute to each individual bonding with a particular device, product line, or brand and not wanting to let go.
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Competitive brand loyalty between Android and Apple users (with Windows Phone 8 being the Linux of phones) has held a firm and pointless argument since the launch of the original iPhone. Apple vs. Android arguments are very similar to farmers arguments regarding Case vs. John Deer or Ford vs. Chevy; they never end with anyone's opinion changed, and this is because different consumers have different preferences. Chances are, if I own an iPhone, I care about aesthetics backed up by a smooth and reliable User Experience, while if I own an Android device, I care about specs, screen size (which has become quite ridiculous in recent days), and "openness". However, both Apple and Android have responded to the other user's criticisms, yet why is hardly anyone switching? Brand Loyalty is strong and can hold users for longer than suits their quantitative needs because the brand holds some sort of exterior power.
Moore's Law has started to wobble under the pressure of our ability to advance into the next age of quantum computing. Apple, Samsung, Google, Qualcomm, and the rest of the smartphone computing world will not be able to radically improve our phone's computing power as long as the quantum world is out of reach; this will lead to software updates being purely aesthetic and perhaps tweaks to the way we interact with out devices. Without our smartphones being measurably better than the last model, why should we even upgrade. Smartphone users will start to hold on to phones like some car enthusiasts hold on to classic cars or clamor for out of date mechanical systems like manual gearboxes or rear wheel drive.
The first Apple user separation is happening right now with people who do not want to upgrade to iOS 7 because they don't like the design or think the software will bog down their phone. Android fragmentation is also a key player in separating solely Android users. Samsung vs. Motorola (owned by Google) vs. HTC vs. LG, and on the list goes.
This technological shift of brand preferences is now making its way back into the automobile with Ford SYNC and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (pictured above). Soon enough, the majority will be buying cars based of off the operating system it has without regard for the drivetrain, without regard for the one thing that actually makes it a car. Personally, I will never buy a car with Ford SYNC, and am very much drawn to the idea of iOS in the Car.
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Recently, I have noticed certain stereotypes of people purchasing specific brands of phones; this is not unlike certain people buying specific cars (Architects and Saabs, for example), leading me to the question that brought me to write this article, and the question that I would like you to ponder: As the future of smartphones stretches outward, and the marketshare of certain brands grows weak, with other less known brand springing up, what stereotypes of people will be drawn toward certain phones in regards to their personal preference?
dogisbadob
> Tim (Fractal Footwork)
11/13/2013 at 12:03 |
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Yeah, but does your Galaxy have VTEC?
Nibbles
> Tim (Fractal Footwork)
11/13/2013 at 12:10 |
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One of the biggest issues with switching mobile OSes is current investment. People buy apps and music like crazy. These apps and (usually) music don't transfer from iStuff to Google Junk (beta) or to Windows LiveCrap, or any other direction. That's why I've stuck to free (or paid via gift card I won) applications, so I wouldn't feel the hurt when switching. It's allowed me to go from iDevice to AndroPhone (and back and forth) and ultimately to WindowSystem, where I'm pleased enough that I'll probably stay for a good while.
For stereotypes, I find it oddly fitting that you've chosen to view Windows Phone being the Linux of the mobile world. It really is. A small, rabid fan base yet with little to no voice in the market.
BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
> Tim (Fractal Footwork)
11/13/2013 at 12:22 |
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There is a term for that.
It is called a "mature market".
Smart phones and tablet portable devices are not novelties, they have become established, and a lot of the potential has been realized, and done well.
But that doesn't mean that there are drastically different new work flows, methodologies, and usage patterns that still remain unexplored.
People have established how they use portable computing devices, they aren't in the discovery stage much anymore (as an aggregate population, not focusing on individual cases of remaining novice users)
People have also established how they use cars in their daily lives.
The next innovation will require a bit of a gestalt shift, and probably an alternate format.
Smart phones and tablets are established, the next potential is likely not those, but rather things like wearables, or biometric-keyed data roaming between devices, where the device recognizes you, and your preferences and information migrate across the 'cloud' to the device nearest you, instead of strict local hosting per device.
The next gestalt shift in personal transportation will probably not be a traditional "car", but some other format. People have been trying to push toward personal flight and individual use aircraft, but that is likely a long way off yet.
In any mature market, until the next gestalt shift, incremental improvements get smaller, and more 'trivial' and evolutionary, rather than revolutionary.
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Nibbles
> BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
11/13/2013 at 12:27 |
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Your proper use of the word gestalt A: greatly pleases me and B: reminds me that I'll never finish Final Fantasy XIII
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Tim (Fractal Footwork)
> dogisbadob
11/13/2013 at 12:41 |
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...nope.
Burrito de EJ25
> Nibbles
11/17/2013 at 14:01 |
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I don't know about you, but I don't see these $1 apps as major investments. If I want I can swap platforms regardless of how many throwaway apps I've purchased. And both iTunes and Amazon offer DRM free music, so that is a non-issue.
I always here people saying that they're "invested" in a platform. When, really, most of those people will buy an app, use it a couple of times, and forget about it entirely, continuing to use their phone as a text, twitter, and facebook device. This is just anecdotal evidence, of course.