“Don’t bet on Apple loosening the shackles off its much-lauded iPhone operating system (OS)–even if it means this could broaden the device’s appeal to developers and mobile device users,” Farihan Bahrin reports for ZDNet Asia under a typically goofy headline, “iPhone OS shackles to stay.”
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, some people still can’t figure out that inviting every cook in the world on down to the worst fast food fry cook is a prescription for spoiled broth, i.e. Windows. Measured control is good. We prefer to have someone in charge; someone who’s obsessive about quality and attention-to-detail, thanks. That’s a major reason why the Mac is superior to Windows and the iPhone with OS X will be superior to all of the other antiquated mobile phones on the market. Get it?
Bahrin continues, “‘Apple has a history of seeking to control its development environment, thus limiting access to the iPhone OS would enable it to maintain this approach,’ Gavin Byrne, research analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail interview. Tony Cripps, Ovum’s service manager for Mobile User Experience, noted in his research study that compared to competing platforms–such as Microsoft’s Windows Mobile–the iPhone’s native programming environment ‘appears to be closed to post-loaded applications and possibly even to third-party pre-loaded applications.'”
MacDailyNews Take: His “research?” Oh, la, la! Puleeze. Apple isn’t talking — trust us — and they certainly aren’t participating in any “research” beyond answering “no comment” regarding iPhone’s OS, licensing, and applications.
Bahrin continues, “Cripps added that this closed-door policy makes the iPhone a poor service platform for mobile network operators. ‘This is way out of step with growing mobile operator demands for consistent, common and widely deployed handset platforms on which to launch new services,’ said Cripps, adding that the iPhone, while clearly a special device from the consumer point of view, is little more than another handset to operators.”
MacDailyNews Take: Ovum purports to be “Advisers on the commercial impact of technology and market changes in telecoms, software and IT services.” Hey, they never promised good advice, did they? Can Cripps really be so blind or is something else at play here?
Bahrin continues, “Although Apple has been hiring more staff to work on the product, the company’s decision to keep the iPhone’s platform close to external parties has won it little fans among application developers and mobile network operators. Informa’s Byrne, however, noted that the Cupertino-based company seemed prepared to make exceptions when it suited them. ‘It would seem likely that Apple [would have to work] with a number of key technology companies such as Google,’ argued Byrne. He added that for certain applications–such as the iPhone’s Google Map function, for example–Apple would have had to collaborate closely with the search giant to optimize the application for the iPhone’s platform.”
“‘Even if [the iPhone] is opened up to third parties, it is difficult to see how the installed base of iPhones can reach the level where it becomes a truly attractive service platform for operator and developer investment,’ Cripps countered,” Bahrin reports. “Apple’s apparent ditching of conventional application paradigms for mobile phones seems ill-advised if the company really wanted the iPhone to be perceived as a smartphone and to take on mobile juggernauts such as Nokia, Microsoft and Motorola.”
MacDailyNews Take: March 14, 2007, 9:12am EDT: iCal’ed Tony Cripps for future reference. They lack of understanding boggles the mind: All Apple does is repeatedly and routinely ditch conventional paradigms, Mr. Cripps (aka Mr. Due for a Rude Awakening).
Bahrin continues, “Some industry observers have suggested that in order for Apple to achieve significant market penetration in the next year, the company should consider licensing the iPhone’s OS to external handset makers. Cripps, however, doubts that manufacturers will buy into this idea, arguing that the lack of flexibility and extensibility in the iPhone’s software platform would potentially limit its use across a broader spectrum of applications and devices.”
MacDailyNews Take: Tony Cripps. Proving not only that it’s possible to talk out of a orifice other than the mouth, but elevating it to an art-form.
Bahrin continues, “Instead of buying Apple’s technology, Cripps predicted, manufacturers will try to emulate the iPhone’s software interface for one-off products using custom platforms based on Linux or Windows CE. ‘It is far from impossible,’ Cripps said.”
Full article here.
Either Cripps doesn’t get it (which is hard to believe considering his line of work) or he doesn’t want to get it. Discuss.*
*Attribution: Coffee Talk with Linda Richman
Related articles:
RUMOR: Apple considering licensing iPhone OS X, multi-touch? – March 13, 2007
Wired’s Mortensen: Apple is under-selling iPhone with their 10 million figure – March 13, 2007
Getting ready for Apple iPhone: How to get out of your 2-year cellphone contract – March 13, 2007
Apple’s marketing machine does it again: iPhone generates $400 million in free publicity – March 10, 2007
Analyst: Apple’s iPhone has Palm ‘shaking in their sandals’ – March 09, 2007
Which company is most at risk from Apple’s looming iPhone onslaught? – March 04, 2007
Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple ‘buy’ – says market is underestimating iPhone demand – March 01, 2007
Apple’s 10 million iPhone sales target for 2008 would surpass most other smart phone sales – March 01, 2007
Apple COO Tim Cook: iPhone is a revolutionary product; you get what you pay for – February 28, 2007
How will vehicle makers integrate Apple’s iPhone? – February 28, 2007
Apple COO Tim Cook: iPhone on track for June launch – February 27, 2007
Goldman Sachs: 4 reasons to be bullish on Apple’s iPhone – February 26, 2007
Apple airs iPhone teaser ad during Oscars – February 25, 2007
Apple preps 3G iPhone model for Europe – February 25, 2007
The once-mighty Palm Inc. doomed to decline and failure – thanks to Apple’s iPhone – February 23, 2007
Palm CEO can’t stop talking about Apple iPhone – February 19, 2007
How Steve Jobs played hardball in iPhone deal with AT&T (Cingular) – February 17, 2007
Digit takes a closer look at Apple’s iPhone – February 14, 2007
Microsoft caught off-guard, beaten badly by Apple’s iPhone innovations – February 13, 2007
Apple’s soon-to-be iPhone rivals sound just like iPod rivals circa 2001 – February 01, 2007
How Verizon blew the Apple iPhone deal – January 29, 2007
O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile battle for exclusive rights to Apple iPhone in UK – January 26, 2007
Rogers to offer Apple iPhone exclusively in Canada – January 25, 2007
Research in Motion downgraded due to Apple iPhone competition – January 23, 2007
Ihnatko: Hands-on with Apple’s iPhone (which runs Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard) – January 18, 2007
Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone – January 17, 2007
RealMoney: Apple just blew up the whole damn mobile-phone supply chain with its new iPhone – January 11, 2007
eWeek: Apple iPhone fallout: ‘They must be crying in Nokia-ville and other telephony towns today’ – January 10, 2007
Jefferies downgrades Motorola on fears of market share loss to Apple iPhone – January 10, 2007
The massive FUD campaign against Apple’s iPhone ramps up – January 10, 2007
Time: ‘iPhone could crush cell phone market pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority’ – January 09, 2007
Analyst: Apple iPhone should be given its own category – ‘brilliantphone’ – January 09, 2007
Apple debuts iPhone: touchscreen mobile phone + widescreen iPod + Internet communicator – January 09, 2007
Ovum is attempting to put advertising on mobile phones — probably in a clunky way, which is something Apple would frown on. Tech News World.
Excellent analogy, MDN! Yeah, OSX is like a chef-run bistro’s five-course tasting menu with wine complement compared to Microsoft’s franchised taste-free belly-stuffings.
MDN needs a feature on Peter Fader:
“Marketing professor Peter S. Fader says Google’s threat is a tune Microsoft has heard before. “It’s history repeating itself over and over and over. Every time a new threat emerges to Microsoft, people think, ‘Oh, this is it — the one that’s going to knock Microsoft off the block.’ There’s no reason to believe it will play out any differently this time. Google is a different kind of competitor, but Microsoft has dealt with a pretty wide range of competitors before. It’s a tortoise-and-hare scenario. And Microsoft is a very good tortoise. What the company will do is figure out a way to replicate the features of competitors’ products. The products won’t necessarily be better, but they will be adequate.” in 2005.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1296&CFID=5651471&CFTOKEN=17312742
I think he’s on his way to being ranked with Thurrott or Enderle. Quite amazing!
@ChrissyOne
suck Ox balls?? Geez that sends shivers down my spine….lol
Anyway I agree with you. Yeah sure we want standard platforms…kinda reminds me of the drone audience in the 1984 Apple commercial except this time they all have a dull grey phone in their hand.
@ Buster
Exatly. The image I see is something like the Heart of Gold landing on Vogsphere, but same idea.
Can I get a t-shirt with ChrissyOne’s picture on it? Nice post!
P.S. Buster, you can’t right write things like, “Farihan Bahr wants to be known as a technological dickhead…Cancel or Allow?” while I have a mouth full of Diet Coke. Now I have to clean my screen…
That’s not a bad idea… I should get a Cafe Press account. ^_^
He said, “Cripps added that this closed-door policy makes the iPhone a poor service platform for mobile network operators. ‘This is way out of step with growing mobile operator demands for consistent, common and widely deployed handset platforms on which to launch new services”
Seems to me that consistancy is just what Apple is supplying, and the others can’t because they don’t have enough control or commonality.
“Widely deployed handset” – we’ll just have to wait and see. I expect that they will be deploying one to me!
Not that anyone will notice, but what was said was that cell phone carriers want handsets they can fuck with to ensure that they have the maximum ability to squeeze every last drop of revenue out of their victims …. ah, customers. Apple is not providing this with their new phone.
That is true. Apple wants open, attractive, useful hardware that Apple can supply media and programs to, at just over cost, so that Apple can sell more hardware.
Telcos want cheap, locked hardware so that Telcos can supply overpriced services and overpriced media to a closed system and laugh all the way to the bank.
The analyst is telling the truth. Telcos do not want to change the way they do business.
He doesn’t get it. But that really doesn’t matter does it. Apple wants the highest quality and usability. Not to put some hack job from a 3rd grader or whatever app on the iPhone. Apple wants the experience for the customers to be a pleasant one not a frustrating one. Something that Microsoft just doesn’t understand and obviously this person doesn’t either.
I agree, Macaday…I was stunned to read Dr. Peter Fader’s naive iPhone, iTV, iPod and Mac comments…as if he cannot see past his Windows desktop (and his mathematical marketing models) in his ivory tower, and see what is likely happening all around him on the UPenn campus…the winds of change are blowing…
SCARY THAT SUCH A CLOSED MIND IS TEACHING OUR YOUTH…
We should compile an axis of evil and add Cripps and Fader! On top there’s Gates, Ballmer, Thurott, Enderle, at least a few others I missed…
I enjoy Apple products. But if I ever wanted to switch over to Windows, all I need to do is come over to MacDailyNews and read all your fanboy (and fangirl?) rants about how great Apple is and how stupid everyone who dares to criticize Apple is. Don’t you guys realize how off-putting all this is?
iPhone: Currently seems to be a closed system. Macs. currently a system that allows for a great number of third-party commercial software, shareware and freeware. So if closed systems are so good, lets just shut all third-party software developers out of the Mac platform.
Guys, lay off the kool-aid, OK?
@ Robert,
I think it is a result of being scorned and laughed at for years for being Mac users.
Yes, many of us are a tad touchy
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />, but please don’t take it too seriously.
@ Robert
If you’d even consider switching to Windows in the first place, there is nothing we can say here to make things worse for you. Do not blame Mac fans for your own lapses in sanity.
(also, please try to lighten up a few degrees)
-c
Coffee Talk…. the best MDN take ever..
@Robert:
Apparently, you have not been paying attention–to anything. According to SJ’s MacWorld announcement, it works both on the mac and pc. Which clearly debunks your baseless argument. You really need to pay attention to what is being stated/said so that you can make a cogent argument and make your point heard. Otherwise, you are just of the windows lemmings.
OK, I’ll take the bait. I’ve never been banned from a forum before. I’ll give it a shot.
@Thorin
Very good point. I should realize that I shouldn’t take what I read on MacDailyNews seriously.
But seriously, the best humour is cruel humour that shows us something true about ourselves. I just skipped the humour part and went directly to the conclusion.
@ChrissyOne
Lighten up. Windows isn’t so bad. I’ve actually used both Macs and Windows nearly every day for years. (Yes, I am often accused of being insane.)
@AJ
Yes, the iPhone works on both the mac and pc. Your point being? Oh, you were just giving an example of what a post loooks like when the writer is not paying attention. I see.
@Robert
Actually, if you’d looked at the CNN (I think it was) interview of Steve Jobs on the day of the iPhone announcement, you’d have seen that, contrary to most pundits’ comments, Apple has NOT closed the iPhone to outside development.
He noted that it would be a “controlled environment”, but that third party apps would indeed be developed for the iPhone. His reason for that was to prevent ill-written apps from taking down the whole bannana, probably meaning destabilizing the units.
That is not a closed system, merely tightly controlled.
And, this being the Mac community we all know and love, not everybody agrees with him.
Wow, imagine that!
(MW: think, as in think before spreading misinformation!)
“growing mobile operator demands for consistent, common and widely deployed handset platforms on which to launch new services”
Yeah right. Last I checked, handsets don’t even all set their time from the cell network. Consistent platform my butt.
The article sounds like the sort of thing someone writes when the subject of the article refuses to talk to them…
The bottom line is what has the so-called ‘open’ format done for companies now?
3% of the market?
Clearly, very few people care AND if you do not count apps are just replacing the shoddy apps you get now?
How many apps are really being sold that are not calendar, word , pdf readers or “utilties?” VERY FEW.
The problem is that people jump on bandwagons and don’t even think why they are riding …
@Ryan
I think you are thinking of the Newsweek interview.
“You don’t want your phone to be an open platform,” meaning that anyone can write applications for it and potentially gum up the provider’s network, says Jobs. “You need it to work when you need it to work. Cingular doesn’t want to see their West Coast network go down because some application messed up.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16566968/site/newsweek/page/2/
I wrote that the iPhone “Currently seems to be a closed system.” I guess it all depends on your definition of “open” and “closed.” Steve Jobs himself was stating that he did not want the iPhone “to be an open platform.” So I was using Steve’s terms as a starting point. But that’s just silly semantics.
Steve Jobs being Steve Jobs, my guess is that he is spinning. (RDF) The iPhone will eventually be an open system, like the Mac. Apple just isn’t ready for it yet. So they will start off with a tightly controlled platform, and publish the APIs when they’re good and ready. But he doesn’t want to admit to the press that this is the reason why the iPhone is going to be “semi-closed” for the first little while. That sounds too much like a a shortcoming. So he is spinning the temporary shortcoming as a benefit. He’ll change the message as soon as they are ready to open up the iPhone to independant developers. He did the same thing earlier with video playback on the iPod.
Sorry. My last post is directed to rahrens, not Ryan.
“Windows isn’t so bad.”
It’s *so* bad.