“Developer conference season is behind us, leaving in its wake a huge pile of software updates to come, promises of fancy features, and a slightly clearer direction for where the computer platforms we use every day are going,” Dieter Bohn writes for The Verge. “The last of them is always Apple’s WWDC, and this year, I was struck by a thought that I can’t seem to shake even though I know it’s not completely accurate: this was a very Googley year for Apple’s product announcements.”
“Apple announced a few features that are quite similar to products Google is working on,” Bohn writes. “Both companies are releasing dashboards for your phone that will tell you how much you’re using it (answer: too much). Apple went a long way toward fixing the notification problem on iOS by adding features that have long been on Android: grouped notifications and the ability to turn notifications off without going spelunking through your settings.”
“Both companies released new versions of their respective augmented reality frameworks that allow multiple devices to “see” the same digital objects in space. Google’s solution is cross-platform and depends on ‘cloud anchors,’ while Apple’s solution can work locally, with devices communicating directly and not sending any information to the cloud. The new version of Apple Photos on iOS borrows a ton of stuff from Google Photos,” Bohn writes. “But as with AR, Apple’s way of doing things is very distinct from Google’s. Apple keeps photos end-to-end encrypted, and it’s very clear that its AI works on-device instead of leaning on a cloud infrastructure… Both companies are trying to articulate a vision of computing that mixes AI, mobile apps, and the desktop. They’re clearly heading in the same general direction.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s way provides privacy. With Apple, you are not the product.
With Google, the opposite is true. With Google, you are the product. Google gives you things for “free” in exchange for ceding your privacy (and security) so that they can sell you to advertisers.
So, while Apple and Google might be heading in the same general direction, in reality, never the twain shall meet.
Google can’t really articulate its vision properly as Google stuff mostly requires third parties to distribute thus it’s services spread is in a fragmented mess.
for example lower end (the bulk of) android phones would be hard pressed to handle good AR/VR.
Diversity is good. Think of it as having AR or non-AR models.
Same for removable batteries, sd cards, price points,etc….
It’s less corralled that way.
False Equivalence.
I’ll extend the two roads analogy: An Apple user drives a car with the doors closed and is enyolying the scenery. A Google (and FB for that matter) user drives in a doorless and roofless car so that Google can see you from the top and the sides picking your nose and your girlfriend giving you a blowjob.
Apple respects your privacy while Google is a Peeping Tom.
Wall Street will be betting on Google to get there first. Wall Street believes the almighty cloud is everything to all people.