“This might be a difficult pill for hardcore Android fans to swallow, but the Android platform exists as it does today because of Apple’s iPhone,” Zach Epstein writes for BGR.
“Seriously, watch Sergey Brin and Steve Horowitz’s original Android demo video from back in 2007, when Google gave the world its first look at the company’s new mobile platform,” Epstein writes. “As you can plainly see in that video, Android was initially being developed as a terrible clone of the BlackBerry platform, and it might have followed BlackBerry’s platform down the gutter if things had continued as they were.”
“Meanwhile, all the top mobile companies that decided not to copy Apple saw their mobile businesses topple, including Microsoft with Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Nokia with its dominant Symbian platform,” Epstein writes. “Google and its Android device partners have continued to copy tons of features from Apple’s iOS platform over the past decade. They’ve also taken countless elements from Apple’s iPhone designs. The iPhone X’s notch is the most recent example and perhaps one of the most widely copied iPhone design features, but it’s hardly the first.”
“After all these years though, there’s still one awesome yet underrated iPhone feature that Android phone makers refuse to copy, but I really wish they’d come around because it adds so much value to the smartphone experience,” Epstein writes. “It’s probably one of the most impressive and yet underrated hardware features in Apple’s iPhones: The Taptic Engine.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: When you use a phone without a Taptic Engine – any Android iPhone knockoff – the lack of the Taptic Engine is glaring. As Zach writes, “The Taptic Engine is like hummingbird wings fluttering compared to the clumsy flapping of a chicken.”
Everything about Android feels cheap, chintzy, insecure, privacy-trampling, or just plain half-assed, but, listen, somebody needs to supply the hoi polloi of the world with bad approximations of the real thing. There’s no way Apple could churn out billions of cheap phones per year without damaging their brand, right? Or is there?
Anyway, here’s what Google’s Android looked like before and after Apple’s iPhone:
Apple’s products came first, then Samsung’s:
And, here’s what cellphones looked like before and after Apple’s iPhone:
People who buy Android phones and tablets reward thieves.
Interns, it’s been quite the beery week, filled with much Christmas cheer, so roll out some Hair O’The Dog, please! Cheers, everyone!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ladd” for the heads up.]
Is this news or a reminder…
Anyone remember Steve wanting to go thermonuclear over this blatant coping of ios and the betrayal of then board member;
‘Eric Mole Schidth ‘. ( and no that is not misspelled)
Ps.. i did not know IPhones are the only smartphones with heptic feedback.. cool !
“Eric Mole Schidth ‘. ( and no that is not misspelled)”
The correct spelling is Eric Schmidt. Unless you are trying to make an obtuse point…
GoeB – always a little slow on the uptake. GoeB or not GoeB, perhaps not GoeB is the correct answer if you want sense and sensibility.
Gloating, Hubris at Apple.
So my daughter who is 11 says her teachers at school in NJ uses all Android and Google Pixel 3 phones. She said she had a dream about all the features, that you can turn the phone over and it silences, messages, and the camera features choosing pics from Preroll, and that “Her teachers phone automatically connects to their “smartboard” Chalkboard” with ALL Their assignments which are on Chromebooks with all of their included, cloud based gmail and google docs apps, etc. how does she know all this? because she lives it and advertising.
She continues that the Apple iMacs are only in one class now and that my 11 year old recommends that “Apple needs more programs for more peoples needs”
The point is how did she get these ideas ? She’s 11 and literally choosing to desire an Android Phone because her entire school is based on Google Everything.
I’ll tell you what, It is probably time to invest way more in Google than AAPL.
I’m not feeling it from Apple. I’m not feeling the desire to dominate any market, ANY.
That was the killer instinct Steve Jobs had, (but always missed, Windows? )
I see light on his feet Timmy with a company with no ideas. Certainly no implementation.
Android, Google and Amazon have taken over markets that Apple should have owned.
Timmy doesn’t have it in him to innovate or dominate.
It doesn’t matter who invented what. it matters who’s on the cutting edge and innovating. and Implementing. Converting markets, Owning markets. Apple has been playing catch up to Android phones for years anyway. THE SIZE ISSUES, Big screens, HD hi Res Screens, android phones had all that before Apple and everyone here knows it.
And Android and Google can be proud of their unwalled Garden. They dominate the world.
Last, How did an 11 year old know all the Pixel 3 features? COMMERCIALS on YouTube videos she watches all day long,
Oh Yeah, that little content place YouTube, owned by Google. Imagine that.
It is a sin that Apple started this entire revolution with the IPOD and Music and has let that entire market slip through its fingers,
that they never created a content upload site like YouTube for even Music Videos, let alone everything on the planet like YouTube. That Siri is a Joke and should be a full fledged search engine. That Itunes store should be Spotify, Netflix and YouTube combined.
Google is the place to be. Apple’s not even trying. Be a Google FanBoy.. There’s more there,
Apple has no dominant software to speak of, No segment of any pro community that they dominate, no presence in schools anymore,
literally is AFRAID to enter the business markets, WTF? has no presence in Gaming, and is literally aiming for their stupid “Blended” world bullshit and the Blended people of the world rejected Apple and their high prices.
Deny this if you will, but you’re watching Apples lead dwindle away.
There has been ZERO implementation of any innovation. Seriously, name one thing Apple is doing in education that is dominating?
You cant.
“11 and literally choosing to desire an Android Phone because her entire school is based on Google Everything.”
And she’ll be literally choosing to desire an iPhone when her friends chide her for having green bubbles. LOL
Education is bargain basement now, there’s no money to be made on simply selling a quality product because schools don’t have the money to SPEND on quality products. That’s why the only company interested and PUSHING into that area is the one that, more than anything else, wants to gather information on your kids and figure out how to market to them. Heck, they likely GAVE the school Chromebooks because the data they’re getting is WAY more valuable than whatever the dollar value of the hardware would be. Any administrator that would turn down free or cheap hardware to obtain more expensive/secure hardware would VERY likely be fired, so that is not very likely to stop.
Now, if you don’t want to tell your kid about what kind of company Google is, that’s completely on you. 🙂
“Education is bargain basement now, there’s no money to be made on simply selling a quality product because schools don’t have the money to SPEND on quality products.”
What is a quality product as opposed to Apple making a premium product? Never mind.
Education is a huge market Apple abandoned for just the same reason you mentioned “there’s no money to be made”
No? Bull 🐂💩 crap! Education spends millions if not billions of dollars on computing devices every year. Apple is totally clueless and lost the education market they once OWNED because of premium priced greed and executive stupidity how to maintain and compete in the market.
The iPad end all be all was a failure for the most part and cannot even compete with a lower priced Chromebook, how PATHETIC is that?
Like I have been saying for years now: Apple should completely own two markets, Pro Computing and Education.
They have all the resources and funding they need. What they don’t have is a visionary and practical CEO that knows how to git ‘er done!…
Education is a huge market $649 billions dollars is one number I’m finding. The most recent numbers state that, in the US, that ends up being an average of $11,762 spent on public education per student (some states more, some less).
That’s not broken out into slices, but the largest expenditure by far is for pay and benefits for teachers and administrators. Of what’s left, then there’s the upkeep of the buildings, the food, the books and so on and so on. Per student, the cheaper your computers AND the support for them, the more money you’ve got to put towards other things.
“Cannot even compete with a lower priced Chromebook”
You make my point perfectly! Basically, if Apple’s not coming in cheaper than a Chromebook (and they’re not) there’s no administrator that wants to keep their job that’s going to spend MORE on Apple. Especially when Google’s willing to sweeten the pot with other assistance… Google may even lose money on the initial deal, but will make more than that up by combing through all that valuable data.
There is zero value to “owning” markets where there’s little to no profit to be made (schools and others looking for ‘cheap’ solutions). And, the only Pro market they need to own is the mac/iOS Developer, Final Cut Pro, Logic and other users of their professional apps… and seeing how those only run on Macs, that’s 100% of that market. So, guess they’re doing pretty good!
To @Wrong Again, @JR put it best: “It is a sin that Apple started this entire revolution with the IPOD and Music and has let that entire market slip through its fingers,
that they never created a content upload site like YouTube for even Music Videos, let alone everything on the planet like YouTube. That Siri is a Joke and should be a full fledged search engine. That Itunes store should be Spotify, Netflix and YouTube combined.”
Exactly right. If Apple had a visionary leader that did not stand on the sidelines bean counting they would own these markets. Money probably better spent than billions on Beats, celebrities and directors, but we shall see. Funny how you never read what Beats added to the bottom line, unit sales, unless I missed it. Did Apple make their money back and turn a profit? The celebrity DJ left Apple Music is telling, more services that need better management.
Back to education, seem to recall first in the market and Apple once owned it with eMac series scaled down laptop computers… what happened?
WA you made several good points how Google services and price is a hook for schools, yet Apple can also run the same apps. Guessing Google makes something off of their data mining, but just how much from young schoolchildren with IT controlled Chromebooks?
I don’t understand why Apple cannot make a thin laptop and match Google’s price. Never said they should be cheaper, just comparable. Unless you’re hunch is correct they are losing money on each unit and Apple does not want any part of that. But if Apple competed on the same level the hook later on is customers for life in college and work buying superior computers, iPhones, iPads, etc. Somehow, I don’t see that happening with Google products once they get an education…
Apple can’t make a thin laptop and match Google’s price for the same reason that a quality menswear producer can’t make cheap neckties or red hats that match Chinese sweatshops on price. Apple might occasionally slip up, but it never AIMS at making junk. Not making junk is essential to the brand.
When schools buy cheap Chromebooks, they don’t care if they’re junk, just that they’re cheap. Not pricing for quality is essential to their brand. Same for cheap ties, hats, and business “universities.”
@TxUser: “Apple can’t make a thin laptop and match Google’s price for the same reason that a quality menswear producer can’t make cheap neckties or red hats that match Chinese sweatshops on price.“
Bull crap 🐂💩! Apple can do anything if they had the mindset and management in place instead of elitist money grubbing beancounter! I expect that from you, Apple Apologist…
“Did Apple make their money back and turn a profit?”
Apple via Beats is continually the market leaders in headphones. The Beats division has, year over year, paid for itself and turns a profit. Add to that the millions that are now paying a monthly subscription for Apple Music (which wouldn’t exist without piggybacking on the agreements that were already in place with Beats) and it’s probably one of the easiest business decisions that could have been made. I can’t say if they’ve made their money back, but unlike many of their acquisitions, this one is making and selling product and is profitable.
“Apple once owned education… what happened”
First, funding changed… teachers and students are now expected to chip in to pay for even basic supplies that used to be part and parcel of the school experience. So, there’s less money for IT to start with. Second, computing can simplify and automate a lot of things, so while they have a smaller budget, there is a desire for MORE systems… which means the “per system” cost is pushed even lower. So low, that Apple wouldn’t be able to make a profit. The most recent number I’m able to find is that Google makes 30 dollars per device by selling management services, so these aren’t IT managed, they’re Google managed. This means Google is tied into every bit of data that students create, allowing them to create a profile that’s EXTREMELY valuable to advertisers. Add to that, Google makes it easy to convert the school account to a personal account, meaning they can continue to track your activities, comparing them against everyone else that was in your class to build an even more complex profile based on your social connections. That, over time, is FAR more valuable to Google as an ad provider.
Apple could match Google’s price, definitely. As long as we’re throwing profitability as a requirement out the window, ANY company could match their price. However, you can’t match their price AND stay in business without some kind of profit model. Even if you try to compete, Google could, overnight, lower the support cost to 1 dollar per system, blowing an even BIGGER hole in you company’s budget. No one is going to be able compete against Google in this area.
Even so, Google’s “hook” is to their services. They don’t care if you’re using Android, or Lenovo, or Apple, or Samsung hardware. They DO care that you continue to use that handy gmail email address (that all your friends already know) when you get your iPhone (because it’s what all your friends have) and get that MacBook for college (because it works well with your iPhone).
If she’s 11, she should certainly NOT be watching Youtube videos all day. iOS and MacOS have a nice feature to limit screen-time. Use it.
Also, the privacy-implications of using Google-services, did that escape the school-board’s attention? Did it escape yours?
The Smart-board is probably a Samsung-board (they’ve been pushing those quite a bit) and it only works with Samsung Phones.
All computers have or can get, that feature.
All computers can have, or get, that feature. I don’t care who copies who, even if it’s me copying me.
“It is probably time to invest way more in Google than AAPL.”
Well, isn’t it great, then, that there is absolutely no obstruction to you doing so immediately. Isn’t it great to have so many options.
Well said, JR. the Apple Apologists can’t handle it, so nothing has changed…
The pouting petulance of your assertions is quite incredible Jr. You don’t read like someone who is old enough to have a daughter.
And the idiocy of you staying here to complain about such a useless company with such useless products is astounding.
Pathetic.
“The pouting petulance of your assertions is quite incredible Jr.”
No, what is “incredible” is his spot on comments. Interesting that you always follow Sean and tag team the same posts. I would not be surprised that you are BOTH one in the same…
You lost me at your homophobia.
I have worked in a school system in several specialized ares for 10 years, 15.000 students, 9,000 computers. My positions allow me to see what is happening in all schools, although all of my time in the last 5 years has been in 3 high schools. I have to say that it really doesnt matter which computer they use. (I am a Mac user since 1988). There is a GIGANTIC misconception in terms of what people think students need, probably based on the false belief that students are all fantastic computer geniuses who know more about computers that all of us old fogies put together.
NO.
There are a small percentage, maybe 5-10% who could make use of what can be done on Macs.
Do not make the mistake that their ability to use the iOS and Android entertainment delivery devices, or to play games on computers somehow makes them some kind of superior computer genius. It makes them experts in particular phone/tablet entertainment app, or geniuses in playing some kind of fantasy game, giving the appearance that they can do anything on a computer.
Show me that you can save a document file for a paper that you have written (without cut and paste from a document someone gave you IN THE SAME CLASS) Hey, first show me that you know what saving a file means!
Chromebooks are just fine for the 90%. Cheap and easy to replace and appropriate for the level of work that is being done on them. Believe me, we have tried to keep Apple in the system and teachers are allowed to request them. Some students own them. Good for us on that, we can do things others can’t do as easily, so for whatever thats worth.
If I remember correctly, the first copied iPhone that was released on Android debuted 18 months after the iPhone debut. Certainly, the article is spot on! Cheers MDN! 🍻🥃
IIRC, the spy at Apple, Eric Schmidt on Apple’s board, seemed to have something to do with “encouraging” the iPhone clone at Google.
My guess is Eric never gets invited to the new Apple Campus.
Agreed…
Agreed, I am slow on the uptake.
No, what you are is a disrespectful lying imposter posing as the real GoeB. I know who you are banned felon from San Diego without a shred of credibility. Obviously, you will NEVER grow up…
Don”t worry GoeB, the vinegar and water aroma gave him away.
Obviously you will never grow up!
I’m just glad to have an un-walled-in alternative. Don’t care who copied who.
I’m just glad to have an un-walled-in alternative. Don’t care who copied who, even if it’s me copying me.
So why don’t you go away and fully enjoy that un-walled-in world? Presumably, you’d be happier… and many of us here certainly would be.
The only sensible counter to that would be that in spite of all your whining, Apple is markedly better.
So – you are using what you regard as the best products. But even so, you just want to whine and whine and whine.
I have the right to whine, so do you. Products offered for commerce area subject to scrutiny.
BEAUTIFUL! I was certain you would invoke the “right to whine”!!! How clever of me!
Yes, of course you have the right to whine. That does not, however, make your incessant whining any less pathetic.
And some people need to be reminded of the obvious, you’re one of them, you clever darling….
Another of your many delusions… no, we DON’T need to be reminded of anything, you pompous git.
You needed it the moment you made that comment.
Your arrogance is amazing in that:
– You think you need to set yourself of as the ultimate authority of correct thinking.
– You presume so profoundly that you have THE correct thinking… the correct level of incessant negativity.
– And you think anyone other than other whiny little bitches and trolls wants to listen to you.
You whine incessantly, but you use Apple products. The irony is amazing. Your incessant whining has an effect like WRITING EVERYTHING IN CAPS. THERE IS NO EMPHASIS LEFT, AND IT IS VERY TEDIOUS. If you actually cared to effect anyone’s opinion, you would whine less and make it more in proportion to the many positive things you would also say.
If you don’t have a lot of positive to say, then you really shouldn’t be using these products… because that would be batshit insane.
“ How clever of me!”
Wow. More like arrogant and delusional. AC is straight up and honest while you are playing petty games to feed your fanboy ego. Run along, sonny..,
In asserting your right to whine, you didn’t answer his main point — basically that if Apple so greatly deserves your constant complaints, that surely there is a better choice for you elsewhere… no?
It’s a trivial point. That I have other choices and why I choose other products highlights relative strengths and weaknesses of each. Everyone is open to criticism. Apple spits out way too much BS, especially under Jobs, less so now, that that BS needs to be countered. Are you suggesting that when it comes to Apple we only discuss pros and not cons? If I don’t buy something, the reasons I don’t buy it are fair game.
“Are you suggesting that when it comes to Apple we only discuss pros and not cons?”
Not at all. But I think a reasonable stance for someone who wants to designate themselves a critic – or whatever you think you are – would be to have a balance of positive and negative proportional to what is positive and negative.
If you actually want to have any impact on anyone’s thinking about anything to do with Apple, pretty much constant negativity is not how to do it. E.g. “You’re a fucking idiot, but I have the truth. Listen to me.” Oh yeh, people are really going to be persuaded by that approach.
So it would seem that:
– Either you want to have influence, in which case you should actually study how to do it effectively.
– Or you’re just a nasty little jerk who gets his jollies by doing that.
So far, I tend to think the latter.
Or I have an axe to grind, but I stick to facts.
It is offensive to me however to see Apple’s BS not only repeated, but defended.
It doesn’t matter if the iPhone and iOS changed the face of smartphones. What matters now is Android smartphones are dominating nearly the entire smartphone market and why Apple has to sell $1000 smartphones to make any money. Apple’s entire value is tied to iPhone unit sales and now that Android smartphones have flooded the smartphone market, Apple can barely sell enough iPhones for Apple to hold its overall value.
Most of the world uses Android smartphones and even in the parts of the world where consumers can afford iPhones, those consumers are always complaining iPhones are too expensive. Apparently, even if Android smartphones are cheap or chintzy, consumers want that choice because all the BRIC nation consumers are choosing Android smartphones. As far as Wall Street is concerned, Android smartphones have won the smartphone war by an overwhelming margin.
Apple is putting the iPhone well out of reach from the global consumer masses and in some countries the iPhone will be rarer than a unicorn. Most of the world’s consumers don’t care about high-quality, security or privacy. The only thing those consumers want is a low-cost smartphone with free services. Android smartphones easily satisfy those conditions. Android smartphones will dominate the smartphone market for at least another ten years and there’s nothing Apple can do about it, especially if Apple continues to raise iPhone prices every year. Nearly no one seems to be happy with iPhone prices. That’s all people ever complain about.
Apple it already moving their focus to their other devices and on to software and services working with the Apple watch, iPad, and Mac leaving iPhone as a soon to be obsolete technology platform (the smartphone). Where Apple goes so does the industry. I also predict a foldable iPad in the future that syncs with the watch (watch will replace the “phone”) and Mac.
ALSO Apple will eventually release a “glasses” like device that you can wear that will link with the other devices and primary function is to provide a HUD with “live” info on everything you see etc. It will allow advanced AR/VR type experiences but will NOT be a phone the watch will be the “phone” until a pure data using 5G is used for everything then everything can be a “phone”.
Android smartphones rely on Google developing the OS – and they in turn rely on ad-revenue.
Ad-revenue can only be sufficiently generated if the ad-buyers get something in return. With more privacy-regulations on the horizon and an ever-declining success-rate (and high fraud), the ROI of ads is diminishing every quarter.
As Android-hardware has become a race to the bottom, it’s unlikely there’s going to come much funding from that side – especially as Chinese vendors now dominate the volume-market – they’re now going to fund something they’re not going to own 100%.
“Apple is putting the iPhone well out of reach from the global consumer masses”
So what? It’s a business.
“Android smartphones will dominate the smartphone market for at least another ten years”
So what? And in what sense? Numbers of cheapo units? Apple makes several times more that ALL OTHER phone companies combined!
“That’s all people ever complain about.”
That’s all a small number of whiners and trolls ever complain about. The customers that matter are voting with their wallets.
Though I would agree with the title, it would be highly myopic to ignore that the iPhone as it exists today owes just as much to the advances made by various Android OEMs that ‘inspired’ Apple.
The iPhone is its own “platform” designed to be easy to use and reliable for regular people using a 3.5-4 inch screen. Admittedly Apple has yet to adjust iOS for a larger screen, that is expected to happen with iOS13 or 14.
In what universe do you reside, Zeos?
Question posted from an iOS 12.9″ screen iPad Pro running iOS 12.1.2. . . and which could have easily been asked when my first generation 2015 12.9″ screen iPad Pro running iOS 9.1, or my original 2010 9.9″ iPad running iPhone OS 3.2. Good thing that unlike stupidity, ignorance is a curable condition. . . easily fixed by learning something before exposing your sad condition and spreading your illness to the world by posting your ignorant claims on a public forum such as MacDailyNews.
She resides in a universe where she thinks she’s Zeus
Obviously when I said “adjust” I meant “take advantage of” which even on iPad they haven’t really done that within the OS since we still have a spaced out grid of large app icons etc. Your assumption of my ignorance only reveals your own.
This is absolutely correct, Android is absolutely a stolen product. They still ape Apple’s every move, too, even the missteps. It’s pretty pathetic, and I don’t want to hear it from millennials that were ten or twelve when the iPhone debuted; you haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.
Found this on another site and it’s SO true.
“There is a large subset of its users that want to use Apple for everything.“
They want to wake up in their Apple bed, flip their Apple switch to turn on their Apple light, shuffle into their Apple slippers, toss on their Apple robes, turn the Apple doorknob, walk across their Apple flooring, look into their Apple mirror, grab their Apple toothbrushes and brush their teeth with Apple toothpaste. To these people, to infer that, maybe Apple doesn’t NEED to make toilet tissue is a sin! Apple should make enough products so that they never need to use anything non-Apple, no matter the cost or how much sense it makes.
They not only want an Apple car, they want Apple tires and spark plugs, too. They only want to fill up at Apple fueling stations where everything sold therein is from Apple. So, OF COURSE they will forego their Apple condoms and take Apple fertility pills to have kids that use nothing but Apple devices in school. Connected, of course, to Apple routers with Apple CAT5 cables to the server room filled with Apple blades.
Nothing would make them happier than to have Apple as their ISP, Apple as their search engine, with videos and music ONLY from Apple. These are not people that will accept Apple not providing their every need with an Apple logo. “Visine is ok, I guess,” they say, “but I’m waiting for the Apple eye drops. It makes no sense that Apple aren’t making those. Actually, I’ll grab my Apple writing tool and some Apple parchment… no, better to print this out using my Apple printer onto Apple paper, put it in an Apple envelope with an Apple stamp and send via Apple post letting Tim know what an awesome product that would be!”
The map is still less detailed than the google version. Apple has fallen behind on language translation, you still can’t translate a foreign language within an app.