Our Reluctance to Embrace Change In a World of Constant Change…

We could be looking at the beginnings of an internet-wide burnout and backlash…

Ok, maybe that first sentence is a touch dramatic, but something’s in the air. Consumers tend to be fairly conservative with technology in general. They don’t like taking risks, especially on priority services like communication. Lately however, thanks to internet-echo-chambering, nearly every new update, product, announcement, or release has been met with a viscerally negative reaction.

yahoo emailWe can look at the response to Microsoft changing the UI of Windows 8. iOS users seem to be a little cranky with iOS7 when I talk to them face to face. Most recently, petitions and forums are buzzing about Yahoo changing the interface for YMail. At some core, fundamental level consumers don’t like actual “New” things.

To a degree this makes sense. We count on products like email or our operating system to get things done. However, we’re also witnessing the immediacy of internet communications coloring the perception of a change before anyone has a chance to try out that new thing. That cycle happens far faster than any developer or manufacturer’s PR can handle the discussion. People who have never handled a Windows 8 product for example, still love to tell me how much it sucks and why I’m wrong for liking it, because “so-n-so at such-n-such blog eight months ago said it was confusing to blah blah blah…

Continue reading “Our Reluctance to Embrace Change In a World of Constant Change…”

The Pros and Cons of Owning a Smartwatch…

29 gearA casual chat with you fine folks, sharing my experiences using a couple different smartwatches.

I think there’s something interesting happening with consumer markets and wearable computing. It should be clear by now that I’m something of an activist for being a more responsible tech citizen. Not only to better protect people from careless behavior like watching movies on your tablet while driving, but also to improve our social interactions both digital and AFK. Our smartphones empower us, but they can also shield and block us from the world immediately in front of us.

What are your thoughts about strapping notifications and communication gear to your wrist?

The Post Where (so help me) I Defend the iPhone 5C…

iPhone5c_34L_AllColors_PRINTDamn it tech press! See what you’re making me do here…

It should be pretty clear by now that I’m not pre-disposed to liking Apple products. That’s not to say I don’t think they’re quality tech solutions. They’re just not my cup of tea, and lately I’ve been worried that Apple is missing critical opportunities with recent product releases. No NFC Passbook? Really? But I digress…

While spending some time with the iPhone 5S, I’m actually coming around on the iPhone 5C. I was initially one of those “know it alls” that panned it when it came out. An iPhone 5 in plastic? Meh…

What’s getting frustrating however is the media’s expectations of success. Every new phone or tablet which is released is now expected to be a “hit” instantly out of the gate. No one can really explain what sales metrics a device needs to hit to be considered a “hit”, but apparently no phone recently released is capable of meeting those expectations. After a point, one has to wonder if maybe these new phones aren’t the problem, and that maybe we’re giving too much consideration to analysts who are fantastically terrible at predicting the future.

Apple is launching a new product line.

Sometimes that works for them like the iPad Mini. Sometimes it’s a slow burn like Apple TV. Apple isn’t immune to this kind of market pressure. Customers know the iPhone. They know that a new number comes out, then an “S” model arrives the following year. They get it. They’ve been trained. They don’t know this “C” model. Just like any new company walking into the mobile space now, it should be expected that Apple will have to build credibility for this new line over time. Customers wont part with cash until they see it’s going to stick around for a while and get support and accessories. Anyone expecting the 5C to be a hot seller has no business calling themselves a tech pundit or analyst.

At best we can judge relative success by comparing 5C sales to 4S sales last year, but even then we’d be comparing a very well established phone (the iPhone 4 and 4S sharing a number of accessories) to a completely brand new phone. It doesn’t matter that the internals are similar to phones we’ve seen in the past, Apple customers are a fairly conservative demographic. Tech consumers in general tend to shy away from anything actually “new”.

So there it is. I get what Apple is doing with the 5C. I think they need to diversify the iPhone line up like they did with the iPad. I don’t know if the 5C is the right answer, but they needed to do something. However this fake shock, and the tech backlash towards cool sales is getting terrifically frustrating. From users and consumers, I completely understand the cynicism and skepticism, but so-called “journalists” need to cool it with the constant barrage of fanboi hate.

I mean DAMN IT! You just made me defend the iPhone 5C…

Do we need mid-range phones anymore?

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Nailing pricing in the mobile industry is a delicate and necessary balance. We accept $50 tiers separating the highest of high-end premier phones all the way down to the cheapest off contract entry level affair. Where a phone lands on that spectrum can make or break a device. Premier phones typically make sense. You put the most cutting edge gear into a slab and we expect it’ll be around $200 on a two year contract. Ditto the low end, slide in well known low power hardware and a price between $100 and $200 off contract can be compelling. The mid-range is a lot trickier. Which leads me to wonder, do we even need mid-range phones anymore?

It’s around that $100 on contract price point we start really running into issues. Purpose building a phone for that price point is becoming an increasingly dicey proposition. Manufacturers can still make a nice device at that price, usually with very few compromises, but you still need to ask your consumers to accept a “lower end” experience while paying more than the entry level kit. Often those compromises involve less storage, lower resolution screens, and reduced processing power. All those things which make using a phone nicer.

htc one mini synthetic benchmarks somegadgetguy video reviewAlso there’s a certain cachet to using a premier phone. Geek is chic. It’s fashionable, and we recognize the difference between Galaxies and iPhones like we do the difference Audi and BMW.

Outside those image concerns, we also have a timing problem. Tech devalues fast. If you need to exist at the bleeding edge, you pay a tax not unlike buying a new car. If you can wait a month or three, what was once a premier expensive handset can usually be purchased at a mid-range price. For example, at $100 on a two year contract you can get a perfectly acceptable HTC One Mini. Not a bad buy by any means. I’m really enjoying it. However, for that same $100 on contract you could also get an LG Optimus G Pro phablet. I just sat through a commercial offering a promotional deal for the Galaxy S4 for the same price too. Is the HTC One Mini as “good” as the GS4? Probably not.

We also see around a two year lifespan for phones. Apple popularized this with the iPhone. When a new iPhone is released the current iPhone drops in price. At carriers you can often find phones like the Galaxy S3 still kicking around. The GS3 still gives phones like the HTC One Mini a run for its money in terms of specs and it’ll carry more of that fashion statement. To continue a bad metaphor, people will be more impressed by last year’s Lexus than this year’s Toyota.

iPhone5c_34L_AllColors_PRINTLastly, manufacturers could save a little money by purposely pushing older premier phones into the mid-range. Releasing a phone comes with its own unique design, quality assurance, and support issues. Bug fixes, software updates, warranty issues, a company goes through that once for their top of the line gear, then they could purposely ride that investment for several years after. It would also be a boon to third party accessory manufacturers, knowing that their R&D will have a longer tail to recoup. That can only improve a company’s ecosystem when customers know they can count on accessories, replacement parts, and service for a while after they purchase, even if they purchase late.

I’m usually the first person to celebrate more choices and options, but right now we’re in an era where even successful companies are trying to manage consumer and stock holder expectations against risk. Unless I’m missing something glaring (and please point it out in a comment if I am) releasing a phone into the mid-range seems like the riskiest move a company can make…

Pick Your Poison: OS Fragmentation or Feature Fragmentation?

One of the most impressive aspects of owning an Apple phone or tablet is how good Apple is at rolling out OS updates. With very few meltdowns, MILLIONS of devices are updated on launch day, and the entire ecosystem moves forward very quickly. Early estimates point to almost 30% of iOS users are now on iOS7. By controlling the hardware and software environment, Apple has created a process Google will probably never be able to approximate.

TheAppleLounge iOS-7-Comparison-ChartWhile even older devices will get these OS updates, iDevices like the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 wont be getting all of the new features of the OS. This makes sense as it’s older, under-powered hardware, and Apple is ruthless about protecting the user experience. However, as what we get excited about during an OS update are new features, claiming the iPhone 4 “also gets iOS7” is a very small touch disingenuous. It does get iOS7, just not ALL of it.

The Apple Lounge built this great graphic detailing which devices would be getting new features, and which would be left out. On the whole Apple has done a terrific job of moving things like Control Center and Multi-tasking forward, but some lost features might be a touch frustrating.Things like panorama photos and in-camera filters might be kind of a bummer for folks who prized the iPhone’s camera. Also, for as frustrating as it can be to transfer files on and off iDevices, the lack of AirDrop on older hardware might be frustrating for some.

This also brings up weird splits in product lines. The iPad Mini is largely the same internal hardware as the iPad 2, but the iPad 2 will not be receiving Air Drop support while the iPad Mini will. Ditto the “iPad with Retina Display”. If you have the iPad 3, no Air Drop for you, but the iPad 4 is good to go. Definitely a bummer as we would imagine the hardware in the iPad 3 is probably more robust than in the iPad Mini.

Contrast that with the scattered OS update path on Android, and Apple still has the cleaner process, but Google is taking steps to improve the Android ecosystem. They wont be able to corral all of the various manufacturers, they’ve been trying to do that for a while now, but they can go around them to a degree. Over the last several months we’ve been watching Google slice pieces off of Android and putting those pieces up as stand alone apps. While it might seem like a small thing, it shouldn’t require a full new OS update to install a small improvement to something like the keyboard, and now Android users can install the stock Nexus keyboard as a separate app.

google settings app screenshot somegadgetguyTaking that idea a step further, the new Google Settings app shows up in your app drawer now and gives you a lot of control over gaming, Google+, and remote device management (like tracking your phone if it gets stolen). Google Play Services is also updated through the Google Play app store. Rather than waiting out full OS updates, all of the peripheral services and controls, things that developers interact with for instance, can all be updated independently of the OS.

While most services like G+, Play Music, and Maps have always been this way, and people are somewhat used to them being one part hardware and one part cloud, I hope this idea extends soon to other features on our phones like the camera. Taking a cue from the Nexus Keyboard app, it would be a nice way to unify the camera experience on Android handsets, that there would be one simple Android camera experience if people want something simple and familiar. Ditto the photo Gallery, as it can be jarring moving to a new phone and having a completely different experience for organizing and sharing photos and videos.

This solution isn’t perfect either, as some improvements will still require that full OS iteration, and things like hardware controls have to be buttoned down (hello Bluetooth funkiness), but as Google implements more individual component updates, fewer and fewer Android users will be left out in the cold as app developers and services move forward.

I’ve come to the opinion that there really isn’t a “best” phone, tablet, or ecosystem anymore. For a couple years now, the question you have to ask yourself is: What compromises are you willing to live with? As even low end phones now can be surprisingly capable, I think service and support will become even more meaningful to the end user.

So pick your poison. What kinds of updates work better for you?

Agenda “Journalism” and Waiting for “Perfection”

WP_20130728_004I think we’re at a tech crossroads. I’m not sure which road we’ll travel down.

There’s a problem with how we talk about news in this industry. I’m complicit in that problem to a degree, and around me I’m watching the foundation of this market start to crumble. At its core, we tech journalists are beholden to metrics like views and bounce rates. To satisfy those demands we have to get you, the reader, to actually engage. The most popular sites among us have developed a number of handy tricks to goose interactions from their subscribers. Tactics known so well that we’ve coined terms like “Flame Bait” to describe them. We all know what’s going on when we come across these types of tactics, and we know that the site using them is rolling in traffic.

As with political news delivery, the tech landscape is fragmented into reinforcing a reader’s previously held notions. We don’t strive to challenge anymore, to present the “new” in this industry. If your site starts to find some popularity among a certain niche of readership, that’s what you are. An Apple blog. An Android blog. A Microsoft blog. You’re done. Whatever commentary you can hope to offer beyond that branding, you’ll always be colored by that general perception. Your audience will take those things for granted, as they too are fans of the things you like, and hate the things you hate.

Moving beyond the natural biases an author holds, we all hold a certain bias regardless of our attempts at objectivity, we’re human, but beyond those biases I’m saddened to see once respected organizations catering to blatant agendas. Misrepresenting products for no other benefit than to increase site hits, start flame wars, and satisfy an audience who doesn’t want to see competition, but see their “side” win. Whatever that might mean… Continue reading “Agenda “Journalism” and Waiting for “Perfection””

Apple’s Crisis of Confidence: Consumer Perception and Stock Market Response

tim cook apple logoBefore I dive into this, I need to make it clear that I don’t hate Apple. I used to be an Apple product specialist working a JIT contract for DOE facilities in New Mexico. This was during the dual socket days of the PowerMac G5. It was a glorious machine, and I used to adore Apple. As Apple walked away from markets and product lines that I cared about, that adoration became a loving competition. The recent glory days of the company provided me a terrific nemesis as I moved over to Windows 7 computers and Android Phones.

Following Tuesday’s unveiling of the iPhone 5C & 5S, I came to an unsettling realization: I’m worried about Apple.

See, my world as a tech enthusiast and writer just doesn’t make sense without a powerful Apple, and the company which was on display during this last keynote was anything but powerful.  Continue reading “Apple’s Crisis of Confidence: Consumer Perception and Stock Market Response”

Rumor: No surprise Microsoft MIGHT be working on a Surface 2. Gasp!

microsoft surface pro somegadgetguy

No really folks. Apparently we’re going to treat this rumor like it’s really hot news. Great.

Apparently Microsoft hasn’t been sitting around twiddling its collective thumbs since the release of the Surface Pro. Color me shocked, they MIGHT just be working on a follow up to their groundbreaking slate PC. Real facts here are slim, but there’s a lot we can glean without much effort.

See there’s this new lower-power processor out from Intel called Haswell. It wasn’t out when the original Surface Pro was released, but it’s popping up in all kinds of new laptops, and is proving very popular thanks to its improved power management. It sips way less juice, and is now the brains behind the new Asus Transformer Book T300 and Sony’s beautiful new Tap 11. Those two represent the closest direct competition to the idea which bore the Surface Pro. Taking laptop-grade hardware, and cramming it into a device little bigger than an iPad.

So here’s the hot scoop, Microsoft will use THAT processor in their follow up to the Surface Pro! Bam! I KNOW!

It’ll probably even have more RAM too! BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WITH TECH! IT GETS MORE RAM!

I mean seriously. These aren’t even “leaks”, they’re just obvious paths of improvement. How frustrating would it be if I acted all coy about the Samsung Galaxy S5 having a more powerful processor and a better camera. SHOCKING! But you heard it here first. EXCLUSIVE! HOT!

What no one really knows for certain is what a release schedule might look like. The original Surface RT was released in October of last year, with the Surface Pro held up until February of this year. Microsoft would do well to get ahead of this hardware cycle, as they have to play a little catch up with all the Haswell products hitting the market now.

We also know that Windows 8.1 will be released to consumers on October 17th, so the timing on a refreshed Surface could tie together really well.

If a refreshed Surface Pro even happens.

Because apparently people are surprised when major companies secretly work on improving products. And this is why I hate writing up rumor posts…