May 1st, 2011
Justin Williams:
Releasing software is hard, but Apple seems to be the only one that can release half a dozen updates over the course of a year that both fix bugs and add functionality to users existing tablets and phones. Microsoft continues to release major updates as giant service packs that seemingly will come out twice a year. Google’s not saying much about their Honeycomb improvements and how or if they will even be distributed to existing tablet owners. If anything, RIM’s eighteen CEO’s keep it interesting by promising everything they can dream up.
To make a dent in Apple’s market lead, Google, Microsoft, Blackberry and HP (eventually) need to focus less on the hardware specs or openness of their platform, and more on getting software updates to their existing user base on a regular basis.
Smart thoughts. The problem with a lot of these competing platforms is that they are trying to compete with the iPhone/iPad as it is now with hardware alone. However, iOS is rock solid and only getting better with frequent updates that actually brings good value—which is something that everyone else is having trouble copying, let alone beating Apple at.