iOS thoughts

541 days ago in iPad by Wardy Miller | 1 Comment

iOS has been around for a while now. I have been using an iPhone since the first one was released. The iPhone was a revolution to the cell phone industry. Not only did it revolutionize the cell phone market, it also revolutionized what “Smart phones” could do. Then once Apple showed everyone how to use a phone, they changed the face of tablet computing. But the key to the adaptation was iOS.

Many years ago when Apple created the iMac. It was said that the “i” stood for internet. Now all these years later, I think the “i” is for incredible. It took a few years, but the current iteration of iOS (5.0.1) is one of the best I have ever used. While many people are infatuated with the Android operating system saying that they use the Google operating system, because it is open. While in theory it is great to think that open is better, having read Steve Jobs book, you understand why he wanted the “walled garden”. When you manage the user experience end to end, you can ensure that experience is a good one. Android being open allows the user to do whatever they want. The downside to this is that people with bad intentions can influence the experience. For example, a few months ago, someone downloaded all of the top apps in the Android Market, injected them with malicious code and uploaded these virus ridden applications. Using the Apple model, this is impossible. For example every application downloaded from the App store MUST be signed with an Apple certificate. If the certificate does not match, the application will not run.

I am not a smart phone snob (even though the only smart phone I have ever owned is an iPhone) I have used a Blackberry as well as an Android. In my opinion the iPhone has the best user experience I can imagine. Many Android users claim that the iPhone has stolen functions that Android utilizes, it is the Apple implementation that makes it stellar. Apple has always understood what people want. (sometimes even BEFORE the people knew they wanted it.)

iOS is an extremely user friendly, intuitive operating system. Without iOS the iPhone and the iPad would not bet the pleasurable experience we see today. This is one of the issues that I have seen with some of the Windows tablets. Microsoft refuses to separate the the mobile (tablet) OS from the desktop OS. This is the primary reason Apple has the lead in the tablet market. Once again Microsoft doesn’t get it. They continue to insist on usage a stylus. The problem with a stylus is it is something else to lose, and navigation is clunky at best.

Whether you are a fan of Apple or not, they just get it. Everyone else is trying to get their queue from Cupertino, but still can’t match Apple’s style or insight into the user experience.

What do you think?