Post by DavoudPost by Todd AllcockPost by Alan BrowneDespite Android's overall lead as a mobile OS for smartphones, Apple is
the preferred choice where business is concerned...
While that's certainly possible and even plausible, the problem with that
data us that it comes from Good, a secure corporate mail vendor (sort of
a Blackberry-like setup for non-Blackberries.)
If you want your own, anecdotal evidence, go where business people do
business. Ride an Amtrak commuter train on the NE Corridor (especially
DC-NYC) any business day. Any class will do--regular, business, or
Acela. Count iPhones (and iPads) compared to other platforms.
An excellent point, though I might suggest any of our perceptions might
be skewed by the iPhone's design. I recognize an iPhone instantly, but I
couldn't identify 98 of 100 Android phones in a lineup (recent lawsuit
findings notwithstanding), so the comparison would be iPhones vs. not-an-
iPhone. vs. "OMG, do Blackberries still look like that?" If the train car
were large enough, with maybe 100 phone users, I could add the "hey, I'm
not the only guy on the planet with a Windows Phone" category.
It's much like how after you buy a new car, more people suddenly seem to
be driving the same model because you just never recognized them before.
Now they've become a distinct "category" in your mind.
Post by DavoudWhen you get to NY, observe the number of people in business dress who
are using iPhones compared to other platforms (remembering when it was
virtually 100% Blackberry) and, in a restaurant or coffee shop, iPads.
I could be naïve in my assumption that a high percentage of suits on
the streets of NY represent persons engaged in some sort of business,
but I don't think that I am. I perceive that the average New Yorker out
for a stroll and the average tourist is wearing comfort clothing, as I
am, and not business apparel.
True, and I had a similar discussion with some virtual friends recently
who were trying to claim Android tablets were becoming popular, and I
mentioned that I still can't recall *ever* seeing a single Android tablet
that wasn't a Nook or Kindle in the wild. From my unscientific
observances there are only two kinds of tablets- iPads and ebook readers.
Post by DavoudThis is a non-scientific survey. A plausible scientific survey that
might show interesting, if predictable, results, would focus not just
on how many people use iOS, but /who/ uses iOS. It would be a
comparison of education and income levels between iOS users and users
of off-brand phones. Historically, Apple customers have always come out
on top in such surveys.
True, but I'm not sure if that would apply to iOS users in the post-
Walmart era. iOS has become the modern consumer equivalent of the old
business axiom "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM". Smartphones and
tablets are a confusing market, and Apple offers a safe harbor by virtue
of its popularity and relatively limited options. With Android, there
are a myriad of chances to buy the "wrong" device. First by choosing
Android in the first place, then by selecting the wrong brand, then wrong
model, wrong variant, wrong color, etc.
There something comforting in the sales "flowchart" for the iPhone: black
or white? 16, 32, or 64GB? Will that be cash or charge?
Post by Davoud"Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make
more money than their PC-using counterparts, according to a report from
Nielsen/NetRatings. The study also said Mac users tend to be more Web
savvy, with more than half having been online for at least five years.
And the Mac faithful are 58 percent more likely than the overall online
population to build their own Web page and also slightly more likely to
buy goods online, according to the report."
Of course we can interpret that data to mean that the better-educated and
the well-heeled select Apple as an educated decision, but we can also
interpret it to mean Apple has priced itself out of the low-priced market
flooded with $250-400 entry level desktop PCs and laptops.
I'll wager every one of those correlations, right down to "more likely to
build their own web page" is probably also true of BMW and Lexus car
owners vs. owners of Hyundais and Chevys as well. Or wearers of Rolex vs.
Timex.
Apple, among its many attributes, is an affinity brand, and has a similar
client demographic to other affinity brands, even in unrelated industries.
Post by DavoudIt is likely, but not proven, that something analogous to that would be
found in an iOS-versus-the-competition survey.
Maybe, but carrier subsidies have allowed iPhones to penetrate the Honey
Boo Boo market. (Sorry, television reference- insert an image of any
convenient inbred Appalachian stereotype from more high-fallutin' forms
of media...)
Besides, Apple dominates most of the markets inhabited by iOS (tablets
and media players) and is a major player in the other (phones) that more
people use iOS than don't. An OS user has become the "average" user by
default.
Post by DavoudIt's worth noting how the iPhone, which was designed with consumers in
mind, without much of a nod to enterprise users, has put RIM on the
rocks. All those Blackberry users /saw/ the iPhone, maybe tried it out,
and became Believers. They went to their IT departments and said "I
want an iPhone." The IT department said "You can't have an iPhone
because they're made by Apple and company policy is that Apple makes
only toys suitable for left-wing, business-hating communists. Then one
day the IT department got a call from the CEO. They had been wondering
why they never heard from him. Upon entering the sanctum sanctorum they
were shocked and appalled to see that the CEO had an iPhone /and/ an
iMac (and now an iPad, as well). The really scary part for the IT guys
was that the CEO had installed the iMac without their help. You know
the rest of the story.
Yes, businesses rejected the security of Blackberry because their CEOs
are distracted by bright shiny objects.
There are significant security issues with most non-Blackberry phones,
that admittedly are irrelevant to a significant number of businesses, but
for those that require a higher level of security, using iPhones or
Androids is almost as smart as the CEO of UPS demanding their drivers use
Miatas for making delivery instead of those big brown trucks because the
CEO happens to be a rag-top man.