Google Google

There are two notable reasons why betting long on Google is a good idea. The first is based what the company is doing today… right now; and that is the making of lots of amazing applications. One only needs to Google Google to see the variety of industry leading services that the company currently provides in addition to its ubiquitous web search. With Google Search, Google Images, Google Maps, Google Navigation, Google+, Google Translate, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Drive, Blogger, Picasa, Chrome, Android and YouTube (to name a few) the company has successfully created an ecosystem that millions of people rely on, and as its services get smarter and become increasingly more integrated, this dependence will only get greater. Google has played the long game with the development of its services, as applications have gone through varying iterations, benefiting from improved user interfaces and functionalities. However, it was Google’s recent holistic overhaul in bringing a consistent user experience to all of its products that demonstrates the company’s intention to be a one stop shop for the majority of your needs. Couple the synergy that now exists across its applications and services with the ever maturing Chrome and Android operating systems and it is clear that Google has strategically positioned itself to be relevant well into the future. Yet despite the company’s success in delivering market leading applications to date, the most exciting aspect of the company’s evolution is what they are planning for tomorrow. 

The second reason is that Google is investing heavily in the development of products and services that will change the world, which when utilised in coordination with what the company has built up until today, makes for an incredibly exciting future. Google’s top secret X Lab is the type of thing that belongs in a Sci-Fi novel rather than in Mountain View California; it's a playground for the world’s brightest minds and most sophisticated engineers, who are encouraged and funded by Google to build the products of the future… today. Thus far the most notable developments from the X Lab are the self-driving car and Google Glass, two products that will fundamentally alter the way that we live our lives. When such advances are combined with the company’s other established and data rich applications, one can envisage a world in the near future where the way we carry out our daily tasks is entirely different. Google is not simply reacting to industry trends, it is looking 10, 15 years ahead and is playing a pivotal role in creating new realities. The recognition that is now afforded to Google for its Avant-gard thinking used to belong to a certain company from Cupertino. 

Whilst Google is grabbing headlines with regard to its innovation, Apple, known for is world leading design appears to have entered a period of stagnation. The world’s richest technology company has failed to excite the public, which as a result of the company’s previous successes, is beginning to cause disappointment.  Apple’s iOS operating system is failing to stack up against competing platforms, the recent release of iTunes 11 was met with mixed views and there is a general feeling of dismay with regard to company’s existing product line (save the for the iPad mini, which was a reactive development rather that proactive one). There is no doubt that the company presently makes cutting edge hardware with beautiful and easy to use software, but investors looking two or three years down the line are not convinced that the rate of innovation that has been previously seen can continue indefinitely. The iPod changed the way we listen and buy music. The iPhone revolutionised the way we use our phone. The iPad commercialised a new segment of the market. However questions are starting to be asked about the future of the company. Without any new revolutionary products, Apple has entered a phase of iteration instead of innovation. There is still no sign of Apple’s TV and the only thing capturing the media’s attention is the purported existence of an iWatch, a product which although will undoubtedly be the best implementation of a connected watch that we have seen, is further evidence of the company entering existing markets rather than creating their own. Something which Google has boldly been able to do.  

So what now? There is no doubt that Apple remains incredibly successful and profitable, in fact its market capitalisation is greater than Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook combined, but the recent dip in the company’s share price confirms what many market commentators have been asking. Can Apple continue to innovate at its previous pace without the leadership Steve Jobs? Contrast the questions surrounding Apple with the the huge advances that Google is making with its software platforms, its entrance into the hardware market and its on-going development of futuristic products and it becomes easy to see why betting on Google is a good idea.

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Why-Fi?

London's Tube network is a feat of human engineering to be admired. The intricate network of tunnels deep beneath the ground safely transport over 1 billion people a year to their desired destinations. Given the nature of its construction, with the Underground being underground, the Tube has historically been an Oasis amongst the chaos and hustle and bustle of the real work above; a place where for a precious 5, 15 or 20 minutes a day you were the master of your own fate. Uncontactable, unnoticeable, unapproachable. For many, namely the same people that are undeterred by halitosis and the feeling of a stranger's erogenous zones upon one’s thigh, being wrapped in your own bubble of headphones, smartphones and books creates an environment of genuine reflection and uninterrupted unwinding.

Such is our love of the Tube’s tranquillity that we take on social practices that we would frown upon in any other social environment. So valued are those precious moments that in circumstances when our eyes meet the eyes of another whom we know, and the glance lasts long enough to become a short stare in which both parties acknowledge the existence of the other, we deliberately return our heads down and convince ourselves that such an encounter never happened. It’s the unspoken Underground Underwhelm where human instinct kicks in to protect a part of our lives that is so gravely under threat: Me Time.

If you are an EE, (Orange or T-Mobile) or Virgin user you are now eligible to access free Wi-Fi from an ever-growing number of train platforms. Although the number of stations is presently limited, with access restricted to platforms only, the concern is that this is just the beginning of the erosion of peace and quiet on the Tube. As technology continues its advance, it is only a matter of time before internet connectivity becomes available across the Tube’s vast underground network. In a world where we increasingly find ourselves detached from the introspective and forever attached to our work or social networks, the existence of a short period of time where our status cannot be checked and emails cannot be received is something that should be preserved and not so hastily destroyed. By continuing to advance at such a fast pace without ever truly considering the necessity of such advances, beyond the notion of we can therefore should, we risk being so focused on the next that we will forget what it is like to just stand still and be.

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Blackberry is back... APParently

 

To great international fanfare Blackberry (formally RIM) unveiled their new flag ship handsets, the Z10 and the Q10. Following years of unrelenting market share decline, sub-par hardware and an OS that failed to innovate, BB110 has finally arrived; but is it enough to return the former king of smart phones, back to being a market leader?

Blackberry’s renaissance was a long time coming and it demonstrated that the company finally listened to their end users and industry experts. They took an introspective look at their products and revaluated what Blackberry could be in the future, rather than what it was in the past. What this meant in practical terms was that the company need to build a brand new touch friendly OS from the ground up, create beautiful hardware with market leading industrial design, and enhance their paltry ecosystem into something that could complete with the likes of Android and iOS. 

The problem that Blackberry faced was that they could only ever be fully in control of two of the three criteria. Yes they could design an intuitive OS that would go beyond their established BBM and email services, whilst not alienating their existing fan base. Yes they could produce hardware that, although bares some striking resemblance to the iphone 5, is a dramatic improvement over their previous touch screen disasters. However, the greatest hurdle that they needed to jump over, and the one that they simply could not do on their own, was the development of a comprehensive ecosystem which encompassed the worlds best Apps, Music and Videos.

The current App market is dominated by iOS and Android. Developers are constantly updating their applications to work with new software, varying screen sizes and faster processors, and as such, they are already stretched in delivering their content to a proven platform. The proposition of taking engineers and developers off of iOS and Android to work on a totally new platform, in the hope that it might gain traction in 12 – 18, is a very tough sell. With close to three quarters of a billion apps already in competing App markets, the 70,000 that Blackberry launched with simply will not cut it. With end users spending an increasing amount of time on their phones within an app, the importance of a fluid, developed and comprehensive ecosystem cannot be underestimated.

The good news is that Blackberry have retuned to the market with vastly improved hardware and an operating system that is infinitely better than what preceded it. The bad news is that neither the hardware nor software is better than what is already on the market. Without killer apps, back catalogues of music, movies and TV shows, it is questionable whether any existing Android or iOS user would be inclined to forfeit their contract, sever all of their ties with their previous operating system and jump onto Blackberry Bandwagon.

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Android’s beauty is skin deep, but cracks have started to show

The Android operating system has never really hit the mainstream the way its prettier, slicker and more popular iOS cousin has. Apple’s success is down to its ability to produce industry leading software designed specifically for outrageously-stunning hardware. As a result, Apple’s products are both immediately identifiable and intuitive as the mobile operating system works in perfect harmony with the hardware. In contrast, it is Android’s open philosophy which has meant that it has failed to offer consumers both a uniform software and hardware experience. Unlike Apple which runs a tight ship and is in control of every aspect of its ecosystem, Android promotes openness. Openness in who can use the software and openness as to how that software is then tweeked and applied to a manufacturer's hardware. Consequently, it has never been easy for the average consumer to be able to identify or use an Android phone.

Any manufacturer who decides to use the Android operating system as the basis for a handset is allowed to pretty much do what ever they want to it before bringing it to market. This allows them to differentiate what is ostensibly a very similar product to what their competitors are offering. The adaptation of the operating system is known as skinning, and is best explained with the following analogy: Imagine that Android is a delicious sponge cake made by Google HQ and delivered for free to all the bakers that ask for it. Although all the bakers have a truly delicious cake, they are all selling the same product and will thus struggle to pull customers away from neighbouring bakeries. In order to generate business, each baker decides to make their cakes look unique by adding their own style of icings and toppings. Within a few days consumers suddenly have a choice of loads of different cakes, which although taste the same, look completely different. This is precisely what happened with the Android platform, as handset manufacturers flooded the market with their own tweeked versions of Android, leaving consumers without a clear understanding of what Android actually was.

Now you may rightly  be thinking “who cares if anyone knows what cake they are eating? After all, its all the same!” Well this is partly true. The analogy stays pretty clear-cut when Google HQ only make one type of cake. What happens if Google decides to improve their recipe and make a newer, bigger and yummier cake? When this happens the bakers experience mixed emotions. On one hand they are getting an even better cake, but on the other hand, all of the tools that they used to make the old cake special have become obsolete, as the new cake requires different equipment. As a result, they need to invest in new tools which takes time and costs money, whilst simultaneously, word on the street is that there is a new cake in town and it is all that anyone wants. All of a sudden, you have a street full of bakeries where some have rushed out their new half-finished cakes to meet demand, whilst others have taken so long that by the time they are ready, Google HQ has already released a new one! When this happens you get fragmentation. This is what has happened in the past few years, as handset manufacturers have been unable to effectively keep up with newer versions of Android. Consequently, consumers do not benefit from a uniform user experience or the most up to date software. This is particularly problematic for the Apps that run on Android as developers have had no clue how each iteration of the software would affect their App, as sometimes Apps that used to work on one version of Android, would not work the same on a newer version. Whilst Apps that run perfectly on a 3.5 inch screen may not scale up well to a 4 inch screen. In contrast, Apple provide developers with a consistent platform for which to develop Apps, and that is why in general their Apps are cleaner, prettier and follow a more consistent design.

So what now? Google has recently taken a new direction with its Android operating system, one that will please consumers but anger manufacturers. Google’s newest version of Android is Ice Cream Sandwich (note that all versions are named after a dessert) and is the company’s prettiest and most feature-filled version to date. What this means is bakers are being delivered a cake that is pretty much as tasty as can be, and there is little they can add to make customers buy their own specially-designed cakes. In turn, customers may choose to buy their cakes straight from Google HQ instead, as this way they are guaranteed the tastiest cakes as soon as they arrive. What this means for the manufacturer, is that the market has become significantly more competitive as demand for their skins will continue to decrease as Google’s natural version of Android slowly becomes the first choice for Android fans. In turn users will get a consistent experience and Android will for the first time have its own identifiable look, feel and touch.

The truth about Mount Sinai and the two tablets...

An often sited problem with religion is that relies too heavily on oral transmission of information. In the absence of devices that enable the accurate recording of events as they happen, history is subject to fabrications and miscommunications. In fact, one of the gravest and most propagated fallacies is that Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai receiving the Bible from G-d and inscribing ten commandments into two pieces of stone. In reality, this is only partly true. Yes Moses and G-d were having a serious chin-wag, but it was not concerning the laws that would guide the future of the Israelites, it was about a far more pressing issue, and one that would continue to divide the world until this very day. Apple or Android... which is better? So serious was the debate on Sinai that G-d sent Moses down the mountain with two working tablets, each running a competing software, with the view that the people below would help end the debate. However, this mission did not achieve its objectives. So pertinent was the debate that the Israelites began to question the very existence of an almighty G-d. If there was a G-d, why would He force his disciples to make such difficult decisions? Debate turned to anger, and anger turned to violence, and propelled by the storm of emotions below him, Moses slammed the two tablets into the mountain’s side. It was only as the last pixel dissipated from the shattered glass beneath his feet that the gravity of his actions hit him... for the next forty years the Israelites would be lost:

Exodus 34:1:

“And as Moses didith slameth’d the tablets onto the side of Sinai didst he see the error of his ways. For he had preinstalled the route to the land of Milk and Honey on his Google maps. So Moses did turnith to the Lord and he said ‘EPIC FAIL,’ and the Lord did turn his face unto Moses and said ‘LMFAO’. ”