Debunking iOS5

This is so true. But no one else will note that these aren’t new features.

I agree with you! It looks like they looked at Android and said how can we make it more like them before they take our market. It’s also funny how android and iOS are not trying to make anything like Windows 7. Microsoft is going to lose this battle.

Are you really going to play the “it’s been done before, so it’s irrelevant” card? If that were the case, then the whole Android OS should called out by you as lackluster, unimpressive and irrelevant, as it was apple, with the introduction of the iphone, which actually revolutionized the whole smartphone market, thus forcing google and others to try to play catch up. I haven’t seen you calling the Android OS a blatant rip off of Apple’s iOS. That being said, for what i could see, the implementation of this notification system is far more polished, user friendly, and all around more useful than that of Android’s OS. Yeah, blame and criticize Apple for improving on something google has done, while at the same time you choose to worship google for doing the same exact thing with their entire OS.

I’m not saying they’re irrelevant. The features are great for iOS, but they shouldn’t be considered revolutionary in the market as a whole, like most iOS updates are credited with.

I’ve never called Android a blatant rip off of iOS because it isn’t. I fail to see where your argument comes from, as most of Android as I see it is completely original. In addition, the only area I’ve seen Google playing catch-up with Apple is in smartphone market share, which if you haven’t noticed, has recently been dominated by Android.

I don’t worship Google. I am a proponent of innovation, and iOS5 is not innovative, which is precisely the point of my post.

Eddie: You claim that the problem is that iOS 5 is not an innovation, but can you really sit there and claim everything about Android is innovative, original? Please…. How much of google’s operating system was made from scratch and how much of it was technology purchased from a third party, and improved upon (just like all technology based companies do)? For a long time, Android lovers kept making a huge deal about iphone’s notification system and how Android’s was better. Now, when iOS comes up with an improved version of Android’s own system, the problem is that it is not new, it is not innovative. Is every single one of Android’s updates full of innovation and new things not in existence before? Could it be that Android also improves upon aspects they already have? Why is lack of originality and innovation something to make a fuss about, only when iPhone puts out a new OS, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue whenever google puts out a new OS “every other weekend?”

I’ll agree that not _everything_ about Android is completely original. You’re correct that everything starts somewhere and over time the original idea is copied time and time again.
I apologize. I didn’t mean for this post to come across as saying that Android is always innovative while iOS is not, because that’s not true. Both have done their part in the industry and continue to do so. Really, I intended for this post to act as a call to action, asking that major versions (of any OS) actually introduce new ideas rather than improve on existing ones. If I read your last post correctly, I’d say you would also agree that iOS5 is not as innovative as Apple’s past efforts.

“asking that major versions (of any OS) actually introduce new ideas rather than improve on existing ones”

I’m sorry, maybe you meant something different from what you actually said, but this idea is just plain absurd.

OK everyone, we have a new rule in the industry. We’ll call it “Eddie’s Rule.” In order to increment your software version number by a full integer, you’re new version must contain at least one feature that no other software anywhere has ever done before. It can’t just be a significant new feature in *your* software, it has to be unique and novel within the entire software industry. Actually, scratch that. In order for you to qualify for a a full integer version increment, your new feature must be unique in the entire universe. If, at some point in the future, we discover that our universe is, in fact, part of a larger multiverse, all features must be validated to be unique within the scope of said multiverse.

As a wise person once said, “there’s nothing new under the sun.” There are no entirely new ideas. Every idea is an improvement on old ideas. This applies to iOS, Android, Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, Ruby on Rails, you name it. So the features in iOS 5 aren’t incredibly innovative within the smartphone market. In fact, pretty much all these features have been available on jailbroken iOS devices for some time now. But they are new (and sorely needed) in iOS itself. Is Jobs’ fanfare overdone? Nauseating even? Oh, yeah it is. But that’s his MO. If he presented iWater at WWDC, he would describe it as “the most important thing to happen since hydrogen and oxygen were introduced into the world.”

If I’ve come across as harsh, I apologize. But your bias is definitely showing. You can try to spin it and explain it away, but it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Personally, I like both iOS and Android. Honestly, I don’t think one is that much better than the other when you compare them in their rooted/jailbroken state. The big differences are in philosophy and hardware choices. I have seriously considered switching to Android, primarily because of the philosophical difference (I like the iPhone, but I hate Apple with a passion). Sadly though, when I last looked into Android phones, the conclusion I came to was that, in practice here in the US, Android phones are actually less open due to carrier lockdowns, proprietary drivers and OS customizations (making OS upgrades a PITA), and the fact that the rooting community is so splintered among all the different phone models. My hope is that this situation changes in the future, but I’m not holding my breath.

You’re right, what I said was pretty stupid. You’ll have to excuse me for that as well, as I was writing in haste. I didn’t mean it that way. My philosophy on software is that when you increment the major version number, you have to do something really, REALLY big to justify it. With that said, I simply don’t see the features of iOS5 to justify a major release, but perhaps a smaller point release (4.4 or something) I agree that most features in software now are just improvements upon what has already been done, and didn’t mean to make it sound like there should always be something new with every release.

Perhaps I was thinking too narrowly. I didn’t mean to sound like these features were insignificant, as they’re great for iOS as a platform. I just expected to see something more than what Apple gave us, given their previous history of pretty amazing innovation.

As for Android and it’s openness, I think you’ll find the tides will change in the coming months. HTC has already announced that it will no longer lock it’s bootloaders, making their devices as easy to root as typing a command in the console and pressing enter. Samsung also announced that their kernel for the future Galaxy S devices will be open as well as the drivers. Google has also set a strict list of guidelines for manufacturers and carriers to follow when it comes to releasing new updates for devices. I think you’ll find that updates will come quicker and more reliably.

“As for Android and it’s openness, I think you’ll find the tides will change in the coming months.”

I sure hope so. Carriers’ control of the smartphone landscape in the US is a bit depressing. I had high hopes for Android and really liked some of the hardware. Then last year, I started researching phones in hopes of switching to Android and was shocked at how locked in the devices were and how fragmented the community was. Hopefully in a year or two when I’m ready for a new phone again, the situation will be different.

I still disagree with your position on versioning, but I can at least see where you’re coming from now. Personally, I don’t really think it matters what versioning standard manufacturers use because it’s all so subjective anyway. But I can agree to disagree on that point.

[...] seen lots of articles and discussions about iOS stealing from Android and vice versa. Heck, I even ventured into that territory myself. People often use the argument that Android was “made” after iOS, so naturally Android [...]