Entries from May 2010 ↓

By two of my favourite “artists”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D0VhS8qXT0&feature=player_embedded

I went out this week to buy my first Android phone because I wanted to get up to speed on what Google is doing and to be able to speak intelligently about what is shaping up to be the main rival to the iPhone in the smartphone arena.

It was an interesting experience, and one that made me immediately realise that Apple has nothing to fear for quite some time when it comes to Android.  Let me give you a few reasons why I believe this is the case…

When you go out to buy and iPhone for the first time, it’s not a super complicated matter.  About your biggest consideration is how much storage you want on the device.  At the moment, you also have the choice between the older 3G model and the 3GS model, but that’s not going to be largely a decision made on cost, given that a lot of suppliers are flogging off the older models for free on a plan (at least here in Australia).  But, there is essentially a single form factor, 2 hardware versions in terms of speed, and a couple of choices to be made about storage.  All of the devices are running the same OS version, with minor differences in software.

And, this has been huge for me…  I know that my phone will get all OS upgrades as they come along, and it’s almost like getting a new phone every 6 months or so.  This has been a unique experience for me in all my phone-owning experiments.

So, what’s the problem with Android?  Well, let’s just say I left the store knowing empty-handed and knowing that I needed to do a whole bunch of research before making a purchase.

Why?

1.  There are a range of hardware suppliers, varying form-factor and quality.  And it became apparent that the differences, especially with a touchscreen device, can be huge.  So, suddenly, I was confronted with not just a single option (which in my view is the best touchscreen device ever), but lots of possibilities… and some of them way better than others, and few of them as good as the iPhone experience (in my view).

2.  I quickly discovered that Android version was an issue.  Different devices I took a look at offered various versions of Android, most of them old (1.4 or 1.5)…  which is seriously different to 2.1 or the new 2.2 (which does look cool).  No problem…  I’ll just upgrade the OS…   hmmm…  well, actually, no, I was told, that may not be such a simple thing.  That, apparently, depends very much on the various suppliers and whether they will offer upgrades to various models.  This is a huge issue for me.  I love that my iPhone will definitely get an upgrade (although obviously this is becoming an issue for 3G owners going into iPhone OS 4).  The guy called HTC to ask them about the Magic for me, but no, they couldn’t confirm whether this would be able to be upgraded to 2.1, never mind 2.2.  OK then…  so now I have to put that into the consideration equation…  will the hardware I choose be able to stay current?!  More research before I could confidently purchase.

Now, I know some out there are going to rave about free choice and isn’t it wonderful that you have so many choices and options, etc., but I personally was confused and walked away without buying anything (yet), and I feel that anyone who did just buy something without really knowing what they were doing is likely to be quite unhappy within 6 months when their hardware was obviously not high quality, their software was not upgradeable, and they are locked into a 24 month contract.

This is a huge contrast with the iPhone experience, and is a natural consequence of the open/closed mindsets of Google versus Apple.  I actually love both companies and what they offer, but I can’t see Android enjoying long-term success if such a huge range continues to exist in the quality of the user purchase and product experience, which is largely defined not by Google, but by the handset makers.

And, I’m a guy who actually knows something about this stuff…  imagine the novice who has nothing to go by other than the ignorance of most sales people in the Vodafone/Optus/Telstra?!

I was in a business meeting the other day where a particular participant kept focusing on building a business so he could sell it.  He kept on repeating this idea, and it seemed for him a very strong motivator, this focus on the end point of his efforts, and it really got me thinking about this perspective a bit more deeply.

I know he is probably influenced quite heavily by classic business texts like “The E-Myth” by Gerber, where this view of the end-point of a business is strongly reiterated constantly as being one of the prime motivators for creating solid systems and structure, etc., but I’m not convinced it’s a healthy way to view the business of business.  In fact, I’m not even sure Gerber really buys into it when you read between the lines of his later texts more thoroughly.

Here’s what I think… it seems to me that anyone who builds a business with the explicit intention of selling it has profoundly misunderstood the true benefit of building a business.

And, I don’t think this applies just to building businesses.  It applies to a great many endeavours, where the means are often far more important than the intended ends, and indeed they often shape the ends and give them meaning in our lives in the broadest sense.  It’s a bit like someone being completely focused on their retirement, all the while forgetting that there’s a lot of life to be lived before that point, much of which might well change our experience and expectations of retirement when we finally get there.

There’s something about our busy age where the ends have become so important, and we have lost the importance of the journey and the way it shapes our appreciation of our destination.  Sometimes, we arrive somewhere and realise this is not the true destination, and that’s just fine…  part of our destination is surely growing and developing as a person, discovering more about ourselves and our world as we pass through it, and yet we seem in such a hurry to get somewhere.

So, perhaps the purpose of anything isn’t so much about its end-point as its mid-points…

So, I get this phone call today from a research group doing a little survey on a person I have recently done some business with…  would I mind answering a few questions about the person in question?

Well, the person in question was very helpful to me and I felt they went the extra mile in helping me out, so, no, I don’t mind answering a few questions about them…  especially if some good feedback would help them out.  No problems.

But then, this thing took a turn for the ridiculous when they asked me questions and I gave a good answer and then they started repeating everything I had just said SLOWLY as they typed in the responses.  After a couple of minutes, it was painful hearing them slowly garble my eloquent (!) responses into their typed efforts, not-so-behind-the-scenes.  Crazy bad!

I just don’t get it…  surely a business based around phone interviews would simply record the interview and then transcribe the responses afterwards?  That seems simple, elegant, and far more user-friendly, especially if you’re going to form the interview around open-ended questions which don’t simply require a yes/no or number answer.

Sometimes, you just shake your head in amazement…