Can Apple learn from Microsoft ?

By now most folks will have seen the announcements from Apple® for the capability that will be coming in iOS 5 from earlier in the week.

An example from Mashable

One of the issues around this announcement is about how Apple has taken feature/functions that are currently in 3rd party applications (Camera + from TapTapTap as an example) & put these into the base product.

Nothing like a good idea it seems – the above example is particularly relevant as that app was withdrawn from the iTunes app store for a while because it used the volume button as a shutter button. Apparently Apple is now making this an option.

It will come to pass, and probably caused by European regulators that Apple’s bundling in of capability that is not core to the operating system will come to a stop.

Why is it, dear reader that only Cisco gets to do the base VPN capability for iOS & not others as well ?

We all should remember the unbundling that Microsoft had to do – Internet Explorer – we all now get to state what we want as the default browser – and have the ability to remove IE from the install if we are so inclined.

If Apple is serious about the eco system of apps that surround the iOS platform then it should take a similar approach – that is allow users to replace function that comes with iOS with an alternative

e.g replace the inbuilt camera app, or replace the Safari browser with for example Opera mobile.

That is what IMO I believe Apple can learn from the folks from Microsoft, though it may be a bitter pill to swallow, you need to be willing to free up control, just a little, over the user environment & allow those who have the willingness to do so to choose alternatives that suit.

This will send a clear message to all those app developers that Apple is not going to replace your app with a feature – well not entirely & encourage innovation across the whole eco system.

That, dear reader is the last point I make – small app developers are always going to be far more agile than even Apple (or any big company for that matter) can be – and that will drive innovation that will drive success for everyone.

Thanks for reading

From this weeks supermarket visit

Just a short one today – one of the items that we saw at the supermarket as we did our weekly shopping.

Confusing, well it IS obvious what they are suppose to be selling which got me to thinking about the language of selling – or in this case, packaging.

In the western world it seems that a picture of the “serving suggestion” is what is used as much as anything else, yet in my unrepresentative travels to places like China, Japan, etc it seems mandatory to have a lot of words describing the benefits or whatever of the product on the front.

I leave it to you to make suggestions about the reasons for the difference.

Thanks for reading

Hello There

So I have decided to start blogging publicly – my employer, IBM has a very enlightened (compared to some other companies) view and has been encouraging folks like me to engage in public conversations.

So who am I ?

• I work for IBM in Australia as part of our internal IT (we call it “Business Transformation & Information Technology” or  BT&IT for short) for the Growth Markets Unit on the Strategic transformation of IBM’s internal IT.
• I have a teenage daughter who is Goth/Emo
• I am an Australian Citizen, living just outside Sydney
• I am 48 years old, but still feel like I am 17 (though the mirror tells me otherwise)

This blog is NOT about IBM – there may be some things I reflect on from my work life, considering I spend a significant proportion of my conscious hours working for them on the things that they ask me to work on, and a bit more as well.

The intent of this blog will be a public timeline of what passes by my brain and I feel should be expressed publicly. This could be simple things or more likely some vain attempt by yours truly to actually add a train of reflection and maybe, just maybe a trail of hope for those of you who choose to do me the honour of reading it.

So off to my first real post

and, thanks for reading