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Tim Cook: 'Android is Like Europe', Many Different Things Under One Name
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I think he is talking about the EU (European Union) and not Europe. Because the US isn't alone on their continent either
You're SO clever. Many Americans think of North America as being the United States ONLY, LOL. And many don't know the countries in South America, sad, except for Mexico, Brazil and Costa Rica, for many, THAT'S South America.You have to give him credit in not saying "Magically" 10 billion times like Steve Jobs did.
I'm sure most Europeans will agree that the way Europe is run is a pretty chaotic mess.
Not to say it doesn't do some really good stuff; just that it isn't what you'd call 'streamlined'.
I can kind of see what he's getting at - he's not calling Europe itself crappy, just that it's kind of an umbrella term for lots of widely different places with their own unique cultures and customs. The analogy is that Android is also kind of an umbrella term for the widely different software you find from different OEMs.
The more I think about it, it's a decent comparison, actually.
Apple wouldn't be a dictatorship; they'd be a single country with a single identity and culture.
The irony, Apple dictates very aspect on how you use your iphone.
At least with Android there are freedoms, You are free to choose which types of phones, free to choose a music app for your music, free to choose how you load your music and apps, free to choose your app launcher system and even free to choose where to get your apps from.
Its ironic that its 30 years since the Apple ad depicting an Orwellian word with IBM as big brother watching over you, that Apple has become the very thing they were originally fighting against.
I would say Android represents the free world, and Apple represents Stalinist Russia.
To say "Many Different Things" is like saying that Android represents Apples original motto - "Think different"
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The more I think about it, the more I think it's a terrible comparison, at the logical level. Europe is a continent, a geological entity, formed by nature. Europe is not a bunch of countries. There are a bunch of countries on Europe, but that's something completely different.
Countries in such a comparison would be more like apps, entities of a different level, sharing a common platform.
But anyway, I think the average newspaper reader doesn't care much for logical consistency, so if his analogy drives home the message, it's good enough I guess. Problem is, the press hasn't been buying it and the average consumer lumps Android on a big heap.
And now, thanks to (I assume) an attempt of humor going lost in translation for much of the continent who will not get their news delivered to them in the original English phrasing, he may have damaged Apple's reputation. Not smart for a CEO of a global company, which gets over half of its revenue from outside the US last I checked.
I guess selling Motorola at a loss qualifies as a result. Tim Cook isn't allowed to speak about future products. So if you don't like him saying nothing, stop asking him anything. Problem solved.
He has hardly scratched his own reputation with that one single statement and even that can be fixed by simply saying 'I'm sorry'. Apples reputation = Apples products. Currently iOS 7 is damaging Apples reputation.
One European (non-English) news source I saw had the following (translated) headline: "Apple CEO thinks Android Tablets are rubbish. Tim Cook compares Android to Europe".
For most of the people visiting that front page, that will be all they read on this topic. Now, that will likely not hurt Apple's position with the people who already enjoy their products. But it's not helping them with people who are on the fence and people who don't like Apple will gobble it up and will make sure it won't be forgotten soon.
I hope they get iOS 7 fixed soon. The crashing and the page reloading on the Air is quite disappointing.
I fancy that Apple is more like the Klingon Empire.
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If we're headed into PRSI territory, then I might as well speculate that Android is more like Syria.
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If we're headed into PRSI territory, then I might as well speculate that Android is more like Syria.
Those number are far from Meaningless. As you have explained in many parts of Europe the iPhone is so expensive, that Apple have priced themselves out of the market.
Yes many of those Androids are lower cost (100-200), but some would be higher end phones.
In Australia I see lots of Androids like the s4 and Nexus 4/5 that are not low end phones, but do cost less than the iPhone. Many people who could buy and iPhone are choosing an Android (Many are still choosing iPhone also).
The most interesting think about that data is not the absolute number, but the change Y/Y. Android gained in every part of the world surveyed.
Note: Portugal is not including in this data. They are not in the "EU5"
I think some people are taking his comments way too personally. I understood his fragmentation analogy right away and at no point did I think he was implying that Europe was crappy.
Going from one Android device to the next can be a very different experience and people *should* stop comparing the mobile market to the PC market. Clearly, marketshare dominance in mobile isn't benefitting Google the way dominating the PC market benefitted Microsoft.
Going from one Android device to the next can be a very different experience and people *should* stop comparing the mobile market to the PC market. Clearly, marketshare dominance in mobile isn't benefitting Google the way dominating the PC market benefitted Microsoft.
Final nail?
MacRumors has some of the most melodramatic posters on the internet.
Was wondering the same thing!
Which is even sadder when you realise that Mexico and Costa Rica are countries on the North American continent...
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In Europe we have a rule that whoever brings up WWII in an argument first, loses.
Uh, German companies build cars in Alabama. They have a lot of steel mills there, and a climate conducive to foreign investment.
I've heard that same argument made about Windows. Over time, what you ended up with were dozens of undifferentiated hardware running the same uninspiring software. We're reaching that point now with Android, if we haven't already.
I'd bet that 95% of the population doesn't care about the "freedoms" you mention. In fact, most Android users never bother to even change their home screens. True freedom comes from being able to choose a different platform, like iOS. And believe it or not, a lot of people like the fact that Apple has made a lot of the product choices for them, creating a very consistent, cohesive and easy to use system. In fact, many believe they're paying Apple good money for that very reason.
And if you're going to call any company big brother, wouldn't that be the company that controls access to the internet and whose business model is to know everything about everyone and and doles out free software and services to get that?
??? While you may have lived in the US for 10 years, it doesn't seem like you've learned much about the US. The establishments of both major parties aren't all that far apart on most issues. The difference is that with a winner take all system, we've had two parties dominate. The fringes of both parties are very vocal, and our primary system gives them outsized influence, but the system self-corrects when one party strays too far. It happened to the Democrats in the 1980s and is happening to the Republicans now.
In any case, most mainstream Democrats in the US would probably feel more comfortable in some of the "centrist" or even "center-right" parties in Europe than in the center-left parties. As a whole, our political center is to the right of Western Europe's.
And it isn't as if European countries are immune to extremism. UKIP is at the point where it might influence the 2015 election in the UK. Germany doesn't have far "right" extremists with representation in the Bundestag, but the old communists still meet the threshold and the SPD briefly toyed with forming a governing coalition with them and the Greens before more rational heads prevailed. And an anti-immigrant party fell just shy of winning seats last election. IIRC, in Austria an anti-immigrant party was part of the governing coalition in the late 1990s (albeit a minor player, but still).
Well wanted to buy an iphone and now i see i wont. Will wait and buy a samsung s5 and never again an iphone.
Google is like GM. They make cars for eveyone and target a broad market. They have Cadillac as their premium brand, but have a full-range of products at many price points.
Apple is like BMW: which is exclusively a premium brand. This is where they thrive, like BMW they will offer other premium models but they have higher profit margins because they sell at higher prices...prices their customers are willing to pay.
I don't understand the PC, smartphone, and tablet market share fuss because like BMW, they are fine sitting within their limited scope. BMW will never sell as many cars as GM, Toyota, or VW because their market is a narrower more defined market.
Apple is like BMW: which is exclusively a premium brand. This is where they thrive, like BMW they will offer other premium models but they have higher profit margins because they sell at higher prices...prices their customers are willing to pay.
I don't understand the PC, smartphone, and tablet market share fuss because like BMW, they are fine sitting within their limited scope. BMW will never sell as many cars as GM, Toyota, or VW because their market is a narrower more defined market.
You guys are misinterpreting it. It's just a really lame analogy explaining how "Android" doesn't mean very much. Yes, some phone might run Android, but it could be completely different from another Android phone. Saying that Android sucks doesn't equal saying that Europe sucks.
Still though…
1. Tim Cook gives the worst speeches, and he's the reason I don't believe in Apple's success anymore (well, more like Steve Jobs being dead).
2. Europe is home to some whacky governments, specifically PIIGS. France is digging its own grave now. Who won the Cold War anyway?
3. Android is still junk.
Still though…
1. Tim Cook gives the worst speeches, and he's the reason I don't believe in Apple's success anymore (well, more like Steve Jobs being dead).
2. Europe is home to some whacky governments, specifically PIIGS. France is digging its own grave now. Who won the Cold War anyway?
3. Android is still junk.