
Guy Kawasaki on why he gave up on iOS - mtgx
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/09/apples-first-evangelist-on-why-he-ditched-ios/
======
nicholassmith
Total clickbait with little substance, lets focus on something:

"So if Apple can’t keep one of its earliest employees happy...", that entire
sentiment is based around the idea that Apple shouldn't do anything that's
going to upset what's a very small (but vocal) group of users. That's stupid.
That's some of the stupidest business advice ever.

Also, the falling on face test is a relatively good idea but it'll still hurt
no matter the size unless it weighs sod all.

~~~
ajross
Um... the (short) article was filled with substance. There's a big block quote
from Kawasaki right in the middle where he talks about all the specific things
he likes about Android.

Now, those are all high level things everyone here will be familiar with. So
maybe the article is mis-targetted. And the headline is clearly designed to
inflame. So you can argue about that if you want.

But saying that Kawasaki's opinions have no value is just weird, and sounds
like sour grapes to me. The guy was the official Mac evangelist for literally
decades. Clearly his opinions are newsworthy.

~~~
freejack
Guy worked at Apple for four years. In the eighties.

I think his opinions on IOS are about as important as mine. Or yours. Well,
maybe a bit more than ours, he worked there for 4 years. In the eighties.

~~~
runjake
_> Guy worked at Apple for four years. In the eighties._

Guy worked at Apple for four _crucial_ years _during the birth of the
Macintosh and was instrumental to its success_.

~~~
mark_integerdsv
Meh.

This guy pops his head up in documetaries and occasionally in the startup
blogoshpere. Usually to toot his own horn about his 80s Apple Cred.

His advice and style are hoplessly outdated and his persona is actually rather
annoying.

I'm still angry about the waistcoat he wears in that dumb 'Art of the start'
video that still does the rounds...

------
drivingmenuts
I have both an iPad and a Nexus 7. For a couple of specific things (docs,
etc.) I find the larger screen size of the iPad to be handy. However, for most
recreational and daily use, I find the Nexus 7 to be a better size.
Functionally, they're pretty much do the same things. iOS has a better UI,
Android better customizability.

If I had to pick one to use for the rest of my life, I'd go Android, without
regret, for the open platform.

~~~
Supermighty
I have both as well, and I always really liked the iPad for reading, but now I
grab the Nexus 7 first. For me it's not the size, I would love a 10" Nexus
tablet, it's the whole experience.

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Hari_Seldon
My favorite Guy Kawasaki quote is in connection with the launch of windows 95,
when someone said that windows is now as good as the Mac. He response was

"Saying Windows is equal to Macintosh is like finding a potato that looks like
Jesus and believing you've witnessed the second coming".

------
jim_kaiser
"I love NFC, I love the fact that you can have a live widget that shows you
emails."

My Nokia 701 running Symbian Belle does both of that, runs Qt apps. Nobody
gave up their iPhone for Nokia though.

Nobody cared about beautiful open source Qt as a mobile framework contender
driving Qt and Meego down into the dumps.

Closed garden? Nobody cared about apple's "walled garden" when Richard
Stallman had been preaching against it for years/decades for the right
reasons. Not because he finally found it inconvenient.

~~~
SeanDav
I am one of those people that does very much care about Apple's "walled
garden". The only reason I would get an Apple device is if I had to develop an
app for it.

I have a friend who is an Apple fan, so I can see a lot of benefits to the
Apple kool aid as he keeps on showing me all the useful things he can do on
his Apple devices.

But what happens if I want to install an app that I want but Apple hasn't
approved, well I have to jail break my Apple device, and that, right there, is
the failure point and the reason I will never get an Apple for personal use.

~~~
Terretta
1\. Ad-hoc installs don't require Apple approval. This isn't a barrier for
hackers.

2\. iOS was supposed to be an HTML5 app device. Those install and run w/o
Apple involvement at all.

3\. Many of the neat tricks on Android require a rooted phone. Many neat
tricks on iPhone require a jailbroken phone. Same idea. Again, not a barrier
for hackers.

4\. Computing succeeds when people can use it without stress, like they use
their fridge or lately their car. iOS is closer to that today. I believe in a
future where everyone can have the knowledge of the world in their hand --
_and use it_. And that, right there, is why I evangelize non-hackers to get an
Apple for personal use. They quit just carrying a smartphone, and start using
one.

~~~
mdwrigh2
> 3\. Many of the neat tricks on Android require a rooted phone. Many neat
> tricks on iPhone require a jailbroken phone. Same idea. Again, not a barrier
> for hackers.

I don't think this is necessarily true. And even if it is, you can buy a phone
that supports rooting out of the box if you want. Apple will never support
jailbreaking.

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Spooky23
Guy Kawasaki is basically a PR guy and promoter who also does some VC stuff.
So a new client gave him their product, and he's pitching the product. Big
whoop.

The good news here is that the polish on Android phones is getting good enough
that selling phones is a PR/marketing exercise. That and the re-entry of
Microsoft should mean that all the players will need to keep the innovation
process going.

------
bitwize
Android does contain a lot of innovations that make it really cool from a UX
standpoint, even to an Apple fan (especially a long-time Apple fan like Guy).
The whole intents architecture, which lets you slot in any application to
fulfill an intent, is really innovative and reminds me of where Apple was
trying to go in the nineties with its next-gen Mac before Mac OS X swept in
and took over.

By comparison iOS is in many ways a lot more like the Lisa than the Macintosh:
rigid and inflexible, and possessed of system-supplied apps and workflows for
common things which you are supposed to use without complaint.

~~~
snogglethorpe
Apple builds such nice hardware though ....

Gee .... somebody should port Android to the iphone!!

It would be the best of all worlds... :O

------
purephase
While I'm not an Apple zealot by any stretch of the imagination, the biggest
complaint is the lack of additional browsers.

You can get Chrome on iOS now (thankfully).

I just wish that Samsung or someone else would up their game hardware wise. I
love Android, but I do not like any of the hardware choices.

~~~
Simucal
He mentions that you can get additional browsers but that you can't set them
as the default when you click on a link.

I really wish iOS would get Android Intents.

~~~
rimantas
I wouldn't be very surprised to see something like that in next version of
iOS. Scrap that. I would be surprised not to see that in next version in iOS.

~~~
Semaphor
I would be very surprised. Apple has tried hard to have standard apps that are
always standard apps. Intents give you choices for your standard apps which
give you (even if minor) fragmentation. That is something people see
differently and for me personally that sounds like hell. But to each his own
and I'd even guess people with no technical knowledge might prefer not to be
bothered by such choices.

I love Android intents and can't wait for webintents to take off but I can't
see Apple embracing intents or something similar on iOS.

~~~
glhaynes
I'd say if Apple opens up that sort of customizability, it'll have strict
requirements around the interface/behavior and, if those requirements change,
3rd party apps will have to change rapidly with them or be rejected from the
Store. In other words, their control over the Store could allow them some
flexibility to allow some customization in ways that avoid fragmentation.

------
j45
I switched to a galaxy note in February because there wasn't anything as
compelling and new out from Apple at the time.

My previous iPhone 3gs managed to do a lot for me. The iPhone.4 didn't
interest me at the time because of the antenna, and the 4s seemed
underwhelming.

I realized then Apple was no longer pushing the envelope with what my
smartphone could be, or do, and it was about maximizing product cycles.

On the other hand, Samsung had the gall to release a phone like the Galaxy
Note. I didn't know if I'd like it, and it turned out I was burnt by having 3
year old gingerbread on it with no upgrade in sight, I realized whether or not
I liked it, Samsung seemed to have assumed the role of being the cutting edge.

iOS is totally more optimized out of the box than Android to use. ICS has made
large strides forward but it still requires me to spend time customizing my
phone which I didn't, or couldn't.

Will the iPhone 5 win me back? if it came out last year I probably would have
been writing this post on it right now.

~~~
pja
The Note is about to get Jelly Bean if Engadget is to be believed.

~~~
enjo
And Jelly Bean really is a game changer. The difference between ICS and Jelly
Bean is profound. The difference between the 2.x series and 4.1 is night and
day, they aren't even comparable platforms.

------
djt
\- he worked for apple almost 25 years ago. \- He spruiks his book for Google+

Im a big fan of Rules for Revolutionaries and Art of the Start was OK but
since then I havent read anything that I have been impressed with.

Not sure how his start up portfolio has faired:
<http://www.garage.com/portfolio/>

------
chasing
Guy Kawasaki prefers Android. So he uses an Android phone.

I'm looking forward to the follow-up: "Guy Kawasaki on why he gave up pizza
because he was frankly more in the mood for a hamburger for lunch."

I'm happy that he found the mobile device that fits his needs, but otherwise I
just really don't care. I prefer my iPhone. I have little opinion about what
other mobile operating systems people use.

------
Jgrubb
I don't expect journalistic excellence from Gizmodo, but is it too much to ask
to have at least one other person just proofread the thing?

"How does this guy who got in on the ground floor of Apple only to turn on
them years later?"

I'm pretty sure a 6th grader could spot the problem with that sentence.

~~~
martswite
This stalled me also, read it four or five times because I thought I was the
one being retarded.

I don't mind spelling mistakes and poor grammar, as long as I can get the
point of what the author is trying to say.

However half written sentences make me think you don't really know what you're
talking about and I immediately begin to subtract credibility.

------
skrebbel
My friend's aunt's milkman's neighbour once sweeped the floor for a few years
at Microsoft in Redmond in the early nineties.

These days, he _hates_ Windows Phone.

Microsoft is doomed.

------
ericcumbee
He is without a doubt right about this part

"I think the size of [the Nexus 7] is perfect. I love the size. I think that
10.1-inches is just a little too big for me for reading. My test for a tablet
is that if you fall asleep and the device hits your face, does it hurt you?
The seven-inch doesn’t and the ten-inch does, so that’s my test!"

I am really suprised i have not broken my nose with my ipad yet.

~~~
bnastic
I have hurt my nose before with a hardcover book. Clearly, those things should
never be printed. That's supposed to be the reason to go for one or the other
- nap-friendliness? People are becoming ridiculously spoiled.

~~~
talmand
I must have missed the part where he stated that 10" tablets should never get
made.

I believe a more likely comparison would be why does Publisher A, who only
prints hardcover, complain/mock/denounce the thought of Publisher B offering
paperback as an option?

------
yardie
A short bullshit article about Apple on Gizmodo? I should have known better.

------
dr_
I'd like to know how many times he has been able to use NFC in the US. Does he
seriously believe Apple can't throw in a little chip? There are other reasons
they don't do this, mostly because of the inability to have much impact on how
payments are performed at this time, and NFC hasn't changed things much. And
they've had LTE on their latest ipad, just a matter of time before it was
ready for the iPhone without destroying battery life.

~~~
madmoose
The NFC chip might be small but the antenna is HUGE.

~~~
vetinari
And it does not play nice with aluminium casing. It is basically mutually
exclusive choice.

------
mark_l_watson
Interesting and I am glad he is flexible about choosing his tools. BTW, I am
fairly certain that Guy Kawasaki was the guy at Apple in 1984 who paid for a
full page Scientific American advertisement for the little Mac application I
wrote while at SAIC. I made sure that everyone in my management hierarchy saw
the ad :-)

------
jonaphin
Guy Kawasaki, Evangelist by profession. Nuff said.

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Tichy
The tablet test sounds sensible.

------
adjwilli
I gave up on Guy Kawasaki when all he would ever talk about is AllTop without
it ever being obvious why AllTop matters.

------
CapitalistCartr
napierzaza, you were Hell-banned 247 days ago. I've no idea why.

------
melvinmt
> to find out about his new daily driver

Where's the part about his new daily driver?

~~~
lisper
It means the phone you "drive" (i.e. use) day to day. The term is borrowed
from automobile culture, where an auto enthusiast might have several cars: a
"daily driver" (a plain old ordinary car), a sports car, a show car, etc.

