So-called “smart phones” and tablets are just another area of computing, one where, once again, Apple fanboiz-and-gurlz (in and out of the Hivemind) claim all kinds of Apple magic. In one area, the vaunted (and debatable) OS stability area, once again reality takes a bite out of the Apple. As of last June, iOS and Android reached a more-or-less parity of distribution among users, despite the phenomenal sales record of the iPhad (15 million in 2011, according to industry figures, still not quite as many as Apple had projected, but phenomenal). I haven’t find any current estimates, but the 6 million, or thereabouts, Kindle Fire’s sold in Q4 of 2011 (yeah, Xmas! *heh*) may have twitched the ratio a tad.
But, stability? Pretty much parity.
Of course, that’s only part of the story. There are a lot of Android and iOS devices in users’ hands, and the various devices run different versions of the OSes. A wee tad more depth shows,
Apple’s iOS 5.0.1 was the most crash-inclined version of all, accounting for 28.64 percent of crashes between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15. iOS 4.2.10 accounted for 12.64 percent, iOS 4.3.3 for 10.66 percent and iOS 4.3.5 for 8.9 percent.
Among Apple devices, the great majority of crashes were logged on iPhones—74.41 percent—followed by the iPod touch, at 14.87 percent, and the iPad, at 10.72.
The most crash-prone version of Android was version 2.3.3, with a 3.86 percent share of the iOS/Android crash pie. Looking at only Android crashes, version 2.3.3 accounted for just shy of one-fourth of all Android crashes, followed by 2.3.4 with also nearly a quarter of the Android-only pie.
With so many different iterations of OS versions out and about, it’s really something of a wonder that there aren’t more application-caused crashes.
Still, no kudos for stability to Apple over Android, though with The Monolith Apple Empire vs. the Fragmented Android Gaggle, a parity of user base numbers isn’t translating into a perceived parity between the platforms. If even one major player differentiates itself from Apple in multiple areas–so-called “smart phone” and tablet both, say–and offers content and user experience that’s even comparable, at more affordable pricing, Apple’s share of this area of computing would go in the direction it did in the desktop area when it priced itself down to 5% of the total PC market there.
It’ll be interesting to watch, although since I have alternatives that work well for me now, I don’t expect it will impact me all that much.
Of course, readers here know I regularly use various versions of Windows, Linux, BSD and now Amazon’s modded Android (on the Kindle Fire). We run a place that’s pretty much free of Apple’s Evil Empire* here. 🙂
*Apple’s Evil Empire? Exorbitant profits from “Chinese slave labor”, spying on users, outrageous claims to ownership of users’ personally-created content: all documented parts of Apple’s Evil Empire.
Thinking about getting a Windows Phone. Maybe not as trendy, but it interfaces with all my work stuff, and I’m a business man, not a hipster.
Well, I’ve seen Win8 (preview version) and it looks like it’d be a pretty good base for the Windows Phone that is supposed to run a version of it. Not impressed with it as an “upgrade” for desktops/notebooks, where the first thing to go would be the tablet/phone style interface (fortunately a more standard interface is included), but for handheld devices, I think it will be fine. Not much upgrading to the desktop/notebook experience in the preview I installed. Maybe the shipping version will have enough to make it worth dropping on a couple of machines.