REVscene Automotive Forum - View Single Post

dangonay · 09-10-2014, 07:33 AM

I see a lot of people/reviewers still hung up on hardware. You can't buy a device based simply on GHZ/cores/memory/pixels or whatever spec you like. This is why I think a lot of people see the iPhone 6 (or Note 4 or Galaxy S5) as "boring" upgrades that don't offer much more than their previous versions. And if you look at the hardware you'd be right. It's faster, has an improved screen and camera aaaaaaaaand that's it.

The software and ecosystem is what makes a device useful. Look at Samsung. They keep adding boatloads of new features to each device (a large number of which end up being gimmicks nobody uses) or even trying to build their own services that compete against Google (S-Voice, Galaxy Store, Milk Music, HERE Maps, S Translator and a bunch more I'm sure I left out). They also try to get developers to code for Samsung devices instead of Android (most recently with the Note 4 Edge so they can get devs to make apps that take advantage of the edge display).

Samsung understands that devices are all starting to have similar specs/hardware and you need a lot more than hardware to get people to pick your device over the numerous others that have similar specs. This is why Samsung invests so heavily in trying to make their devices stand out by adding more features and services to them.

To me the iPhone 6 announcement was good. Not great, not lousy - but good. Or "average". The real news was back in June with WWDC and the changes made to iOS 8 for both end users and the developers. It was true 40 years ago and it's true today - hardware is useless without software. iOS 8 is the cake, the iPhone 6 hardware is the icing.

09-10-2014, 07:33 AM	#198
dangonay Ready to be Man handled by RS! Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Burnaby Posts: 1,798 Thanked 1,502 Times in 506 Posts Failed 418 Times in 151 Posts	I see a lot of people/reviewers still hung up on hardware. You can't buy a device based simply on GHZ/cores/memory/pixels or whatever spec you like. This is why I think a lot of people see the iPhone 6 (or Note 4 or Galaxy S5) as "boring" upgrades that don't offer much more than their previous versions. And if you look at the hardware you'd be right. It's faster, has an improved screen and camera aaaaaaaaand that's it. The software and ecosystem is what makes a device useful. Look at Samsung. They keep adding boatloads of new features to each device (a large number of which end up being gimmicks nobody uses) or even trying to build their own services that compete against Google (S-Voice, Galaxy Store, Milk Music, HERE Maps, S Translator and a bunch more I'm sure I left out). They also try to get developers to code for Samsung devices instead of Android (most recently with the Note 4 Edge so they can get devs to make apps that take advantage of the edge display). Samsung understands that devices are all starting to have similar specs/hardware and you need a lot more than hardware to get people to pick your device over the numerous others that have similar specs. This is why Samsung invests so heavily in trying to make their devices stand out by adding more features and services to them. To me the iPhone 6 announcement was good. Not great, not lousy - but good. Or "average". The real news was back in June with WWDC and the changes made to iOS 8 for both end users and the developers. It was true 40 years ago and it's true today - hardware is useless without software. iOS 8 is the cake, the iPhone 6 hardware is the icing.