Did Apple request (demand) that multi-touch be removed from Android?

Were there any other features (eg. 3.5mm jack) kept out of the first Android devices due to an Apple request?

I’d also be very surprised if any of those companies outsource manufacturing to any lesser degree than Apple does.

Seem like specious argument to me.

That’s being too much too kind. If the longest it ever took was one month that’d be fine!

Although generally the turnaround time for our apps has been 1-2 weeks max, we have also had some pretty bad experiences.

For example, we have an app in the approval process since December 2008, and that was from a second submission after being rejected for minor UI issues the first time round a couple months prior.

We have another submitted March, 2009 – no word from Apple. A rejection would be better than waiting for months for nothing.

As an American you should understand the idiom “getting old” in this context. Everyday there are now 2+ topics like this. I think we get it, Apple is evil and the App store sucks. TechCrunch has made its point.

Apple makes fantastic software experiences, but why is the hardware not up to par? This intrigues me, why cannot Apple make a product with fewer hardware faults?

For as long as the company has excisted, there have been heat issues. If you have a look at the Apple Support forum, there are people talking about following issues: heat, hard drive, screen, wi-fi, connection etc.

I know that computers and phones are mass produced. But I read approx. 10 gadget sites every day. And I rarely read about heat issues for Dell, HP, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, HTC etc.

Why is that?

Is it because Apple outsource their production, and thus are not able to maintain strict quality controle?

Is it because their focus on design is not compatible with function?

I am not an engineer, nor designer. So I have more questions than answers to give.

But one thing that I know for sure is that looks is not always a sign of quality.

My sense is that the whole mobile carrier business in the US is going to change dramatically in the next couple of years. There’s just so much consumer dissatisfaction in the category that it’s ripe for someone to come along with a disruptive model that will be a real game-changer. The oligopoly that the US moble carriers have enjoyed just doesn’t seem sustainable much longer – given the level of consumer dissatisfaction and angst.

So, the question Apple needs to ask itself is whether it wants to continue to be part of that change.

I suspect that with the AT&T contract coming up for renewal they will be anxious to do things much differently. iTunes was a disruptive model that completely changed the economics of the music business, and I’m sure that Apple would like the next chapter in the iPhone story to be just as successfully disruptive in the mobile business.

Stay tuned.

Blowhards throw around terms like anti-trust and monopoly without having any understanding what they mean.

I don’t give a rdarn if someone famous uses a buzz word. Ooooooh, Calacanis is curious about anti-trust allegations – WOW. His email shows he knows little about tech & gadgets. Clearly, he doesn’t know much about the law either.

“Think for a moment about what your reaction would be if Microsoft made the Zune the only MP3 player compatible with Windows. There would be 4chan riots, denial of service attacks and Digg’s front page would be plastered with pundit editorials claiming Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were Borg.”

The quote you point to is a great example: Apple hasn’t done anything close to this. There is no corollary.

Instead, think for moment about what your reaction would be if Microsoft made the Zune work on the Mac or PC, sold you DRM-free music through it’s companion Zune Software which you were then free to use on the Zune or any other PMP or computer or other device that supports common file formats, and let you fill the Zune with music from a multitude of sources including their own very popular Zune Music Store as well as other major providers like Amazon or eMusic or from music ripped from the CDs they already own. Imagine the outrage!! Wait, that’s what Apple offers today.

Apple does not ship an iPhone and then later turn off the iPod, Safari (the light years ahead browser), the video capabilities, the phone, the maps, or any of the other dozens of features built-in and available with the iPhone.

Now Land Rover may very well say tough luck about your third party add-on turbo-charger, it broke your warranty and you are SOL.

The “frustation that Apple’s actions have caused” the author “and others” is just that … frustration. And the approach of whining is all wrong. Who gives a whit if Stephen Frank quits the iPhone?! Who the heck is he? What has he developed on the iPhone that anyone cares about?

The right approach perhaps is not to whine in the echo chamber but instead to reflect what this will do to the millions of millions of users in the long run. Because that is what matters.

“Apple is a great company and we have lots of loyal customers who are several millions strong. If you don’t like what we’re doing, move your bitch ass to another device or provider, like Arrington, as I’ll be smiling when you come back. Have a nice day. – Phil”

So what’s the difference here, RM? THE TIMING. A seller has absolutely NO right to deprecate the operability of the merchandise AFTER its been sold! YES, RM — people tend to complain when their stuff no longer works they way it did when they bought it!

Many people, like myself, ONLY bought the iPhone because it runs a multitude of third-party Apps. Now, months later, we are hit with a sudden change by Apple, limiting what we are allowed to install, resulting in a MUCH depreciated product.

Understand now? You buy something, it changes for the worse, you get upset. Get it?

They sat on our applications for months, and then announce efforts at providing media with music. Lovely. Why can’t I compete in that space? I won’t have much of a chance after their launch, but I may have in February!

Move along to the happy news page. You’re not adding anything here anyway.

As a marketer I find this fascinating. Apple has a great brand. They have a great brand because they make great products and they do great advertising. This brand has created an army of loyal followers. These followers get very upset when others talk badly about Apple. Even when Apple is acting badly.

I have no stake. I use both Apple and Microsoft machines and I love my Apple devices. That said, a great quote form the Clacanis blog sums it up

“Think for a moment about what your reaction would be if Microsoft made the Zune the only MP3 player compatible with Windows. There would be 4chan riots, denial of service attacks and Digg’s front page would be plastered with pundit editorials claiming Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were Borg.”