Eco-system Stickiness

If you are using a smartphone/tablet and dont have any paid-apps(assuming paid by yourself), you can ignore this post, but if you have paid-apps, well knowingly or unknowingly your cost of switching to any other platform is not just the cost of the device. Confused? Read on…

Lets say you are using iPad (iOS). You have a ton of paid apps. So if you move to another device within iOS –  say iPhone – all your apps follow you and you can access them for free of cost.

But if you decide to change your platform all-together, to Android or Windows or Blackberry, your cost of switching is Device + the cost of Apps you will be leaving behind. Unfortunately, apps are not platform portable and you will have to buy the apps on each platform separately.

Honestly, I never though it this way but then stumbled across an article and found it profound.

So ideally, it makes sense to decide what platform to switch to with a bit of a foresight so that you don’t end up switching. But then there are people who don’t have any paid-apps, enjoying their current platform and can switch in an instant if they find more value. So if you are one of those who keep buying apps, think whether you will be on the platform in the near future or does it make sense to hold on if you are looking to change your platform.

Also it makes sense to have the phone and the tablet on the same platform so that you can access the apps interchangeably and thanks to iCloud(if on Apple) all your data are synced even without you knowing!

Having got an iPhone recently, now I need to think what can I do with my Blackberry Tablet and how to get my hands on a swanking new “new ipad” !!! Rob a bank  perhaps?

 

 

Nokia CEO admits failure!

So at last Nokia has admitted that it messed up! Why did it take them so long to be aware and admit that yes there is a problem in the way the company is going forward? I think its because of -

1. Ignorance - Nokia been a market leader for almost a decade. Post iPhone launch in 2007, they were still ruling, but then silently Apple was catching up fast, real fast! And see in 5 years, Apple(iOS) and Google(Android) has virtually kicked Nokia out of the smartphone market! And with Android devices prices crashing fast, Nokia’s share is also going South and fast! Nokia was ignorant of the fact that the world is changing, people using smartphone are changing, people’s usage on their phones are changing, the entire ecosystem is changing!
2. Arrogance - Been a leader for a decade has its own dis-advantage if you continue to rest on your laurels. Nokia did and seems to be continue to do the same albeit a bit slowly now. What held them back by switching to a  new OS or even better adopting Android on their devices? Or they could have continued to have their own platform and at the same time offering different platforms. May be some one in the position of authority was just too busy in the past that it missed the winds flowing past them. Even after plummeting sales, they were still not ready to accept that there is a problem. Then when people starting seeing Apps on iOS and Android, when people started related to it immediately and for obvious reasons, they started switching from age-old Nokia! And in 5 years the entire landscape is changed. I am not saying that iOS will rule for ever, if they continue to innovate the way they are doing, they probably will, but in today’s fast-paced technology world nothing can be predicted! Its a disruptive world and it can come from anywhere! No one can afford to be under an illusion that their past position will dictate their future one too!

Though I like Lumia for  a variety of reasons the main thing lacking is flourishing App Store! Imagine having an iPhone or a Android and not having any Apps…its a useless device! Few years  back it was the hardware which was at the center of everything but now its the software and its surrounding eco-system!

I would love to switch to Lumia(powered by Windows 8)  as I really like their new tile-like UX interface named Metro(thanks to Microsoft) and it really adds a real fresh interface with vibrant colors, but the limited App store is what holds me back! Adding to it is of-course the lack of an effort by Nokia itself to spread the user experience on its devices! See any Apple keynote and you will know what  I am talking about!

So to sum it up, we better move with the times or else time will move really ahead of us and playing catch-up is no fun on a consistent basis!