John Gruber may be generalized as one of the biggest Apple “fanboys” out there, but sometimes he has some really well thought out, bias-free pieces. “Emotional Rescue” is a must-read post if you’re interested in the Android/iPhone “battle” going on right now.
Instead of looking at Android vs. iPhone purely on a handset vs. handset basis, we should be looking at it in terms of how each are approaching the market.
Here’s the question: Can iOS remain the leading mobile platform without being the leading platform measured by device unit sales? Put another way: can iOS and Android both thrive in 2011, because they are, by design, playing very different games?
iOS is certainly winning the software platform war right now, not to mention the “emotional” battle. I doubt we’ll ever see people lining up to buy any Android phone on release day the way people descend upon Apple Stores once a year. That’s gotta count for something.
Ignore for the moment whether it’s true that “Android can go feature by feature against iPhone now”. I’d dispute it, but just concede it for now. Ignore also that the best Android phones, like the Nexus S, cost over $500 unsubsidized. What Gray is missing is that emotion counts. Mobile computing is not an entirely rational market. Emotion is a huge factor when people choose what to buy — I’d say maybe even the biggest one. Apple understands this. All iOS devices — all Apple devices, for that matter — are designed with the emotional experience in mind. Why does almost everything in iOS animate? Why did Apple create CoreAnimation, and base UIKit app development so heavily upon it? Because animation, even in small unobtrusive doses, has an emotional affect. It results in a feeling.
Read More: http://daringfireball.net/2010/12/emotional_rescue
