When focus is quality, quality rises and costs fall. When focus is cost, costs rise and quality falls. William Edwards Deming, an American, said that.
Whilst a lot of what Liam wrote rings very very true (I'm not Amercian either) I think it's slightly more nuanced. Windows Phone is a great example. Americans hate on Microsoft and so deprived themselves of the best mobile phone OS of ever. Even today Windows Phone is more usable, faster, more secure and better in almost every metric than Android. But Windows Phone is dead. Same with the Compaq IPaq. It too was American and amazing.
I went through the whole tech cycle Liam did (started programming in '84), and felt crushed every time another obviously superior product died. Apart from the iPaq, some highlights in the mobile space alone are the Nokia 9000 Communicator, the Nokia E90, the Nokia N900, and the best device (my opinion) I've ever experienced, the Nokia 1520.
Interesting that we as humans so often base our decisions on emotion rather than logic. I now use an Android phone and no longer bother with mobile apps. That sense of awe and wonder has been eviscerated, eaten up and spat back out.
Today's tech is throw-away. Watches, thermostats, tablets, light bulbs... Delivered by Amazon this morning, in the trash this afternoon, making space for yet another smart but shitty light bulb tomorrow.
I miss that child-like sense of excitement and wonder tech used to instill in me...
> Americans hate on Microsoft and so deprived themselves of the best mobile phone OS of ever.
I don't think that's a correct assessment for most Americans' opinions towards Microsoft.¹ I also don't think that's the reason Windows Phone never took off. When compared to iOS and Android, Windows Phone just didn't have the app ecosystem to compel people to buy them.
I believe the assessment to be true. Windows Phone was doing really well in Europe. It was Americans who refused to write those WP apps that were so desperately wanted.
Not even refused to write, refused to let them operate. Microsoft would have made apps for the major online services themselves, if they were allowed to. For example, they created a fairly decent Youtube app themselves but Google, owner of both Youtube and Android, simply refused it access to Youtube.
> Windows Phone just didn't have the app ecosystem
Which is also a shame cause currently we have a torrent of crap in both app stores and nobody really bothers. All WP would need today is Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, Telegram and Maps to succeed.
I haven't used an Iphone since the Iphone 6 (2014) and I just got an Ipad a few months ago and I was absolutely blown away that the app store is still as bad as it was in 2014. I still have to go to 3rd party websites to actually filter out and find tags and the GOOD apps/games that don't make it to the front page of the app store.
It's wild. Maybe I have the same problem on android and I'm just so used to only using the apps I've known for the last 10+ years that I haven't realized it. I don't really game on Android like I do my ipad, that's where I started to realize I was just not finding things unless I went 3rd party site or found their name and searched directly for them.
> Windows Phone is a great example. Americans hate on Microsoft and so deprived themselves of the best mobile phone OS of ever. Even today Windows Phone is more usable, faster, more secure and better in almost every metric than Android. But Windows Phone is dead.
That's because Microsoft poisoned the well a long time ago. They might've spent a long time since Ballmer's departure cleaning up that superfund site and built a beautiful resort on it, memories persist.
When Android started getting big, a huge community of enthusiasts were making cool proof of concepts. Port busybox, VNC, run Ubuntu on your phone, ROM customization.
Beginners started using accelerometers and multitouch to make innovative games. I remember tutorials on how to make algorithms for good gesture detection (gestures were a big thing).
Now app stores are worth almost trillion dollars. You can still find niche communities but just like with the Internet, it got too commercialized.
> "I went through the whole tech cycle Liam did (started programming in '84), and felt crushed every time another obviously superior product died."
I myself feel like a walking death sentence. Every tech that I'd ever liked and considered superior had died or getting there. Shit wins.
As for smartphones/app store combo: I consider it a crime. People are dragging along powerful computers but instead of being able to use those in a creative way they're actively isolated from this type of usage.
Whilst a lot of what Liam wrote rings very very true (I'm not Amercian either) I think it's slightly more nuanced. Windows Phone is a great example. Americans hate on Microsoft and so deprived themselves of the best mobile phone OS of ever. Even today Windows Phone is more usable, faster, more secure and better in almost every metric than Android. But Windows Phone is dead. Same with the Compaq IPaq. It too was American and amazing.
I went through the whole tech cycle Liam did (started programming in '84), and felt crushed every time another obviously superior product died. Apart from the iPaq, some highlights in the mobile space alone are the Nokia 9000 Communicator, the Nokia E90, the Nokia N900, and the best device (my opinion) I've ever experienced, the Nokia 1520.
Interesting that we as humans so often base our decisions on emotion rather than logic. I now use an Android phone and no longer bother with mobile apps. That sense of awe and wonder has been eviscerated, eaten up and spat back out.
Today's tech is throw-away. Watches, thermostats, tablets, light bulbs... Delivered by Amazon this morning, in the trash this afternoon, making space for yet another smart but shitty light bulb tomorrow.
I miss that child-like sense of excitement and wonder tech used to instill in me...