5 Reasons This Year’s WWDC Announcements Don’t Really Matter
By: Hillel Fuld
If you are spending any time on Twitter nowadays (when I say nowadays, I mean this week), you have probably seen at least 100 different posts trying to guess what Steve Jobs will announce at today’s WWDC event. Heck, I have even written a few. While it is getting really old to read these wild guesses when we will all know the truth in less than 24 hours, that is not the only reason I ignore these posts. The truth is, irrelevant of what Jobs announces later today, nothing is really going to change.
The following are five reasons this year’s WWDC announcements don’t really matter:
- Android Will Not Stop Growing: As we all know by now, Apple’s market share is in a losing battle to Android. Why? It is 1st grade math. There is one iPhone and one iPad. Android is running on so many devices around the globe, it is impossible to keep track. Yes, iOS is still superior in many ways, and this translated into app sales, app revenue, and many other areas, but Android is dominating and will continue to do so. It is a number’s game and when it comes to market share, Google is bringing Apple to school. There is almost nothing that Apple can announce today that will change that fact.
- Apple Already Has the UX Award: Yes, Apple will announce iOS 5, iCloud, and other new innovations, but does it really matter? All these new developments will contribute to the overall user experience of iOS, which is already the best in tHe industry. Let’s just say it this way, most people who choose Android over iOS are not doing it because of the inferior user experience of iOS. So, as amazing as the new announcements might be to me, you, or any other iOS user, it will not matter to the market as a whole.
- The Cloud is Already Crowded: This point is a little grey. Apple will announce iCloud, which will enable you to stream your content directly from their servers on any iOS device. Think Dropbox meets Cupertino. This is yet again, great for me and you (assuming you use an iPhone), but is it revolutionary? Absolutely not. Google has been pushing the cloud for years and nearly anything you want to do today with a native application can be done in the cloud. OK, so Apple is jumping on the bandwagon, is that such a big deal? Not so sure it is.
- Notifications Should Have Been: Based on pretty much all the rumors circulating the Web, iOS 5 will have an improved notification system. Do you hear what we are saying? That the so-called most advanced smartphone on the planet will not notify you about new incoming messages? Really, Apple? It took you this long? Kind of sad, actually. I view the new iOS 5 notifications as the copy paste of a few years back. As in, it should have been there and when it was announced, we all just kinda said “Duh”!
- Apple Won’t Open Up: Here is the kicker. The main reason today’s announcements do not matter to me or the market is because Apple won’t change their policies. They won’t offer their OS and open sourced code, they won’t allow Flash content to run on their devices, and they won’t announce a new policy of app approval/rejection. If Apple would be announcing any one of these things, well that would make a huge wave and actually bring over Android users to iOS by the millions. However, Apple won’t do any of these, so today’s WWDC is close to irrelevant…
There is a huge “If” to all these assumptions. Steve Jobs has been known to include his famous “One more thing” moment. No one knows if today’s WWDC keynote will have such a moment and if so, what it will be. However, if anyone can shock the industry and actually make some boring and unexciting announcements into something that will wow the crowd and the market, it is Steve Jobs. I guess only time will tell. Let’s talk again tomorrow!
