iPhone fragmentation

So lately everyone (including Apple) has been making a big deal about Android fragmentation.  While I agree that this is definitely an issue for Android, I would like to point out that the grass isn't as green for iPhones as Apple would like you to believe. 

Apple recently announced their new ios 6 operating system, and in the process pointed out the difference in fragmentation between android and apple. Here is my problem with this simple comparison: Apple strips down their new ios for their older phones, but still counts it towards their uniformity statistics. 

Example: Apple just added a new turn by turn navigation system (finally!) as the biggest new feature of ios 6. But this feature will only be available for the iPhone 4s and above. I can promise you that the iPhone 4 can handle this functionality, because third party apps have been doing it for years.  These phones aren't even obsolete yet, Apple is still selling iPhone 4 and 3g s. But Apple will just update the "version number" for all of those users while leaving out almost all meaningful feature additions.

I acknowledge that Apple actually does do some minor updating to some of their apps and settings that do trickle down to the lowly 4 and 3g s, but Google regularly (literally monthly) updates their apps for gingerbread, honeycomb, and froyo yet they get lambasted for leaving their customers in the dust.  Apple never does periodic updates except with a new OS version (yearly not monthly).

Here is a list of major features that the iPhone 4s has that the iPhone 4 doesn't have:

-Flyover and turn-by-turn navigation

-Siri

-FaceTime over a cellular network

- AirPlay Mirroring

And here are the additional ones that the 3g s doesn't have:

-Shared Photo Streams

-VIP list and VIP and Flagged smart mailboxes

-Offline Reading List

-FaceTime

-VGA/HDMI out

-HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos

All of these phones will count under IOS 6!

Android does have issues with fragmentation, but one reason that it is still gaining market is that Android is open to third party default apps. Let's be honest here, if safari weren't the default browser for iPhone, most people wouldn't select it. It is because it is the default by force that it has such high usage. But in Android, if your browser isn't cutting it, you can simply download a new one and all other apps will treat it as the default. This is why Android is considered more open. This is why Android fragmentation is nearly irrelevant, and this is why Android is always on the bleeding edge. Moral of this story: Android needs to get better at upgrading, but Apple isn't the poster child of uniformity that it claims to be, and honestly it is Apple's greed that is causing it. The phones that they are crippling are capable of much more than Apple will allow. In this way they can get you to buy a new phone every two years. Instead of improving their hardware to entice users, they just add a bit of simple functionality and only put it in the new phones.

UT Gym

So Cynthia and I finally went to the UT Gym where we just got our year membership. Since school is over, the gyms are essentially empty! We got to play racquetball and lift some weights without anyone around. We also went to Central Market where I bought some loose leaf tea (Yum). It is a black tea, which happens to be almost equally as healthy as green tea. 

Green Tea vs Black Tea

Drink away