In This Age of the Ubiquitous Smartphone Apple Tries to catch up
In this age of the ubiquitous smartphone, owners are much more likely to use their phones to access Apple apps than make actual phone calls.
Apps are small programs that run the gamut from games to health monitors to music players. Just about anything tech-oriented has been made into an app. For years, the owner of an Android smartphone and Google Play could logon to their app store and watch a video preview of the app in action. Seems like an obvious feature, right?
The thought didn’t occur to Apple until less than a year ago. It recently launched its first (and so far only) video preview for an app game called Clumsy Ninja — the first word of which could be used to describe Apple’s recent approaches to their entire business—but there’s a catch: you need the latest version of iOS (Apple’s operating system) and the latest iPhone to see the video preview.
This is just more of the same from Apple. Whenever a new version of an existing device is rolled out—be it a MacBook, iPad, or iPhone—the old charger doesn’t fit the new one, new programs won’t run on last generation operating systems, data cannot be transferred, etc. This approach of wringing their customers for all their worth might be one of the reasons Apple continues to be the most profitable company in the world, but for anyone aside from the tech-obsessed and wealthy, this is just poor business practice. The iOS App Store is a prime example of this. Only the latest version will allow you to watch the preview video. If your device is more than a year old, you’re stuck to previewing your apps solely through screenshots and words. As anyone who has ever played a computer game, used a word processor, or listened to music on their smartphone can attest to, using screenshots and words to select an app to buy are very poor tools for a consumer. Not that Apple seems to care. Under the guise of being a company always pushing boundaries, forging new technological frontiers, and “changing the way we live or lives”, they are leaving an awful lot of their fans behind. Not that their bottom line will hurt much. There is always a new generation eager to snap up the newest gadget and as long as Apple is able to push them out—no matter how late they are to the game—they will no doubt remain the reigning tech company.