Mobile – ɔimoɈɒ

Thunder screens….

One of the major features touted last week with the 2021 iPad Pro was the addition of Thunderbolt – claiming the boosted speeds for storage and the ability to connect displays would be great. Newsflash, I can already connect a display to my 2020 iPad Pro – what I can’t do is control it.

It’s useful as a “monitor” screen for Lumafusion or maybe to show people what I’m working on without them looking over my shoulder but it’s not that useful as a second screen.

So, I started thinking how iPad OS 15 could handle a second screen that wasn’t a touchscreen.

And it came to me.

Exposé. Spaces. Stuff we’ve had for a decade on Mac OS.

The idea of having a gesture to show me active Spaces. And that I can throw one of them, whichever I want, onto the second non-touch screen, is enticing. Obviously with iPad OS 14 I have mouse cursor control but using it on the touchscreen is challenging.

This could work…..

Is the 30% AppStore tax fair?

The AppStore is a software aggregator. It’s not the first, it won’t be the last.

About 100 years ago, in the early 2000s, I was buying software for my phone and Palm Vx. I used various software aggregators (Handango being one) and I remember what a rigmarole it was. You really had no idea what you were buying, sometimes a “sticker” set was nothing more than clip art and there was zero recourse if it didn’t work or if you wanted a refund. What’s more, Handango was a revolution in itself as it only took 40% of the cover price. Other aggregators for other mobile operating systems took 40-90%. You’re reading that right. If you got significant success, you ended up paying 90% of cover price to the aggregator. It was like the sliding tax rate but you were really just lining pockets rather than paying for roads and schools.

Then Everything Changed

The AppStore came along and everything changed.

It was hailed as a revolution. A single point of access, installed on every device, taking only 30% and people could trust the vendor – it was the same vendor they’d spent the last few years buying music from. What could be better. Developers would get access to millions of customers overnight, for a small fee which included a code-signing certificate and there were all these dev tools. Sure, it wasn’t perfect by any means and it still isn’t but it’s a damn sight better than it was.

So what’s the fuss?

Some vendors who rely on tight margin subscriptions aren’t happy with the 30%. They’re just pissy with it. It’s hitting on an underlying business model of tight margins. (I’m talking mostly about Spotify and Amazon but it would equally apply to anyone). Their models don’t work if Apple takes 30%. But even then they adapted to while I can’t buy a Kindle book through the Amazon app or the Kindle app, I can just pop onto the web site and it works fine. But it is a little bit of friction.

So, what’s to be done for sharecroppers who are happy to give away an app for free and then use the platform for promotion and distribution without contributing to the baseline? Surely most developers who charge a reasonable amount for their apps would be thinking “No….Amazon shouldn’t be getting a free ride at all!”. But instead it’s really focused the camera on whether Apple’s 30% is reasonable in this day and age.

What percentage would mollify the masses?

There’s really no right answer for this. Some people would only be content with 0%. Thinking that they bring so much to the Apple ecosystem that Apple shouldn’t be making money off the ecosystem. Others might think that 20% or 10% is a good number considering that storage, network costs and compute costs have dropped considerably in the last 12 years. Some folks are happy enough with the 30% but would like the option to offer their own stores, with their own payment systems or the ability to side-load content. There will, like Brexit, be no one single solution that would make everyone happy (and by everyone I include Apple here).

But it does feel like the time is ripe for Apple to rethink the model. To re-evaluate what makes developing on their platform so compelling and to reward those who have made great apps. Maybe it’s dropping the percentage for those who support universal binaries? Or who have switched to Swift 100%. Or those who stick to some other set of rules? Maybe those who do well should get a sliding scale?

Gruber and Gassee used to agree with the Apple Store but have things changed?

Betteridges Law Applies. As Ever

I’m a fan of Betteridges Law. This rule of thumb decrees that the answer to a headline question is always “no” and so I’ll have to apply it here.

Times have changed. Costs have changed. The market has changed. So maybe it’s time to cut developers a bit more slack.

Mobile more prevalent than Electricity, Sanitation, Education

Astoundingly, mobile is leapfrogging (& accelerating) all other development metrics. Thanks @benedictevans pic.twitter.com/IA3SblWKbw — Khai (@ThamKhaiMeng) January 16, 2016 According to the latest Ofcom Communications Market report, Northern Ireland has become a “smartphone society”. In the last five years, smartphone ownership among adults has tripled (from 21% to 63%) and is now the preferred way … Continue reading “Mobile more prevalent than Electricity, Sanitation, Education”

Astoundingly, mobile is leapfrogging (& accelerating) all other development metrics. Thanks @benedictevans pic.twitter.com/IA3SblWKbw

— Khai (@ThamKhaiMeng) January 16, 2016

According to the latest Ofcom Communications Market report, Northern Ireland has become a “smartphone society”.

In the last five years, smartphone ownership among adults has tripled (from 21% to 63%) and is now the preferred way to access the internet, having overtaken the laptop.

Additionally in the same time period, tablet ownership has gone from 2% to 54%.

Fixed line broadband take-up still remains well below than the UK average and we now lag behind England and Wales for coverage. But with the trends of 4G being available (considering all operators) to 91% of premises in Northern Ireland, it would seem that our internet usage is not only growing up, but growing even more mobile year on year.

Northern Ireland has always been a quick adopter of new technology – from having the most rapid growth in portable music players and also having the highest penetration of the iPod brand in Western Europe.

The full communications market report is available here.

The last thing to notice is that mobile is more prevalent than electricity, sanitation, clean water and education.

Courses in @unity3d announced this week…

We’re just about to announce new courses in Unity 3d, organised by Digital Circle and the Image Centre in South West College. They’re beginner courses – designed to turn some designers and 3D modellers into Unity developers and also allow some programmers to get their hands dirty with the visual side of Unity. This is … Continue reading “Courses in @unity3d announced this week…”

This is the sort of thing you can develop with Unity on Mobile:

But really – it’s an amazing networking opportunity for industry, teachers and academics and new entrants to the industry. We’ll be reserving spaces in each course for individuals from each group and we intend that each group will take the opportunity to learn, make contacts and maybe even gain in other ways. We would see this as an opportunity for teachers and new entrants to gain placements within local companies. We would see this as an opportunity for industry to talent-spot. We would see this as an opportunity for new entrants to seize a niche in a global market. The only cost to this course is a cost in social capital – make the commitment, in return for a days training, to network and help your fellow course attendees.

Are games really that big of a deal? The beauty of games is that they subsume every other aspect of the digital media industry. They include 2d design and 3d modelling, animation and music, camera work and storytelling, art and special effects. With modern games engines like Unity, you can achieve amazing results without a single line of code but it also provides a fertile ground for being introduced to code.

And you have to consider that it’s not just games. It’s an engine for developing experiences, for developing e-learning tools and for creating new interactive information displays incorporating real-time data.

I hope you’ll keep an eye out on the Digital Circle web site. Courses will be announced soon in Belfast, Derry, Coleraine and Enniskillen. Places will be limited in each location and the cost, other than the social capital commitment, is free.

These courses would not be happening if not for the Arts Council and the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure in their commitments to new entrants, who may not previously have been in employment, education or training. This course is paid for using the Creative Industries Innovation Fund, supported by South West College, the University of Ulster and Digital Circle.

Geometry

Related posts: 9/100 How I Find Blogging Ideas Developing for iPhone? Milestone… from Virtual Reality to Augmented Reality

UK GOV: There is an urgent requirement to find an alternative to BlackBerry

ComputerWeekly: A review by CESG concluded that iOS6, the latest operating system (OS) for iPhones and iPads, is now secure enough to handle restricted government information, providing departments build in additional security controls. CESG has warned that security on iO6 requires organisations to extend their network monitoring and security systems and relies on users correctly … Continue reading “UK GOV: There is an urgent requirement to find an alternative to BlackBerry”

ComputerWeekly:

A review by CESG concluded that iOS6, the latest operating system (OS) for iPhones and iPads, is now secure enough to handle restricted government information, providing departments build in additional security controls.

CESG has warned that security on iO6 requires organisations to extend their network monitoring and security systems and relies on users correctly using the iPhone security features. Failure to follow any of these controls could compromise information security, said the guidelines.

…the government ought to be able to enforce the same policy on Apple iO6 devices as RIM’s BlackBerry 7 OS, including full device encryption, the ability to remote wipe, and locking down apps to ensure no further ones could be added to the device if necessary.

It was only a matter of time. I’m guessing that a lot of government types will keep their Blackberry devices. A lot might mean 20% of the 20,000 devices out there.

Digital Surveillance: why are we surprised?

Heather Brooke on BBC News Channel, talking about proposed legislation that would allow the British government to legally monitor the phone calls, emails, texts and website visits of members of the public. Why are we surprised? Considering the millions that have been spent on surveillance and biometrics by the Security Services via the Technology Strategy … Continue reading “Digital Surveillance: why are we surprised?”

Heather Brooke on BBC News Channel, talking about proposed legislation that would allow the British government to legally monitor the phone calls, emails, texts and website visits of members of the public.

Why are we surprised? Considering the millions that have been spent on surveillance and biometrics by the Security Services via the Technology Strategy Board, it’s a matter of public procurement “value for money” that we actually start to use this stuff.

A quick search on the TSB web site brought up these SBRIs:

And, really, what do you think the Internet of Things is about other than the normalisation of data collection in everyday objects?

“If all objects of daily life were equipped with radio tags, they could be identified and inventoried by computers.”

“Mislaid and stolen items would be easily tracked and located, as would the people who use them.”

Notable that it doesn’t mention the privacy implications?

My Opinion: They’re Watching. Get Over It.

There’s a huge amount of data for them to sift through and they’re going to be spying on millions of Britons as well as millions of foreign nationals (regular, plain ol’ tourists). So, try not to do anything that causes them to turn their baleful eye your way. Try not to be “interesting” to them.

iPad growth curve: I have run out of superlatives

Lovely visualisation by Horace Dediu @asymco It’s hard to appreciate how popular the iPad is until you see it compared to its peers. In the same time frame, the iPad has completely obliterated the amazing success of the iPod and the fantastic success of the iPhone. At this point, I have run out of superlatives. … Continue reading “iPad growth curve: I have run out of superlatives”

Lovely visualisation by Horace Dediu @asymco

It’s hard to appreciate how popular the iPad is until you see it compared to its peers. In the same time frame, the iPad has completely obliterated the amazing success of the iPod and the fantastic success of the iPhone. At this point, I have run out of superlatives.

No honest money in Android. And only crack at Google.

Distimo recently published a report saying there was no honest money in Android. Highlights: 80% of all paid apps have been downloaded less than 100 times until now. There are only 5 Android games that cost money and have reached 250,000 downloads. The App Store has ten in the U.S over the past two months … Continue reading “No honest money in Android. And only crack at Google.”

Distimo recently published a report saying there was no honest money in Android.

Highlights:

80% of all paid apps have been downloaded less than 100 times until now.
There are only 5 Android games that cost money and have reached 250,000 downloads. The App Store has ten in the U.S over the past two months alone!

Yes, I’m being a little melodramatic here but advertising is such a bad experience on mobile, it’s a point I feel very strongly about. When you see apps like angry Birds being paid on iOS and advertising-supported on Android, it makes me feel very uncomfortable regarding the money-making potential on the platform.

Doesn’t it depend on the product? If your content delivery is what you’re trying to sell (and not additional services) then you are really just trying to sell the bits that you’ve crafted over many months. And when you can’t sell them, are you seriously supposed to survive on the pennies gleaned from producing a polluted application experience?

Over at MobileOrchard they have a different report.

“During the LeWeb conference in Paris Eric Schmidt (Google Chairman) commented that he believes developers will abandon iOS for Android in less than 6 months”

The reason for this shift will be the “high volume of Android shipments”. There’s no doubt that this will favour Google and they are motivated to make it easy for developers to sell advertising but they don’t have the same motivation to help developers make money directly off consumers.

It’s plain to me that Android has replaced Symbian in the market. There have been a plethora of app stores for Symbian over the years and still, bugger all money came out of them.

How do you reconcile releasing a polluted (advertising supported) product for free on Android and a premium paid product on iOS?

University of Ulster Telecommunications Survey

It is kinda important that you add your tuppence to this survey. The biggest issue I see is this constant fascination with DOWNLOAD speeds. “23% of consumers in Northern Ireland are on average receiving less than 2Mbits/sec over their broadband connections. This percentage is higher than anywhere else in the UK.” “The Ofcom report also … Continue reading “University of Ulster Telecommunications Survey”

It is kinda important that you add your tuppence to this survey.

The biggest issue I see is this constant fascination with DOWNLOAD speeds.

“23% of consumers in Northern Ireland are on average receiving less than 2Mbits/sec over their broadband connections. This percentage is higher than anywhere else in the UK.”

“The Ofcom report also states that the average maximum speed available around Belfast is 8.9Mbits/sec compared to 5.7Mbits/sec in Coleraine, 4.3 Mbits/sec in Fermanagh, and 5.4 Mbits/sec in Down district.”

“Mobile coverage in Northern Ireland remains lower than the rest of the UK. 87% of the population of Northern Ireland live in a postcode district with at least 90% 2G coverage; however the figure for 3G coverage is much lower at 54%. This is well below the UK average of 95%.”