Apple Vs Samsung - Clash of the Titans

War alone keys up all human energies to their maximum tension and sets the seal of nobility on those peoples who have the courage to face it

Benito Mussolini, Fascism

It seems like Apple’s worries are just beginning to increase, as Samsung has come out of its corner swinging, CNET Prize Fight style stated in the article “Samsung won't quietly cede ground to Apple”, published September 13, 2010, 2:44am PDT By Larry Dignan, ZDNET-Between the Lines.

Not to worry thought, as Apple is gaining in the Student Market, where it matters, as they will be the future consumers of Apple products as stated in the article “CHART OF THE DAY: Apple selling just as Many computers as Dell to College Students”, published September 13, 2010, 4:04 PM by Jay Yarow, Business Insider - SAI.

Looks like Dell is getting a beating even in what traditionally is their bread-and-butter segment as most likely people have been asking “Dell, Where’s my tablet, Dude?” With this simple start, I will break it down as to why Samsung or Dell may have a tough battle ahead in the next year or so against the White Unicorn that is Apple.

Initially I had written in my blog article entitled “Apple iOS 4 vs Google Android OS - Mission Impossible” in which I opined of the rise of Google Android, which seems to be the only solid new product out of Google right now in the IT space that they are not being sued over, aside from Google Voice.

Everything else Google has done so far revolves around their core business of advertising, which I would advise they diversify out of quickly, as questions remain as to the lucrative-ness of an advertising model based on having people click on sponsored links, a question John Public raises, based solely on anecdotal reasoning.

Despite the number of eyeballs potentially using a Search Engine’s website or displaying banner advertisements, the number of people clicking on those sponsored links or Banner Ads is solely dependent on how much people like the site and endorse being bombarded with advertising on that web host’s site.

Google’s Search Page is currently the most popular search engine by far, beating out Microsoft’s Bing, at least in the popularity race as stated in the article “Survey: Linux users love Google, ignore Bing”, published August 21, 2009 9:08 AM PDT by Matt Asay, CNET News - The Open Road. Google AdSense is a prime example of such “popularity” driven web advertising.

The only evidence I have to support my “advertising is not profitable” theory is based solely on the moves of Yahoo, whose loss of popularity as a Search engine Platform is being so severely challenged, that they ceded ownership of their Search databases to number two (2) search giant, that being Microsoft Bing.

Yahoo claimed that they were going the AOL (America Online) route of the early 90’s by becoming a content producer and content aggregator, a process the author, Tom Krazit, surmises will take at least two (2) years to accomplish as stated in the article With “Yahoo search gone, content becomes king”, published July 30, 2009 4:00 AM PDT by Tom Krazit CNET News - Webware.

So if popularity drives Search and the usage of a Search engine to the point that the number three (3) search engine Yahoo had to cede to Microsoft recently re-branded, Bing, then should not Google be in trouble as Social Networking picks up steam, being as it is , for many young eyeballs so to speaks, the “New Internet”?

It would certainly jive with Google’s interests in expanding to Russia, Korea, Japan and The Peoples Republic of China, based on their recent tussle with Chinese authorities as stated in the article “Google fine-tunes its China weather vane”, published July 9, 2010 9:47 AM PDT by Tom Krazit, CNET News- Relevant Results.

An expansionist move and the genesis of the so-so success in Social Networking as evident from Google Buzz as stated in the article “Buzz backfire: How google pushed me to Facebook”, published March 5, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Stephen Shankland, CNET News- Deep Tech. This after having failed with Google Wave as stated in article “Google pulls plug on Google Wave”, published August 4, 2010 2:35 PM PDT by Ina Fried and Josh Lowensohn, CNET News- Beyond Binary.

This is mainly due to a lack of “Social skills” an opinion as stated in the article “Google struggles with Social skills”, published February 3, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Caroline McCarthy and Tom Krazit, CNET News- Digital Media, (http://www.cnet.com).

The recent announcements of the Gmail integration with Google Voice which works in Jamaica, as I have made test calls despite reports to the contrary as stated in the article “Google: 1 million Gmail calls during first day”, published August 26, 2010 12:38 PM PDT by Stephen Shankland, CNET News - Deep Tech.

 Google Instant, which by the way does not work in Jamaica may be in fact precursors to the launch of Google much anticipated replacement (or augmentation?) killer of Google Buzz.

Google, please, announce something SOLID this time, as fancy IT engineering and UI (User Interface) tweaks just does not justify having a press kit to sit down and hear Google Engineers speak of going on a vacation – which I suspect many of them need. Nonetheless, this is grist for the mill for another article dedicated SOLELY to Google Me and Search Metrics.

Leaving the now uninteresting battle of the search engineer, which is in the Software World, I cast my eyes unto the Hardware World, my World, being as I am Electronics Technician as I can’t call myself an engineer as I only have a Degree in Electronic and Chemistry and five (5) years experience, mostly in Maintenance in Telecoms, IT and Manufacturing and not a PhD like the peeps at Apple – plus my IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and FOA (Fiber Optic Association) dues are not yet fully paid up!

Still, I do have a much higher level of qualification – I am a consumer of electronics. I thus wield more power than Apple CEO Steve Jobs or even Google CEO Eric Schmidt, as ONLY the customer alone knows what they want, and if we don’t want it, it will gather dust and no one will buy it, especially if it is overpriced. 

RIM has learned this, their spanking new Blackberry Torch 9800 on a two (2) year contract on Telecom Provider AT&T Network originally for the low, low price of US$199 as stated in the article “RIM looks to make a splash with US$199 touchscreen Blackberry Torch”, published Tuesday August 3 2010 by Ben Patterson, Technology Writer, Yahoo! News and confirmed by the article “RIM unveils new BlackBerry to counter iPhone”, published Tuesday August 3 2010 by Sinead Carew, Associated Press, Yahoo! News.

The Blackberry Torch 9800 now on discount for US$99, declared as being antediluvian by the geek technocrats, who have poured nothing but scorn on their late entry into the 21^st Century with their upgrades to hardware and Blackberry OS. Samsung is beginning to learn that.

Despite early success in the smart phone arena as stated in the article “Samsung Ships 1 Million Galaxy S smart phones in the U.S.”, published Monday August 30, 2:32 am ET, by Stan Schroeder, Yahoo! News they are off on the wrong foot.

Samsung was pricing themselves out of the market as opined by the Consumer Electronics Experts at CNET as stated in the article “Success of Samsung Galaxy Tab Doomed by Carrier Contracts”, published by Monday September 6, 9:16 am ET by Tony Bradley, Yahoo! News.

Despite the alleged lower two (2) year contract price averaging US$200, a second 3G contract is far from everyone’s mind at this moment. Worse, computers are traditionally sold cash upfront, not on contract, as Telecom Provider AT&T has learned with the low key adoption of its Netbooks.

Still, from a purely hardware point of view, the Samsung Galaxy Tablet is up there in the top ten and I am merely awaiting another CNET PrizeFight by Senior Editor Brian Tong between the Samsung Galaxy Tablet and my precious baby now fully grown up, the Apple iPad, to gauge the opinions of the reviewers of CNET, who, being owners and users of these myriad gadgets, are best able to determine its sales-worthiness, from a performance point of view.

Those so-called experts in Silicon Valley constantly seem to forget that people buy their tech hardware not because it is free or functional, as in the case in the Software World from Google and Microsoft respectively, but because it “clicks” with their lifestyle, as “gadget overload” is something definitely to avoid, as one only needs so many gadgets and no more as stated in the article “iPad, iPhone, Notebook, Netbook: A Gadget Glut?”, published August 29, 2010 10:53 AM PDT by Brooke Crothers, CNET News Nanotech - The Circuits Blog.

That’s why David [that’s me!] has slain Goliath [Silicon Valley PC Makers, including Microsoft!] using my little slingshot [Apple CEO Steve Jobs!] and a stone [The Apple iPad!], in case Samsung, a Korean company, is blissfully unaware. I am on a roll, people!!

Well, I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Most likely CNET and a Galaxy of tech reviewers will be converging on the Time Warner Center, at 10 Columbus Circle in the Big Apple, as Americans are wont to call their beloved New York, which I shall never visit, as I dislike flying which is on my list of things I dislike, along with peanut butter.

They will put evidence to speculation and sift out what is true on Thursday September 16 2010, as it appears in the movie Clash of the Titans (1981) and the modern day remake Clash of the Titans (2009), to borrow from BOTH movies, Hollywood style, is shaping up.

Until then, I have to prepare to return to the University of the West Indies, as I have been successfully matriculated for the Masters in Digital Electronics in the Department of Physics, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences Department, the first step in my Journey towards my PhD in Physics.

Godspeed Apple!