After Apple CEO Steve Jobs decided to put the boot into the likes of Google, app maker TweetDeck, HTC, Motorola, and Research In Motion at his company’s Q4 conference call, industry reaction has been building.
First to slam one back in the direction of Jobs was Google’s Andy Rubin. Not pleased with the Apple head honcho’s claim that Android’s “openness” was slang for “fragmented,” he posted up a geekie Tweet:
TweetDeck
Next up was TweetDeck founder Iain Dodsworth who took umbrage with Jobs’s suggestion that developing TweetDeck for Android was a “nightmare” due to the platform’s fragmentation.
Once again, an angry Tweet was forthcoming:
A follow up Tweet from Dodsworth pointed out that with only two people needed to develop TweetDeck on the Android platform, the issue of fragmentation was a very small one indeed.
Blackberry attacks!
We’re still waiting for responses from Motorola and HTC, who were chastised by Jobs for “skinning” Android, but RIM’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie certainly hasn’t held back, releasing this furious statement:
For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field, we know that 7-inch tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience.
We also know that while Apple’s attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash.
We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. And by the way, RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive quarters and recently shared guidance of 13.8 – 14.4 million BlackBerry smartphones for the current quarter.
Apple’s preference to compare its September-ending quarter with RIM’s August-ending quarter doesn’t tell the whole story because it doesn’t take into account that industry demand in September is typically stronger than summer months, nor does it explain why Apple only shipped 8.4 million devices in its prior quarter and whether Apple’s Q4 results were padded by unfulfilled Q3 customer demand and channel orders.
As usual, whether the subject is antennas, Flash or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story.
We love watching big corporates slug it out, so we’ll be sure to update you when the techie fur starts flying again.
