14 DAY TRIAL // On Thursday, in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times' sister publication, The Seoul Economic Daily, Apple Co-Founder, Steve Wozniak shared a few thoughts about today’s tech industry, saying a vendor must make customers simply “love” a product, suggesting Google’s Android is still way behind Apple’s iOS.
"First, I liked a lot of things that were built into Android phones. Voice recognition and noise cancellation on my Nexus One phone were great,” he said. “I still like to speak things. For instance, navigate to John's hardware store. It gets the wording right - no matter how you say, it works like a good search."
But there are some down sides to Google’s mobile OS as well, Wozniak claims: "It's difficult to find where things are (on Android phones). More and more, I feel like it is more like (Microsoft's) Windows in which many different hardware vendors have installed different equipment on the same platform. The (Windows') platform has to be very neutral and cannot be special. That's the similar problem Android phones have," he said (emphasis ours).
"When you write an app for Android phones, there are so many platforms to consider. That's the problem Microsoft was facing with its Windows years ago. People like Apple products because they are always predictable and work," he added.
The Apple Co-Founder believes simplicity and user-friendliness are key to achieving success with electronics: "Don't judge the products by how much they do. If you look at an Apple product including design and functions, the message it gives your eyes as soon as you see the product is 'beautiful.' You pick up some products and there are buttons, buttons, buttons, words and words. It looks ugly, and it tells you it is not human," said Wozniak.
Just like Apple’s SVP of iPhone Software, Scott Forstall, said the iPad adapts to you… "Human should be more important and technology should modify its shape and fit into the human world, rather than vice versa,” Wozniak believes. “Make sure everyone who uses your device loves it actually. If you develop that love relationship, they will buy your products next time, no matter what," the Woz said.