14 DAY TRIAL // Embroiled in a war over smartphone market-share supremacy, Apple and Google have very different views of how to approach consumers. Yet, both seem to succeed.
But for how long, and who will lose in the long run, asks Fortune in a conversation with Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, who has previously weighed in on Apple’s seemingly unhealthy practices.
The Internet entrepreneur said, “It's quite likely that Apple is going to commit the classic Apple mistake of trying to be too controlling and therefore the market gets away from them and people start to move towards Android.”
He elaborated, noting that his primary concern is Apple’s Big Brother approach to everything surrounding its iOS devices.
Referring to developers in particular, Wales said, “it's like making a deal with the devil.”
“And I don't mean to be calling Apple the devil. I'm a great admirer of Apple. But you're locking yourself into a system where Big Brother is going to be more powerful than you. Which is a pretty big deal,” he said.
Recalling the Adobe Flash debacle, the Wikipedia co-founder said “Apple runs the risk that if they don't embrace a bit more openness in their platform, people will actually say, I've got this iPad, and my kid can't play this Flash game. So Apple's in a fight with Flash? I don't care. And yet this other device lets me run Flash,” his analysis goes.
Wales said Apple is arrogant, but that the company has earned its right to be that way, calling the iPad an “absolutely brilliant product.”
“At the same time, it's the tortoise and the hare,” he added, reinforcing his belief that Google (the hare) is already in a position to win.
“They [Apple] have to be very careful and very thoughtful about how they can be a part of any ecosystem,” Wales said.