Catching Up to Apple

Yesterday was a big day for the mobile phone industry, and no I’m not talking about the unveiling of the Nokia Lumia 900, (even though I’m personally excited about that device).

Five year’s ago yesterday, Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone to the world. It was unlike anything we had every seen, almost like it was from the future. Then Steve said this:

Now, software on mobile phones is like baby software. It’s not so powerful. And today, we’re going to show you a software breakthrough. Software that’s at least 5 years ahead of what’s on any other phone.

So if five years have passed, do you think the other mobile operating systems have caught up? Dan Frommer say yes and no, but I really like what Shawn Blanc has to say on the topic:

You can use Apple’s ideas and you can copy their products, but you cannot copy the time and energy they put into those products, and you cannot copy their attention to detail. Those you have to do on your own. Five years later, some companies still haven’t figured that out.

It’s not the phone’s hardware or software that other companies have to catch up to; it’s the high-quality experience the Apple brand delivers on a very consistent basis. To me that’s where Apple is still ahead.