Flagship Killer Alert!

The flagship killers are coming.

If you don't know what "flagships" are when talking about smartphones and their manufacturers and you have no idea how they can be "killed" and are strangely pondering what the term "flagship killer" could possibly imply, do us both a huge favour. Stop reading. Yes, at this point. Just stop.

If you stubbornly persisted though, flagship killers, as a concept, grew from an earlier development of a batch of smartphones that were expected to put to an end to the blazing market lead the revolutionary Apple iPhone had. At that point, they were tagged "iPhone Killers". They ended up being anything but. The iPhone had the first mover advantage, had patented most of the smartphone design language and predominated mobile tech. It was, in fact, in a class all by itself.

Most of that advantage would peter off with the stepping up of a worthy challenger in the Android ecosystem: Samsung. Shedding it's mediocre beginning and entering a long term project of smartphone-market domination, it aped the iPhone dress sense, cloned some of Apple's user experience and encased Android with their in-house interface called TouchWiz. Then, they sold it cheaper than Apple's offerings. Those who wanted an alternative with more openness than the iPhone had found one.

Android rode on this popularity to gain traction in the battle for supremacy in mobile tech. Apple wasn't about to let that happen without a fight. Litigations after litigations brought the duels to the courthouses. To survive, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of Android devices were forced to differentiate themselves, in hardware and software, from everything Apple.

As always, Samsung led that drive. It increased its screen sizes and threw into its flagships all sorts of bells and whistles it felt would sway buyers its way. From sensors that tracked eyeballs to keep the screen awake while the eyes remained on it to heart-rate monitors, whatever they could think of, they jammed into devices that were constantly increasing in size. Then, they became the "Toyota" of smartphones, furnishing buyers with smartphones for all pocket sizes.

Samsung had come of age. It had become an OEM with a flagship that others had to battle. That others had to kill. The Android competition took notice. And borrowing pages from Samsung's playbook, began to develop "flagship killers" to dethrone flagships from Samsung and from Apple.

It wasn't long before the world then added the word "phablet" to it's lexicon as a result. It referred to smartphones that were too big to be called phones but not big enough to be called tablets. These devices were between a "phone" and a "tablet" hence the new classification "phablet".

The buyer-hunger for ever bigger screens was an eye opener for OEMs. Apple however resisted the urge claiming a lot of thought and research for one-handed use of touchscreen phones went into its decision to use the screen size it preferred. Larger phones made the iPhone appear toyish but Apple was obdurate.

The battle raged on. Samsung giving Apple a run for its money. BlackBerry slowly dying. Windows phones looking like relics. The dregs left for the others to contend with.

Phone components became more available and affordable. The tech finally caught up and hardware improved enough to match the processing demands of the software. With its Open Source model, Android grew in leaps and bounds and in some instances overtook Apple in functionality. Apple made do with consistency and premium quality but there came to be a plateauing of growth in what could be offered. It got to the point where the competition was just how to better, in slight incremental proportions, what was already on offer.

Concurrently, Android's conditional free OS allowed inexpensive but less-powered devices from Asian OEMs to flood the middle- and lower-income earning market. Those poorly executed products conspired to give the platform a bad reputation with many concluding that Android as a whole was a terrible OS to be involved with. Among other considerations, this led Google to place emphasis on standards and engineer Android to work as efficiently on the less-powered as it did with flagships.

What that move birthed was phenomenal especially considering the need for low-priced but efficiently functional devices in many areas around the world, third-world countries inclusive. It triggered the possibility of smartphones priced at under-$50. Coupled with component-availability and affordability, it appeared the days where only the flagship assured of quality and efficiency but at high, out-of-normal-reach premium were numbered.

It appeared. At the time.

Today however, two devices have "appeared" with enough gravitas to stake their holding to that promise. I will allow readers read of the two devices, their quality (which ooze from every pore), the premium-ness, their functionalities, the possibility of personally customising both, their specs, their differentiations but more than anything else their unbelievable affordability for all the mobile-tech punch they pack.

These two
1. The OnePlus 2
2. The Moto G

Read. Then, ask yourself why anyone will spend over a 100k for a flagship when these devices are available at these price points and with these specs? That question, in its very essence is what happens when a true flagship killer is born and experienced for the first time.

For the most part, ignorance plays more than a pivotal role in the continued dominance of a flagship. Those who break their banks for flagships do so from a deep lack of the knowledge of the existence of comparative and inexpensive alternatives. Obviously, there remains the caste who do so, willingly or otherwise, for the class symbol these flagships carry. Definitely. However, knowledge is a defining characteristic in the emerging death of traditional mobile flagship.

Will this emergence hurt Apple's flagship? The jury is still out on that for now. But, can it force Apple to alter anything? Hmm...

Apple won't change their business model for anyone's sentiment. They have become the most valuable company today as a result. It's simple - control the design process and make it premium; control the software and optimise it to the fullest since you also design the hardware; control the pricing and the merchandising since you make both hardware and software; sell at a premium because you control hardware, software and merchandising, all and because you define a status and symbolise class.

With so much power and a compelling catalogue of premium products, you call the shots and no other competing manufacturer can make you sneeze or catch a cold with their attractive device releases. Mostly.

Although Android development has altered some Apple standards going forward like making phones with bigger screens and allowing permissions for some third-party applications that are favourite for smartphone users, Apple remains a stubbornly selfish yet veritable force in mobile tech. And it works for them that way. It doesn't work for their business model to sell cheap. Their iPhone C, which was supposed to have been a cheaper alternative for those who couldn't afford the flagship model, flopped spectacularly. I doubt they'd try it again.

Yet, this mobile tech market isn't entirely predictable. If clamshell phones (what we call flip phones) are making a comeback in 2015, who am I to speculate that Apple wouldn't do another cheap device tomorrow? After all, pressure from Android sales forced Apple's hand and made them enter the mini tablet market though their late visionary founder, Steve Jobs, had earlier labeled that genre of mobile devices dead on arrival.

Who knows? But, there is this certainty. The flagship killers will never be out of job. As far as flagships exist. slowly dying. Windows phones looking like relics. The dregs left for the others to contend with.

Then, phone components became more available and affordable. The tech finally caught up and hardware improved enough to match the processing demands of the software. With its Open Source model, Android grew in leaps and bounds and in some instances overtook Apple in functionality. Apple made do with consistency and premium quality but there came to be a plateauing of growth in what could be offered. The competition was how to better, in slight incremental proportions, what was already on offer.

Concurrently, Android's conditional free OS allowed inexpensive but less-powered devices from Asian OEMs to flood the middle- and lower-income earning market. Those poorly executed products conspired to give the platform a bad reputation with many concluding that Android as a whole was a terrible OS to be involved with. Among other considerations, this led Google to place emphasis on standards and engineer Android to work as efficiently on less-powered as it did with flagships.

What that move birthed was phenomenal especially considering the need for low-priced but efficiently functional devices in many areas around the world, third-world countries inclusive. It triggered the possibility of smartphones priced at under-$50. Coupled with component-availability and affordability, it appeared the days where only the flagship assured of quality and efficiency but at high, out-of-normal-reach premium were numbered.

It appeared. At the time.

Today however, two devices have "appeared" with enough gravitas to stake their holding to that promise. I will allow readers read of the two devices, their quality (which ooze from every pore), the premium-ness, their functionalities, the possibility of personally customising both, their specs, their differentiations but more than anything else their unbelievably affordability for all the mobile-tech punch they pack.

These two
1. The OnePlus 2
2. The Moto G

Read. Then, ask yourself why anyone will spend over a 100k for a flagship when these devices are available for these price points and with these specs? That question, in its very essence is what happens when a true flagship killer is born and experienced for the first time.

For the most part, ignorance plays more than a pivotal role in the continued dominance of a flagship. Those who break their banks for flagships do so for a deep lack of the knowledge of the existence of comparative and inexpensive alternatives. Obviously, there remains the caste who do so, willingly or otherwise, for the class symbol these flagships carry. Definitely. However, knowledge is a defining characteristic in the emerging death of traditional mobile flagship.

Will this emergence hurt Apple's flagship? The jury is still out on that for now. But, can it force Apple to alter anything? Hmm...

Apple won't change their business model for anyone's sentiment. They have become the most valuable company today as a result. It's simple - control the design process and make it premium; control the software and optimise it to the fullest since you also design the hardware; control the pricing and the merchandising since you make both hardware and software; sell at a premium because you control hardware, software and merchandising, all and because you define a status and symbolise class.

With so much power and a compelling catalogue of premium products, you call the shots and no other competing manufacturer can make you sneeze or catch a cold with their attractive device releases. Mostly.

Although Android development has altered some Apple standards going forward like making phones with bigger screens and allowing permissions for some third-party applications that are favourite for smartphone users, Apple remains a stubbornly selfish yet veritable force in mobile tech. And it works for them that way. It doesn't work for their business model to sell cheap. Their iPhone C, which was supposed to have been a cheaper alternative for those who couldn't afford the flagship model, flopped spectacularly. I doubt they'd try it again.

Yet, this mobile tech market isn't entirely predictable. If clamshell phones (what we call flip phones) are making a comeback in 2015, who am I to speculate that Apple wouldn't do another cheap device tomorrow? After all, pressure from Android sales forced Apple's hand and made them enter the mini tablet market though their late visionary founder, Steve Jobs, had earlier labeled that genre of mobile devices dead on arrival.

Who knows? But, there is this certainty. The flagship killers will never be out of job. As far as flagships exist.

Tolerance

I once visited a friend who lived in a compound with two other families. He always had tales of his noisy encounters with the neighbours' kids. They made me wonder, always, knowing how much he dreaded disturbance. I finally got the opportunity of a first-hand experience. That very day.

We were mid-way into an interesting topic of the duopoly in mobile phone tech when the two children of the house on the right decided we had had enough peace for the day. I couldn't believe they were just two of them. They made more noises than a packed stadium brimming with football fans. My friend took it all like a man. Not even a whimper, though I could perceive his annoyance. No, not annoyance. His ire.

"Why being so tolerant," was on the tip of my tongue, knowing who Jide was. But something about his quiet demeanour kept me tongue-tied. Well...

Since we couldn't hear each other converse any longer (it was that bad) we stopped screaming at each other and turned on the TV to watch the highlights of an old football match.

We were so engrossed in the thrilling encounter (scores of which we already knew), we didn't notice exactly when the twin devils quietened. The peace was ephemeral though. Another set of neighbour's children, four boys of differing ages from the house on the right, had come out to kick some footie.

It took less than a minute from when Jide heard them playing and running around to when he whizzed through his front door to not only seize the round leather but admonish the kids about disturbing him with their racket.

From the window, I observed the drama play out. The forlorn looks on the boys' faces, as they walked away ball-less, was touching. Just before he reentered their house, the youngest looked back at Jide's retreating figure. If looks had daggers...

I was beyond astonished at this point. They weren't making a fraction of the pandemonium those other two raised before we gave up our conversation to watch that match. Neither were we marginally disturbed by their football game. So, why the double standards?

"Jyd," I began, "what was that about?"

He looked puzzled. "What?" He was dropping the ball just behind the door and turning around to face me.

"That wasn't fair, what you did to them. And claiming they were a disturbance? Haba!!!! Jyd! What will you then say about those two in the next house who may have been possessed by a legion of noise-demons?"

Jide laughed his full-throated, heart-warming rambunctious laughter (the laugh alone could've been from another legion of demons on its own). He ended up shaking his head, as if to clear the cobwebs that laugh must've patterned in his head.

When he answered, he was serious. He said, "You haven't met the parents of the two families."

I understood.

Political "Bats"

The story broke of Boko Haram prisoners in the East. Not much facts were sought before even some seeming intelligent minds went to press. The clandestine intentions of this government's sympathetic slant with terrorism was blown up and harangued. Those who still feel deeply pained by their gargantuan loss at the last polls, bared fangs, talons and canines.

The accusations were wild and variant. Baba-Go-Slow was disingenuously charting a devious plan to allow Boko Haram make inroads into the South East for one nefarious intent or the other. It was a field day for all biased comers without restraint. All stops were pulled to cast aspersions on the government and anyone who as much as dared to counsel for caution. You were thought to be a Buhari apologist (or "Buharist" for short). And if you were of Igbo extraction, you were a sellout. Period.

Then, the wind of facts blew. Clouds of misdirection receded. Clearer skies revealed that those prisoners had been moved to the East within the life of the previous government. And just like it was in the story about El-Rufai's asset declaration, those who ran to town with the story in the morning had gone underground in the evening, seeking to be hidden under the cover of darkness, their natural and comfortable abode. Fangs covered. Talons retrieved. Canines shut.

We must of needs participate in government actively as guardians of our democratic practice. No doubts. But it is of necessity, extreme nonetheless, that such participatory activism be informed. Band-wagonism will only yield unsavoury outcomes and be as counterproductive as passivism. Crowd-thinking that isn't based on facts but on biased jerky condemnation of what we are led to believe by junk journalism and media sensationalism will not help us. We must try to avoid these political "bats" who neither help us nor themselves.

Now, they go back to lie in wait until the next series of sensationalism. Till the next season of news items that agree with their self-induced pain of biased sensibilities. Then, they'd spring out again, shouting themselves hoarse and dragging some unscrupulously naive Nigerians along for the ride. As far as it works to prove their point that Baba-Go-Slow is an accident waiting to happen, they don't care for consequences. Let the nation be wrecked as far as they're proven right, it is well. Let us all be damned so that they can be right.

And their proselytising wins converts. Until it fails again. Then, you don't hear a blip from them for a while. But it's brief. We know what will happen. Another opportunity beckons. Then, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, we know what each of them will say.

"I'd be back."

Urgency Required

At first, guerrilla tactics of moving in and tearing places apart with bombs and moving out was the modus operandi. Then, they got emboldened enough to begin to take territories. They became a ground force. It changed to moving in convoys to attack, among other places, armed forces garrisons for weapons and big towns for supplies. They also took women and children for support staff.

When the then government got serious enough to do in six weeks what it shied from doing in six years, it decimated their numbers while taking back those territories which made them  a ground force. Pushed back and with little of the bravado to operate in the open and in convoys, they have returned to the hit and run antics of guerrilla warfare.

This unconventional fare cannot be defeated by conventional tact without the backing of matching military intelligence and strategy. The old hands that have been pussyfooting while thousands of innocent and helpless Nigerians have met their untimely deaths and violent loss of body parts must be made to face the music of their recalcitrance. A more hands-on category of military eggheads with the capacity for intelligence and strategy and collaborating with the MNJTF must begin to bring an end to this insurgency with urgency.

It is nothing more than is expected of this new dispensation. The attacks are becoming too much to stomach. Their daredevilry must be checkmated by the militaristic professionalism that our men in uniform are popular for.

Enough is enough.