Here is the beginning of a great article by Kevin C. Tofer that helps compare Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS in a fair way. And it also helps point out the bias against Android many main-stream tech reporters have.
I was disappointed to read one of the most disingenuous comparisons between iOS and Android version uptake this morning. TechCrunch’s MG Siegler, whom I genuinely enjoy reading, took Android to task, noting that only 0.4 percent of Android handsets run Gingerbread, or Android 2.3; the current version of the operating system. By comparison, 89.73 percent of iOS handsets are on version 4.x, meaning an iPhone is about 180 times more likely than an Android device to be running the most current operating system version. There’s a valid point to be made here, but (pardon the pun) one has to compare apples to apples.
What exactly is Siegler comparing? One the iOS side, he’s counting the major version, iOS 4, and all other minor versions, i.e., 4.1, 4.2, etc. … Yet on the Android side, he’s specifically saying that Android 2.3 is the only one that matters. If you have Android 2.1 or 2.2, you’re behind and simply don’t count in Siegler’s world. Simply put: Counting the major and minor versions on one side the equation means you have to count them on the other side too.
Finish reading the article at iPhones 180x More Likely to Be Current Than Androids. Not.: Mobile Technology News
