Can Tim Cook boast about Apple’s success? - WWDC 2014

Just finished watching WWDC 2014 and thought I might have slightly different opinion than of Tim regarding Apple’s success. Tim boasts about user base of both iOS 7 and Mavericks comparing Android and Windows 8. Can a user base only be an indicator of its success?

One good reason for most Apple users to be using the latest version could be because it’s free compared to Windows. When it comes to Android not all devices receive latest updates. This could also be because of hardware compatibility issues and based on marketing decisions individual companies (Samsung, Sony and etc.) make. Tim also calls Android users ancient because they are not using the latest version. But one should not also forget that most features Apple introduces in their latest version were already available in old Android versions. E.g. customizable device wide keyboards, widgets and etc.

But I shouldn’t fail to mention that Apple will always stand out from the rest because of how they integrate their software and hardware with the environment and social status (Steve Jobs would say) they create. Also Apple is very serious about privacy and security. Users still trust Apple compared to Windows or Android when it comes to privacy and security. Once I had a hard time getting people to install a keyboard I designed for Android. Even my supervisor had cold feet at first thinking that it might harm the OS or I might steal his passwords.