SOMM Soapbox

The success and popularity of iOS and Android powered mobile devices are having an impact on traditional computing. From Microsoft’s focus on making Windows 8 mobile friendly to Apple’s iOS-like makeover of its upcoming OS X Mountain Lion, the mobilization of computing is here to stay. The question is will the advantages of this mobilization outweigh its disadvantages?

In a move that is not unexpected, Sprint (the third largest mobile company in America) has ended the all you can eat buffet of its 4G mobile plans for tablets, netbooks, USB cards, connection cards and its Mobile Hotspot service. Originally, customers had a 3G data cap of 3GB, 5GB, or 10GB respectfully, and if you had Sprint 4G in your area it was unlimited. Sprint has now combined the two technologies under the same restriction, whether it is 4G or 3G, they both count towards your data cap.

How many features can someone put into a product before they come off as superfluous bullet points? In a new series I am dubbing the Superfluous Tech Top Five, I take a look at tech categories, single products and everything in between to find product “features” that are overwhelmingly superfluous fluff.

The product I am examining today is produced by a company that has a history of overzealously placing superfluous bullet points to “features” that are most of the time common in their competitors’ products. If you haven’t guessed the name of the company by now, it is no other than Apple Inc and the product is iOS 5.