Hard To Do

One bane of a software developer’s existence is an upgrade. Companies and users don’t do them and the result is there are many versions of an operating system in the marketplace. This is a problem Google faces with Android. It has just released its latest version, called Pie, but Samsung, which just introduced its newest phone, isn’t using it. This is a PR problem for Google  How do you persuade reluctant companies to go along with change?  It costs the companies time and money to shift to a new system and understandably, they are reluctant. The question they have is “What’s in it for them?” Google has to persuade them that it is better for their customers and they risk being left behind as other companies adapt the new software. That isn’t easy, just ask Microsoft when it introduced Windows 10. There was no stampede to it and the company had to wait patiently while customers bought new computers with the upgraded version of Windows installed. Google faces the same delay. It must convince manufacturers of mobile phones that Pie is better and should be adapted immediately.