Google and Apple – The Rising Walled Gardens

The beauty of software-as-a-service (SaaS) was that it wasn’t dependent on what operating system you used, or what software you had installed, or even what browser you preferred.
It was the power of a computer program accessed from the Web. Centralized, ultimately compatible with any user from any platform, requiring only a sufficiently capable online connection. Cloud computing in a whole other sense, indeed.
And yet, with so many cloud-based services being designed to work solely with sister applications, rising “walled gardens” loom over various proprietary environments. Yes I’m looking mostly at you two, Google and Apple.

1984
It’s no secret that Apple wants you to only use their software apps. The term “walled garden” was coined pretty much to describe them.
The benefits are more seamless integration and data transfer between the various apps within their pool. The drawbacks are that as the Apple apps work ever more closely with one another, they increasingly work less with other, third-party applications.
But what about those apps that don’t exist within the garden, shouldn’t that mean the end-user must look outside the garden? Here comes the dilemma: in order to keep its users happily within its walled garden, Apple must continue to develop their own versions of popular apps, even if those already exist elsewhere.
Now Apple has a very large burden to bear; in order to keep its users satisfied not only in app performance but also in task variety, the computer manufacturer must create all these services themselves.
And of course, the more programs Apple makes to keep people in the garden, the more exclusive it becomes. The walled garden becomes its own self-feeding loop. That’s exactly the point.

“Do No Evil”
Google is no better. They have been increasingly expanding into many other online-based services. This itself isn’t bad, and many have found this convenience to be of great benefit. Robust online services, at no charge? Great!
But what does become an issue is when those services stop cooperating with other programs from other companies. While the search giant hasn’t been as explicit about their garden’s walls, those borders are distinctly there; especially as the company hopes to consolidate its profits from advertising and info-gathering from within those otherwise selflessly offered services.
And thus herein lies the tragedy. The whole point of SaaS was to bypass the borders that had been established by competing hardware manufacturers, operating systems, even different browsers. And yet, in their quest to provide the most attractive and seamless experience (and to corral their user-base ever tighter) the “app giants” are turning the notion of SaaS into more proprietary nation-states.
Granted, can an “app” be considered true SaaS? Perhaps not an app itself, as found on an iPhone or Android phone. But what about maps, email, calendars, etc.? The only service Apple doesn’t offer as a direct equivalent to Google is search — oh wait, they have Siri. Granted, the voice assistant still has a-ways to go before giving the search giant’s algorithms any cause for concern, but it’s a budding threat.

One Step Forward, Two Back
So how soon will it be until Google finally explicitly draws its services together, circling the wagons as it were, in retaliation to Apple’s own wagon-circle?
Instead of a divided user-base torn between physical towers running either Windows or Macintosh, now we will have redundant online services squirreled away in their respective company pigeonholes.
The point of the Web was to make things more open, not closed. Unfortunately, the trend only seems to be regressing.
What are your thoughts? Are we headed towards more enclosure, or is there still hope for openness?

                                                                                                                                                              
Vince Ginsburg is a web designer and blogger for Corsair Media Services, which specializes
in online marketing strategies and development. He doesn’t just look at the current state of the Web to figure out what’s going on, but tries to understand why it’s happening. Always eager for discussion, you can find him at his company blog or Facebook.