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16GB Is a Bad User Experience

david-smith.org

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Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#41

Post by humanrebar »

qopp wrote: post #35

Of course 16Gb is an "uncomfortable" user experience. It's supposed to be. It's about market segmentation. It's not cost. 32gb memory units in bulk are like $1 maybe. Apple charges an extra $100 because they are using that easy-to-understand difference to segment the market and collect an extra $100 profit from those that can afford that price point.

You're basically restating the conclusion of the piece.

The author states that this (presumably) intentional choice undermines the Apple brand that includes quality and uncompromisingly excellent user experience.

Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#42

Post by eponeponepon »

ams6110 wrote: post #29
jafingi wrote: post #24

I have no problems with 16GB iPhone which I've had since the 3G. Currently I have 72 apps installed. Syncing with 8 email addresses. I use Spotify for music, and have an offline playlist with about 2GB songs. Photos and movies are synced to the cloud, and files older than 1 month are deleted from the device. I have 3.2GB available. So while your points may be valid for some, I can manage fine with 16GB. And it's not…

I have an 8GB android phone and have no problems with it. If you want to take a lot of video and photos with your phone, buy one with a lot of storage. If you aren't in the habit of photographing your lunch before you eat it, you can get by with a lot less.

If you want to take a lot of videos and photos... use a camera.

It baffles me that people want one tool for all jobs.

Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#43

Post by humanrebar »

cm2187 wrote: post #40

One can't both consider that one's primary use of the iphone is to record pictures and videos and at the same time go for the model with the smallest possible disk size and then complain about the lack of space. The premium Apple charges for larger disk space is ridiculously uncorrelated with the cost of the components but the solution to this is better competition.

> the solution to this is better competition

There is a lot of competition out there. A lot of great competition. The problem with this argument is that Apple specifically makes it hard for its customers to switch ecosystems. So it's still Apple causing the issue.

Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#44

Post by shdon »

vellum wrote: post #17
andyfleming wrote: post #11

Yeah, it's no good. I have a 16 GB model. I've bought into the iCloud-powered photos syncing, but yet somehow there is never space on my phone. The whole point was to automatically move photos to the cloud, yet 9/10 times I open my camera, it says "Not enough space to take a photo".

Check which apps are being space hogs. Go to Settings->General->Usage->Manage Storage. Some apps like Twitter don't delete their caches. So you have to delete the app and reinstall it to reclaim the space.

"delete the app and reinstall it to reclaim the space"? Now that seems like the real "bad user experience"

Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#45

Post by jarcane »

kijin wrote: post #30
adventured wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth noting that the Galaxy S6 / Edge / Active and the Note 5 have no SD slot. Apple definitely isn't alone in looking out of touch.

Without an SD card slot, users who need more storage must buy a more expensive model. That money goes to the manufacturer. With an SD card slot, users can just buy the baseline model and get an SD card from another vendor. That money does not go to the manufacturer. So manufacturers have an obvious incentive to produce phones without an SD card slot. Moreover, there is little incentive to produce phones with an SD ca…

Doing it the Apple way isn't free, either. Yes, Apple takes their traditional overly generous markup per memory increase, but there are liabilities in terms of inventory. In a model like the iPhone's it means your 16GB phones are mostly loss-leaders anyway, probably why no one seems to give a shit about issues like the one in the article: because no one actually buys those phones, the inventory is just dead weight to get people in the door.

It's also an extra step in manufacturing of course.

Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#46

Post by matthewmacleod »

jarcane wrote: post #19

This would all be trivially solved if Apple would just put a goddamn SD card slot in it. Storage size as sole model differentiation is sooo 2001. At this point it genuinely makes Apple look out of touch in a market where every other flagship quality model doesn't bother with it and includes an SD slot, partly I suspect because it's just saner from a production and inventory standpoint even besides the consumer benefi…

No it wouldn't.

1. Flagship models don't all include an SD slot. Galaxy S6, Moto X, Nexus 6 for example. It's clearly a common decision.

2. I doubt that even if they iPhone did include such a slot the problem would be solved. Removable storage is complicated.

Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#47

Post by blisterpeanuts »

jarcane wrote: post #19

This would all be trivially solved if Apple would just put a goddamn SD card slot in it. Storage size as sole model differentiation is sooo 2001. At this point it genuinely makes Apple look out of touch in a market where every other flagship quality model doesn't bother with it and includes an SD slot, partly I suspect because it's just saner from a production and inventory standpoint even besides the consumer benefi…

I wish Apple would make a developer-slash-power user's version of their phones and tablets, with SD slot, USB hosting port, access to the full NFC stack, etc.

The masses might need the dumb, sealed up version, but the hackers are the ones who'll push the envelope and extend the platform. It's like an extended R&D division for little additional cost.

I guess the problem is that the hackers will come up with cool hardware add-ons and apps, and the masses will get confused and jealous.

Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#48

Post by matthewmacleod »

I can add to the anecdata that 16GB has not been an issue for me.

Isn't there another obvious spin on the data? It seems obvious that at least 70% of users with 16GB phones are doing fine with that amount of storage. Wouldn't it be a poor decision—certainly from a business point of view—to mandate larger storage for them, when they clearly aren't even using 16GB?

Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#49

Post by lttlrck »

eponeponepon wrote: post #42
ams6110 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an 8GB android phone and have no problems with it. If you want to take a lot of video and photos with your phone, buy one with a lot of storage. If you aren't in the habit of photographing your lunch before you eat it, you can get by with a lot less.

If you want to take a lot of videos and photos... use a camera. It baffles me that people want one tool for all jobs.

convenience is baffling?

Re: 16GB Is a Bad User Experience

#50

Post by cm2187 »

humanrebar wrote: post #43
cm2187 wrote: post #40

One can't both consider that one's primary use of the iphone is to record pictures and videos and at the same time go for the model with the smallest possible disk size and then complain about the lack of space. The premium Apple charges for larger disk space is ridiculously uncorrelated with the cost of the components but the solution to this is better competition.

> the solution to this is better competition There is a lot of competition out there. A lot of great competition. The problem with this argument is that Apple specifically makes it hard for its customers to switch ecosystems. So it's still Apple causing the issue.

I haven't seen any user stuck with iphone because they rely on something they wouldn't get on an android.

The only reason I am myself willing to pay the apple premium is because I am extremely uncomfortable with google's invasion of android users privacy and google makes it hard to switch these features off (like "if you don't want google to upload your GPS locations then turn off the GPS!", etc).

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