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Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

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Re: Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

#101

Post by redrobot5050 »

apu wrote: post #77
lukifer wrote: post #9

I'm getting really tired of reading hacky comparisons of iPhone vs Android to Mac vs Windows. For one thing, there is not a huge price discrepancy in the smartphone space the way there was on the desktop in the 80s and 90s, when Macs tended to carry a 2-3x markup. There isn't the problem of too few games on the platform; Apple currently has the advantage here, though obviously not forever. And despite Apple's willing…

I think you're wrong about the write-once run-anywhere software ecosystem that Windows had to deal with. There was an incredible proliferation of different hardware -- including drivers etc. -- and it was mostly up to Microsoft to make sure that the OS continued to work flawlessly (or at least at whatever level of semi-stability it managed to attain) across all of these different configurations. This is an enormous r…

>This is an enormous responsibility that Apple has never had to deal with -- there's a difference of at least 3 if not 4-5 orders of magnitude in the number of different types of hardware platforms that each company had to deal with.

Apple is supporting two gens of hardware. The iPhone OS will support the iPhone 3GS, the latest iPod Touch, the next-gen iPhone (as of now, unreleased) and the iPad.

Android has 19+ phone configurations (not counting carrier specific nuances in the firmwares) to support.

I think its interesting that Mr. Lyons is "blown away" by Android features that will be coming to his iPhone in 30-60 days, with the exception of teathering (which isn't Apple's fault, but AT&T's).

Also, people hate to hear this, but a jailbroken iPhone provides a much better experience and much more competitive than Androids.

Re: Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

#102

Post by redrobot5050 »

raganwald wrote: post #6
ryandvm wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, Fake Steve Jobs is going to be pissed about this article.

To be perfectly honest, while there's nothing wrong with the article, after reading the title I was looking forward with a certain amount of evil glee to find out exactly what FSJ was going to say about switching to Android. Nothing against Daniel, but his reasons are far less entertaining than FSJ's would have been.

Agreed. Speed Increase? More Multi-tasking? Better Web Browsing? iPhone OS 4.0 has all of that. And it's release date is likely to be announced June 7th.

Now the dropped calls thing, I can't comment on. AT&T in my area is actually great. 3G rolled out EARLY where I'm at. And I've been tethering since December of 2009.

Re: Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

#103

Post by redrobot5050 »

nzmsv wrote: post #56
barake wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Handset makers such as HTC and Motorola check that Android works as it should, and fix anything broken before releasing updates to users. Carriers may also be involved in this process. Also there are much fewer hardware combos to support. Windows PCs would work better if Dell (or whoever) made sure every update worked 100% and you couldn't install new components after purchase. As things stand now it is impossible to…

And the phone manufacturers are also a year behind on updating older devices. The article talks about the new Android 2.2 being great, but there are still phones shipping with 1.5 and no firmware upgrades in sight. I realize there is no incentive for a phone manufacturer to fix bugs and add features to a device that's a year old. But Apple has done a decent job with the iPhone firmware updates.

Counterpoint: The open source community has rolled their own firmwares with the latest and greatest, so you can update your phone without your carrier. Is it unsupported? Probably. Does it void your warranty? Again, probably.

But considering I consider jailbreaking an iPhone a "feature", doing something similar with an Android phone is also a good thing. (At least it is an option.)

Re: Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

#104

Post by commandar »

redrobot5050 wrote: post #102
raganwald wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be perfectly honest, while there's nothing wrong with the article, after reading the title I was looking forward with a certain amount of evil glee to find out exactly what FSJ was going to say about switching to Android. Nothing against Daniel, but his reasons are far less entertaining than FSJ's would have been.

Agreed. Speed Increase? More Multi-tasking? Better Web Browsing? iPhone OS 4.0 has all of that. And it's release date is likely to be announced June 7th. Now the dropped calls thing, I can't comment on. AT&T in my area is actually great. 3G rolled out EARLY where I'm at. And I've been tethering since December of 2009.

>More Multi-tasking? [...] iPhone OS 4.0 has all of that.

If you mean an implementation that's still more hamstrung than Android's, sure.

Re: Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

#105

Post by Retric »

apu wrote: post #77
lukifer wrote: post #9

I'm getting really tired of reading hacky comparisons of iPhone vs Android to Mac vs Windows. For one thing, there is not a huge price discrepancy in the smartphone space the way there was on the desktop in the 80s and 90s, when Macs tended to carry a 2-3x markup. There isn't the problem of too few games on the platform; Apple currently has the advantage here, though obviously not forever. And despite Apple's willing…

I think you're wrong about the write-once run-anywhere software ecosystem that Windows had to deal with. There was an incredible proliferation of different hardware -- including drivers etc. -- and it was mostly up to Microsoft to make sure that the OS continued to work flawlessly (or at least at whatever level of semi-stability it managed to attain) across all of these different configurations. This is an enormous r…

I think you over estimate the number of types of harware each platform had to deal with.

PS: Orders of magnitude 3 = 1,000, 4 = 10,000, 5 = 100,000. Now if you ment 3-5x the number of platforms but 1000x is way to high.

Re: Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

#106

Post by jrockway »

tptacek wrote: post #97
jrockway wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Sprint because they have a 3G/4G data plan. 4G is awesome.

Crap. We have CLEAR modems, and Sprint owns CLEAR. I'm doing business with them again. Well, I'll never run my phone service through them.

Are you sure about that? I thought Sprint was only a partial investor and lessee. Clear 4G is a lot more expensive than Sprint 4G, so it would be strange if they had a subsidary that offered worse service for more money.

(I went with Sprint 4G over Clear 4G because Sprint 4G is free with a 3G data plan. 4G coverage can be spotty, but 3G coverage is exceptional. So I am never without data. Now if only I left my house more often...)

Re: Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

#108

Post by stanleydrew »

lukifer wrote: post #78
theBobMcCormick wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are correct that there isn't a big price difference this time around between Apple and the alternative. But, standing in for the price difference this time (at least in the US) is carrier availability. To you and iPhone you've gotta switch to AT&T who doesn't seem to be going out of there way to care for those iPhone customers (at least, that's how it appears to me as an outsider hearing constant stories of dropp…

This is a good point. At the same time, the AT&T exclusivity was a Faustian bargain to get their foot in the door, and is destined to die once the initial contract expires.

When does the original contract expire? Couldn't Apple buy its way out of the contract if it wanted to?

Re: Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

#109

Post by earcar »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #72
knieveltech wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For values of "everything just works" that don't include standard developer tools. Getting a new macbook into configuration for (for example) web development is a PITA compared to any distro I've used that came with a decent package installer (apt, yum) out of the box. You have to hack up the damned keyboard settings just to get home and end keys to work.

That is because you are trying to use your Mac like it's a Linux box. Use the OS X keyboard shortcuts (which happen to be the same as Emacs, Ctrl-A and Ctrl-E respectively) and grab MAMP and you are good to go.

You don't even have to grab MAMP or Xcode, since Apache, PHP, Ruby, Python, emacs and vim come preinstalled with OS X. So you just have to get the database server. Until you have to compile something.

Re: Fake Steve Jobs: Why I'm Switching to Android

#110

Post by ynniv »

Why is Lyons so bitter? His arguments revolve around Android having more "features" and otherwise being an iPhone knockoff. The features debate is old and boring - maybe he cares, but I don't and I suspect that most iPhone buyers don't either.

And as developers, why should we be excited at a knockoff? Do we need to punish Apple for being successful? Unlike Microsoft, Apple has not tried to force people to run its OS. And if Apple stops innovating the phone market, I don't see Google stepping up as a replacement. Much as Microsoft did, I expect large market share to result in years of the same old crap.

I understand that some people don't like the situation they are in, and I'm okay with that. But can we stop pretending that Apple is the evil empire? They make a great product, and you bought it. That's what companies are supposed to do.

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