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I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

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Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#361
post #333

It's clear from reading the threads in here that user experience on either side is not consistent. That's fine, get what works for you. If you have an android and it's not working for you, then switch to an iphone, and vice versa. Try a flip phone if you need simplicity. What I don't get it... is this fanboyism, this loyalty to a company that knows you as close as a number on a spreadsheet and a dollar amount on thei…

> What I don't get it... is this fanboyism, this loyalty to a company that knows you as close as a number on a spreadsheet and a dollar amount on their bank account. I don't approve of platform fanboyism myself, but there is more to it than this. Loyalty to a platform often comes from approving of that company's particular business model and wanting to see it succeed over the others for moral reasons. iOS fans like A…

While that may be true for some, I think you overestimate the amount of conscious thought that goes into human behavior. Even when people have explanations for why they do something, if it's not something truly technical that only abstract conscious thought processes can produce, and if there is any emotional component, those explanations have been shown to come after the decision. The brain creates explanations for whatever it already did, and those explanations are not connected to the actual reasoning. The reason for that is the brain is itself unaware of how it arrived at the result of automatic decisions. It would have to have an additional layer monitoring its connections that would have to be larger than those connections (axons and their neurons). Monitoring is costly. Much easier to create an explanation out of thin air, using your assumptions about yourself... Consciousness is a layer on top, there is no direct control of the brain's processes. You are as surprised by your own decisions as much as the person next to you :-) (unless it's something mundane with no surprise factor for anyone)

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#362
post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sample size of this thread is too small. Based on the fact that almost all the profits in the phone market go to Apple, obviously they are providing something people want that others can't. In other words, Apple consistently provides a user experience that more people prefer compared to Androids.

Not really. The luxury market is less about fulfilling basic needs and more about telling a good story and differentiating the owners of luxury from normal people

The iPhone is not that expensive so as to confer luxury status, at least not for the upper quintiles. If it was, then you wouldn't see it used so normally, that would defeat the goal of exclusivity.

The difference is people with disposable income are choosing to go with Apple, hence they have a better user experience comparable to other high end phones on the market, with the main differentiating factor being one is iOS and one is Android.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#363
post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Siri is definitely Apples biggest weakness, but the headphone jack? The phone comes with a little adapter. If you're a person who has tons of nice headphones laying around, but a couple more adapters and call it a day. Is it a bit of inconvenience at first? Sure, but don't act like there is no way to plug in headphones or that it's the end of the world. And Duo? I'm a tech person and I can't keep all of the Google co…

Royally disagree with the headphone jack. That is a huge issue that I don't ever see an end to. You never know when you need a headphone jack and there is no realistic way to carry an adapter all the time. And that is even if I'm willing to buy $100 worth of worthless adapters and do my best to sprinkle them out in my life. Friends car? Stereo in the summer vacation house? Buying bluetooth headphones doesn't mitigate…

> Friends car? Stereo in the summer vacation house?

I regret finally "jumping ship" and getting an Iphone 8 plus soley because of this. I am experiencing the exact same thing with the f___king stupid MBP and needing to carry a dongle on me at all times in order to present. It's absolutely infuriating.

After holding off for so long (Iphone 8 plus was my first iphone), and having androids since Samsung Galaxy S3, my recent phone was a Note and I really don't get what I was missing out on. I really miss my swype keyboard, the apple keyboard is an absolute pain, and it's "AI" autocorrect is worthless. Siri is worthless. Facetime was the only appeal and even that has been minimized now.

With the direction they went with the IPhone X screen real estate, this will without a doubt be my first and last IPhone I ever buy.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#364
post #313

The iPhone walled garden is what gets my goat, particularly when it comes to the impact it's had on my children. Combined with an observation that there is a distinct subset of people who buy iPhones who seem uninterested in how technology works or engaging deeply in solving technology interop problems when things go wrong. I get that's part of the feedback loop -- you buy an iPhone because "ack, technology! I just w…

To your first point, as a big Apple user of 2+ decades, I enjoy technology and tinkering, but I want control over when and how the need to tinker pops up. I don’t necessarily want to tinker with my phone or with my computer at all times, particularly when I’ve come home from programming for 8 hours. When I need my tinker fix there’s always personal programming projects and Linux distros and keyboard building projects and such that I can turn to on my own time, not whenever my phone or laptop decides it wants to be difficult.

Also as an anecdote, it was Macs that got me deeper into OS internals and programming as a kid — first on Classic MacOS through hacking apps, games, and the OS itself via ResEdit as well as programming silly toy apps with REALBasic. Later on, it was early release of Mac OS X (I jumped on board at 10.0.4) with the huge new world brought by a real *NIX terminal and the powerful development environment provided by Objective-C+Cocoa and Project Builder+Interface Builder (Xcode precursors). These were major factors in my journey to becoming a software engineer as an adult.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#365
post #333

It's clear from reading the threads in here that user experience on either side is not consistent. That's fine, get what works for you. If you have an android and it's not working for you, then switch to an iphone, and vice versa. Try a flip phone if you need simplicity. What I don't get it... is this fanboyism, this loyalty to a company that knows you as close as a number on a spreadsheet and a dollar amount on thei…

> What I don't get it... is this fanboyism, this loyalty to a company that knows you as close as a number on a spreadsheet and a dollar amount on their bank account. I don't approve of platform fanboyism myself, but there is more to it than this. Loyalty to a platform often comes from approving of that company's particular business model and wanting to see it succeed over the others for moral reasons. iOS fans like A…

I think Android fans like the idea of total control more than the actual application of it.

Most of what I've seen are people who just change the system font.

I know there are some people out there who are doing really cool things, but they are in the minority. The majority of the fanboys are people who parrot the line but instead don't do anything "the other side" doesn't do.

I'm familiar with my ecosystem of choice, I prefer its conventions, but if you like the other, it's cool. Of course, I'm a software developer, so I have all the control I want.

I also have devices from both ecosystems, so there's that as well.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sample size of this thread is too small. Based on the fact that almost all the profits in the phone market go to Apple, obviously they are providing something people want that others can't. In other words, Apple consistently provides a user experience that more people prefer compared to Androids.

Profits go to Apple but I think unit sales sway heavily towards Android, don't they? Apple has much higher margins, so maybe you could say that people who prefer Apple prefer it more heavily than those who slightly prefer Android. My preference is Apple currently but I think Android is probably better value for the money in most cases.

A few hundred extra dollars for something you use many hours per day for multiple critical tasks is hard for me to nitpick about, so I think whatever people like to use (evidenced by what they are buying) shows what provides them the most value.

Unit sales don't say anything in my opinion, other than people who can't afford seem to be going with Android. If you want to make a statement about which user experience is preferable for most people, then the high end phones, which are the phones being chosen out of preference, is the data you want.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sample size of this thread is too small. Based on the fact that almost all the profits in the phone market go to Apple, obviously they are providing something people want that others can't. In other words, Apple consistently provides a user experience that more people prefer compared to Androids.

Profits go to Apple but I think unit sales sway heavily towards Android, don't they? Apple has much higher margins, so maybe you could say that people who prefer Apple prefer it more heavily than those who slightly prefer Android. My preference is Apple currently but I think Android is probably better value for the money in most cases.

Yeah, Apple is either number one or two in terms of phones sold compared to other manufacturers.

But Android has a commanding lead of Smartphone OS installation. Because you not only have the Samsung Galaxy phones of the world, but also the BLU Studio X8.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#369
post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What I don't get it... is this fanboyism, this loyalty to a company that knows you as close as a number on a spreadsheet and a dollar amount on their bank account. I don't approve of platform fanboyism myself, but there is more to it than this. Loyalty to a platform often comes from approving of that company's particular business model and wanting to see it succeed over the others for moral reasons. iOS fans like A…

I think Android fans like the idea of total control more than the actual application of it. Most of what I've seen are people who just change the system font. I know there are some people out there who are doing really cool things, but they are in the minority. The majority of the fanboys are people who parrot the line but instead don't do anything "the other side" doesn't do. I'm familiar with my ecosystem of choice…

I think there’s also a big hurdle of a new thing when you’ve already spent years learning it.

A good friend of mine said, you can only convince someone to change what they’re used to if your thing is 10X better. If it’s just another alternative, you’re gonna be in for disappointment.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I'm sort of boggling at this. I have a 16GB Android phone that I've used for about 2 years, and it's only half full.

Android itself takes up 9GB on my Pixel 2. 4.7GB is taken up by the apps and whatever they are storing (Chrome takes up the most, with 1GB). I also have 4GB in music. I don't consider myself a heavy storage user but 16GB is a really easy bar to cross.

I've noticed on my iOS devices that the more storage available, even with the same amount of apps and data, more storage is taken up.

I believe it's due to the fact that apps don't clear caches as often if there's plenty of space left.

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