Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone • Hacker News Board

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#21

Post by trezor » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:26 PM UTC

buro9 wrote: post #15

I can confirm that the Samsung Galaxy S2 also suffers from this. Worse still, it's not just removing stock apps and loading Samsung ones, they've gone and removed the stock Android keyboard too. My girlfriend hates the Samsung keyboard, and the only other alternative on the phone is Swype which she hates even more. As a direct result of the keyboard not being the one she knew and loved her use of the phone has plumme…

searched the Marketplace, but the Android stock keyboard isn't on there.

It's called "Keyboard from Android 2.3" and it's being compiled and delivered by someone else than Google. Works fine though and lets you download dictionaries as you need them.

Here, have a market-link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.moo.android.inputm...

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#22

Post by Kylekramer » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:26 PM UTC

Hazards of being open to manufacturers. It is a clear trade off, one we seen before with Windows. OEMs and carriers love this access, but more often than not they just fuck a good phone up. Of course, there are clear benefits, such as the ability to sell a phone for $150 outright with $35 a month unlimited data plans. It is a compromise, just like the iPhone model has compromise. It just happens the iPhone's compromises work better for those who have tons of attention to detail and a few extra dollars to burn. But at the end of the day, the Windows model works, even if it is at the expense of some frustrated customers and the scorn of the power users. Most users won't care, smart users will either avoid Android or go for an Android without such BS, and the world will still turn.

Reminds me of a movie quote: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168122/quotes?qt0294371

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#23

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:29 PM UTC

yock wrote: post #6

The real issue here is not the hardware and not Android, but what device manufacturers and network providers cram down the throats of their customers. Custom UI enhancements/replacements, useless bundled apps that can't be removed, and the removal of standard, OS-delivered features. None of this should have been new or a surprise to the writer's mom, who was coming to Android from a feature phone. Feature phones have…

[deleted]

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#24

Post by snorkel » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:30 PM UTC

This is Verizon's longstanding tradition of crippling perfectly good devices for the sake of restricting users to using VZW's media services. I had a Verizon phone that was perfectly capable of Bluetooth and USB transfers which Verizon's OS had deliberately disabled because heaven forbid someone may transfer content to the phone that wasn't purchased from the Verizon mothership.

It's plain to see what took so long for Verizon to carry iPhone was Apple waited for Verizon to finally accept the condition that VZW can not bastardize and cripple the OS. To bad Google didn't enforce the same policy.

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#25

Post by yock » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:31 PM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #23

yock wrote: post #6

The real issue here is not the hardware and not Android, but what device manufacturers and network providers cram down the throats of their customers. Custom UI enhancements/replacements, useless bundled apps that can't be removed, and the removal of standard, OS-delivered features. None of this should have been new or a surprise to the writer's mom, who was coming to Android from a feature phone. Feature phones have…

[deleted]

The author specifically stated that his mom was.

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#26

Post by revscat » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:32 PM UTC

It seems that Google's mistake has been in allowing the carriers too much latitude in modifying an otherwise decent platform. The carriers have proven, definitively, that they provide negative value for end-user experience and overall device quality. If carrier interference isn't somehow controlled -- or even limited -- then Android's reputation will be severely damaged.

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#27

Post by PatrickTulskie » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:33 PM UTC

trotsky wrote: post #11

Shouldn't this be "Why my Mom Bought a Samsung Charge from Verizon, Returned It, and Got an Apple iPhone" ? Kind of strikes me as similar to writing "Why I bought an American car, junked it and bought a BMW M5" - the american car part isn't half as important as which one specifically.

The important thing here is that most of the Android ecosystem is like this. When you buy an iPhone, you're getting exactly what you paid for. No two Androids are sold the same though. Some have tons of crapware, some have an interface you can't change, and for someone who isn't looking to customize the crap out of their phone, hack it, uninstall things, none of that makes any sense.

The Nexus S is a great phone because Google sold it and it didn't come loaded with crap. Most of the other Android phones you buy from other carriers will be as crap filled as their average feature phones.

So the article could have been called "Why my Mom Bought an Android and Returned It." because the article is primarily about problems with the Android ecosystem.

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#28

Post by retube » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:39 PM UTC

A fairly similar experience to buying a laptop with Windows pre-installed. Tons of junk and third-party bullshit. Multiple anti-virus bollox, browser toolbars etc. Took me an hour to clean up.

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#29

Post by nhebb » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:41 PM UTC

yock wrote: post #6

The real issue here is not the hardware and not Android, but what device manufacturers and network providers cram down the throats of their customers. Custom UI enhancements/replacements, useless bundled apps that can't be removed, and the removal of standard, OS-delivered features. None of this should have been new or a surprise to the writer's mom, who was coming to Android from a feature phone. Feature phones have…

The battery life and "scorching hot" temperature sound like hardware issues, but I doubt they're representative of all Android phones - just this model.

Re: Why my Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone

#30

Post by nextparadigms » Fri, Jul 29, 2011, 1:41 PM UTC

PatrickTulskie wrote: post #27

trotsky wrote: post #11

Shouldn't this be "Why my Mom Bought a Samsung Charge from Verizon, Returned It, and Got an Apple iPhone" ? Kind of strikes me as similar to writing "Why I bought an American car, junked it and bought a BMW M5" - the american car part isn't half as important as which one specifically.

The important thing here is that most of the Android ecosystem is like this. When you buy an iPhone, you're getting exactly what you paid for. No two Androids are sold the same though. Some have tons of crapware, some have an interface you can't change, and for someone who isn't looking to customize the crap out of their phone, hack it, uninstall things, none of that makes any sense. The Nexus S is a great phone beca…

The same could be said about the Windows ecosystem, too. The same could be same about the "Blackberries", as well. I don't think all of them are very high quality, even for people who like Blackberries.

The only difference is that it's Apple who only makes a model per year, and soon 2 per year from what rumors say. But in thise case people should be more like "I'll only buy a phone from HTC", or whatever, if they care about the quality of their phone.