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

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

#81

Post by Shenglong »

cryptoz wrote: post #52
joshmanders wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It still absolutely amazes me that you guys usually pay for incoming SMS messages. What? I've never seen a carrier charge for incoming SMS.

Last time I checked (a few months ago), every large carrier in Canada charges 15 cents for each incoming SMS. That's Bell, Rogers, Telus...maybe some others. Many people have a plan addon that includes receiving some SMS for free, but the basic stock plans do not.

Only Telus. Bell and Rogers are free incoming texts - or at least were, when I bought my phone (I have unlimited texting, but I like to make sure). However, that's not to say they don't try to jip you at every possibility.

For the last few years, texting to the US had always been at the same rate as Canada (and covered by texting plans). Rogers decided to switch that on me when I wasn't paying attention... although I'm pretty sure I asked, and the Sales guy lied.

In either case. One complaint to the FCC in the USA, or CCTS in Canada will get things your way. Both countries, from my experience, has pretty terrible customer service. I can barely understand half of Verizon's CS team, and one guy at Roger's CS actually told me I should just do nothing, even though I felt cheated, because "if you sue, our company has more money than you, and you'll lose for sure". Sigh.

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

#83

Post by sambeau »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #73

I wrote this up yesterday and didn't publish it because my Facebook friends couldn't care less. CyanogenMod releases faster, has more stable [stable] releases, uses better, more mature, widely embraced software (mtd over bml, ext4, etc), has more (and more consistent) features. Carriers are asking the manufacturers to lock the bootloaders to keep you from flashing CyanogenMod on it and your mom having a stable phone…

"Not all Androids are created equally."

That, in many ways, is the nub of the problem.

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

#84

Post by cmurdock »

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…

This is a similar problem to what goes on with PC vendors. They install crap-ware and borderline ad-ware on machines they sell to users who then complain that their brand new computer is already going slow after a few months. Even re-installing the OS using their provided "recovery" discs will re-install all this junk after installing the OS. Luckily you can circumvent this problem pretty easily with a PC. Not so easy with a locked-down phone from Verizon. Too bad there's not many wireless providers that don't pull this kind of stuff.

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

#85

Post by [deleted] »

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

#86

Post by speckledjim »

cmoscoso wrote: post #74
speckledjim wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because the article is primarily about problems with the Android ecosystem. IN THE U.S.A. If you want better cellphones with better carriers who don't do stupidly intrusive things, move to Europe.

...or just get an iPhone.

That won't solve the abysmal coverage and dropped calls enjoyed in the US.

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

#87

Post by masklinn »

LeafStorm wrote: post #10
aw3c2 wrote: post #7

That was pretty misleading. Not Android was the culprit, but the carrier's crapware. I never understood why people would not actually buy their phones and then decide on a contract or prepaid to go with it? I even bought mine off Ebay in excellent condition and almost full warranty (2 years in Germany) so much cheaper that I still have not reached the difference to the "normal full or subsidized price" with my monthl…

From what I understand, the mobile phone system in the EU works differently than in the US. In the US, almost all phones are bought at carrier-subsidized prices - i.e. much cheaper than buying the phone standalone. The catch is that you have to sign for a 2-year contract with that carrier to get the subsidized prices. The prices for mobile phone plans in the US are much higher because they include the phone subsidy.…

> In the US, almost all phones are bought at carrier-subsidized prices - i.e. much cheaper than buying the phone standalone. The catch is that you have to sign for a 2-year contract with that carrier to get the subsidized prices. The prices for mobile phone plans in the US are much higher because they include the phone subsidy.

it's the same in most european countries (and has been for a decade or so), and even in countries where this is not allowed (such as belgium), plan prices are not significantly lower.

Although generally you have a sliding scale: most euro countries have laws letting consumer break 2-years contract for a free (which is usually a function of the number of months left on your contract), so you can usually get 12-months contract (lower subsidy => more expensive phones) and no-bind contracts (even lower to no subsidies). They're also generally more expensive per month: having you as a pretty much guaranteed customer for 2 years is much cheaper for the carrier.

There are also bits and pieces of regulation which varies by country. In France for instance, subsidized phones are SIM-locked but carriers must let you unlock it for free after 6 months.

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

#88

Post by mikegreenberg »

markokocic wrote: post #19
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…

But this what you explained is exactly the problem with Android. With iPhone, carriers, phone manufacturers and such are not allowed to install their crapware/bloatware on the phone. With Android, they can do whatever they want, and the only sane option for an end user is to root the phone.

The only sane option?!

Give me a break. Just get a phone "with Google" and use the pure Google experience and it's a breeze. All of this spinning and complaining about what OEMs are doing to an open source OS is like complaining about the DIY boxcar racer you bought and put together turned out like shit. (and you want your money back.)

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

#89

Post by bcl »

I am a recent convert to Android from iOS and while I'm mostly happy with it I have to say that Android really is like a PC and iPhone is, well, like an Apple. Android takes alot more tweaking, settings aren't always easy to discover, apps run in the background without any obvious indication, etc.

As for the battery, my Droid X2 drained it like crazy for the first day, but as I used it it got better. I don't know why, but over time it got alot better. I can now go a whole day, with some serious app usage, and still have 60% at the end of the night.

Even with its quirks I prefer Android to Apple. I am now able to plug my phone into my Linux box and actually access the data on it! I am not forced to use iTunes to download only 'blessed by Steve' apps, I can write code for it without having to download a new 2G Xcode every 3 weeks.

Android is more free, and while it has some rough edges to it, I prefer the freedom of Android to Apple's vision of a Utopian phone.

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

#90

Post by dpark »

joshmanders wrote: post #63
kbd wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Verizon: "20¢ per text sent (per recipient) or received (including Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands)" AT&T: "All AT&T customers with Text Messaging-capable phones are pre-activated to send and receive messages at $0.20 per message with no monthly charge." Straight from their websites.

I guess it depends on location, because around my area, all I see are 'GET UNLIMITED TEXT AND DATA FOR ONLY YOUR LEFT LEG!!" ads all over the place. Also it could quite possibly be that I am indeed living under a rock as I am very satisfied with my carrier so I don't actively look at plans of others.

It doesn't depend on the area. Most if not all American carriers charge for incoming text messages. When you select the "unlimited data and text" plan, you're paying for those incoming text messages.
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