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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

#201

Post by leon_ »

drcube wrote: post #163
henrikschroder wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that the bundling on PCs have gotten much better in recent years. I bought a Packard Bell laptop for my dad, turned it on, chose the windows language and basic setup, waited half an hour for it to do its thing, and then it was good to go. An almost clean Windows 7 Home Premium, the only extra stuff on it was a 30-day Microsoft something trial, a 30-day Norton trial, and... that's it. And it's not even hard to…

Norton is not hard to remove??? Have things changed so much since I switched to Linux? I used to tell people they had to reinstall the OS to get rid of Norton. I agree that unremoveable and unkillable apps are a huge problem with Android. This is why I switched to Linux in the first place and Google needs to fix it, ASAP.

Yeah, my last PC around 2004 came with Norton. Though I consider myself pretty computer savvy (C programmer) I couldn't remove that thing without reinstalling windows.

Maybe it's different now?

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

#202

Post by Kylekramer »

tomkarlo wrote: post #195
LokiSnake wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google having more control over Android would make a better UX and platform, but it would not have allowed for Android to take off as it has. One of the key reasons it's selling is because it's not an iPhone. It's open, and comes with all the pros and cons that openness entails.

Normal customers don't care that a phone is 'open' any more than a non-gearhead cares if a car is user-serviceable. They don't even really know what that means. Tech folks need to stop thinking of 'open' as a selling point when it comes to consumer products and focus on the actual experience for a consumer.

It isn't a selling point for the customer. It is a selling point for the vendor, which is frankly much more important than user experience when it comes to getting phones in hands.

Tech nerds need to stop thinking that UX is anything more than at best a bonus when it comes to a platform's success.

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

#203

Post by fidrelity »

I understand that the author is pissed because of the bad UX. But all he claims is a branding issue or a manufacturers fail.

Still it's Googles job to set boundaries to not let them do what they want.

In my opinion this is just one of many imprecised android reviews.

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

#206

Post by ianthiel »

leon_ wrote: post #201
drcube wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Norton is not hard to remove??? Have things changed so much since I switched to Linux? I used to tell people they had to reinstall the OS to get rid of Norton. I agree that unremoveable and unkillable apps are a huge problem with Android. This is why I switched to Linux in the first place and Google needs to fix it, ASAP.

Yeah, my last PC around 2004 came with Norton. Though I consider myself pretty computer savvy (C programmer) I couldn't remove that thing without reinstalling windows. Maybe it's different now?

Seeing as that was 7 years ago, yes things are a bit different now =P

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

#207

Post by stcredzero »

tomjen3 wrote: post #198
stcredzero wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad the author's mom found a smartphone she likes, but this isn't an Android problem. I'll be downvoted, but here goes: This shows the Linux heritage. All of Linux's problems on the desktop aren't really problems with Linux. It turns out that Android's problems aren't Android's either. Solved!

If those problems had been problems with Linux, we could have solved them. But the fact that some hardware producer doesn't want to give up the specs so that we can support it? Not Linux problem. They may be a problem for you, if you want to run Linux but it isn't Linux problem. This case is the same. I would prefer it was some problem with Android, since we could then solve it but crap-ware on carriers isn't a softw…

Put it another way: Just because it's not a Linux problem, doesn't mean it isn't a problem for Linux. Just because it's not an Android problem, doesn't mean it's not a problem for Android.

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

#208

Post by stcredzero »

awj wrote: post #131
bad_user wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of Linux's problems on the desktop aren't really problems with Linux. Errr, what?

He's referring to the finger pointing / blame shifting that seems to happen whenever someone starts criticizing desktop Linux. Any time this comes up people pop out of the woodwork to give the solutions, sometimes of staggering complexity, to the specific user experience problems cited. The reality is that Linux-the-umbrella will be judged by any specific distro's user experience. People more familiar with the situat…

In some ways worse because there is a certification process that allows you to use the Android name, but does very little to ensure someone didn't wreck the user experience with their customizations.

In other words, "Hey, let's make it somewhat exclusive to use our brand, but do nothing to ensure quality from the end-user's perspective!" All the disadvantages of exclusivity, with none of the advantages.

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

#209

Post by amorphid »

jdietrich wrote: post #156
neutronicus wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think laptop OEMs got kickbacks for bundling crapware, especially antivirus software. I imagine the same is true of those mobile phones that bundle, say, Amazon.

At one point Sony offered a no-crapware option on some Vaio laptops. Until a PR shitstorm broke out, they were charging $50 extra. One can only imagine how much they're earning per-unit on kickbacks.

Best Buy's "optimizes" computers prior to purchase. They charge something like $40 to remove the bloatware.

http://m.gizmodo.com/5439590/best-buys-optimization-is-offic...

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

#210

Post by amorphid »

jerrya wrote: post #125
evilduck wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not the case. I have a Samsung Moment "with Google". The stock Android it ships with comes with unremovable apps (and unremovable game demos), a half-baked navigation app, a terrible voice search replacement, unkillable background services that count how many times you open the keyboard. It's also got a totally broken radio driver that violated FCC 911 regulations for over a year (google it if you care), and…

"I really, really, really wanted to like Android, but you can damn-near put an 18 month countdown on the majority of the Android phones before the manufacturer abandons it and you're stuck using XDA developers or the like for updates, patches and improvements, or just to fix the stock crap they ship. On a 24 month contract cycle, that's just unacceptable." Somewhat broad generalization ahead... About once a year, App…

Apple is great at understanding a customer's user experience. They are making the most profit per handset, too. Making a couple of bucks via bloatware might be driving unprofitability.
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