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Why I Hate Android

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Re: Why I Hate Android

#101

Post by drats »

lostsock wrote: post #65
maxklein wrote: post #50

This argument is pointless, because it's about only the U.S, which is a small proportion of phones used in the world. The rest of the world does not have the insane carrier monopolies and unusual pricing structures that are prevalent in the U.S. For the rest of the world, phones sell on the merits of their software and hardware - and that's what android should be measured on. And when it comes to that, android is win…

Came here to say exactly this. OP doesn't hate Android, he hates the mobile landscape in the US. I live in Australia with a fully unlocked Android handset. I pay $16 / month for my no contract dumb pipe and that's that. Android has nothing to do with the issue that the OP hates...

Exactly the same where I am. I have vanilla ICS on a Nexus S with a pre-pay that I can leave for a better deal at any time. This guy's article is totally off looked at from a global perspective. The billions rising out of poverty into the global middle class will never be able to afford an iPhone, Android is going to totally dominate in these markets. That's multiples of the US population. Apple has no hope at all in clawing that back.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#102

Post by dolbz »

kalleboo wrote: post #93
gizzlon wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Apple have also disabled downloads of apps and podcasts over 20 MB on the behest of a single carrier with a poor network (AT&T), applying the restriction to all phones, worldwide" That's horrible.. is it true? Can anyone confirm this?

Yeah, you have to use Wifi to download apps over 20 MB. The podcast restriction only applies to the iTunes app, you can use third-party apps to download larger ones (except in the early days of the App Store, when third party podcast apps were forbidden) Actually IIRC the whole iTunes music store is also disabled when you're on 3G and not Wifi. (edit: double-checked, yeah it's disabled for me http://db.tt/YT0w0rNQ )

> Actually IIRC the whole iTunes music store is also disabled when you're on 3G and not Wifi.

you didn't recall correctly (at least not for my carrier).

Re: Why I Hate Android

#103

Post by felixfurtak »

can you really not purchase a pay as you go SIM card in the US? I've successfully bought these in many countries around the world (UK, Australia, New Zealand, pretty much anywhere in Europe, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.) When visiting a foreign country I usually buy a local SIM as a matter of course in order to avoid excessive roaming charges. Surely this is also possible in the USA?

Re: Why I Hate Android

#104

Post by adambyrtek »

windexh8er wrote: post #10
joshes wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which of his statements do you find to be factually inaccurate?

The ones that are his opinions - which is the majority of it.

Do you seriously claim that he is not allowed to post his own opinions on his personal blog?

Re: Why I Hate Android

#105

Post by harpastum »

kalleboo wrote: post #93
gizzlon wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Apple have also disabled downloads of apps and podcasts over 20 MB on the behest of a single carrier with a poor network (AT&T), applying the restriction to all phones, worldwide" That's horrible.. is it true? Can anyone confirm this?

Yeah, you have to use Wifi to download apps over 20 MB. The podcast restriction only applies to the iTunes app, you can use third-party apps to download larger ones (except in the early days of the App Store, when third party podcast apps were forbidden) Actually IIRC the whole iTunes music store is also disabled when you're on 3G and not Wifi. (edit: double-checked, yeah it's disabled for me http://db.tt/YT0w0rNQ )

Downloading apps/videos over 20MB on 3G isn't allowed, but you can browse the iTunes music store an buy songs (unless they're over 20MB, which is rare).

It seems to me like a sanity check. If a user accidentally downloaded a few 100MB files, they could easily get over their data cap. This restriction is not device wide, just on the iTunes App/Music store.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#106

Post by manmal »

skrebbel wrote: post #80

Can someone explain this article to me? If I understood it well, the author hates Android because Google made some deal with an American carrier. I don't exactly understand what deal that really is, he seems to imply that we all know that. I'm in Europe, where Google made no deals with carriers that I know of, but I'm genuinely interested: should I care? Should I hate Android for the same reason, whatever that may be…

That's exactly what I was thinking - when I saw the headline, I thought this would be another "Android lags, Android's UX sucks" post.. instead, it's some abstract rant about net neutrality and openness - I say, let the users decide.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#107

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #61

I know a prison when I see it. Paying carriers a little more than if they had been turned into dumb pipes is not prison. Having my content restricted to Apple's disneyfied subset of the world is as close as any prison metaphor gets to the real thing.

Oh please, let's not get out of hand.

If Apple is a prison it's the most liberal open prison in the history of the justice system. It may be constrained but it's hardly four to a cell and making sure you don't drop the soap in the showers.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#108

Post by StavrosK »

Niksko wrote: post #99
maxklein wrote: post #50

This argument is pointless, because it's about only the U.S, which is a small proportion of phones used in the world. The rest of the world does not have the insane carrier monopolies and unusual pricing structures that are prevalent in the U.S. For the rest of the world, phones sell on the merits of their software and hardware - and that's what android should be measured on. And when it comes to that, android is win…

I came here just to say this. Why do people in the US continue to ignore the rest of the world? Only in the US does this carrier branded phone bullshit occur. I live in Australia and I'm quite content with my unlocked Galaxy Nexus on my $40 Amaysim plan. Sure, it would be awesome to have paid $99 for my Galaxy Nexus and have the rest of the $700 I actually spent on it subsidised by Google, but that's the way it is at…

I'm not entirely clear on how it works in Australia, but in Greece you can either pay the full amount and get an unlocked phone, or get a carrier subsidy with contracts. The amount of the subsidy depends on the plan you choose, with higher-costing plans getting higher subsidies.

For example, a two-year, 50 EUR/month plan gets you a free iPhone 4S or the equivalent android phone, if I remember correctly.

Also, not a single phone, at any price range or contract status, is locked. Carriers don't care about locking the phones, you've got a contract with them and you're probably going to get a new phone at the end of it anyway.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#109

Post by kalleboo »

dolbz wrote: post #102
kalleboo wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, you have to use Wifi to download apps over 20 MB. The podcast restriction only applies to the iTunes app, you can use third-party apps to download larger ones (except in the early days of the App Store, when third party podcast apps were forbidden) Actually IIRC the whole iTunes music store is also disabled when you're on 3G and not Wifi. (edit: double-checked, yeah it's disabled for me http://db.tt/YT0w0rNQ )

> Actually IIRC the whole iTunes music store is also disabled when you're on 3G and not Wifi. you didn't recall correctly (at least not for my carrier).

I guess that's another thing Apple randomly disable or enable depending on the carrier http://db.tt/YT0w0rNQ

Re: Why I Hate Android

#110

Post by [deleted] »

lostsock wrote: post #65
maxklein wrote: post #50

This argument is pointless, because it's about only the U.S, which is a small proportion of phones used in the world. The rest of the world does not have the insane carrier monopolies and unusual pricing structures that are prevalent in the U.S. For the rest of the world, phones sell on the merits of their software and hardware - and that's what android should be measured on. And when it comes to that, android is win…

Came here to say exactly this. OP doesn't hate Android, he hates the mobile landscape in the US. I live in Australia with a fully unlocked Android handset. I pay $16 / month for my no contract dumb pipe and that's that. Android has nothing to do with the issue that the OP hates...

[deleted]
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