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US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

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Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#471

Post by cglong »

kube-system wrote: post #406
echelon wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

General purpose computing was the default from 1990 - 2010. Apple killed it by turning computers into "devices" and "platforms". And now Google is killing the web. Fuck these two companies. They're too big, too unilaterally powerful, and their greed to control knows no bounds.

The disconnect is that you're thinking about computers for their ability to do computing. Most people don't care about whether their computers are good at computing, but are instead trying to accomplish some other task. In fact, the more that the 'computer' disappears, the better in their mind.

The part that worries me is that Apple is stifling young people's imagination for what computers can do.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#472

Post by kmac_ »

AuthorizedCust wrote: post #48

Android’s problem is Pixel is the only good one, and it has not been flagship quality since the Pixel 2. The 3 had odd issues, the 4 had a laughable battery life, and 5-7 are a weird mix of midrange and flagship capability (trending towards flagship, but not in the club yet). All other Android vendors are on a continuum of crap, between these points: 1. loaded with bloat and customizations that aren’t better than wha…

I have an old Samsung flagship with a 120Hz display, snappy and clean UI that never lags. It has survived several drops without a scratch. I was on the edge of moving to Apple but decided back then to give Android one more chance, and it was a good decision. What bothers me is the very mediocre ecosystem that stopped developing some time ago. That’s the place of the actual battle between Apple and Google. Apple moves forward, and Google doesn’t know what to do.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#473

Post by pwb25 »

Loveaway wrote: post #466
zh3 wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products; it's almost like their lives are ruled by the status they feel an iPhone brings (and the consequential sacrificial purchasing). It likely varies by area and average income, here it's almost an inverse correlation - the less-well off kids at school tend to have parents on iPhones and the comfortable parents are on whatever works for t…

No mate, people value themselves and get the best thing they can have. Smartphones are so essential now and used 24/7, don't cheap out on it. You don't cheap out on food either. Nothing to do with status. Not all about Apple either, there are nice premium Android phones as well. What are you doing, saving for a golden tombstone?

but they aren't the best, thats why it's weird.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#474

Post by zh3 »

foobarbazetc wrote: post #363
zh3 wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products; it's almost like their lives are ruled by the status they feel an iPhone brings (and the consequential sacrificial purchasing). It likely varies by area and average income, here it's almost an inverse correlation - the less-well off kids at school tend to have parents on iPhones and the comfortable parents are on whatever works for t…

iPhones just work. Macs just work. 99% of people don’t want to spend time configuring anything. Both iOS and Android stopped innovating like 5 years ago, but at least the Apple ecosystem doesn’t feel dead like Android.

I've bought 2 apple products, my wife has bought 1.

iPad: Failed after a year, no replacement (we can 'upgrade') - it technically works but shuts down 3 or 4 minutes after boot.

mac Mini: Hard disk failed. Out of warranty, so bought a cheap SSD and gave it to the kids (they prefer something that plays modern games).

iPod: Old, yes, taken out of the drawer for a road trip but dead as a doornail.

Admittedly, not tried an iPhone.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#475

Post by Aerroon »

kube-system wrote: post #455
Aerroon wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't care until they need to do something that they can't do because their platform doesn't allow them to do it. There's no reason why compilers couldn't run on phones. Modern phones are more powerful than computers were even 15 years ago. And yet you can't do the things on a modern phone that you could on that computer from 15 years ago. At least you can't do it nearly as easily because of artificial limitatio…

> And yet you can't do the things on a modern phone that you could on that computer from 15 years ago. At least you can't do it nearly as easily because of artificial limitations. This may be a con for enthusiasts, but these artificial 'limitations' are exactly why Apple has been successful with the mass market. 15 years ago, computers were plagued by drive-by downloads, malvertising, and other crap. People in the ea…

But Apple, Google and co do the same thing themselves. Here's an example from Android:

Mom gets a new Android phone.

The phone asks if she wants to back up pictures she takes (it even used a weird word in my native language that I had never heard before).

She selects yes.

A few months later Google tells her to upgrade her subscription plan for Google Drive, because her Drive space is full. If she doesn't upgrade then scary things will happen!! (They said she wouldn't receive emails anymore.)

So she comes to me with it. It's an annoying process to delete the photos, especially when you're trying to make sure it only deletes it on Drive and not locally.

A week later she comes to me and says her drive space is full again, because the phone will keep pestering her to turn on cloud backups.

I have no faith that Apple doesn't pull some similar types of tricks. People who don't handle computing devices well will fall for all of these prompts about this and that. The alternative is that they never update their phone and don't understand why things don't work anymore.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#476

Post by pwb25 »

foobarbazetc wrote: post #363
zh3 wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products; it's almost like their lives are ruled by the status they feel an iPhone brings (and the consequential sacrificial purchasing). It likely varies by area and average income, here it's almost an inverse correlation - the less-well off kids at school tend to have parents on iPhones and the comfortable parents are on whatever works for t…

iPhones just work. Macs just work. 99% of people don’t want to spend time configuring anything. Both iOS and Android stopped innovating like 5 years ago, but at least the Apple ecosystem doesn’t feel dead like Android.

except you need a new set of cable adapters for each new phone

they just remove more and more stuff

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#477

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

JohnFen wrote: post #411
bee_rider wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My phone is in my pocket 99% of the time, why would I care what people think about it? Anyway, a base model iPhone is only in the $600 range, that is like a week of minimum wage work in my state. Where’s the status? No, it is just a basic functional smartphone for people who don’t like to configure these things (I’ll happily tinker all day with my Linux laptop, but smartphones are just like the worst form-factor, I w…

> only in the $600 range "Only"? $600 is pretty steep. That it's not on the high end of modern phone prices is indicative of how crazy modern phone prices are.

Consider that they're selling a pocket supercomputer. A 386 PC in the early 90's (already second tier to the first 486's) would sell for over $3000, which is $7000 today. Our contemporary expectation that consumer electronics must be rock bottom cheap is a little warped by globalism. This from someone who won't pay more than $300 for something that is easily lost or damaged.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#478

Post by freedomben »

nashashmi wrote: post #407
lynndotpy wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm part of this statistic too, in a different way. Android worked perfectly for me, but the OS was increasingly dumbed down and Androids consistently threw out features I loved. (Headphone jack, expandable storage, full rectangular screens). Androids threw away their market differentiation just to become bad iPhone clones. When I found myself needing a new phone, I had little reason not to consider an iPhone. I boug…

I am also part of this statistic. I feel like android dumbed down the google assistant. Sometimes I am no longer sure what app is called on hey google. In comparison to Bixby, the tech became worse. I would have switched to SE if my wife did not get me a pro for my birthday (to communicate in iMessage). And now I am on this boring phone no longer passionate about phones anymore.

> And now I am on this boring phone no longer passionate about phones anymore.

Oh man, I could not relate more to this. With how hard it has become to run rooted, for the first time in well over a decade I'm running stock Android with no root. It used to be so exciting! A computer in my pocket! But more and more Apple's (awful IMHO) vision of the phone as an "appliance" rather than a general purpose computer is becoming true, and it's depressing. I don't even really care about specs anymore, cause I can't do much with that horsepower anyway.

I haven't gotten to the point of giving Apple any money yet, and probably won't as the Pixel A is affordable and does everything I need, but I miss the good old days so much. I've been hearing people say I should try GrapheneOS, maybe it's time to finally try it.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#479

Post by lazide »

lockhouse wrote: post #388
lazide wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which versions, exactly? Because each one of those has 3 (Samsung) or 4 (iPhone) major models with wildly different specs, and each of those specs has often times major differences in quality between the two lines. [ https://www.pcmag.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s23-vs-apple-iphon... ] Samsungs adware and weird modifications being a major negative IMO too. Though that's a taste thing I guess.

Unlocked direct from the manufacturer: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-14 https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-s23/buy/galaxy...

I meant, which versions are you explicitly comparing and saying are equivalent.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#480

Post by lockhouse »

JohnFen wrote: post #411
bee_rider wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My phone is in my pocket 99% of the time, why would I care what people think about it? Anyway, a base model iPhone is only in the $600 range, that is like a week of minimum wage work in my state. Where’s the status? No, it is just a basic functional smartphone for people who don’t like to configure these things (I’ll happily tinker all day with my Linux laptop, but smartphones are just like the worst form-factor, I w…

> only in the $600 range "Only"? $600 is pretty steep. That it's not on the high end of modern phone prices is indicative of how crazy modern phone prices are.

Not when you consider that modern phones are also our cameras, satellite navigation systems, calendars, mobile hotspots, mobile browsers, handheld gaming devices, music players, video players, and more.

Personally, I think they’re a heck of a bargain for what they do.

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