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My Very Own Protocol Droid

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Re: My Very Own Protocol Droid

#11

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #5

Ok, (s)he lists four reasons why Android beats iPhone, my reactions to the four were: 1. Meh 2. Meh 3. Holy shit, they are going to take over! Hail our new overlords. 4. Meh The Android is aware of it's environment and consequently can take personalised action, and is allowed to by product makers. I swear undying loyalty oh masters

1 and 2 are in the realm of bug fix / minor enhancement. 4 very much depends on where you are in terms of both how much deals cost and how they're structured and what that money means to you but in any case it's not killer.

3 is definitely the most interesting one though it still doesn't feel enough like magic to sway me just yet. Basically it's worked out that he wants to go home and at that point has behaved the way a decent Sat Nav does.

The Sat Nav bit is neither here nor there, that's established technology. The interesting bit is how it worked out that he wanted to go home - get that sort of thing beyond lucky (slightly educated) guess and that is a big deal but without knowing how often it's making incorrect guesses it's hard to know.

Re: My Very Own Protocol Droid

#13

Post by snowwrestler »

yuvadam wrote: post #3

Makes you wonder if the iPhone 5 isn't the last device Apple ships under that name.

Apple is literally selling them as fast as they can make them. The iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4s were the #1 and #2 selling smartphones last quarter. So, I kind of doubt they are on the verge of shuttering the brand.

Re: My Very Own Protocol Droid

#15

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

parfe wrote: post #7

> Twenty years of using Macs conditioned me to think, “well, that’s the Apple way.” It’s such a small price to pay for such a user-friendly device. Another Stockholm-syndrome patient cured! I recently took over a prototype project targeting the Mac. XCode is garbage. OS X itself actively works against improving your workflow. It's Apple's way or, well Apple's way. iOS is built to keep the user in a padded cell (aka W…

Can you give examples of good stuff you've seen from Google Now that have been a real help to you? Stuff that's genuinely useful rather than just "look at that" cool.

EDIT: So far I'm seeing a lot of reasons why Apple wanted to get into maps. A lot of the value add here seems to be navigation related.

Re: My Very Own Protocol Droid

#16

Post by at-fates-hands »

snowwrestler wrote: post #13
yuvadam wrote: post #3

Makes you wonder if the iPhone 5 isn't the last device Apple ships under that name.

Apple is literally selling them as fast as they can make them. The iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4s were the #1 and #2 selling smartphones last quarter. So, I kind of doubt they are on the verge of shuttering the brand.

Blackberry also did this and continued to sell the same technology through slightly modified hardware.

Look how long it took them to come out the nose dive they were in. Apple could very easily go down this path and never realize it until its too late.

Re: My Very Own Protocol Droid

#17

Post by qwerty69 »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #15
parfe wrote: post #7

> Twenty years of using Macs conditioned me to think, “well, that’s the Apple way.” It’s such a small price to pay for such a user-friendly device. Another Stockholm-syndrome patient cured! I recently took over a prototype project targeting the Mac. XCode is garbage. OS X itself actively works against improving your workflow. It's Apple's way or, well Apple's way. iOS is built to keep the user in a padded cell (aka W…

Can you give examples of good stuff you've seen from Google Now that have been a real help to you? Stuff that's genuinely useful rather than just "look at that" cool. EDIT: So far I'm seeing a lot of reasons why Apple wanted to get into maps. A lot of the value add here seems to be navigation related.

Google Now will remind you when to leave in order to arrive to an appointment on time (as long as you are using Google Calendar) taking into account the local traffic situation. This one helped me already a few times not to miss a meeting.

Re: My Very Own Protocol Droid

#18

Post by parfe »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #15
parfe wrote: post #7

> Twenty years of using Macs conditioned me to think, “well, that’s the Apple way.” It’s such a small price to pay for such a user-friendly device. Another Stockholm-syndrome patient cured! I recently took over a prototype project targeting the Mac. XCode is garbage. OS X itself actively works against improving your workflow. It's Apple's way or, well Apple's way. iOS is built to keep the user in a padded cell (aka W…

Can you give examples of good stuff you've seen from Google Now that have been a real help to you? Stuff that's genuinely useful rather than just "look at that" cool. EDIT: So far I'm seeing a lot of reasons why Apple wanted to get into maps. A lot of the value add here seems to be navigation related.

If I search for an address on google my phone will know and tell me how long it will be to get there and offers to bring up driving instructions.

I searched for sports teams so my now cards will show up with scheduled games as well as previous scores, but only immediately before and after games. It's not permanent clutter.

Handles package tracking. No more logging into amazon and going through my cart to find a tracking number, or digging in email.

It does meetings notifications based on how soon I need to leave to get to the location. Previously I'd have to find out how far away the location was and set a reminder for that amount of time and leave enough time for traffic. Not having to worry about an accident or construction is spectacular. This is really my killer feature.

Google Now does all of that automatically.

Re: My Very Own Protocol Droid

#19

Post by timrichard »

I've been true to the Droid since the G1, and recently offloaded certain duties from my Galaxy Nexus to an iPod Touch 5 (needed for Facetime, popular with the family).

When using iOS, I really miss the Intent subsystem. It seems like every app seems to offer different and restricted sharing choices (implicitly asking why I possibly wouldn't be using Instapaper...) [1]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the next Android feature to make it over to iOS, after multitasking and a sane notification system. On the other hand, it would be churlish to not mention that Android took a boatload of inspiration from iOS. :-)

IMHO, Android got the OS basics right with the much maligned early models, and are now adding polish. iOS obsessed over a slick UI, and are now revisiting some of the basics.

[1] Apologies if there's something I'm missing here. I'm fairly new to iOS.

Re: My Very Own Protocol Droid

#20

Post by p3rs3us »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #15
parfe wrote: post #7

> Twenty years of using Macs conditioned me to think, “well, that’s the Apple way.” It’s such a small price to pay for such a user-friendly device. Another Stockholm-syndrome patient cured! I recently took over a prototype project targeting the Mac. XCode is garbage. OS X itself actively works against improving your workflow. It's Apple's way or, well Apple's way. iOS is built to keep the user in a padded cell (aka W…

Can you give examples of good stuff you've seen from Google Now that have been a real help to you? Stuff that's genuinely useful rather than just "look at that" cool. EDIT: So far I'm seeing a lot of reasons why Apple wanted to get into maps. A lot of the value add here seems to be navigation related.

One thing that I find genuinely useful is the Traffic/Navigation feature. It is almost always correct and gives me the best route even in Bangalore (India). Also if I search for some location on Google Maps, I get a suggestion on Google Now about traffic, route and direction.
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