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The problem with Android is choice

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Re: The problem with Android is choice

#11

Post by lgg »

ajross wrote: post #3

FTA: I think many who extol Android’s flexibility fall into the tinkerer category, including some tech bloggers. [...] That’s fun for them; but they’ve made the mistake of not understanding how their motivation differs from the rest of us. The problem with usability nuts and Apple nuts is that they fall into the "one perfect solution exists" category. That's fun for them, as they like their uniform devices just fine…

As an Apple user, and former Apple engineer I disagree...

I don't think one perfect solution exists, but I also don't think pushing a lot of decisions to the user is a good idea. The fallacy is thinking the goal is to provide a solution for all users. Stake out a position make choices, be the best product for the users that you work for, and let someone else cater to the other users.

I don't personally like Windows Phone, but I think it is a great platform that has a vision and has made an interesting set of choices. It simply does not hit my specific needs.

On the other hand I think Android is a just a confusing mess to use, and I say this as someone who is fairly familiar with its innards and has been hired to write Android firmware code.

Re: The problem with Android is choice

#13

Post by rustynails77 »

d2vid wrote: post #6

Choice with reasonable defaults sounds ideal to me. The suggestion that you HAVE to make all these choices is FUD. To bring a bit more consumer psychology into the discussion, people love SUVs because they give them the choice to go driving off-road, driving in snow, etc. Those SUV owners aren't then suddenly overwhelmed each morning with the question "Should I commute to work or should I drive to Tahoe?" Android is…

Extend that concept of choice to things like support for FLAC, mkv and a host of other formats. How is this a bad thing? The absence of these things is limiting, but having the choice is bad?

If choice is bad, why not prune the App Store and remove the multiple calendar apps, or the multiple memory mapping tools, navigation tools, etc - and allow one choice only.

Re: The problem with Android is choice

#14

Post by enraged_camel »

ericdykstra wrote: post #9

There’s a distinction here between choosing and tinkering. This is the crux of the argument. That choice is bad, and the people who like Android actually like tinkering, and don't really like customization, and it's just wrong. I personally use my phone more than any other non-work device, and I love having it personalized to make everything I do often easy to access, and put everything else to the background. I chos…

I know I'll get downvoted to hell for this, but the problem with Android can be explained with the well-documented phenomenon called the Paradox of Choice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More...

Basically, the more choices you have, the less happy you are, regardless of whether you notice it or attribute it to having those choices.

Re: The problem with Android is choice

#15

Post by Nerdfest »

enraged_camel wrote: post #14
ericdykstra wrote: post #9

There’s a distinction here between choosing and tinkering. This is the crux of the argument. That choice is bad, and the people who like Android actually like tinkering, and don't really like customization, and it's just wrong. I personally use my phone more than any other non-work device, and I love having it personalized to make everything I do often easy to access, and put everything else to the background. I chos…

I know I'll get downvoted to hell for this, but the problem with Android can be explained with the well-documented phenomenon called the Paradox of Choice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More... Basically, the more choices you have, the less happy you are, regardless of whether you notice it or attribute it to having those choices.

You don't have to make any of these choices though. I'm not sure why people keep thinking you have to make any choices, other than perhaps which device has the features you want.

Re: The problem with Android is choice

#16

Post by Nerdfest »

rustynails77 wrote: post #13
d2vid wrote: post #6

Choice with reasonable defaults sounds ideal to me. The suggestion that you HAVE to make all these choices is FUD. To bring a bit more consumer psychology into the discussion, people love SUVs because they give them the choice to go driving off-road, driving in snow, etc. Those SUV owners aren't then suddenly overwhelmed each morning with the question "Should I commute to work or should I drive to Tahoe?" Android is…

Extend that concept of choice to things like support for FLAC, mkv and a host of other formats. How is this a bad thing? The absence of these things is limiting, but having the choice is bad? If choice is bad, why not prune the App Store and remove the multiple calendar apps, or the multiple memory mapping tools, navigation tools, etc - and allow one choice only.

I'm quite surprised Apple hasn't. Their motto seems to be "Apple: Freedom from the tyranny of choice!"

Re: The problem with Android is choice

#17

Post by edderly »

The problem with the argument is that it conflates choice with consistency. What every mobile vendor including Apple is principally attempting to do is to create a feature which a user will miss if they switch away, and for a lot of people Android wins because choice is a feature you'll lose or restrict on iOS.

I agree that a lot of time has been wasted by Android vendors on differentiation for differentiations sake. It's easier to superficially fuck with the UI than actually create a useful features.

I'm a great believer in Loss Aversion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_aversion) and Hotelling's law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling%27s_law) when it comes to device preferences.

These days I don't think many people are arguing that the iOS UI is significantly better than stock Android, Android has closed the gap or jumped beyond iOS depending on your personal preferences (Hotelling's law). Then consider how many people won't even consider iPhones because the screen size is too small (loss aversion).

Re: The problem with Android is choice

#18

Post by dkuntz2 »

MAGZine wrote: post #5

think many who extol Android’s flexibility fall into the tinkerer category, including some tech bloggers. They love all the ways they can customize their phones, not because they’re seeking some perfect setup, but because they can swap in a new launcher every week. That’s fun for them; but they’ve made the mistake of not understanding how their motivation differs from the rest of us. Everytime I hear this argument, I…

That's the big issue though; most people who like to write about how Android isn't good for some rather stupid reason probably haven't really given enough thought to ... anything.

What confuses me most is that it looks like most of the author's income comes from an Android SMS replacement application.

Re: The problem with Android is choice

#19

Post by w1ntermute »

lgg wrote: post #11
ajross wrote: post #3

FTA: I think many who extol Android’s flexibility fall into the tinkerer category, including some tech bloggers. [...] That’s fun for them; but they’ve made the mistake of not understanding how their motivation differs from the rest of us. The problem with usability nuts and Apple nuts is that they fall into the "one perfect solution exists" category. That's fun for them, as they like their uniform devices just fine…

As an Apple user, and former Apple engineer I disagree... I don't think one perfect solution exists, but I also don't think pushing a lot of decisions to the user is a good idea. The fallacy is thinking the goal is to provide a solution for all users. Stake out a position make choices, be the best product for the users that you work for, and let someone else cater to the other users. I don't personally like Windows P…

> On the other hand I think Android is a just a confusing mess to use, and I say this as someone who is fairly familiar with its innards and has been hired to write Android firmware code.

That's funny, because my grandma uses Android just fine, even though she had never touched a computer in her life before using Android. Being "familiar with its innards" and having written Android firmware doesn't give you very good insight into how average users interact with the device.

Re: The problem with Android is choice

#20

Post by 6thSigma »

What happens when the user downloads a PDF? Where does an app go after it is installed by the user?

These choices have to be answered one way or the other. The author of the article suggests that the company is better left answering these choices on behalf of the user.

Why would the company be better qualified to answer these choices over their users? That makes absolutely no sense to me.

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