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The Android Opportunity

daringfireball.net

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Re: The Android Opportunity

#61

Post by unalone »

lacker wrote: post #57
jvdh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He has taken the "no fixed keyboard" argument seriously. He wrote about it a number of times. He came to the conclusion that (when implemented well) there is not much of a difference, except user preference. http://daringfireball.net/2009/07/mobile_phone_keyboards

It just depends on your definition of "taking it seriously". For example in that article Gruber says Most people can thumb-type just as well, if not better, on an iPhone as they could on a BlackBerry. I prefer the iPhone to a Blackberry overall, but the argument that there is no advantage to typing on a Blackberry is just not true. Here's a better analysis: http://msgnet.org/2008/08/blackberry-vs-iphone-simplified/

That's not an "analysis". That's an opinion just like Gruber's - who, incidentally, has much more in-depth articles regarding thumb-typing than this one, which treats it as an incidental issue.

Re: The Android Opportunity

#62

Post by nwatson »

jacobian wrote: post #19
jrockway wrote: post #8

As a recent Android convert, I am confused by all the "issues" that people keep mentioning. Everything on my phone Just Works. When I change the color of a calendar on Google Calendar, the color on my phone's calendar widget changes. When I change a contact on my phone, GMail and Google Voice update almost instantly. When I dial a number on the normal dialpad, my call is automatically routed through Google Voice. Whe…

Since you've got no problems with Android, maybe you can solve mine: - Why does the phone crash when I try to pair with my bluetooth headset? - Why do all eleventy-billion of my contacts show up in the dialer instead of the relatively small handful who've got phone numbers? - Why the *@#$% doesn't this thing have a proper headphone jack? - How do I sync music between my computer and my G1? - How about podcasts? - How…

don't know about your other issues, but I love DoggCatcher (see Android Market) for podcasts. I'm in no way affiliated with the developer. Downloads programs in the background ... when I want news/interviews/talk-show I have plenty.

I used the phone for talk, lots of web browsing, podcasts, and music, mostly. The music transfer is lacking ... I just do file copies. YouTube works fine, haven' tried transferring videos.

Re: The Android Opportunity

#63

Post by unalone »

mattmaroon wrote: post #51
mechanical_fish wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the #1 area where you can compete with Apple (at least for now) Your qualifier here explains why Gruber doesn't dwell on this. He wants a competitor to Apple that can succeed in the long haul, not a bunch of scavengers who survive for another year or two, picking off the edges of the market that Apple hasn't gotten around to steamrolling yet. Indeed, my off-the-cuff take on the state of the market is that Apple's car…

I'm not so sure Apple will fix this. I mean, why did Apple tether themselves to AT&T in the first place? AT&T was a giant turd that everyone hated 2 years ago, just like it is now. If anything it's gotten far better in that time, and the iPhone has racked up serious sales. It wouldn't surprise me if both parties are very happy with their relationship, and AT&T willing to concede even more for exclusivity. They did it…

They partnered with AT&T because they needed a company that would let it add things like visual voicemail to its existing system, and rolling that out with a single company would be easier. The argument against Verizon is that Verizon insists on adding branding to every Verizon phone, which Apple is against.

Neither Verizon nor Apple is stupid. If network choice really starts hurting the iPhone, which it isn't because iPhone sales are insane, then Apple will bend slightly to accommodate Verizon. If AT&T continues gaining Verizon users on virtue of the iPhone itself, then Verizon will look for a deal with Apple. The point of the ancestor post is that if your strategy to compete is "we're shittier but use a different network", then you aren't focused on the product, you're focused on making money. John Gruber is writing about product, not about market competition.

Re: The Android Opportunity

#64

Post by albemuth »

jacobian wrote: post #19
jrockway wrote: post #8

As a recent Android convert, I am confused by all the "issues" that people keep mentioning. Everything on my phone Just Works. When I change the color of a calendar on Google Calendar, the color on my phone's calendar widget changes. When I change a contact on my phone, GMail and Google Voice update almost instantly. When I dial a number on the normal dialpad, my call is automatically routed through Google Voice. Whe…

Since you've got no problems with Android, maybe you can solve mine: - Why does the phone crash when I try to pair with my bluetooth headset? - Why do all eleventy-billion of my contacts show up in the dialer instead of the relatively small handful who've got phone numbers? - Why the *@#$% doesn't this thing have a proper headphone jack? - How do I sync music between my computer and my G1? - How about podcasts? - How…

>>- Why do all eleventy-billion of my contacts show up in the dialer instead of the relatively small handful who've got phone numbers?

Contacts -> Menu -> Display Group -> Contacts with phone numbers

Re: The Android Opportunity

#65

Post by unalone »

ruslan wrote: post #28

I guess the only reason why ppl think "iPhone is cool" is just because of slick multi-touch GUI, there's nothing else superior in iPhone per se. I have been programming for both platforms for quite a while and, you know, I find Android's Java less evil than all that iPhone's Obj-C stuff randomly mixed with tons of C wrappers (CoreFoundation) for regular POSIX. I find Android SDK more advanced because, 1) less code do…

I guess the only reason why ppl think "iPhone is cool" is just because of slick multi-touch GUI, there's nothing else superior in iPhone per se.

Slick is superior. Having a phone that looks snappy and feels responsive is superior. It's not superior in a benchmark sense, perhaps, but nobody gives a fuck about benchmarks.

Re: The Android Opportunity

#66

Post by albemuth »

runinit wrote: post #16
jrockway wrote: post #8

As a recent Android convert, I am confused by all the "issues" that people keep mentioning. Everything on my phone Just Works. When I change the color of a calendar on Google Calendar, the color on my phone's calendar widget changes. When I change a contact on my phone, GMail and Google Voice update almost instantly. When I dial a number on the normal dialpad, my call is automatically routed through Google Voice. Whe…

They probably mean "it doesnt' work with itunes"

Yeah, morons, they should just do rsync or something right?

Re: The Android Opportunity

#67

Post by stcredzero »

jgfoot wrote: post #34
stcredzero wrote: post #4

I hope that someone over at Palm reads this and uses it as a playbook for the Pre. Actually, I hope that someone over at Palm already thought of all this, and that this is their playbook. And others as well. The platform you need to beat in this plan is not the iPhone. It's the jailbroken iPhone . Make something that the real tech-heads and first adopters cheer, and they will be your beachhead. Do that, and you can g…

Actually the Pre has all the features the article is recommending for Android: Over-the-air calendar, contact, and email syncing through Google services; background-capable apps; and no centralized App Store under one company’s ironclad control. (OK, there's no app store at all, although precentral.net and others are already distributing homebrew apps that can be installed if you download Palm's SDK).

I wonder why Google isn't doing an App Store?

Re: The Android Opportunity

#68

Post by unalone »

nkurz wrote: post #20
georgekv wrote: post #3

"A monoculture benefits no one in the long run, because it’s competition that drives innovation." I found myself agreeing with this statement strongly.

To the contrary, I found myself shaking my head. Why is it in Apple's interest to be forced to constantly innovate simply to maintain market share? To say that 'a monoculture is not in the consumer's interest' make perfect sense, but why wouldn't Apple prefer a case where it has no strong competition? Their goal is profit via market share, not innovation for the sake of innovation.

Their goal is profit via market share, not innovation for the sake of innovation.

Apple's goal is making good products. If they wanted shitloads of cash, they could have sold out at any time in the last decade. Instead, they try to make things that people will love.

If Apple has no competitor, they'll continue to innovate, have no doubts. However, they might not innovate in all ways at once, meaning they might not focus on annihilating all their weaknesses. If they've got a competitor, suddenly there's incentive to beat their rivals in every way possible, and the resulting products are even better.

Re: The Android Opportunity

#70

Post by stcredzero »

rimantas wrote: post #42
mcantelon wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words, iPhone is about style over substance.

it is about user experience, not about style.

So long as people discount "user experience" as the most valuable "substance," they will continue to lose contests against Apple.
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