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Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

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Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#81

Post by genghizkhan »

feikname wrote: post #38
nicetime wrote: post #34

For sure, the only reason I’ve been on Apple devices these past few years is because Ubuntu is such an abomination. Windows is plainly unthinkable. And if you have my laptop, the mobile devices fall like dominos. I don’t love iPhones, but even at premium prices it’s worth it to integrate with OS X. Android really makes me sick though. Touted as free and open, but you still have to root your phone with shady exploits,…

That's the mobile provider fault, not Android's... And no custom ROMs are necessary for root usually. Also, what makes you prefer macOS UX than Windows or Ubuntu? They surely have their downsides, but I don't think they're THAT bad to the point of not even touching one.

Not OP, but for me it's the apps. While a good number of apps I use professionally can be used on both Windows and Linux, I prefer using OSX simply because Omnifocus, Fantastical and Spark exist on it. I'm sure there are other people who can use the Todoist/web/web trio or make do with Outlook (if you're in an all-Exchange shop with no CalDAV stuff), I'm just not one of them.

An alternative view is that Linux lacks good GUI apps and Windows blows at the command line (despite Bash on Windows). Windows apps also don't have great UX chops in the areas I'd like them to. 1password on Windows sucked the last time I used it, there's no native equivalent to Omnifocus or Things, there's no great calendar app like Fantastical, there's no great indie devs like Readdle[1] or Nucleobytes[2].

This comes from someone who's used all these OSes as well as FreeBSD and OpenBSD for both work and home.

[1]https://readdle.com/

[2]https://nucleobytes.com/

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#82

Post by zamalek »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #67
zamalek wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are used to how their phones work, it's a form of lock-in. I can't figure out how a Mac works, never mind an iPhone. I just get annoyed in the first 10 seconds and give up. If iPhone could be made to work more like Android, I'd switch to the superior Apple privacy story. As it stands I really hate using Apple UIs.

Have you given macOS a serious chance? When I first tried it out, almost 10 years ago, I HATED it. But eventually I was convinced by my brother to give it a genuine chance for a week. Since then, I haven't gone back. Whenever I setup a linux PC, the first thing I do is fix the hotkeys to match macOS.

> hotkeys

If you have used Windows since Win95, CTRL+Left/Right is most-likely muscle memory. This hotkey also works in most Linux programs, including Vim and the terminal. It's practically as universal as ALT+F4. macOS does its own special thing. This is by and far the largest issue I have with macOS. It might sound silly, but keep in mind that I get thrown to a different desktop multiple times a minute, completely losing mental context each time, because I am using something that has the same effect everywhere else.

Assuming I could change the hotkeys to something less inane, I still wouldn't go near the ecosystem. I flat out refuse to spend $1700 on these specs[1] (i5 with Intel graphics), when I can spend $1899 on one of these[2] (i7 with GTX1060).

The iPhone is a different story and I might try it.

[1]: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro [2]: https://www.gigabyte.com/Laptop/AERO-15#kf

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#83

Post by jpatokal »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #49
ac29 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people value headphone jacks, micro-SD expansion, dual-SIM support or other features that dont exist in the latest Pixels. These are all features that modern iPhones don't have either, so its a little hypocritical to call out Google if that is whats meant by the "sucks" part.

Only 2000 people are moving from HTC to Google, according to the article. HTC will then leave the phone market. I expect Google to continue following Apple's lead and remove more features. They also have to try to stop their IP from leaking out, and go through some culture shock working in Taiwan. This is an opportunity for investors to hire the other HTC staff who refuse to join Google for ideological reasons (open…

Google has had a large data centre in Taiwan for ages. I suspect it's going to be more of a case of HTC staff having culture shock when joining Google.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#84

Post by PierceJoy »

bitmapbrother wrote: post #78
PierceJoy wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really think someone couldn't come up with an equally long list of bugs in Android? I've noticed a couple annoyances in iOS 11, but nothing at all that would make me consider switching. It's by no means ridiculous.

I'd like to see that list of Android 8 bugs and then compare it to iOS 11. You just need to look at the frequency of iOS 11 point releases to see what a mess they've created. They've released 10 iOS 11 updates so far and number 11 is just around the corner.

Characterizing iOS 11 as a mess is a gross exaggeration. If you told 99% of iPhone user's their phone was a mess, they wouldn't know what you were talking about. I would say Android version fragmentation is a significantly larger mess than anything Apple has ever done.

> You just need to look at the frequency of iOS 11 point releases to see what a mess they've created

Another interpretation is that they care more about software quality, and are fixing things that would be left broken by other manufacturers.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#85

Post by lukealization »

colordrops wrote: post #64
PierceJoy wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, I've never had a problem using my iPhone. Care to elaborate?

Android has three buttons rather than one, reducing menu fatigue. System settings are more customizable and generally easier to and more intuitive to use. Launcher screen be replaced by 3rd party app. Keyboard can be replaced by 3rd party app. Browsers can run any engine they want. Apps can host code. Terminal is a first class citizen. Phones can have the bootloader unlocked legally. Supports launch screen widgets. B…

> Apps can host code.

You say that like it's a good thing.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#86

Post by MarkCole »

dragonwriter wrote: post #72
MarkCole wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a 1st gen Pixel in December 2016, so it's just over a year old. I'm delighted with every part of the hardware, except the screen. After around 6 months I noticed that the nav buttons are really badly burned in where the nav buttons are located([1] picture is not mine but it demonstates what I mean, I believe at this point mine is much worse than in this picture). This is due to the nav buttons being constant…

> This is due to the nav buttons being constantly visible in most apps, an option to hide them and only spring up when required would be perfect. Samsung has that on the Note 8 (the 5 still had hardware buttons, I'm not sure about the 7, or other lines, though the Note 8’s dimensions means that it is probably the phone that needs it least for real estate reasons, so I'd imagine it's across the line.)

Yeah my colleague has an S8 and it also has this function. It is possible to enable "Immersive Mode" on the pixel through an app and giving it root access through ADB. However it would be much easier if google just made it a toggleable setting.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#87

Post by genghizkhan »

ac29 wrote: post #31
coliveira wrote: post #21

Another me-too from Google. It doesn't matter how much money they put on it, it won't work until they do something innovative. Apple had to do it to get where they are.

> Apple had to do it to get where they are. Apple aquired a lot of companies to get their "innovative" features. Siri was aquired (I know, its not great, but it was novel when it came out), PA-Semi was aquired (boosted their in house SoC development), and the original Kinect team for the iPhone X face recognition sensor suite come to mind. A much bigger list is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_…

All that proves is that ideas can come in from anywhere. Google has a similar list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...

It's impossible to say how much input/influence each of these mergers had on the products of these companies. Some of these started products, some of these enhanced them, some of these even replaced them.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#88

Post by saiya-jin »

bg451 wrote: post #66
ariwilson wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a contrasting perspective, I went Android to iPhone and I can say it sent me running back to Pixel as fast as I could for basic usability.

I recently switched from a pixel to the iPhone X since the pixel 2 seemed very underwhelming to me. I'm honestly surprised how easy the switch was and how much more I like the X/iOS than the pixel/android. The one thing iOS is sorely missing is the notification bundling.

Colleague sitting next to me did this move a month ago (not sure which pixel generation he had). After wow effect passed (1-2 weeks), he started to regret the move.

According to him, there is nothing special on apple device that would justify the ridiculous price (and market seems to be thinking the same, they are down sizing the production due to lack of demand from what I have heard). The price sets the expectations very high, and at the end it's just another cell phone.

Another issue is, the phone is too simple/dumb compared to Android for his preferences.

Can't comment myself, only using Androids, since even 150$ new device offers everything I ever need, and I don't care that much if I damage/lose it.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#89

Post by PierceJoy »

unixhero wrote: post #77
PierceJoy wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, I've never had a problem using my iPhone. Care to elaborate?

No file manager No personal files - music, ebooks, videos Slavishly tied to Apple appstore. ITunes requirement in the past Useless Apple iCloud which cannot be trusted in the event of disaster (no retention policy) Proprietary chargers Many Android apps are more mature and have more features than iPhone equivalents. Pricing Of handsets. Slow handsets after 1.5 years, due to amongst others planned obsolence.

Not one single thing you wrote would be considered basic usability for 99% of smart phone owners.

> Many Android apps are more mature and have more features than iPhone equivalents.

Lol. Ok. Even the most ardent Android supporters don't claim that Android's app ecosystem is nearly as mature as Apple's.

> Slow handsets after 1.5 years

Slower handsets after your battery has degraded enough that your phone risks shutdown, thereby prolonging the life of your device and ensuring it's available when you need it. Easily resolved by getting a new battery.

> planned obsolence.

That's blatant lie, and you know it.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#90

Post by sbuk »

chrisper wrote: post #43
eanzenberg wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their software also sucks compared to the “just-works” ios and its integration.

You mean it sucks because one can customize it? I remember when I got the iPhone 3gs back then and was surprised you couldn't set a background picture. Oh and these days iOS is still very locked down. So it just works because you are not allowed to do much. (Like having an app like Tasker for example, or choosing if your USB port on your phone should be used for storage, charging only, or even charging other devices)…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_fatigue
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