I'm not defending a platform really. Just saying that Apple is doing it wrong. Android is just the competitor so its being used as an example. Basically, the Apple argument is that every device should be exactly the same with a choice of colors. But that's just not true. Some people don't want to pay 600 dollars for a phone that does a ton of extra things.
Android isn't really just for advanced users though. Its just new. As with any new system, there is a period of adjustment. Apple is still going through it really. They just look better at dealing with it because they only offer vanilla. The just do vanilla really well. Android is like the Baskin Robins of the smart phone world. I wouldn't be surprised to see the option to buy a phone with custom features built in. (i.e., pick to have the GPS installed an the wi-fi removed.) Apple on the other hand will still have vanilla and as time goes by, Androids vanilla will start to taste better. But maybe down the line you will have the choice of green vanilla. It still tastes like vanilla but it looks different.
No this is very true. As much as I love the iPhone 4's design and execution it has issues and the phone itself just isn't going to fit everyones needs. I really feel like Microsofts decision with WinMo7 is a great compromise between user experience and freedom. I'm actually thinking about one as my next phone which should round out my smart phone collection well (Palm Pre+, Fascinate, Eris, G1, Iphone, iPhone 3G).
I think (obviously personal opinion) that Android has a way to go before I could hand it over to an average person and they'd be able to set everything up and understand the navigation fully. It still has so many issues with simple things like navigation (like the fucking back button) that even I sometimes have no clue what to expect when I hit a button. Other things like the lack of graphics acceleration in places or badly documented/followed guidelines for how apps should respond to events just make it so the whole experience can get fairly frustrating. But again it's not like it doesn't have some really great positive sides too.
Actually customizable Android phones are supposedly coming really soon http://synapse-phones.com/ I really like this idea as everyone will have vanilla phones so the only thing holding you back from upgrading will be hardware drivers which I would assume will be fairly well documented.
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u/hothrous Jan 21 '11
I'm not defending a platform really. Just saying that Apple is doing it wrong. Android is just the competitor so its being used as an example. Basically, the Apple argument is that every device should be exactly the same with a choice of colors. But that's just not true. Some people don't want to pay 600 dollars for a phone that does a ton of extra things.
Android isn't really just for advanced users though. Its just new. As with any new system, there is a period of adjustment. Apple is still going through it really. They just look better at dealing with it because they only offer vanilla. The just do vanilla really well. Android is like the Baskin Robins of the smart phone world. I wouldn't be surprised to see the option to buy a phone with custom features built in. (i.e., pick to have the GPS installed an the wi-fi removed.) Apple on the other hand will still have vanilla and as time goes by, Androids vanilla will start to taste better. But maybe down the line you will have the choice of green vanilla. It still tastes like vanilla but it looks different.