Apple used to be ahead of the curve

[nuckinfutz]

That is true, but some of the things Zhenya is arguing are things like LTE which was taking off with or without Apple. Or screen size that was already going crazy. My point is Apple was once the company that started things like this. Sure it may take off even more because Apple did it, but they were the leaders before. Also though you have to think about a lot the features Apples so calls "makes take off" are things half iphone users don't even use. Sure they are on the phone, but half the user don't even know how to use it.

No...Apple is a company that picks and chooses which technologies it wants to promote. Sometimes that aligns with what some people want and for others it does not.

If Apple chooses wrongly enough they don't make a sale and their numbers fall in total units. That hasn't happened yet so it could be said that Apple's making the right decisions up until now and has had it's finger on the pulse of the masses enough.

 

[bmac4]

No...Apple is a company that picks and chooses which technologies it wants to promote. Sometimes that aligns with what some people want and for others it does not.

If Apple chooses wrongly enough they don't make a sale and their numbers fall in total units. That hasn't happened yet so it could be said that Apple's making the right decisions up until now and has had it's finger on the pulse of the masses enough.

No true at all. I have said this before. Apple has a cult like following and it does not matter what Apple add in terms of feature they will sale iPhones. It is not about Apple picking the right features. Like I said before LTE was going no where whether Apple chose it of not.

What about Apple maps? Was that a good decision on Apple part? Also I lot of people think google now is a lot better than Siri was that a good decision for Apple to release a beta version of something? That is not very Apple like to have something not polished before they release now is it?

 

[nuckinfutz]

No true at all. I have said this before. Apple has a cult like following and it does not matter what Apple add in terms of feature they will sale iPhones. It is not about Apple picking the right features. Like I said before LTE was going no whether Apple chose it of not.

What about Apple maps? Was that a good decision on Apple part? Also I lot of people think google now is a lot better than Siri was that a good decision for Apple to release a beta version of something? That is not very Apple like to have something not polished before they release now is it?

Just because you or I have said something doesn't make it true. So all we've got to base things on are objective things like sales. If Apple's cult following is so strong why did they almost go bankrupt barely over a decade ago?

When a company sells products in the amount that Apple has and is currently maintaining it means they are doing things that appeal to the majority of purchasers.

I like Apple Maps. It's fast, doesn't hog RAM and the vectors look clean. I think Siri is progressing nicely as well. But large shifts don't happen every year. Apple likely has something big cooking in the oven by right now there's plenty of room to iterate on today's smartphone which oddly enough looks like exactly what Apple was pitching in 2007.

 

[Vegastouch]

I'm pointing out that it can seem that way because it may introduce a huge wave of users to a new tech all at once, and present it to them in a way that makes it genuinely useful.

ie. if Apple decides to back NFC, it will probably take off. If they don't, it probably won't.

Apple pretty much single-handedly killed mobile flash, etc.

Right now, no, NFC is not of any use to me because it's still a niche tech with minimal uses. I may know 3 people who have NFC capable phones, and I have no desire to swap files with them, nor is it likely that I'm going to make any payments with it. So that's a feature that doesn't matter to me.

Now if Apple were to suddenly strike a deal where all their new phones had NFC, integrated it in such a way that it was genuinely useful for sharing data, and put together a payment system that was widely accepted, then yes, it could suddenly have some use. But again, the value is in the implementation, not the feature itself in isolation.

You dont know what your talking about. Adobe just stopped working on it for updates because they said they are working on HTML 5 which is going to be its replacement and the new future of flash.

If Apple did use NFC that would HELP but NFC has many more uses than making a payment. T-Mobile for instance wont support the use of NFC payments yet which there alone is millions of people not able to use it unless they root their phone to use it.

 

[bmac4]

Just because you or I have said something doesn't make it true. So all we've got to base things on are objective things like sales. If Apple's cult following is so strong why did they almost go bankrupt barely over a decade ago?

When a company sells products in the amount that Apple has and is currently maintaining it means they are doing things that appeal to the majority of purchasers.

I like Apple Maps. It's fast, doesn't hog RAM and the vectors look clean. I think Siri is progressing nicely as well. But large shifts don't happen every year. Apple likely has something big cooking in the oven by right now there's plenty of room to iterate on today's smartphone which oddly enough looks like exactly what Apple was pitching in 2007.

You can like Apple maps all you want that does not make it good. Same goes with Siri. You can like them both, but putting out things that are not ready and get crap for it is not something Apple would have done 3 or 4 years ago. They are trying to lead smartphones in features, but it seems more like catching up.

If all these features are so good on iPhones, and they make all the right decisions then why is jail breaking an iphone so popular right now?

 

[nuckinfutz]

You dont know what your talking about. Adobe just stopped working on it for updates because they said they are working on HTML 5 which is going to be its replacement and the new future of flash.

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

Don't fool yourself. Apple not supporting flash on 300 million + iOS devices was a big reason why it was game over.

----------

You can like Apple maps all you want that does not make it good. Same goes with Siri. You can like them both, but putting out things that are not ready and get crap for it is not something Apple would have done 3 or 4 years ago. They are trying to lead smartphones in features, but it seems more like catching up.

If all these features are so good on iPhones, and they make all the right decisions then why is jail breaking an iphone so popular right now?

You're not focusing here bmac4. You're rambling. Apple maps is fine, in use and getting better daily, Siri is more complex than people know and what exactly should I be impressed by Google Now about?

I'm not seeing much catch up that Apple has to do personally. As zhenya succinctly pointed out, stuff like NFC, large screen and LTE are appealing to smaller segments of mobile users. Let's not inflate their importance to make a point.

 

[matttye]

No true at all. I have said this before. Apple has a cult like following and it does not matter what Apple add in terms of feature they will sale iPhones. It is not about Apple picking the right features. Like I said before LTE was going no where whether Apple chose it of not.

What about Apple maps? Was that a good decision on Apple part? Also I lot of people think google now is a lot better than Siri was that a good decision for Apple to release a beta version of something? That is not very Apple like to have something not polished before they release now is it?

Every company has cult like followers. You can't seriously think the majority of Apple customers are cult like?

 

[Vegastouch]

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

Don't fool yourself. Apple not supporting flash on 300 million + iOS devices was a big reason why it was game over.

Awesome, a piece written in April 2010 by Steve Jobs. Im convinced now

Looks like your fooling yourself.

Here is Adobes reason without Jobs input.

 

[bmac4]

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

Don't fool yourself. Apple not supporting flash on 300 million + iOS devices was a big reason why it was game over.

----------



You're not focusing here bmac4. You're rambling. Apple maps is fine, in use and getting better daily, Siri is more complex than people know and what exactly should I be impressed by Google Now about?

I'm not seeing much catch up that Apple has to do personally. As zhenya succinctly pointed out, stuff like NFC, large screen and LTE are appealing to smaller segments of mobile users. Let's not inflate their importance to make a point.

Ok you can believe what you want about maps and Siri. All I will say is there is a reason google maps was one of the most popular downloads in the App Store when it was released Again.

"I'm not seeing much catch up that Apple has to do personally. As zhenya succinctly pointed out, stuff like NFC, large screen and LTE are appealing to smaller segments of mobile users. Let's not inflate their importance to make a point"

If you are going to sit here and say things like this I am not even sure you are worth talking to any more. LTE is huge and you are crazy if you don't think this. NFC is taking off and will be on your next iphone then you will be talking about how great Apple did it.

Why did Apple put LTE on the iphone 5? And why did they make the screen bigger? If these are such small segments of the market please tell me why Apple joined it?

----------

Every company has cult like followers. You can't seriously think the majority of Apple customers are cult like?

Oh I am not saying that. I just think those cult followers are big enough to keep Apple going by with out the people that jump from android to Apple. I know good and well there is more than just cult followers. I also know that all companies have these. Apple just have a very unique cult following.

 

[matttye]

Oh I am not saying that. I just think those cult followers are big enough to keep Apple going by with out the people that jump from android to Apple. I know good and well there is more than just cult followers. I also know that all companies have these. Apple just have a very unique cult following.

Sales would be made up mainly, by far, of average consumers though, not cult like followers.

Think about how many people you see on message boards compared to how many sales there are... Hardly any.

 

[zhenya]

Why did Apple put LTE on the iphone 5? And why did they make the screen bigger? If these are such small segments of the market please tell me why Apple joined it?

LTE is a mobile tech driven by the carriers that would have taken off regardless., So it doesnt really apply to your argument. It's part of making a phone compatible with their networks. Apple, just like everyone else is forced to take what is available from Qualcomm. At the time of the iPhone 4S, it was a relatively large stand-alone chip that consumed a lot of power. Saying no to tech that's not quite ready is part of the skill of good implementation.

You are making the same elementary mistake that pundits have made with regards to Apple virtually forever in that you are taking specific examples of the appearance of technology elsewhere and claiming that Apple is behind because they aren't using it.

I'll say it one final time; Apple's skill is in the implementation.

 

[nuckinfutz]

If you are going to sit here and say things like this I am not even sure you are worth talking to any more. LTE is huge and you are crazy if you don't think this. NFC is taking off and will be on your next iphone then you will be talking about how great Apple did it.

Why did Apple put LTE on the iphone 5? And why did they make the screen bigger? If these are such small segments of the market please tell me why Apple joined it?

bmac4 those are pretty easy to address. The first generation LTE chips were large and couldn't match the functionality of the second generation in power consumption and flexibility.

Basically a 4G LTE 1st gen phone had at least 3 chips. 3G Radio, LTE Radio and a 2G or 3G chip for voice. Each radio had to maintain a connection of if you were in a sparsely populated LTE area you'd have that LTE radio searching and searching for the next tower. The 3G Radio was also connected and your voice calls were going through yet another chip typically.

In an iPhone the battery is only 1400 mAh and the screen small so merely accommodating these chips in volume was one issue and power consumption another. It made total sense to wait for second gen parts that combined the 3G/4G chips so that you only need to add the voice for a 2 chip solution.

Soon we'll have Voice of LTE which means the single chip solution should be available within the next 18 months.

http://gigaom.com/2012/10/15/voice-over-lte-now-ready-for-widespread-commercial-deployment/

Apple is increasing the size of their phones and reducing the size of their tablets (mini) because market flexibility demands it. They are being conservative because developers are currently developing apps by the pixel and will increasingly need to develop more dynamic UI and Apple's been working on improving such tools so that different display sizes/resolutions won't cause developer strife.

exciting times mate. Whatever the curve is these companies are racing for it and we are the beneficiaries.

 

[bmac4]

LTE is a mobile tech driven by the carriers that would have taken off regardless., So it doesnt really apply to your argument. It's part of making a phone compatible with their networks. Apple, just like everyone else is forced to take what is available from Qualcomm. At the time of the iPhone 4S, it was a relatively large stand-alone chip that consumed a lot of power. Saying no to tech that's not quite ready is part of the skill of good implementation.

You are making the same elementary mistake that pundits have made with regards to Apple virtually forever in that you are taking specific examples of the appearance of technology elsewhere and claiming that Apple is behind because they aren't using it.

I'll say it one final time; Apple's skill is in the implementation.

Apple skill is implementation. That is what you are saying now because you really can't say anything else after you told me none of the features matter. Keep telling yourself what ever you have to.

 

[Tinmania]

Apple maps is fine, in use and getting better daily, Siri is more complex than people know and what exactly should I be impressed by Google Now about?

Maps, as developed by Apple, was so fine that Tim Cook had to publicly apologize for it. You can't spin that into a positive no matter how hard you try.

Siri, as developed by Apple... oh wait they just went out and bought it. Some would argue they made it worse since buying it.

As for Google Now? It is to me more impressive, though different, than Siri because it proactively provides me with information without me needing to ask for it.




Michael

 

[bmac4]

bmac4 those are pretty easy to address. The first generation LTE chips were large and couldn't match the functionality of the second generation in power consumption and flexibility.

Basically a 4G LTE 1st gen phone had at least 3 chips. 3G Radio, LTE Radio and a 2G or 3G chip for voice. Each radio had to maintain a connection of if you were in a sparsely populated LTE area you'd have that LTE radio searching and searching for the next tower. The 3G Radio was also connected and your voice calls were going through yet another chip typically.

In an iPhone the battery is only 1400 mAh and the screen small so merely accommodating these chips in volume was one issue and power consumption another. It made total sense to wait for second gen parts that combined the 3G/4G chips so that you only need to add the voice for a 2 chip solution.

Soon we'll have Voice of LTE which means the single chip solution should be available within the next 18 months.

http://gigaom.com/2012/10/15/voice-over-lte-now-ready-for-widespread-commercial-deployment/

Apple is increasing the size of their phones and reducing the size of their tablets (mini) because market flexibility demands it. They are being conservative because developers are currently developing apps by the pixel and will increasingly need to develop more dynamic UI and Apple's been working on improving such tools so that different display sizes/resolutions won't cause developer strife.

exciting times mate. Whatever the curve is these companies are racing for it and we are the beneficiaries.

Ok so the battery was the issue in LTE right? I will say this again the Razr Maxx had LTE and has great battery life. Yea it has a big battery. The problem is Apple does not. I will repeat the fact that you can kid yourself all you want the iphone battery is not very good. Apple knows how to handle the standby part of the battery, but using the iphone drains the crap out of your battery. It does on my iphone 5.

So Apple is increasing the size of the iphone because the "market flexibility" requires it? Are you saying that is really popular and people want it? Well that is because Android started the big phone idea. Also I am so glad you brought up the mini what a great example of Apple being behind. If Apple was so great would they have not come know the market was going to require a 7" tablet? The nexus 7 and kindle fire sure were right for the market.

So I really not sure you answered either of my questions. Well I guess I should say you just proved my point.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Maps, as developed by Apple, was so fine that Tim Cook had to publicly apologize for it. You can't spin that into a positive no matter how hard you try.

Siri, as developed by Apple... oh wait they just went out and bought it. Some would argue they made it worse since buying it.

As for Google Now? It is to me more impressive, though different, than Siri because it proactively provides me with information without me needing to ask for it.




Michael

Tim cook apologized as he should have and then redoubled efforts to improve the maps (which he has). I like where this is going and frankly my dealings with Google Maps were marked with misses along with the hits as well.

Siri has progressed nicely. I downloaded the app prior to Apple owning it and it was nice but it really couldn't do much. Today's Siri is improving nicely. The big thing that Apple has done with Siri is improved the languages it supports and thusly it's scope across the globe.

The one thing that bugs me about Google Now is it attempting to be proactive. If I have a real assistant I want them to be able to carry out tasks as I delegate them. Being proactive entails wasted energy that I don't want to happen in real life nor the virtual one from my assistant.

----------

Ok so the battery was the issue in LTE right? I will say this again the Razr Maxx had LTE and has great battery life. Yea it has a big battery. The problem is Apple does not. I will repeat the fact that you can kid yourself all you want the iphone battery is not very good. Apple knows how to handle the standby part of the battery, but using the iphone drains the crap out of your battery. It does on my iphone 5.

So Apple is increasing the size of the iphone because the "market flexibility" requires it? Are you saying that is really popular and people want it? Well that is because Android started the big phone idea. Also I am so glad you brought up the mini what a great example of Apple being behind. If Apple was so great would they have not come know the market was going to require a 7" tablet? The nexus 7 and kindle fire sure were right for the market.

So I really not sure you answered either of my questions. Well I guess I should say you just proved my point.

Thanks for admitting that the Razr Maxx is a larger phone with the corollary larger battery. The iPhone is a slim phone with a slim battery. Had the Razr Maxx had to exist of the iPhone battery the results may not have been pleasant.

All phones drain quickly. The more notifications and background processes that run the more you battery is going to deplete. It's not rocket science.

Large phones aren't "really" popular but they are gaining. You have significant portions of the population that are entering their golden years and eye sight diminishes once you hit between your 40s and 50s. A larger phone just makes sense but i'm still seeing a trend where there's a big market for a slim phone. In fact slim phones still outsell the superphones by a wide margin as the iPhone 5 and 4S attest to.

So I really not sure you answered either of my questions.

were you really looking for answers?

 

[Vegastouch]

Siri has been around plenty long enough to not be so buggy. Sure it does a few things that Google Now doesnt and GN does things that Siri doesnt but what GN does much better than Siri is recognize what the hec you are saying.

Siri is pretty weak in that area. Could be great but so far it is hit and miss while being around a lot longer than GN. I know many people who are not real thrilled with it.

There is no reason for me to bash Apple but they are slow to implement things. I have a few of their products but its just their phone is too far behind and small for me.

 

[bmac4]

Tim cook apologized as he should have and then redoubled efforts to improve the maps (which he has). I like where this is going and frankly my dealings with Google Maps were marked with misses along with the hits as well.

Siri has progressed nicely. I downloaded the app prior to Apple owning it and it was nice but it really couldn't do much. Today's Siri is improving nicely. The big thing that Apple has done with Siri is improved the languages it supports and thusly it's scope across the globe.

The one thing that bugs me about Google Now is it attempting to be proactive. If I have a real assistant I want them to be able to carry out tasks as I delegate them. Being proactive entails wasted energy that I don't want to happen in real life nor the virtual one from my assistant.

----------



Thanks for admitting that the Razr Maxx is a larger phone with the corollary larger battery. The iPhone is a slim phone with a slim battery. Had the Razr Maxx had to exist of the iPhone battery the results may not have been pleasant.

All phones drain quickly. The more notifications and background processes that run the more you battery is going to deplete. It's not rocket science.

Large phones aren't "really" popular but they are gaining. You have significant portions of the population that are entering their golden years and eye sight diminishes once you hit between your 40s and 50s. A larger phone just makes sense but i'm still seeing a trend where there's a big market for a slim phone. In fact slim phones still outsell the superphones by a wide margin as the iPhone 5 and 4S attest to.



were you really looking for answers?

So yes the Razr Maxx has a bigger phone, but guess what it last 2 days on a charge. Can the iphone say that? And don't give me your smart butt " it's not rocket science". I realize that using your phone is going to drain the battery, but I am telling you my nexus s and Gnex could do just as well if not better on battery than any iPhones I have used. What I am pointing out to you is that the iphone battery really is not very good, and that is what all you apple fans hang your hats on about IPhones. Like I said the standby is good, but when you start using it, it really does not do as well as some other smartphones. Like it or not the iphone battery is too small, and Apple could not implement LTE because of it.

You can claim slim was the reason all you want, but look at phones like the Razr and Razr Maxx. The iphone is not that much slimmer.

Saying larger phones are not that popular is very naive. Sure if you want to say look at Apple, but look at the market share Android is selling like crazy and android has large phones. They are popular face it. Android saw it coming before Apple did.

Also I find it very funny you just decide to say nothing about he mini which is no surprise because there is nothing you can say.

 

[matttye]

Siri has been around plenty long enough to not be so buggy. Sure it does a few things that Google Now doesnt and GN does things that Siri doesnt but what GN does much better than Siri is recognize what the hec you are saying.

Siri is pretty weak in that area. Could be great but so far it is hit and miss while being around a lot longer than GN. I know many people who are not real thrilled with it.

There is no reason for me to bash Apple but they are slow to implement things. I have a few of their products but its just their phone is too far behind and small for me.

Siri is good for me. Maybe it's your accent?

 

[Vegastouch]

Siri is good for me. Maybe it's your accent?

I dont have an iPhone but my sister does. She has no accent and many people work with or just know have them. Not all of them complain about it and one guy has a iP4 and doesnt says he doesnt care about that fancy stuff, lol.

Originally quoted by nuckinfutz
Had the Razr Maxx had to exist of the iPhone battery the results may not have been pleasant.

Well no kidding?
LOL, the Maxx is twice as big. Takes a lot more lower to use a bigger screen and more features. Thought you might know that already. I almost want to ask if you are joking.

 

[matttye]

I dont have an iPhone but my sister does. She has no accent and many people work with or just know have them. Not all of them complaiun about and one guy has a iP4 and doesnt says he doesnt care about that fancy stuff, lol.

Everyone has an accent.

 

[bmac4]

Well no kidding?
LOL, the Maxx is twice as big. Takes a lot more lower to use a bigger screen and more features. Thought you might know that already. I almost want to ask if you are joking.

Thank you. I was just going to pass on that and be nice even though I did not get that same respect from him.

 

[vastoholic]

Awesome, a piece written in April 2010 by Steve Jobs. Im convinced now

Looks like your fooling yourself.

Here is Adobes reason without Jobs input.

So a piece written by adobe over a year later (article date is November 2011) wasn't influenced at all by Apple's decision not to support mobile flash?

However, HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively.

Sounds about right.

As for the rest of the thread. I'll put in some inputs as to the major features bmac4 thinks should be standard. Mind you, these are thoughts from a person who has been labeled a fanboy on these very forums because I support most of apple's decisions in products.


- NFC: After seeing the NFC tags sometime last year, I thought those were pretty cool and one of the biggest things that made me want to try an Android phone. I would definitely be in favor of adding this to the iPhone. Is it a deal breaker? No.

- Screens wider than 2": I've never owned another smart phone other than the iPhone. I've only messed around with various phones in stores every time I go somewhere. Honestly, except for the Note, most phones didn't just scream "Oh my god, this is huge, I'll never get used to this size!" I really didn't even notice that I was looking at a larger screen. Maybe it's because it wasn't what my mind was focused on as I was focusing more on the OS and how different things worked.

- SD card slots (on most android phones): I've dealt with Micro and mini SD cards in various devices (PSP, Contour HD, previous flip phones, etc). I'd rather not have to deal with them anymore. They are tiny and I realize that you could just buy a large capacity and leave it in there, but it's one more thing I don't have to worry about with the iPhone. I know what storage I'm getting when I make my purchase. I think SD cards for phones should go the way of the dinosaur.

- LTE (while this is not true any more Android had it long before Apple): It's awesome because I actually have it where I live now. When the 5 first came out and when I bought it, I was living in another city only 45 minutes north which did not have LTE. If you've got it in your area, it's great. Until they roll it out to nation wide coverage, it's still not a necessity. Plus, with the extreme limits on data usage in the US and high priced plans, it's almost not even worth it sometimes.

- True HD screens (yes Apple has retina display it is not true 720p): At the current screen size of the iPhone, this matters not to me. I've looked at 720p screens side by side of my iPhone 5 watching an HD video on YouTube. Really wasn't a difference. As long as Apple can keep the same or slightly higher maybe PPI if or when they increase the screen size, then I'll be happy.

 

[Tinmania]

Siri has progressed nicely. I downloaded the app prior to Apple owning it and it was nice but it really couldn't do much. Today's Siri is improving nicely. The big thing that Apple has done with Siri is improved the languages it supports and thusly it's scope across the globe.

Siri can do more now because Apple, obviously, lets it hook into the OS. The stand-alone app, unfortunately, had no such luxury. What it did have, however, was a more comprehensive list of sources with which to cull information. "Back then, Siri boasted an even more irreverent tone -- and a more robust set of skills."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/siri-do-engine-apple-iphone_n_2499165.html

As for speech recognition, once again, Apple went and got it from someone else. Nuance handles that part, not Apple.

"Nuance's consumer and mobile business popped in the fourth quarter as the launch of Apple's iPhone 4S generated more interest in the company's voice software.

The voice recognition company is viewed as a derivative play on Apple's iPhone 4S growth. For Apple's Siri to operate it needs the transcribing function Nuance's software provides."

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/nuance-gets-awareness-boost-from-apples-siri-smartphones/64071

As far as Nuance goes, they are good at voice-to-text. But it is all done server-side in the case of iOS. Amazingly, Google is at the same level, if not above. Google approaches it differently: it is more interactive.

With Siri you have to wait for everything to be sent to the server, the speech-to-text to finish, fed to Siri, and then your result returned. If anything were to go wrong you generally don't know about it until a rather lengthy, in my opinion, period of time has already gone by. Google recognizes as you speak and it has on-device fallback.

Finally, since Google Now is Google's baby, and not adopted, they most assuredly will keep improving it. It's not even seven months old and has already seen more features added than Siri has seen in well over a year now. Sometimes it scares me with what it does.




Michael

 

[Tinmania]

As for the rest of the thread. I'll put in some inputs as to the major features bmac4 thinks should be standard. Mind you, these are thoughts from a person who has been labeled a fanboy on these very forums because I support most of apple's decisions in products.


- NFC: After seeing the NFC tags sometime last year, I thought those were pretty cool and one of the biggest things that made me want to try an Android phone. I would definitely be in favor of adding this to the iPhone. Is it a deal breaker? No.

- Screens wider than 2": I've never owned another smart phone other than the iPhone. I've only messed around with various phones in stores every time I go somewhere. Honestly, except for the Note, most phones didn't just scream "Oh my god, this is huge, I'll never get used to this size!" I really didn't even notice that I was looking at a larger screen. Maybe it's because it wasn't what my mind was focused on as I was focusing more on the OS and how different things worked.

- SD card slots (on most android phones): I've dealt with Micro and mini SD cards in various devices (PSP, Contour HD, previous flip phones, etc). I'd rather not have to deal with them anymore. They are tiny and I realize that you could just buy a large capacity and leave it in there, but it's one more thing I don't have to worry about with the iPhone. I know what storage I'm getting when I make my purchase. I think SD cards for phones should go the way of the dinosaur.

- LTE (while this is not true any more Android had it long before Apple): It's awesome because I actually have it where I live now. When the 5 first came out and when I bought it, I was living in another city only 45 minutes north which did not have LTE. If you've got it in your area, it's great. Until they roll it out to nation wide coverage, it's still not a necessity. Plus, with the extreme limits on data usage in the US and high priced plans, it's almost not even worth it sometimes.

- True HD screens (yes Apple has retina display it is not true 720p): At the current screen size of the iPhone, this matters not to me. I've looked at 720p screens side by side of my iPhone 5 watching an HD video on YouTube. Really wasn't a difference. As long as Apple can keep the same or slightly higher maybe PPI if or when they increase the screen size, then I'll be happy.

Your post seems rather objective. Can't really label the above fanboyism.

As for NFC, you actually brought up tags which most in this thread seemed to ignore or not be aware of. It is how I use NFC on my Note 2. Very nice once you get them in place. I have one on my desk for work that sets things up how I like for when working. Once I get a car holder for my N2 I will have another in there. Yet another on my nightstand. Not a deal-maker but definitely a bonus. I generally take things to the total geek level so am thinking of putting them on canisters for cereal, rice, dog food, coffee, etc. Just touch my phone to add that item to the grocery list lol.

As for mSD cards I don't really look at them as removable: buy one, put it in, forget about it. That is what I did with my Note 2--plus it is under the back cover so truly is out of the way.



Michael