The problem with iphone/ipad mimics

[maflynn]

The iPhone is available on all major UK networks and is available free on various contracts. I don't know why some people can't realize that not everyone wants an iPhone.

That's the funny thing about many fanboys is that they think that apple products are so GREAT that everyone wants one and only those people who don't either can't get one, afford one or something is wrong mentally with them.

The iPhone is great but one size does not fit all. I think android offers something to consumers hobbyists and geeky folks. I think the iPhone offers something to the same group of people. Its personal preference.

 

[ChazUK]

The iPhone is great but one size does not fit all. I think android offers something to consumers hobbyists and geeky folks. I think the iPhone offers something to the same group of people. Its personal preference.

That's exactly how it was for me. I'm a long time Symbian user who also dabbled in WindowsMobile a few times. Moving to the iPhone 3g at launch was really revolutionary but lacking for me at the same time. Android has filled that freedom I had with WinMo and Symbian all those years.

I do hope that Microsoft and Nokia to make a dent in marketshare with Windows Phone 7 as it'll give consumers a third solid choice for people to get confused over.

Why would the consumer choose another alternative? (Because they can!)

 

[SevenInchScrew]

LOL. Wrong spelling !

Anadotical.

http://bit.ly/mc7dye

 

[Liquorpuki]

How to Beat Apple

Except for the iTunes thing, I agree with everything in this article.

 

[MacBH928]

That's exactly how it was for me. I'm a long time Symbian user who also dabbled in WindowsMobile a few times. Moving to the iPhone 3g at launch was really revolutionary but lacking for me at the same time. Android has filled that freedom I had with WinMo and Symbian all those years.

I do hope that Microsoft and Nokia to make a dent in marketshare with Windows Phone 7 as it'll give consumers a third solid choice for people to get confused over.

Why would the consumer choose another alternative? (Because they can!)

What was that gap?
I am trying to learn the differences so i can make about a better decision

 

[MacBH928]

First of all
I am NOT a fan boy
I never owned an iphone. I was going to get the 4 but then things happend, I thought I would wait for iphone 5 but now I am seriously considering an android.

The whole point of this post was that I feel like the competition is not as stable or complete as the Apple products, and when the competition does its best there is still no real advantage in choosing a smartphone other than Apple's, except for blackberry i guess.

I WANT the competition to pull out better products because I feel what they are doing now is not good enough, i thought this message was clear from the post.

I am keeping an eye on the HP product too, but I am not sure if I should just play on the safe side and get iphone or go wild and pick something new. I got unpleasant results using this strategy in shopping with other products.

Thnx for every1's thoughts and contribution to this thread. I'd love to hear more of you

 

[ChazUK]

What was that gap?
I am trying to learn the differences so i can make about a better decision

The gap for me was many niggling things. This was in the 3g era so some of that has changed but, here goes:

Mulitasking, notification system, notification sounds and ringtones, integration of 3rd party applications with the underlying os, personalisation, restrictions on some software types (browsers, emulators, replacement stock apps etc), having to use iTunes for file management, audio file support (flac), no expandable storage, no mountable file system, limited bluetooth stack and at the time an inconsistent application rejection policy.

Some of that has changed, some of it has not. Not having to rely on iTunes to manage my media is a massive plus for me. As a media management and syncing tool it is great but having to be at a computer with iTunes installed just to delete music to create some room on my phone used to be a real pain.

 

[mrsir2009]

I use Apple for computers and Samsung for cellphones I love Macs and wouldn't want anything else, but I just like Samsung's phones better than Apple's.

 

[Bernard SG]

Are you sure about that?

The debate in that thread is thorough enough not to repeat all the arguments here.
No single Android handset or tablet maker is going to win over apple's iPhone or iPad.

 

[neiltc13]

The debate in that thread is thorough enough not to repeat all the arguments here.
No single Android handset or tablet maker is going to win over apple's iPhone or iPad.

This doesn't matter. The sales of individual handsets are not important to users if the thing they have in common is popular. If there are more Android handsets than iOS handsets in use, then application developers, web developers and anyone else interested in having content in people's hands will look to Android first before considering iOS. That is important to users.

It's just like when people here constantly throw around "profit" figures and say that Apple is more profitable than the other companies. I'm not an Apple shareholder (or a shareholder in any other tech company) so I don't care. Apple making a lot of profit doesn't mean their device is better and it doesn't mean that it will have more third party support.

 

[OllyW]

The debate in that thread is thorough enough not to repeat all the arguments here.
No single Android handset or tablet maker is going to win over apple's iPhone or iPad.

I didn't say they would.

It still doesn't mean that the Android platform won't continue to prosper.

 

[Bernard SG]

This doesn't matter. The sales of individual handsets are not important to users if the thing they have in common is popular. If there are more Android handsets than iOS handsets in use, then application developers, web developers and anyone else interested in having content in people's hands will look to Android first before considering iOS. That is important to users.

It's just like when people here constantly throw around "profit" figures and say that Apple is more profitable than the other companies. I'm not an Apple shareholder (or a shareholder in any other tech company) so I don't care. Apple making a lot of profit doesn't mean their device is better and it doesn't mean that it will have more third party support.

Apparently, there are already more Android handsets than iPhones in use, however there doesn't seem to be a massive migration of developers from iOS to Android. The Android business model and market segment is not as juicy as iOS for developers. On top of that, I suspect that App piracy is infinitely more pervasive in the Android marketplace than in the iOS ecosystem. Then, of course Angry birds makes allegedly more money through ads on Android than from App purchases on the iTunes App Store, but, well, Angry Birds is Angry Birds.

If you think about it, the entry ticket to be an Android developer is practically inexistent, while for iOS you have to pay $99 and learn Objective-C. Yet the meaningful App offer on Android is still lackluster.

I didn't say they would.

It still doesn't mean that the Android platform won't continue to prosper.

Yeah, but the subject matter of this thread seems to be more about individual makers than platforms. Makers implement Android onto their devices adding their own layer of software, especially GUI (and sadly, bloatware) and it's on that front and with the hardware that they generally come up with crappy imitations of what Apple does (see Galaxy).