Where does your loyalty come from?

[eastercat]

When I was at the at&t store with my room mates, who were getting iphones, I tried out the androids in my hand. They were too wide, which made them unusable with one hand. Even adjusting my hand didn't help.
As I said, you assume certain things you know nothing about.

No, thanks for assuming. I was actually referring to your comment that Android phones were 'too big' (them being in the 4'' range) and the new iPhone being in that very same range.

 

[linkgx1]

When I was at the at&t store with my room mates, who were getting iphones, I tried out the androids in my hand. They were too wide, which made them unusable with one hand. Even adjusting my hand didn't help.
As I said, you assume certain things you know nothing about.

No I'm going based on what you stated. Reread what you have written. You made a blamketed statement about Android phones. You touched a fee and said they were too big without really considering the variety of sizes. Some are even smaller.

No, it is YOU who keeps thinking what you want to and not looking at the facts at hand.

 

[eastercat]

Seems to me you didn't read my post.

Holding the android phones at the at&t store brought home a big point; they're too big for my hand. I can't even type one handed.

I wrote about the phones I tried at the at&t store; I didn't write that I've tried every android phone out there. There was no blanket statement, unless you lack some reading comprehension skills.
As an at&t customer, why would I try a small verizon or sprint android phone, when I would never use a cdma carrier? Really, this makes no sense whatsoever.

I don't understand what is so difficult about wanting a phone with reasonable width. Unless you're a fandroid, it seems you got defensive for no good reason.

No I'm going based on what you stated. Reread what you have written. You made a blamketed statement about Android phones. You touched a fee and said they were too big without really considering the variety of sizes. Some are even smaller.

No, it is YOU who keeps thinking what you want to and not looking at the facts at hand.

 

[Dr McKay]

My Loyalty for Apple came from how the iPhone met my every need, and how well they treated me. I stuck with them through every iPhone until I finally left them a month or so ago because they stopped meeting my needs of a larger screen.

 

[smacman]

My loyalty to Apple been a function of the impeccable hardware quality and design characteristics that we've all come to expect from their products. Lately however, I am realizing that services are the real core of all of my technological interactions. As Apple is lagging in this department (I find Google services much more advanced and cutting edge), my loyalty is waning.

 

[ahbdesign]

Ecosystem. Music. Overall design and materials used. Customer service.

The ecosystem has been built on a foundation of the iPod and iTunes. It takes time to develop an ecosystem and this is why all iDevices are so well integrated together. In addition to this, when one company controls the software and hardware, it is much easier to integrate something into an ecosystem. Two companies working together cannot match this, since this will always lead to a compromised approach in design (referring to most of the other devices).

Music is a massive factor for me and I Feel that most non-apple smartphones dont put music as a priority. I haven't seen anyone list their battery usage when listening to music whereas the iPhone has always listed this spec.

The design and materials used is a very subjective thing and I personally prefer Aluminium and glass over plastic but that's just me. Plastic is a very good material and can be incorporated very easily into a phone but when you hold it, it doesnt shout 'quality' (just my opinion).

And lastly, Apple's customer service is the best I have experienced for any electronic product (note: the best I have experienced). This is only true for people who live close to an apple store btw. Being able to walk in (now you have to book in advance), and walk out with a brand new (or refurbished phone) because your home button was sticky, is what I would rate as pretty good customer service. I have a lot more examples (from friends who have replaced their iDevices) but I'm sure you get the point.

 

[linkgx1]

I really really want to go back to Android. But I'm afraid if being disappointed.

 

[cotak]

People that come on Macrumors are known to be on the edge of the latest technology. And to be honest, I don't think its fair that when the company the folks here have all come to love cheats them out of this technology. How? Simply put the rumours on the next generation iPhone are very underwhelming and leave a lot to be desired. You've heard the arguments before. An incongruous two tone back, an extra row of icons (yay <s), and a slightly better processor, and camera. Nothing special.

Look I know the word "cheat" here could be misunderstood. Apple continues to earn billions and they will in the future. They don't have any sort of obligation satisfying the demands of tech people like us. But they have one onus: to innovate and try to take technology further. And lately, they haven't been doing that at least in the mobile field compared to their competitors.

Over the past few weeks, as someone who likes technology in general and doesn't support just any one side (I own iOS products, android products, and windows products), I've seen many inane "fanboy" comments made by folks that know they're defending a product (the upcoming iPhone 5) that so far seems far behind the competition (the lumia 920 and the galaxy s3 come to mind). You point out how dull the home screen has become and you get a response the likes of "It doesn't need any improvement." Or maybe "we don't need widgets." This seems a bit fallacious to be. I am willing to bet that if Apple introduces this the very same people would be falling over their chairs saying how great Apple is. You can lie in general but at least don't lie to yourself. There's always room for improvement and the minute things that iOS 6 has introduced doesn't cut it.

Sure, I know the iPhone 5 will just "work" (whatever that's supposed to mean) but I'm curious as to know where this loyalty comes from? What's the source of this fanboyism when, lately ( and I say this word with care because the original iPhone and iPads were indeed innovative and denying that would be foolish) Apple hasn't been innovating relative to it's competitors. Why do you guys continue defending a phone which has fallen below the competition (and if you guys don't think so, I'm more than willing to listen to why)?

This post was created with the spirit of technology in mind. Please no flames or vitriolic comments unless you think it contributes actively to the discussion.

Looking forward to your replies.

I think the answer is we evolved to be like this otherwise we wouldn't survive. But in our modern times we have created a world where our base instincts doesn't always make sense, and when people reacts instinctively without thinking there can be some head scratching results.

What I mean is unthinking loyalty is a useful trait in the past of human evolution. A group of early humans sticking together to face dangers is useful for hunting and for fighting other humans. Even today unthinking loyalty is still important to maintaining our military, police etc.

Sometimes this loyalty of belonging is so strong people do things that are really strange. If you google it you'll find cases of people being killed during arguments about sports teams. The people don't have money riding on it, they don't belong actually to either team. Yet they feel so strongly about a team they love they can kill.

I think a lot of the actions on this forum by Apple fans are actions of people who strongly feel they belong in the Apple world.

It's been shown in studies that people who believe strong in something (such as being of a certain political lean) tend to seek out things to reinforce their own believes while rejecting information that contradict their believes. It's easy to see why. If you believe in something strongly it feels good to read more about why what you believe in is right or is great. But it's a bit of a shock to your ego to have to see something that shows your believe to be wrong. You can see that reaction in any kid who did something wrong and try to explain it away to their parents with excuses. It doesn't feel good to be wrong.

A final thing is people tends to feel good when they get to say "I told you so". It's because it feels good (although people should realize it's a crass emotion) to be better than someone else.

So I think it all adds up to Apple fans who reacts strongly to any criticism of their "team" because 1) it doesn't feel good and 2) because the people from the opposite "team" often fight the same battle from the opposite side and saying in effect "I told you so to make themselves feel better. So then the Apple fans tries really hard to reinforce their own believes and try to get in some "I told you so" moments as well. And then it all snow balls and people stop thinking and just stick closer to their own believes.