I never said that people who like Apple products are luddites. I like Apple products myself and am typing this reply on an Apple device. I actually meant that people who make such a big deal out of not being able to switch platforms due to 'ecosystems' and 'ooh it synchs so well with my Mac' etc, are luddites. As for Android phones, why do people keep making out that you *have* to customise them? You can use them straight out of the box without any customisation. One of the benefits of Android is that you CAN customise a lot of things, but that doesn't mean you need to or indeed have to. You talk of simplicity and what you actually mean is familiarity. Android does pretty much everything that iOS does, but you obviously don't like change or are perfectly happy where you are, and like so many Apple users you erroneously slate Android as being less able or less user friendly when that really isn't the case at all.
I like both platforms and can see the pros and cons of both platforms from a completely unbiased and informed perspective. It bugs me when others aren't informed or are biased for no good reason than that they are familiar with one like an old and comfy pair of boots. Liking Apple products, being happy with iOS and not wanting to switch to Android is perfectly fine, but making out that it is a much better platform is out of line. You just prefer it and it doesn't mean that the alternative is lacking in any way. I don't even own an Android phone, so I'm not defending my purchase here. The same competitor bashing goes on in the Android forums too. Over there iOS is lambasted in much the same way that Android is here. I'm fairly neutral and can see the positives to both platforms. There are some terribly lame arguments against Android here though.
I think "customization out of the box" is often confused with "setup out of the box".
From my experience (owning both platforms, liking both platforms), I spent far more time "setting up" my Nexus 5 than I did my new iOS devices. The simple truth is there is a robust backup and restore system via iCloud for an iPhone. No such option exists natively within Android. Rumors are its coming to stock/GPE devices with Android L - and it would be most welcome - but I think that's where the hang up lies.
It's not that one has to customize to be able to use. I keep my Nexus 5 as stock as possible. I like to experience Android as stock Android without skins and often without launchers/themes. Though when my Nexus 5 arrived, I had to go through the arduous task of setting up all my email addresses and various accounts, installing all my apps, rearranging my home screens and widgets etc
When the iPhone 6 comes out, I'll simply sign in to iCloud and restore from my latest iPhone 5S backup (backups happen automatically when plugged in and connected to wifi, which for me is every night). I've got good wifi, so I can set it down for maybe 10 minutes while it brings back all my apps, settings, pictures, accounts etc and puts them all exactly where I left them on my old device.
Its a feature Android sorely needs. I get why - it'd be a huge task to make something that worked for all the various skins and such out there - but at least give the stock Fandroids the same type of feature. Think about it - the ability to restore from a snapshot of your device in time. Honestly, it would be way more useful on an Android than iOS device. I could have backups of various arrangements and could switch automatically to them whenever I wanted without having to manually rearrange.
Hopefully we'll have it come this fall.
