Just being a bleep disturber here. I like to debate this issue I've got a real hate-on for Apple. I use one everyday at work, but I don't pay to use it. 3 times the price for a MacBook Pro compared to a comparable PC. It's not 3 times better, that's for sure. As an avid Android user, I can only guess that a person that loves the iPhone is someone that's so technically limited in knowledge that they need Cupertino to tell them how they should use their product. The lack of customization in on iOS is astonishing, yet they sued Samsung because of pinch to zoom technology and phones with curved edges. I haven't contributed in this site much, but this is a debate that really gets me going. I can tell there are a lot of graphics people on this site, I'm one too. But we're talking about for personal uses. Personal computing is quickly moving to the mobile realm and Apple is falling behind in the mobile realm very fast. Thoughts?
Other than the Marketshare argument? The iPhone 5 was Apple's first LTE phone. They still don't have NFC. (granted NFC's practicality is limited at this point) The iPhone 5 wasn't as fast as the Galaxy S3 which was already out, it was equal to the S2 which had been out for over a year. No ability to expand memory with an SD card. No ability to replace a battery. Only having access to one central button would be very frustrating for me. Where's something comparable to Google Now? Siri isn't comparable at this point. What about customizable launchers? You can forget about that right? There are some Android launchers that make the phone operate more like an iPhone, if you want that. When the GS4 was being unveiled a few weeks ago someone from Apple said that you need several logins to get the same experience as Apple, which is a bold-face lie. Once you have a Google account you can do most things on an Android Phone. The biggest thing IMHO that destroys iOS over Android is the fact they don't have widgets that actually make using your phone easier depending on what apps provide widgets.
I switched from an HTC Evo 4G to an iPhone 4S earlier this year, and I've been very happy with the change.
Essentially your knock against Apple's iPhone is that it sucks out of the box and you can't customize it? You've just described Android as well, seeing how you feel the need to bastardize the product straight out of the box because you know better.
I have an S3 and an Ipad. I think the S3 is the better product but they both work really well. The future for Microsoft seems pretty bleak considering what they keep trotting out though (Google and Apple clearly better at everything).
Well, being an AVID Android user, I have to say...some people either don't want, or don't know how to customize their phone. No arguing that the iPhone works very nicely right out of the box, and lets be honest, not much that it won't do right out of the box. That being said, I have had zero problems with my Android, have been using it coming on 3 years and it is absolutely AWESOME...but that is just me. In regards to PC. There is also no arguing that Apple has some performance advantages to Apple, CISC being MUCH better than RISC for starters. I personally use PC, but that is primarily because I drive CAD for a living and don't have a choice. IF I did, chances are very good I would switch to Mac. Funniest thing is, if Jobs and Wosniak had been smart about marketing, we probably would all be driving MAC instead of PC. Anybody that was using both at the time realized that Microsofts first real breakthrough, Window's 95, was a DIRECT rip-off of Mac OS. Gates, more than technology, understood that by letting anybody write compatible software would earn him the market...and the rest is history.
So everyone enjoys technology the same in your world? You can use a stock Android launcher without widgets and multiple dock pages. But you can enhance that experience by customizing it. The newest Touchwiz for Jellybean has a really simplified layout that basically shows you all the important features with no need to customize. But I think that's boring. You're actually proving the argument that Apple fans are just Sheep that like whatever Apple gives to them. It's pretty arrogant to think one way is the best way to do something when it comes to mobile computing, that's why there are endless possibilities with Android.
That is part of it. Cost is another...and truth be told, people are starting to get tired of having to constantly keep up with the Jones' and get stuck in the mile long line to do so. I can buy the latest greatest Android anytime anywhere. Part of Apple's marketing genius is also part of their problems. That being said, I still can't talk negatively about iPhone. I prefer Android, for many of the reasons you outlined, but I also understand why people would prefer an iPhone instead. Viva la differance....
Good for you. That is your choice. That's what you want. That isn't what I want. You aren't everybody. Just like I am not everybody. Perhaps Apple isn't the only one showing their arrogance?
Apple does not suck. It is in business to be profitable, not to cater to geeks. They sell a product that works perfectly out of the box because they control everything. The consumer who doesn't want to play with computers buys it. If it doesn't work, they give you another one at the Apple store. You can use it and depend on it without any technical savvy whatsoever. That's what Cupertino is selling, not the ability to customize. And a lot of people are buying, including myself. I have an Android phone that I no longer use. At home I run networked Linux boxes that talk to my PCs and an Intel-based Hackintosh I built for fun. I don't need Cupertino, but for business, I'm glad to have it. If your creative juices get stagnant because Apple won't let you play, just jailbreak and run stuff from Cydia, if you don't mind the crashes.
apple makes good products. Having said that they are neither as innovative or worth the amount they charge. Apple is a brand. That's it.
I switched from Android to Apple and back to Android because I felt similarly even after doing things to it that apple doesnt like us doing.
This is interesting Matt, cause I remember a chat you and I had right when I bought my Android.... you had just swtiched to iPhone... I guess the more things change...the more they stay the same I LOVE my Android. Wouldn't trade for anything... I have actually been due for a refresh for Hmmm... like 9 months now. Until something major goes wrong with it, I won't, and when I do, it will be another HTC Android. There literally isn't anything it won't do...oh, and 95% of the apps are free In general, lets not discount that iPhone has indeed done some very very innovative things (Sorry Lucky, I don't agree). As often happens, the rest of the market was either right with them, or have caught up...but lets face it, I certainly did. The first iPhones were coming out when Palm Pilot and Blackberry's were the thing. I had both. Top of the line both. Neither could hold a candle to the first iPhones....
Android is beating Apple on price for a simple reason: They use a Linux Kernel, which means license fees are non existent, they also have (or had) no in house programmers, they simply farm out apps and accept apps for sale or free done by third party programmers. Upside is it keeps the cost down, downside sometimes those apps don't work as well as planned.
android is open source and portable. so it's kind of hard to say they are "beating" apple. Having said that, yeah they should be beating apple haha.
Especially having kids, I have downloaded LOTS of apps. Probably in the range of 5-6 dozen. I have never had a problem with any of them. The first part is indeed what got Apple in trouble back in the 90's. They kept everything proprietary whereas Gates and Peter Norton opened up to everybody that wanted in. Of course, that worked out pretty well for Microscum
I have had an iPhone, multiple versions, since they first came out, and iPads, and IPod-touches long before that. I don't experience crashes more than once a month. sometimes I go months without a crash. The price is certainly as issue with Apple products, but I think you get what you pay for. I can't speak for the Android products, never used them, but if you're going to make the argument that MacBooks aren't worth it because you can get a PC laptop for 1/3 the price, those cheaper PC laptops are pieces of crap with respect to durability IMO.
When it comes to operating systems for computers, (for the non programmer/developer) Apple monkey stomps Windows. Its not even close. And I have honestly never come across the average computer user in my life that switches back after going Mac.
Perhaps, even then though it apple was touted for ease of use. I also don't care for the OS replacement model, seems like a cash grab.