Absolutely correct. And why is your comment being down-voted? I haven't been on HN very long, but from what I see I'm afraid the number of fanboys (and fangirls) is coming up pretty fast. That's a real pity.
From the submitted article: "The major flaw in how Android has been declared the victor is the misconception that the hardware manufacturers and carriers that support Android act as a unified front."
This fits my experience as a user. I have had an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S 4G on the T-Mobile network) since June 2011). It has been frustrating to realize that my "Android" user experience is not the same as someone else's user experience, because both the handset manufacturer and the network carrier have modified the phone so that it doesn't behave just like other people's Android phones. I have been on the same network for more than a decade, having brought a GSM phone into the United States from my last foreign residence, and I never felt I had any reason to shop for a different network, on multiple trips to other parts of the country, until I got my Android phone. And my wife has a Samsung feature phone that she likes very well, so I was initially inclined to trust the Samsung brand (I had previously used Motorola handsets, as that is the brand I started with overseas).
My experience with Android, which I tell all of my friends about, is that I can't count on usability, I can't count on features that worked well on my last handset working on my Android handset, I can't count on battery life at all, I can't count on speedy Android upgrades (Gingerbread came quite late to this model on this network), high-speed data connections get consumed rapidly by the phone unless I shut down useless app notifications, and I just generally don't enjoy my "smart" phone as much as I enjoyed my first "dumb" phone.
Here on HN, other participants report good experiences with Android phones, some by installing the Cyanogen mod and others by choosing the Google-branded handsets. I'd be happy to hear more stories about what Android trade-offs are the most helpful and pleasant for the user. But for the moment, I am SERIOUSLY considering making my next mobile phone upgrade a switch to a new network and purchase of an iPhone. I don't hear about as much hassle from the many iPhone owners I know as I do from my fellow Android users. If the user experience isn't plainly superior, the Android ecosystem can't count on keeping users.
What do all of you think? Would I be a chump to switch to the iPhone, or a chump to stick with Android? When I buy consumer products, I like to feel like I'm enjoying some consumer surplus, not like I'm being a chump.
Category error, no? Android is an OS, iPhone is a phone.
So: Android is on more phone units sold than iOS, but the iPhones are the most successful phones in the market.
Meanwhile in tablets... iPad and iOS are both wiping the floor with the competition. We'll see if that continues when the competition gets its act together. (Really: Amazon is the undisputed number two, not a Dell nor a Nokia in sight.)
6 comments
[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 23.4 ms ] threadAnd by the same reasoning, Windows isn't beating Apple, because Apple is bigger than any individual PC retailer.
Contrary to popular opinion, Android is an OS and iPhone is both iOS and associated Apple hardware.
If you don't think an article belongs then flag it and move along.
This fits my experience as a user. I have had an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S 4G on the T-Mobile network) since June 2011). It has been frustrating to realize that my "Android" user experience is not the same as someone else's user experience, because both the handset manufacturer and the network carrier have modified the phone so that it doesn't behave just like other people's Android phones. I have been on the same network for more than a decade, having brought a GSM phone into the United States from my last foreign residence, and I never felt I had any reason to shop for a different network, on multiple trips to other parts of the country, until I got my Android phone. And my wife has a Samsung feature phone that she likes very well, so I was initially inclined to trust the Samsung brand (I had previously used Motorola handsets, as that is the brand I started with overseas).
My experience with Android, which I tell all of my friends about, is that I can't count on usability, I can't count on features that worked well on my last handset working on my Android handset, I can't count on battery life at all, I can't count on speedy Android upgrades (Gingerbread came quite late to this model on this network), high-speed data connections get consumed rapidly by the phone unless I shut down useless app notifications, and I just generally don't enjoy my "smart" phone as much as I enjoyed my first "dumb" phone.
Here on HN, other participants report good experiences with Android phones, some by installing the Cyanogen mod and others by choosing the Google-branded handsets. I'd be happy to hear more stories about what Android trade-offs are the most helpful and pleasant for the user. But for the moment, I am SERIOUSLY considering making my next mobile phone upgrade a switch to a new network and purchase of an iPhone. I don't hear about as much hassle from the many iPhone owners I know as I do from my fellow Android users. If the user experience isn't plainly superior, the Android ecosystem can't count on keeping users.
What do all of you think? Would I be a chump to switch to the iPhone, or a chump to stick with Android? When I buy consumer products, I like to feel like I'm enjoying some consumer surplus, not like I'm being a chump.
So: Android is on more phone units sold than iOS, but the iPhones are the most successful phones in the market.
Meanwhile in tablets... iPad and iOS are both wiping the floor with the competition. We'll see if that continues when the competition gets its act together. (Really: Amazon is the undisputed number two, not a Dell nor a Nokia in sight.)