You make some good points but I, however, do not agree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tallest Skil 
Aw, man. I was all psyched for this to be a great post with a bunch of wonderful points.
I stopped reading here. That's an abject lie.
Apple is indeed a closed business model. And yes, you could argue Google being similar. But in the case of Android it is nowhere as close as Apple. In contrast and comparison to iPhone, Android as far more open.
"History" before 1996 is completely meaningless. Apple was a different company then.
History prior to 1996 of Apple is not meaningless. You are about to right smack back into the history with the death of Steve Jobs. So, in fact the history of Apple is more telling that one might want to admit. Apple has not been a phenomenal success in terms of business, not at least until the recent product create of the last ten years. It has a bad habit of starting a success and then self-imploding on it's own arrogance and refusal to loosen up. This is the Apple legacy and it will continue to be the Apple legacy. Go pre-iPod and you were looking at $23 a share in price... why? Because the Mac and OS X was not the big of a deal and that was the core business of Apple. Apple is no longer a computer company and has moved away from their core business but still carries over the same restrictive serious closed way of operating. If Apple does not continue to out innovate the rest of the market, which is an impossibility for any company over the long term including Apple if you review their history, they will find them back in the Newton days. Simply put, Apple creates great products... but they have been complete sh$t at business models, which a few rare moments in their history. And they have a nasty history of squandering those rare moments. Jobs came back to rescue Apple after leaving before. He is permanently gone now. if Apple slips again, and they likely will given their history, there is no recalling Jobs this time. No one other than the two steves have the passion for that company. The rest are all board directors and business people. Every time Apple landed under control of business people it wallowed in obscurity barely a functioning company. When the iPhone dries up what next? They better come up with something soon because their core computer business isn't there to support the stock price. Maybe Apple TV will rescue them. Anyway, this is the risk with close business models. The strategist of success is dead.
The difference between today and every single phone before 2007 is that this doesn't matter anymore at all. The carriers aren't in charge. They have absolutely no say. The manufacturer does. Apple paved the way for that. Screw the telecoms. If your phone's software company doesn't give you updates, you can't blame the telecoms.
Is this a point that really needs debate? If Samsung for example were responsible for the updates of their phones, and not AT&T or Verizon (even though they have to modify the updates to suit their customizations and etc). Who cares? I'm not here to debate this point. I agreed already that iPhone gets regular updates and Androids do not. That is the nature of the beast.
Problem is, that "premium hardware" is completely meaningless when the software on it is trash and runs slower than Apple's "not premium hardware".
Hardware and Software are a couple. The new hardware that Android phones receive generation after generation is not meaningless as the updates can be made on rooted phones to take advantage of the hardware. And to state that Android OS is trash is the comment from a zealous person. But I find it impossible to extend the capabilities of a piece of limited hardware very far through a software only solution. Android is flooded with premium hardware... that part of the equation is in place. So, you want to argue the merits of the OS (the software issues). Ok, well, like I said, much easier to advance the software sitting on top of premium hardware. Given enough time I think you find your argument to be pretty meaningless... especially with the release of 4.0.
Anyway, I'm not sure what you mean by trash since you did not spec out anything meaningful to discuss. But all my droids flawlessly handle flash content and all web content. I have over 5 web browsers installed on my most recent Droid. I have Iris and three other SIRI clones installed that work great. I have my phone rooted and running in the manner I dictated. I have full access to the entire file system of my phone. I have my phone connected as a client to my wireless network workgroup. I have my computer at home remotely controlled via VNC through my Android. I have full HD video capability with no delays, flickers or pauses or whatever. I have a choice of multiple App stores, music players, multimedia apps. I have several programming languages installed on my phone. I have plenty of VOIP (with video) apps that work fine. I have apps to monitor and control wifi traffic, celluar traffic, OS operations, temperature controls, sensor calibration and functionality, GPS calibration and functionality, Gmail, Maps, Voice command, voice search, text to speech, customized lock screen, boot up screens, home screens, folders on my desktop, unlimited ways to organize my home screen (desktop), I can load up alternative mods/OSs/Customizations, themes, icons, sounds, animations, animated home screens, animated lock screens, I can multitask while in a call, I can surf the net while in a call, I can text while in a call, I can run as many apps simultaneously as I need (while in a call), I can control all background apps, which load, which do not load, I can totally wipe the entire phone and replace it with any number of alternative OS's available out then if I choose to. I can control the file structure if I really wanted to. I set permissions on the file structure items (folders, files, etc), I can FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, SAMBA, SSH, whatever. I can manage certificates, I can so almost anything I choose to do. So, what is the problem?
The only problem is I don't receive period updates on the OS like iPhone does. So what? If I was a lame person who didn't use my phone like a computer that might concern me a lot. But it is easy enough to install Froyo, Gingerbread or Ice Cream sandwich on my own.
I understand for the average consumer that might be a bit daunting. And that is perfectly understandable... I do not debate that issue at all. And in that case I suggest they go with iPhone. But for openness, hardware capabilities and customization I suggest Android. What's the problem with that?
Like I said, I do not care what people choose. To each their own and whatever makes them happy. I'm just not happy with iPhone and that seems to really piss off a lot of people for some reason. I'm not pissed off at my iPhone buddies... instead I just find ways to make my Android work with their iPhones.
Like I said in my original post... Too many zealots. Get what you like and leave the rest of the world alone to get what they like. There is nothing wrong with iPhone and nothing wrong with Android. They both have pluses and minuses... just not the same pluses and minuses and that is a very good thing - it is called choice.
