Google is leapfrogging Apple
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The most obvious of these to me is text entry via touch screen. There can be no claims of leapfrogging until I can use an android device's touch screen to SMS someone without pulling (what little is left of) my hair out.
Next is the whole activity response/switching thing. Yes, blah blah, tradeoffs for multitasking, whatever. Why not have a way to turn off non-system multi-tasking in favor of super lightning quick responsiveness on android? It's enough to almost throw the phone across the room when you are trying to answer the phone and key presses don't register.
In terms of industrial design, there have been no great leaps by any of Google's hardware partners - Every single android handset I've used has felt like a cheap, disposable piece of junk (G1, Hero, N1) or a giant tank (Droid) compared to the first generation iPhone. I haven't played with the incredible yet, so I still have hope, but not much.
Google and Apple have taken two different approaches to mobile. Google is trying to throw as many different features into android in as short a time as possible, and Apple is set on perfecting each detail before incorporating more. This is fine, it's two different philosophies.
After my prolonged experiences with the G1 and the original iPhone, I'd much rather live day to day with software and hardware that has been developed to Apple's design and usability standards. (I'm talking about the system software here, not 3rd party apps) I hope in the coming year Google has a chance to go back and spend time polishing what they've accomplished so far instead of continually heaping feature upon feature onto android.
If Google can get back to user interaction basics and stop mucking around with some of their other tangents, they could make android great, not just passable.
Or maybe I was just too abused by my time with the G1 to judge this argument fairly anymore, definitely possible.
This is almost certainly what you are used to. I haven't had any difficulty with my nexus one. The iphone drove me to insanity everytime I tried to type on it.
>Every single android handset I've used has felt like a cheap, disposable piece of junk (G1, Hero, N1)
Everyone I know who has seen the nexus one in person found it much more attractive than the iphone. (sampling bias, yadda yadda)
>Or maybe I was just too abused by my time with the G1 to judge this argument fairly anymore, definitely possible.
That's the only reasonable explanation I can come up with for your post. (I feel your pain on that one. ;)
What I was used to before I got the G1 was a Samsung Trace, which could not be considered any sort of "smart phone". No Qwerty keyboard, tiny screen, etc. I did not actually use the original iPhone until about a year ago when a friend gave me an unlocked 2G when she got a 3GS.
I don't know much about the subject of text input, but there are two distinctly different implementations between android and iPhone. Android tends to be more predictive, but less enthusiastic about what it thinks you mean, and hence less corrective. I find the more decisive autocorrect on iPhone OS to work out much better for me. It's less about picking out words from a suggestion list and more about just banging away on the keyboard and trusting the software knows what I mean.
I find the predictive measures work better; the keyboard is more responsive (texting on the iPhone was an exercise in frustration: oftentimes the keyboard would lock up, preventing input).
My only complaint is that its a little too easy to accidentally hit the home key.
And really... I've got three apps running in the background and no sluggishness. In fact, I have never seen this phone lag (even when playing super Nintendo on the train).
Only complaint with typing in web forms is that it doesn't follow the cursor quite right.
Written from mobile :-)
I own an iPhone 3GS as well as a Nexus One. I prefer the N1 and a lot of it comes down to the fact that the iPhone feels like a bar of soap in my hand just waiting to take a flying jump towards the ground. It's a slippery thing.
That single thing was enough for me to use the N1 more, and now I find the iPhone hard to use (in the same way that once I stopped using Nokia years ago I couldn't go back to it).
1) They are comparing two different things, an open OS vs an OS tied to one company.
2) Google didn't surpassed anybody. FroYo hasn't been released yet and they are comparing them to a phone that is going to be updated in two weeks. FroYo has tethering, but iPhone has tethering since 3.0, if AT&T doesn't allow it, it isn't Apple's fault. And I'm not sure how free that wireless hotspot will be. FroYo is faster, but nobody knows if faster than OS 4.0 on the new iPhone. They presented wireless sync, but nobody knows if Apple will introduce the same in two weeks. After all, they bought Lala for some reason. Maybe it's just me, but I like to compare shipped products, not demos and announcements.
Otherwise I tend to agree, there are no devices shipping with Froyo so saying it has surpassed a shipping and soon-to-be-updated product is a bit silly.
And the nexus one is available on at&t.
Ergo, I will be able to tether my phone on at&t.
Right?
This is it right here. What can I buy? What is reality? Talk is cheap.
Its way better to talk about what you've done (even if it was a while ago) than to talk about what you will (never) do.
Even in light of the iPad?
These days, the platform war is the tablet form factor, and the iPad is definitely cheaper than anyone really expected. I have yet to see an actual competitor, in terms of price, software, and retail locations.
So sure, it's a land grab right now. But I wouldn't confuse that with true product innovation. They're just taking it step-by-step. And I'm sure the iPad still maintains their margins, although it seems cheaper. (my hypothesis as to why it has no camera, cleaning cloth, included slipcase, etc.)
Iterative improvement and innovation are not mutually exclusive. Just like with the iPhone (which had no app store at launch, and would be boring by today's standards,) most of the iPad's innovations are ahead of it. You don't have to revolutionize a market right off the bat to be innovative.
Obviously Apple wants market share too, but I've seen no indication that they're willing to prioritize it over high margins.
What would the articles say about them? Microsoft may regain relevance in the market when the first version of their new smartphone OS is released months from now? That's about all there is to say.
Just sayin'. ;-)
But you know - the iphone/ipod Touch - it took me 10 seconds to figure out how that stuff worked.
I had to ask my friend to show me how to navigate around his android based phone with all it's buttons and gestures and whatnot...... I can definitely see more possibilities wiht the android - but Apple still has them beet on the Mom test.
Nothing is this simple in real life.