Why I Switched from iPhone to Android
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1. crappy at&t service.
no argument here, except i've yet to find a cell provider that doesn't have crappy service (chicago), including sprint and verizon.
2. apple app store policies and requisite adobe/flash dig.
get over it. some people like consistent ui controls between apps (hello, HIG) for a less confusing user experience. and really folks, flash has never been allowed to be in the store, yet somehow they've built a 200,000+ app ecosystem worth > $4B in revenues.
3. I'd have to buy a new iPhone for 4.0
let's breeze past the android fragmentation topic. 3g, 3gs, and the to-be-name next version iphone are all capable of supporting 4.0. the author has a 3g.
Ultimately, my reason for switching can be summed up thusly: I used to feel that, to get the best smartphone software and hardware experience, I had to live in Apple's walled garden.
like the other points, this is highly subjective and up to each individual. in my opinion, having played with the droid, incredible, and hero, the best hardware/software experience is inside the apple garden.
"get over it"? why?
Can I be the judge of what kind of UI controls I like instead of Apple deciding for me? This hasn't be a problem with any Windows or Linux app I've ever used or any webpage I've ever visited. I guess I don't confuse easily.
And without those same app store policies holding them back, how long do you think it will be before Android passes Apple's ecosystem?
200,000+ is a lot of apps, but how many of them are "fart apps" or something equally as useful?
The $4B in revenue also sounds like an impressive number, how much of that money is because users had to pay for apps to make up for the lack of flash? And why does it matter to me how much money they've made? Isn't that part of the problem? At the end of the day the app store doesn't exist to serve users, it exists to make Apple as much money as possible, this motivates them to maintain as much control over it as possible no matter what the cost to users or developers is.
Because Apple care about the consumer, not some techie with a blog. What matters to techies means nothing to the average consumer.
It sounds to me like the sensible choice is not to stick with a company that doesn't care about you, but to switch to one that does. Which is exactly what he did.
Have you ever even bought an iPhone app? There's so much crap there with inconsistent UI.
http://wellplacedpixels.com/ is a site that showcases the "UI consistency" among many iPhone apps.
* I don't live in the San Francisco area bubble, so I get great service. The only time it was crappy was the one day I was on vacation in midtown Manhattan.
* I still have over a year left on my contract. But even when it's up, I'm going to stick with my iPhone until it dies. The only thing that would possibly get me to switch is if my monthly payments would be at least $20 less than what I pay now for the same level of service.
* What I really wanted in a smart phone is a good web browser, which the iPhone has. I do use a handful of apps from the store, but they're not essential to me.
* My whole family uses at&t, so free minutes. I talk with my brother in NYC for hours each week and no minutes are eaten up.
Saying all that, I'll probably won't be buying Apple products for a long time because of all the usual complaints.
BTW, my experience with NYC is that the bad spots seemed "localized". Up in Washington Heights where my brother lives service is fine. But maybe that neighborhood is the boondocks by Manhattan standards.
Genuinely curious. (Not interested in conspiracy theories or guesses, though. I can come up with those on my own.)
I popped over to SF for a week, taking with me my UK 3g iPhone. At no time did I have less than stellar reception from AT&T. I travelled from SF to San Jose or so, it seemed pretty solid to me.
Is the US version of the iPhone different hardware? :/ Maybe it's only crappy if you have a contract with AT&T? Maybe 'roaming' phones are given priority? idk...
We Are Not Making This Up; and it's not just iPhone customers.
Do you know if T-Mobile is any better in the mission?
Also I was at Google I/O, so there were probably 10,000+ phones all trying to get signals etc
And you're right, perhaps I'm assuming that my phone showing 5 bars actually means it has a strong enough signal to do stuff (Which is certainly the case in the UK) :/
The whole communications industry in the US seems like it needs a massive shake up from government to me.
I live in SF proper and get dropped calls in my house..
"Culprit in [San Francisco] Wi-Fi Failures: Chicken Wire" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126221116097210861.html
... this is the reason I'll jump ship as soon as my contract is up.
1. AT&T != iPhone. 2. People don't care about AppStore policy. 3. Flash isn't ready on ANY platform as demonstrated by others (search on youtube)
I'm eager to "jump on the Android bandwagon" but I have to figure out how to deal with the ETF on my current featureless Motorola phone with Sprint. Apparently replacing a broken phone resets your contract date.
What? This is legal in the US? oh dear...