Comment by dlsspy | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dlsspy | Hacker News Reader

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> He has an iPhone, a Macbook, and a Mac Mini. He loves the fact that iTunes ties them all together, and wouldn't get a different phone because of it.

I have a macbook, mac mini, iPad and formerly used an iPhone. iTunes was the worst part of that.

I simply never plug any of that stuff into my computer unless I really need to get photos or something off of it. That's a usability pain. It doesn't help that I have more music than can fit on my computer, so I also have to hook up an external drive whenever I use iTunes.

Every one of my Apple devices has high speed internet service any time I'm using them.

I carry a Nexus One now. My calendars, contact lists, etc... are always up to date. Things Android doesn't ship with are alway up-to-date, such as my instapaper offline reading list, twitter, RSS feeds, SMS and voicemail from google voice and other junk.

And speaking of integration, the fact that my browser is notified of my SMS and I can respond from there is just awesome. And when I do respond from my browser, the message is marked as read on my phone. Apple is just way behind here.

+1. I absolutely love my Nexus One (we have iPhones in our family) and I believe that N1 represents the "next generation" of mobile devices, if you will. iPhone is stuck in the past - it requires a computer to be fully operational: a few months ago we went overseas and I wanted to put more stuff on it to listen/watch on the plane, but the people we were staying with only had a Linux laptop - iPhone was as useful as brick.

Too bad N1 isn't available anymore: the overall experience/quality you get is incredible, plus absolute carrier independence, user experience and overall value: $60/mo for everything on T-Mobile without a contract, including tethering and cheap international calling via Google Voice, and yeah - proper utilization of Internet, without the need to sync with the most retarded piece of software ever known (iTunes). It even plays music to my stereo via Bluetooth: every time I walk into my apartment and experience the song transition from my headphones to my stereo I think "F&&& yeah, the future is here".

If the iPhone is stuck in the past, then Android devices are stuck in the future. It would be nice if I could transfer all my data from an Android device directly to my computer without having to send it to any third parties. iTunes may certainly be a bloated, unwieldy piece of software, but it offers some powerful functionality missing from the Android platform.

As for A2DP stereo over BlueTooth, the iOS platform now supports that as well, though there may still be some limitations that make it less practical than the Android equivalent (possibly a lack of standardized method for controlling the music playback via BlueTooth - not sure if that's been added yet).

In the best case we would have the choice to sync over the cloud or via a computer. Given the hard choice of cloud vs PC, I'll take PC syncing everytime - I don't like having to go through a 3rd party for privacy and reliability reasons, not to mention that my business travels often take me to places where the cloud isn't ubiquitous yet (for example I'll be working for 5 days on a project in northern NH were there is no cell coverage).

YMMV of course but the cloud model doesn't work for me right now and while I may be in the minority, I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Android and the N1 are a good combo. My problem with your statement is that other than activation the iPhone doesn't ever have to be plugged into a computer. Your example only shows that iPhone support on Linux is a not perfect, not that a computer is required. I download music and apps all the time directly to the phone, no computer required. My contacts, calendars and emails are all synced to the Google cloud that then syncs back to my mac.

iPhone support is better on Linux than on the Mac. At least the last time I checked plugging an iPod and iPhone into a friend's Mac or PC gave you the option to play the music on the device via iTunes on the computer or wiping it.

Android (and any other device that treats itself like a memory stick) will show up and let you drag'n'drop audio, video, photos in both directions etc. Obviously this drag'n'drop can also be automated by a suitable (1st or 3rd Party) iTunes-like client or a shell script etc.

I believe modern Linux support will at least let you access iP* files as if it were a drive, I think putting things on can be tricky because Apple locks it all down with encryption.

> the future is here

And unfortunately, the masses seem to not care very much. That's the sad part. I have a similar experience with my N1, and I experienced it a lot when I went from G1 back to my iPhone for a bit. I was strangled by all the things I couldn't do anymore.

iPhone -> N1 I lost, um, PvZ and the Chase bank app that just came out. Basically, third party apps. Nothing from Apple.

+1 This more or less mirrors what I just said. The Nexus One is a tragedy not because the phone itself is bad; in fact it is quite the opposite - The Nexus One is a tragedy because it is the best smartphone on the market and Google/HTC/T-Mob didn't bother to tell anyone about it.

And also because its failure (from a sales perspective) will further entrench the dysfunctional model of subsidized phones that are deliberately crippled.

i agree. i love my nexus one too. it got me off blackberry which iPhone never could

I have a macbook, mac mini, iPad and formerly used an iPhone. iTunes was the worst part of that.

I agree that iTunes is terrible, but for some reason, he loves it. I can't figure out why. But I think there are more people like him than there are like you or me.

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