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Comment by jkincaid | Hacker News Reader

I did suck it up and switched to Android. It isn't painless. I now like Android better than iOS, but you need to change your muscle memory and learn where various options are. And all of the apps and content you purchased on iOS are no longer accessible, which is the real pain-point.

These things weren't difficult for me, but they're a pretty big hurdle for 'normal' people. If Amazon pulls the Kindle app, a user is probably more likely to "just switch" to iBooks as opposed to a different platform that supports Kindle. Which is apparently what Apple is counting on.

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I've gotten to see a bunch of people switching from iOS to Android, plus a bunch of people upgrading from a feature phone to Android. If Android is the first smartphone you see, it seems natural to you. If you're used to iOS, it's harder to switch. It took me 3-4 weeks before Android felt natural and the iPhone felt alien to me.

Oh, come on. None of these things even existed a few years ago. People are consumers and will adjust to whatever is the newer, better tech.

That's not how people's brains work. When Mom first sees a smartphone, it's a cool new thing. Yeah, there's a learning curve, but it's new, so that's obvious. She'll deal.

Fast forward three years. Mom has developed a lot of habits and expectations. Time for a new smartphone. When Mom buys a new smartphone, if it works differently than the one she had before, it is confusing and you just can't do anything with this piece of crap and why oh WHY can't it just be like her old one?

And asking people to just throw away everything they own and buy it all again? Not only should that extra cost factor into your decision, there's a wealth of evidence that people irrationally weigh sunk costs more heavily than they should.

I do not find the Mom argument particularly compelling. Humans are some of the best things at learning on the planet.

(From reading HN, I'm starting to believe that I must be one of the blessed few with a Mom who is not a complete jackass).

If she wants to switch (and she will if she can no longer get the things that she wants), it will get bitched about for 2 weeks, then she will figure it out and you'll never hear about it again. This is some sort of squeaky wheel confirmation bias.

This is not about my mom, who is in fact a pretty plucky lady when it comes to technology, and I don't think it's confirmation bias. I'm speaking from my experience supporting lots of people who fit the general archetype of the Mom who had never used Macs at a job before.

In my experience, it takes more than two weeks before they stop missing the other way of doing things. The violation of their expectations bothers them to such a degree that it interrupts the part of their brain that would otherwise help them learn the system. They might learn eventually, but they will have to be dragged there kicking and screaming.

Depends on how many books these normal people have in their Kindle libraries. 15 or more and buying a Kindle seems the obvious choice.

'normal' people?

Normal people is a pointless term. You may as well just say people.

Saying 'These things weren't difficult for me, but they're a pretty big hurdle for people.' would sound horrible and arrogant, but at least it would be honest.

You, and the author of this article, shouldn't use such a lazy and condescending phrase.

what do you mean pointless? if you find "normal people" condescending you'd probably be shaken to know that i actually prefer "muggles".

to be blunt, i can't even find the arrogance in the quote you fabricated. are you suggesting that people who are considered tech savvy don't have an easier time navigating new technology?

'Muggles' I prefer, at least it's sincere. The problem I have with the term 'normal people' is that it is a polite way of referring to 'the unwashed masses'.

Which isn't a polite thing to say no matter how you phrase it.

In the context of this article in particular, in order to bolster a flawed argument, 'normal people' are presented as people so stupid as to be unable to comprehend a second brand of telephone.

This is simply untrue, and to imply that people don't have the power to choose between two products, because 'normal people' are too stupid to use more than one type of phone is absurd.

If you have a problem with Apple's 30% cut of in app purchases, that's fine. But please use something a little more substantive than a silent, and most likely non-existent, underclass of sub-humans as your justification.

ah. well said, i misunderstood your point. and agree. though i think the concern with "normal people" as a phrase specifically is still misdirected. it is a concept that warrants some word or phrase, and there is no harm intended.

in fact, i know several "normal people" who'd probably prefer considering themselves "normal people". at the very least, as opposed to "computer nerds". which incidentally is a term i've never found offensive.

I'm probably being a bit too pedantic.

I just don't see why the author would choose to use the loaded term 'normal people' instead of just 'people'.

edit: Unless he was being lazy and hanging his argument on an unfair caricature.

Which I believe he was.

Whoah! Settle down there. "Normal" is not an offensive term, unless you yourself deem geeks to be superior.

He is the author of the article.

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