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People will never line up for Android phones
- vegai 16y agoBecause Android users are smarter? Oh, sarcasm. That's original.
- erikpukinskis 16y agoThis is probably referencing John Gruber's quote from http://daringfireball.net/2010/12/emotional_rescue http://daringfireball.net/2010/12/emotional_rescue: "There will never be an Android phone that people line up for like they did for Windows 95 — or like they do today, once or twice a year, for major new products from Apple." I like Gruber. I think he does some great analysis sometimes. And he loves to call "gotcha" on other peoples' "claim chowder". But his love for Apple gets the better of him sometimes, and I doubt he will call himself on this.
- codelust 16y agoAgreed on all points with the exception that Guber actually gets it more or less right on that one. Apple products do have a huge emotional appeal to it. The price for which is weirdly, both the cause and effect at the same time. Most people who buy Apple will continue to buy Apple (they are already buying products that are not cheap by any means, so cheaper Android phones won't do much to dampen that enthusiasm). Fact is that most people won't line up to buy Android and certainly not as many as Apple fans. Does that mean Android won't sell - hell, no. It will only sell more. Most of the complaints about Android from Apple fans seem to be on the lines of - "hey it is imperfect and a lesser phone but why does it still sell?" For the Android fan club it seems to be a case of itching to see Apple in trouble. People seem to forget a very basic fact: it is just a phone :)
- wyclif 16y agoSo the goalposts have moved from "won't line up for an Android phone" to "most people won't line up for an Android phone." Progress. Duly noted.
- dk 16y agoLet's not mince words. Gruber wasn't insisting that no human being would ever line up for an Android phone.
- codelust 16y agoHey, I am not setting any goalposts here. Also, using people-lining-up-at-stores as a metric is useful only as a measure of passion/lust you feel for the device/brand. Does not serve any other purpose, IMHO. I am an Android user with a Galaxy GTI9000 and pretty happy with it. So it is not like I am batting for Apple either. To summarize: Apple has a passionate user base, Android may not have an user base that is passionate to the same extent. In any case, long lines outside stores don't amount to much - the Palm Pre is a good pointer in that direction.
- tjogin 16y agoI'm not sure the original goalpost was at "nowhere in the world will even one single line be formed of people wanting to buy an Android phone". I think it was at "people won't line up for an Android phone", which is a more general statement, which is still true. He's talking about things that tend to happen, not claiming that it will never EVER EVER EVER happen even ONCE.
- InclinedPlane 16y agoNobody's putting words into Gruber's mouth, he said "there will never be an Android phone that people line up for like they did for Windows 95". Taking it down a notch from there he meant "there will never be an Android phone that people feel extremely passionate about". He's wrong on both counts already.
- tomjen3 16y agoIt's not just a phone, it's a classic case of people's need to separate themselves into groups (I am an x user, he is an y user) and then battle it out against those who pose a threat to our tribe, and to say negative things about those who are outsiders, while saying positive things about our fellow tribesmen. It's the same thing that happens with football teams, rival schools, those who insist "in America, we speak English", etc.
- codelust 16y agoVery true, I was just wishing it was otherwise. Both are fine platforms and miles away from the horror show mobile devices used to be half-a-decade ago.
- davidw 16y agoIn some cases, there is a legitimate worry about a market being 'winner take all', in which cases the positive network externalities will force even unwilling people onto a platform.
- tomjen3 16y agoTrue, but that doesn't seem likely to happen now, unless someone writes a killer app and refuse to port it to the other platform.
- davidw 16y agoI agree that it's not likely, as Apple seems basically happy with the market the way it is, rather than pursuing the market for cheaper phones. If they were everywhere, they might not have the same cachet...
- Anechoic 16y agoand I doubt he will call himself on this. He's not above admitting mistakes: http://www.google.com/search?q=site:daringfireball.net+%22i+was+wrong%22& http://www.google.com/search?q=site:daringfireball.net+%22i+...;
- borism 16y agopersuaded me that I was wrong I was wrong (or at least myopic) technically, I was wrong raises the possibility that I was wrong etc.
- sudont 16y agoHow is “persuaded me that I was wrong” anything other than an explicit admission of the other person’s correctness?
- borism 16y agowell, perhaps if Gruber wasn't of such a high opinion of himself he wouldn't need persuasion to convince him that sometimes he's wrong?
- ElliotH 16y agoLet's assume that he doesn't say anything online he doesn't believe is true. Let's also assume that anything he believes is true is because he has thought about it and is confident that he is correct. Based on these two assumptions, why would he not need persuading that he is wrong?
- codexon 16y agoBased on your assumptions, he is arrogant for making such a ridiculous prediction in the first place. He is pretending to know the buying preferences of millions of people along with the performance of every designer in the future that could make an android. If it came out of anyone else's mouth but John Gruber, no one would care.
- andreyf 16y agoI'm not sure if there's anything to call Gruber on. Microsoft spent a pretty penny on the Win95 launch, as does Apple for their launches. Google and the hardware manufacturers who produce Android devices simply haven't run their launches the same way, and I don't see any reason for them to start.
- oemera 16y agoApple never paid for any hype or something else. Remember the days before iPhone 4 launched? Heck it was even on my local boulevard newspaper. And no Apple didn't pay anything for it. I think people just care about what is coming next from Apple cause they are bringing amazing products. Each year when a new iPhone launches there is something no-one even thought about, how amazing this could be but Apple is just not thinking about it they are making it real and available. To be honest I'm a happy Apple customer but I'm also a Android developer so I know both sides and both platforms well.
- Tichy 16y agoApple never paid for marketing?
- chollida1 16y agoHave you never seen an Apple iPhone commercial. Between that and the iPad, they seem to be about 1 out of every three commercials that were on leading up to the launch of those products.
- andreyf 16y agoNot sure why you're getting down voted, as we seem to be of the same mind re: Apple's value. When it comes to my day-to-day utility of the device, I still find my iPhone 3GS unsurpassed (although I carry around an EVO for tethering & a Nexus S since launch to give Gingerbread a fair side-by-side with iOS4). That said, while no one doubts Apple's mastery of getting free press is quite impressive (Jobs sitting on Disney's board might help; having been CEO of Pixar, as well), I imagine Apple still spends a lot of money on their product announcement events compared to Google, and much (much!) more for branding (e.g. product placement: Google it for examples, they're impressive).
- ams6110 16y agoI guess there might be a social aspect to it, but it's absurd to stand on line to purchase a commodity piece of hardware.
- zdw 16y agoUnless you're going to resell it for a profit, which is quite common in China.
- sliverstorm 16y agoI suspect it's largely a carry-over from the excitement of camping out for movies or game releases of yesteryear, which was 10% impatience and 90% friends & palatable excitement.
- artpop 16y agoI'd say there's probably a bit of patriotism at work here.
- alexbosworth 16y agoDifferent standards here in China - people were literally fighting with the Apple store employees when the iPhone 4 came out
- andreyf 16y agoSource: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-store-in-china-shuts-down-2010-9 http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-store-in-china-shuts-do...
- tsotha 16y agoGetting a few thousand people to line up in a country of 1.3 billion doesn't seem all that impressive to me, actually.
- zdw 16y agoAgreed. Two stores, 60 people at 6AM at each? Compare to the lines at every Apple store for a major launch (300+ for the iPhone 4 at the local store), or for any video game console launch at nearly every retailer that sells them in the entire US (usually 30-100 in front of every BestBuy/Walmart/etc.). No comparison.
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- patrickaljord 16y agoFrom the pics it looks like there were much more than 60 people though.
- fleitz 16y agoThats why you hire a good photographer and claim huge lines from places where your readers aren't in order to claim people are lining up for something that you could download off the internet.
- rbanffy 16y agoActually lots of people lining up on the early morning (or the night before) just to get the latest and greatest gizmo ever impress me a lot. Negatively, that is.
- ck2 16y agoI think the real news here is there is a growing middle-class of consumers in China that can also afford $400 luxury devices. I'm more worried about their (less regulated) growing car purchases but it's still something to consider as we compete for resources (and jobs).
- fleitz 16y agoThe amount of resources at our disposal is not fixed, nor are the number of jobs. I don't compete with the Chinese for a job, I create my own. Also, Americans don't compete with Chinese for jobs, 1 individual person competes with 7 billion other people for jobs. China v. America is just a way to convince people that jingoistic nationalist policies are a good idea.
- ck2 16y agoI am barely educated on this issue but what you are saying seems counterintuitive. Oil resources are fairly fixed (for plastics and fuel) while China just makes contracts for more and causes our prices to rise for fuel. The majority of jobs in the USA would appear to be service based for our own consumption while the majority in China seem to be manufacturing for consumption in the USA and elsewhere. We restrict commerce to Cuba but have an overflow of goods coming mostly from China, to the point where they own most of our debt. Why didn't we build up Mexico as the manufacturing capitol of the world so at least our continent would benefit from the stability the jobs would create? I am not "anti" China, just saying we are still asleep at the wheel about their world economic power and their rising middle class is the cherry on top.
- fleitz 16y agoThe amount of oil resources is fixed upon a price point and technology level. At $1000 a barrel there is a lot more oil in the world than at $5. With improved recovery systems there is more oil in each well, etc. With 17KM drills there is still more oil. At $140 per barrel there is more oil in Alberta than in Saudi Arabia. Oil reserves are proved out at a given price point. Exxon will not look for oil that can be extracted at $250 per barrel because that price point is not on the near term horizon. I personally doubt we'll ever hit an inflation adjusted $250 per barrel because of the substitutes available at that price point.
- zdw 16y agoLooks as close to an iPhone as possible, as with most other Meizu products: http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/15/meizu-m9-christens-site-launch-with-full-specs-list/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/15/meizu-m9-christens-site-l... Combine the fact that these are probably being sold exclusively through those 2 first party stores, it being a holiday, and that there's a thriving resale market (people buying the maximum number of phones they can, then turning them around on the internet), I'm not surprised. Edit: People even line up for bags of all the extra overstock junk they throw in bags at Apple's stores in japan: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/01/01/apple-lovers-in-japan-camp-out-for-lucky-bag-sale/ http://www.tuaw.com/2011/01/01/apple-lovers-in-japan-camp-ou... Not comparable, IMHO.
- alphabeat 16y agoCan't you just accept that it is in fact, somewhat comparable? I mean, you just compared it yourself.
- drivebyacct2 16y agoAnd why do we care? Yes, a lot of yuppies go out and buy iPhone 4s so that they can be cool. They'll never install more than 3 applications, will pay out their ass for texting and will be perfectly happy flashing their iPhone to their friends. Meanwhile, 4 more Android phones are activated without any excitement, where the respective user also probably never installs a wide range of apps and pays the carrier's exhuberant SMS fee. Is Gruber suggesting, or am I supposed to buy the notion that the emotional appeal of a product is some sort of important measurement? Who's activating more phones, who's making the revenue. I'll never stand in line for an Android phone, I won't even stay up late to press "Buy" on when the purchase link goes live for the HTC Thunderbolt. It will still be there and will ship at the same time if I order it at 8am.
- tlack 16y agoI think his suggestion is that the Apple experience is so much better that it is worth forming emotional attachment with the company, and that this is something Android will never be able to provide.
- drivebyacct2 16y agoI'm indicting the linkage between the "Apple experience" and launch day lines. I don't think the launch day lines are made up of the people who really want the iPhone experience versus the iPhone brand image.
- codyguy 16y agoPeople shouldn't have to line up for any phone. I own an iphone but I'd never line up for it.
- slantyyz 16y agoIt's probably got more to do with the excitement of getting something "new", which for some people represents "fun". That's why people lined up for Wiis, XBoxes and Kinects.
- elvirs 16y agoWell, what can I say, it turns out people like lining up.
- rbanffy 16y agoAnd gullible people were never in short supply.
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- est 16y agoChinese here. To be honest, it's a very smart marketing strategy for Meizu. Lots of people preorder M9 phones months earlier, and Meizu just calls everyone that their phone is available on a particuliar day, so there are tons of people line up on Meizu M9 launch day.
- dotcoma 16y agoI don't understand these people (nor people who line up for an iPhone). I wouldn't line up like that even if they were distributing admission tickets to 'heaven'.
- jodrellblank 16y agoI don't understand people who upvote comments like this. "Yes, please encourage more comments saying "I don't understand X". Not understanding things is praiseworthy and deserves upvotes. So is an attitude of being dismissive and superior based on said not understanding".
- dotcoma 16y agoso, me not understanding stupid people who line up to buy a stupid phone: not praiseworthy. you not understanding my comment or those who up-vote it: praiseworthy. Please explain :)
- jodrellblank 16y agoPlease explain But I don't think you are "not understanding" anything. You know damn well people line up for new phones because they are excited about them and want to be the first in their group of friends to own one, or want to get them on eBay while there's leverage of scarcity. You are not expressing confusion and puzzlement, or asking anything, you are only posting to signal that you are better than the people who line up for phones, and people are upvoting you in shared feelings of superiority. My comment is also a similar lie - I do understand yours really, but I was mimicking your comment style.
- foljs 16y agoEmm, this is China. There are lines 2 times like these for the salad bar stand at most restaurants.
- lwhi 16y agoWant more people in your nightclub? Make them queue...
- known 16y agoAndroid phones are draining battery very quickly.
- ceejayoz 16y agoAs does any device with a large screen, reasonably fast processor, and tiny form factor. There's only so much room available for a battery.
- edw519 16y agoAndroid's problem is that it has no problem... People Who Buy Cell Phones | | . . | . . | . . | . . | . . | . . | . . | . | | . |________|__________________|__________ Those | The great | Idiots who | masses who buy | who stand don't | what their | on line buy | friends bought | all nite
- Qz 16y agoExactly. Everyone I know who isn't a tech-head has a droid. Every tech-head I know who isn't a mac user has a droid.
- SapphireSun 16y agoI have a mac at home and I have a droid.
- Qz 16y agoA careful reading of my comment will reveal that that does not contradict what I said :)
- dannyr 16y agoI live in the Bay Area and are spending a few weeks in DC. We always hear that Android is for geeks but based on what I've seen from people in DC, it's not. Among my friends in DC who has Android: dentist, doctor, accountant, sales manager. None of them are geeks. This is the problem with tech blogs from Silicon Valley and people from area in general. We make conclusions based on what's happening in the Bay Area but we are very different from the rest of the US and the world. We live in a bubble.
- eli 16y agoMost normal people aren't going to switch carriers for a phone. And most people aren't on AT&T. It's pretty much Android or the free flip phone.
- shareme 16y agocheck china news..they are in fact lining up for Android in China..Gruber is wrong as usual.. There are 12 news reports this morning in Google News..about Chinese lining up for android devices..
- sandGorgon 16y agoCan the reason also be lack of forced obsolescence? I have a HTC Magic (also known in the US as a Mytouch 3G). It is a first generation Android phone. I thought about upgrading recently and was beginning to look around. What I did instead was to download the latest version of Cyanogenmod (and contribute some of the money saved to the project). I can actually say that I am putting off upgrading for the second half of 2011. Has the Android space become synonymous with Windows XP ? Because I now see people upgrade phones to play Angry Birds (which I cant on my phone). IMHO, a large upgrade happened in the PC world around the time Doom3 and Half Life 2 were released - so instead of people lining up for Android phones, they instead line up (figuratively) for the next killer game ... it would still be a solid reflection of the platform.
- FiddlerClamp 16y agoWe got this back in August for the Galaxy S in Toronto: http://mobilesyrup.com/2010/08/06/samsung-galaxy-s-vibrant-apparently-had-a-lineup-this-morning/ http://mobilesyrup.com/2010/08/06/samsung-galaxy-s-vibrant-a...
- andreshb 16y agoAre people lining up because it's Android or because it's Meizu? It may likely be that Meizu built their brand enough to cause the lines, not Google's Android.
- cormullion 16y agoI suspect that they're lining up to see Jack Wong. I hadn't heard the name before, but it seems he's a bit of a draw all by himself: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/how-the-enigmatic-jack-wongs-like-apple-to-the-core-20100916-15e9t.html http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/how-the-eni... "Every time (Wong) makes a comment on his company's online forums, there's this groundswell of pandemonium around those posts." so perhaps it's not so much the phone that they're going to buy...?
- code_duck 16y agoIt makes sense that people would not line up for Android phones and would for iPhones. There is only one iPhone, and a new one only comes once every 12 or 18 months. There are 100 Android phones, and a new one comes every month. The suspense and excitement just isn't the same.