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>Over the life of a typical contract, this amounts to less than 10% cheaper than an iPhone. Not a substantive price difference... and significantly inferior qua

>Over the life of a typical contract, this amounts to less than 10% cheaper than an iPhone. Not a substantive price difference... and significantly inferior quality. There are many people to whom $99 vs $0 up front would constitute a substantive price difference. And again... quality isn't a big factor for many, i.e. Mcdonalds (and the "quality" argument depends on use-case... voice search and turn-by-turn nav quality on Android, for example, are considerably superior). >If you don't believe me, buy an Evo 4G and try to use it all day for a few calls and occasional surfing or app use. It will be dead by 4:30pm. Yes, EVO is a battery hog unless tuned. Luckily there are other models of Android phone.

grandalf 16y ago
I don't think we disagree about the $99 upfront -- my interpretation of it is just that Apple has chosen to be a bit less aggressive than would be competitively optimal. As for quality, I'd argue that at least 9 out of 10 people would judge the iPhone 4 to be superior in quality (build quality, app quality, usability) compared to any Android phone if given each phone for a few months. You are correct about turn by turn, though the Mapquest 5 app for iPhone gives spoken turn by turn is 98% as good as Google's nav. Apple has really dropped the ball on nav and mail apps and that may account for 1 in 10 people preferring Android. A friend got the latest/greatest Android phone a few weeks ago and returned it due to abysmal battery life. I really don't think the issue has been resolved... Is anyone using these phones before they are released? Why don't they ship with a battery that will last a full day? Another friend using an Evo 4G is getting 2 hours per battery and carries around 3 batteries just to get through the day. I didn't test this, but I think based on his usage that an iPhone 4 would last a full day with his usage pattern.
- mcantelon 16y ago
  >I don't think we disagree about the $99 upfront -- my interpretation of it is just that Apple has chosen to be a bit less aggressive than would be competitively optimal. Well, looking at the graph featured in the article I'd say it's high time they get optimal. ;)
  - grandalf 16y ago
    I think it's a case of not wanting to risk messing with such a cash cow (it is resulting in strong profitability). I admit it is very perplexing... both why Apple hasn't responded with a $0 (with contract) iPhone, and why Google has allowed the Android experience to be so mediocre.

grandalf 16y ago

I don't think we disagree about the $99 upfront -- my interpretation of it is just that Apple has chosen to be a bit less aggressive than would be competitively optimal. As for quality, I'd argue that at least 9 out of 10 people would judge the iPhone 4 to be superior in quality (build quality, app quality, usability) compared to any Android phone if given each phone for a few months. You are correct about turn by turn, though the Mapquest 5 app for iPhone gives spoken turn by turn is 98% as good as Google's nav. Apple has really dropped the ball on nav and mail apps and that may account for 1 in 10 people preferring Android. A friend got the latest/greatest Android phone a few weeks ago and returned it due to abysmal battery life. I really don't think the issue has been resolved... Is anyone using these phones before they are released? Why don't they ship with a battery that will last a full day? Another friend using an Evo 4G is getting 2 hours per battery and carries around 3 batteries just to get through the day. I didn't test this, but I think based on his usage that an iPhone 4 would last a full day with his usage pattern.

mcantelon 16y ago
>I don't think we disagree about the $99 upfront -- my interpretation of it is just that Apple has chosen to be a bit less aggressive than would be competitively optimal. Well, looking at the graph featured in the article I'd say it's high time they get optimal. ;)
- grandalf 16y ago
  I think it's a case of not wanting to risk messing with such a cash cow (it is resulting in strong profitability). I admit it is very perplexing... both why Apple hasn't responded with a $0 (with contract) iPhone, and why Google has allowed the Android experience to be so mediocre.