4 ms·

No we don't ... if you take a theoretically open Android system but buy it from Verizon, you'll find low-quality bloatware and unresolvable data issues just lik

by smoyer 14y ago

No we don't ... if you take a theoretically open Android system but buy it from Verizon, you'll find low-quality bloatware and unresolvable data issues just like those described in the article.

bitwize 14y ago
And that, kids, is why you want to look for a rootable, reflashable phone. Don't look at me like that. My sister's phone is rooted. Same for the guy at Radio Shack who sold me my last phone. Neither of them know shit about how to do it, but they got someone else to. Rooted and re-ROM'd smartphones are a pretty hot commodity these days.
- danudey 14y ago
  So in order to get a good Android phone, I should find someone who 'knows a guy' who can do some magic to my phone to make it not suck?
  - killnine 14y ago
    Please, find me an android device that DOESN'T have a one-click root. Download Windows/mac app, connect phone to machine, launch app, click one button. Phone is rooted. Satisfaction? Download terminal emulator. Type 'su'. Own
  - bduerst 14y ago
    Or just do it yourself. It's worth it
  - SkyMarshal 14y ago
    Or just buy the Google version.
  - jerf 14y ago
    To be clear, you need to find a guy who will undo what the phone company did to it. This is Google/Android's fault the same way that it is Microsoft/Window's fault that the Acer you bought from Best Buy is nigh-unusable due to everything it's trying to run when you first boot up, and "some guy" needs to come in and clock some serious time in the Uninstall dialog before it'll be really usable. (If indeed everything will uninstall correctly.) It's actually the fault of the last person to own the box.
    - shinratdr 14y ago
      > This is Google/Android's fault the same way that it is Microsoft/Window's fault that the Acer you bought from Best Buy is nigh-unusable due to everything it's trying to run when you first boot up... That isn't Microsoft's fault because they've already been slapped with an anti-trust lawsuit over exercising that kind of control over Windows. They theoretically have the power to enforce such a restriction but choose not to in order to cover their ass. Considering the various payouts they've made to governments for telling OEMs what to do, it's hard to blame them. However it is Google's fault because they have no such restriction with Android. As the scuttled Acer Alibaba launch demonstrated, Google has no qualms about exercising its power in a potentially destructive way to bully their partners into toeing the line. They get final approval of what ships on the phone, the design, and the changes to Android. If they don't like what they see, they can revoke access to the core Google apps like Gmail and Market, making it essentially an AOSP device. The Skyhook investigation taught us all that. So in other words, Google has the power. They use the power frequently. They also are not in legal hot water over exercising the power. However, they won't exercise the power to benefit you because they value their close relationship with carriers way more than they value you as a customer. Mainly because you're not really a customer, as an Android user you're the product being sold to advertisers. There is no reason to give Google a pass on this one. They are the only ones with the power to stop carrier and manufacture bloatware from ruining the phone, and they deliberately choose to ignore it because maintaining relationships with hardware partners and carriers is more important to them than your experience with the phone. That's the bottom line.
  - rbanffy 14y ago
    Or you can just google for the instructions. Preferably, before you buy the phone.
- killnine 14y ago
  That is what I am talking about - every few months I feel like I just purchased a new phone. And I didn't ! First I go OS shopping, and by shopping I mean browsing, comparing, and Not purchasing anything and download whatever I want. Next, I just back up my app's data with Titanium, boot into Recovery, do a full system back up, flash the new OS, and boot out Recovery into the new OS. And I'm not talking about slight variations in OS. I am talking magnitudes of speed, efficiency, settings & themes, and some are so much smarter than others. Looks and feel as well. It's great @ImprovedSilence I have a tbolt - and I promise that just this morning I was saying "I don't deserve my phone - it is too good to me" ... fast, beautiful, can do anything (run ubuntu, backtracks, run ANTI) and most importantly, the phone is a tank. Been dropped a million times, been spilled on, I admit I am rough with it. But it just keeps truckin..

by smoyer 14y ago

No we don't ... if you take a theoretically open Android system but buy it from Verizon, you'll find low-quality bloatware and unresolvable data issues just like those described in the article.

bitwize 14y ago

And that, kids, is why you want to look for a rootable, reflashable phone. Don't look at me like that. My sister's phone is rooted. Same for the guy at Radio Shack who sold me my last phone. Neither of them know shit about how to do it, but they got someone else to. Rooted and re-ROM'd smartphones are a pretty hot commodity these days.

danudey 14y ago
So in order to get a good Android phone, I should find someone who 'knows a guy' who can do some magic to my phone to make it not suck?
- killnine 14y ago
  Please, find me an android device that DOESN'T have a one-click root. Download Windows/mac app, connect phone to machine, launch app, click one button. Phone is rooted. Satisfaction? Download terminal emulator. Type 'su'. Own
- bduerst 14y ago
  Or just do it yourself. It's worth it
- SkyMarshal 14y ago
  Or just buy the Google version.
- jerf 14y ago
  To be clear, you need to find a guy who will undo what the phone company did to it. This is Google/Android's fault the same way that it is Microsoft/Window's fault that the Acer you bought from Best Buy is nigh-unusable due to everything it's trying to run when you first boot up, and "some guy" needs to come in and clock some serious time in the Uninstall dialog before it'll be really usable. (If indeed everything will uninstall correctly.) It's actually the fault of the last person to own the box.
  - shinratdr 14y ago
    > This is Google/Android's fault the same way that it is Microsoft/Window's fault that the Acer you bought from Best Buy is nigh-unusable due to everything it's trying to run when you first boot up... That isn't Microsoft's fault because they've already been slapped with an anti-trust lawsuit over exercising that kind of control over Windows. They theoretically have the power to enforce such a restriction but choose not to in order to cover their ass. Considering the various payouts they've made to governments for telling OEMs what to do, it's hard to blame them. However it is Google's fault because they have no such restriction with Android. As the scuttled Acer Alibaba launch demonstrated, Google has no qualms about exercising its power in a potentially destructive way to bully their partners into toeing the line. They get final approval of what ships on the phone, the design, and the changes to Android. If they don't like what they see, they can revoke access to the core Google apps like Gmail and Market, making it essentially an AOSP device. The Skyhook investigation taught us all that. So in other words, Google has the power. They use the power frequently. They also are not in legal hot water over exercising the power. However, they won't exercise the power to benefit you because they value their close relationship with carriers way more than they value you as a customer. Mainly because you're not really a customer, as an Android user you're the product being sold to advertisers. There is no reason to give Google a pass on this one. They are the only ones with the power to stop carrier and manufacture bloatware from ruining the phone, and they deliberately choose to ignore it because maintaining relationships with hardware partners and carriers is more important to them than your experience with the phone. That's the bottom line.
- rbanffy 14y ago
  Or you can just google for the instructions. Preferably, before you buy the phone.
killnine 14y ago
That is what I am talking about - every few months I feel like I just purchased a new phone. And I didn't ! First I go OS shopping, and by shopping I mean browsing, comparing, and Not purchasing anything and download whatever I want. Next, I just back up my app's data with Titanium, boot into Recovery, do a full system back up, flash the new OS, and boot out Recovery into the new OS. And I'm not talking about slight variations in OS. I am talking magnitudes of speed, efficiency, settings & themes, and some are so much smarter than others. Looks and feel as well. It's great @ImprovedSilence I have a tbolt - and I promise that just this morning I was saying "I don't deserve my phone - it is too good to me" ... fast, beautiful, can do anything (run ubuntu, backtracks, run ANTI) and most importantly, the phone is a tank. Been dropped a million times, been spilled on, I admit I am rough with it. But it just keeps truckin..