4 ms·

And I fear this kind of crappy PC experience is a significant factor in why many people move to primarily using tablets.

tsm 14y ago
The problem with mobile devices is that when they are prefilled with OEM crap (mine came with Motoblur, Blockbuster, and several other terrible media-streaming apps), there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Windows may have a terrible default experience, but at least it's fixable.
- aristidb 14y ago
  OK, admittedly the fact that I stick to Google Nexus and Apple brand kind of makes me oblivious to the existence of all that crapware. But as far as I can tell, some people actually like what HTC and Samsung are doing with their Android.
  - nsp 14y ago
    The customizations that people like on android phones are usually the skins - touchwiz on htc phones and sense on samsung's. Many fewer people use/like the Verizon-specific app store or V-cast or whatever their proprietary video service is called these days, which are more directly equivalent to the crapware referred to in the article.
    - tsm 14y ago
      Every time I try to launch the turn-by-turn GPS on my Verizon Droid2, I get prompted to use vanilla Navigator or some Verizon crapware. Checking the box to make one the default does nothing. This is absurd.
  - mogrim 14y ago
    Go on then, tell me how I can uninstall Facebook and Google Goggles from my Nexus One? (Slightly tongue-in-cheek - my Nexus One is nothing like as bad as my Galaxy Tab for crapware that comes pre-installed.
- npsimons 14y ago
  You have heard of rooting and using something like TitaniumBackup to force remove apps, right? And of course, there's always the option of going with the clean versions direct from Google.
  - tsm 14y ago
    With my particular phone (Droid2 Global) you can't root if you've upgraded to 2.3. Nor can you downgrade to 2.2 and then root. Basically I'm just stuck on castrated Gingerbread for the life of the phone.
    - npsimons 14y ago
      I'm sorry. That's lame. I recently (finally) got my wife's phone rooted, and it was a pain. The whole experience has me considering writing a scathing critique of the the whole "just root it" culture of Android, which is, I have to admit, very similar to the responses here of "just wipe and do a clean install". It wouldn't be so bad, except that there is so much unintentional disinformation, broken links and general nastiness in trying to prevent people from messing with their own hardware. I've had easier times developing embedded software with sh!t BSPs! I blame not just the manufacturers (Samsung, I will never buy an Android device from you; between rooting my wife's Samsung phone and the Tab from work with it's non-standard port and refusing to charge off anything but the supplied charger, just no), or even the carriers, but the community really needs to get it's sh!t together.

tsm 14y ago

The problem with mobile devices is that when they are prefilled with OEM crap (mine came with Motoblur, Blockbuster, and several other terrible media-streaming apps), there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Windows may have a terrible default experience, but at least it's fixable.

aristidb 14y ago
OK, admittedly the fact that I stick to Google Nexus and Apple brand kind of makes me oblivious to the existence of all that crapware. But as far as I can tell, some people actually like what HTC and Samsung are doing with their Android.
- nsp 14y ago
  The customizations that people like on android phones are usually the skins - touchwiz on htc phones and sense on samsung's. Many fewer people use/like the Verizon-specific app store or V-cast or whatever their proprietary video service is called these days, which are more directly equivalent to the crapware referred to in the article.
  - tsm 14y ago
    Every time I try to launch the turn-by-turn GPS on my Verizon Droid2, I get prompted to use vanilla Navigator or some Verizon crapware. Checking the box to make one the default does nothing. This is absurd.
- mogrim 14y ago
  Go on then, tell me how I can uninstall Facebook and Google Goggles from my Nexus One? (Slightly tongue-in-cheek - my Nexus One is nothing like as bad as my Galaxy Tab for crapware that comes pre-installed.
npsimons 14y ago
You have heard of rooting and using something like TitaniumBackup to force remove apps, right? And of course, there's always the option of going with the clean versions direct from Google.
- tsm 14y ago
  With my particular phone (Droid2 Global) you can't root if you've upgraded to 2.3. Nor can you downgrade to 2.2 and then root. Basically I'm just stuck on castrated Gingerbread for the life of the phone.
  - npsimons 14y ago
    I'm sorry. That's lame. I recently (finally) got my wife's phone rooted, and it was a pain. The whole experience has me considering writing a scathing critique of the the whole "just root it" culture of Android, which is, I have to admit, very similar to the responses here of "just wipe and do a clean install". It wouldn't be so bad, except that there is so much unintentional disinformation, broken links and general nastiness in trying to prevent people from messing with their own hardware. I've had easier times developing embedded software with sh!t BSPs! I blame not just the manufacturers (Samsung, I will never buy an Android device from you; between rooting my wife's Samsung phone and the Tab from work with it's non-standard port and refusing to charge off anything but the supplied charger, just no), or even the carriers, but the community really needs to get it's sh!t together.