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There’s a distinction here between choosing and tinkering. This is the crux of the argument. That choice is bad, and the people who like Android actually like

There’s a distinction here between choosing and tinkering. This is the crux of the argument. That choice is bad, and the people who like Android actually like tinkering, and don't really like customization, and it's just wrong. I personally use my phone more than any other non-work device, and I love having it personalized to make everything I do often easy to access, and put everything else to the background. I chose the best phone for me out of the very few real contenders on the market, I chose to replace my OS with Cyanogenmod, chose Nova Launcher, chose my layout and shortcut gestures, and chose my default keyboards as Google's English and Japanese keyboards. I haven't touched any of these for a couple of months, with the exception of replacing a couple of the gestures. Phone usage differs a ton between individuals, and I'm glad I didn't lock myself into a one-size-fits-all solution.

enraged_camel 13y ago
I know I'll get downvoted to hell for this, but the problem with Android can be explained with the well-documented phenomenon called the Paradox of Choice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More_Is_Less http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More... Basically, the more choices you have, the less happy you are, regardless of whether you notice it or attribute it to having those choices.
- Nerdfest 13y ago
  You don't have to make any of these choices though. I'm not sure why people keep thinking you have to make any choices, other than perhaps which device has the features you want.
- freshhawk 13y ago
  This is a poor application of the principle. You don't have to make this choice repeatedly so the effects are negligible. Sure, it might apply to constant tinkerers but they are a tiny fraction of the actual users. The rest of us might feel less happy setting it up than if we hadn't been allowed to set it up, because of the mental effort of making a large number of small choices. But then you get to use a phone for a long long time that is suited to your needs and will be more happy because that small bit of one time unhappiness has increased your happiness during day to day use. It's why, I assume, I keep hearing about a solution to the paradox of choice in the canonical example, food shopping, that consists of picking your favourites and then just buying those all the time instead of scanning the shelves making a new decision every time. You don't avoid the paradox of choice problem by allowing other people to arbitrarily pick things for you, that's a pretty ridiculous overreaction to an issue that is concerned with long term repeated making of choices.
  - pdonis 13y ago
    You don't avoid the paradox of choice problem by allowing other people to arbitrarily pick things for you Exactly.
- Guvante 13y ago
  Does the paradox of choice really apply? The vast majority of users run most of their stuff stock, and are fine with that, thus they are not affected by the Paradox of choice (remember that the crux of the problem is having to chose, stock is not typically a choice but a non-choice). I think the important distinction for choice vs tinker is how you find the option to choose. Going in order of preference: optional choice > no choice >>> forced choice. Having no choice is a lot better than being forced to choose, but being able to choose has its advantages. I personally frame the android thing as "If I don't like it I can change it". I have found that helps even with problems I can't solve, by being able to look at alternatives I actually consider the value of what I am annoyed about, and sometimes decide the downsides are a logical compromise.
interpol_p 13y ago
> This is the crux of the argument. That choice is bad, and the people who like Android actually like tinkering, and don't really like customization, and it's just wrong. I think you do qualify as a tinkerer, at least in comparison to most people I know who use phones. You have optimised your phone for your use by making technical choices, and it's probable that if improvements are made in the future, you will consider them and incorporate them into your workflow. Ten years ago, I used to optimise my Windows and Linux PC for my use. Made everything perfect — the way you describe. From the UI layout, associated tools, extensions. I would set it up and make it perfect, perhaps every year or two I would incorporate improvements or drastically change something. I was definitely a tinkerer, even though I went through long stretches of not touching a "perfect" setup.
HNLogInShit 13y ago
The fact that you had to basically hack your phone with Cyanogenmod shows what a fraud Android has turned out to be. Instead of freeing us from the tyranny of proprietary OSes dribbled out by carriers and hobbled by their shitware, it is in fact a clinic on this exact practice. Google failed to establish a proper abstraction layer and reference platform that would allow users to update their OS on the day of release without breaking compatibility with drivers or whatever other encumbrances are required for each phone. The fact that users wait weeks or months (or forever) for updates is pathetic and absolutely antithetical to what this "open-source" OS was supposed to represent.

enraged_camel 13y ago

I know I'll get downvoted to hell for this, but the problem with Android can be explained with the well-documented phenomenon called the Paradox of Choice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More_Is_Less http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More... Basically, the more choices you have, the less happy you are, regardless of whether you notice it or attribute it to having those choices.

Nerdfest 13y ago
You don't have to make any of these choices though. I'm not sure why people keep thinking you have to make any choices, other than perhaps which device has the features you want.
freshhawk 13y ago
This is a poor application of the principle. You don't have to make this choice repeatedly so the effects are negligible. Sure, it might apply to constant tinkerers but they are a tiny fraction of the actual users. The rest of us might feel less happy setting it up than if we hadn't been allowed to set it up, because of the mental effort of making a large number of small choices. But then you get to use a phone for a long long time that is suited to your needs and will be more happy because that small bit of one time unhappiness has increased your happiness during day to day use. It's why, I assume, I keep hearing about a solution to the paradox of choice in the canonical example, food shopping, that consists of picking your favourites and then just buying those all the time instead of scanning the shelves making a new decision every time. You don't avoid the paradox of choice problem by allowing other people to arbitrarily pick things for you, that's a pretty ridiculous overreaction to an issue that is concerned with long term repeated making of choices.
- pdonis 13y ago
  You don't avoid the paradox of choice problem by allowing other people to arbitrarily pick things for you Exactly.
Guvante 13y ago
Does the paradox of choice really apply? The vast majority of users run most of their stuff stock, and are fine with that, thus they are not affected by the Paradox of choice (remember that the crux of the problem is having to chose, stock is not typically a choice but a non-choice). I think the important distinction for choice vs tinker is how you find the option to choose. Going in order of preference: optional choice > no choice >>> forced choice. Having no choice is a lot better than being forced to choose, but being able to choose has its advantages. I personally frame the android thing as "If I don't like it I can change it". I have found that helps even with problems I can't solve, by being able to look at alternatives I actually consider the value of what I am annoyed about, and sometimes decide the downsides are a logical compromise.

interpol_p 13y ago

> This is the crux of the argument. That choice is bad, and the people who like Android actually like tinkering, and don't really like customization, and it's just wrong. I think you do qualify as a tinkerer, at least in comparison to most people I know who use phones. You have optimised your phone for your use by making technical choices, and it's probable that if improvements are made in the future, you will consider them and incorporate them into your workflow. Ten years ago, I used to optimise my Windows and Linux PC for my use. Made everything perfect — the way you describe. From the UI layout, associated tools, extensions. I would set it up and make it perfect, perhaps every year or two I would incorporate improvements or drastically change something. I was definitely a tinkerer, even though I went through long stretches of not touching a "perfect" setup.

HNLogInShit 13y ago

The fact that you had to basically hack your phone with Cyanogenmod shows what a fraud Android has turned out to be. Instead of freeing us from the tyranny of proprietary OSes dribbled out by carriers and hobbled by their shitware, it is in fact a clinic on this exact practice. Google failed to establish a proper abstraction layer and reference platform that would allow users to update their OS on the day of release without breaking compatibility with drivers or whatever other encumbrances are required for each phone. The fact that users wait weeks or months (or forever) for updates is pathetic and absolutely antithetical to what this "open-source" OS was supposed to represent.