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The iPhone is slick. Its got an amazing UI for a mobile device. The input is clever. Its very shiny. But having had one for about 2 years, 1 year of which it w

by dca 17y ago

The iPhone is slick. Its got an amazing UI for a mobile device. The input is clever. Its very shiny. But having had one for about 2 years, 1 year of which it was only about 60% functional due to an "insensitive" touch screen, and having lived with the less than friendly support staff, I'm pretty confident in saying that's about as deep as it goes. Its very shiny. Its designed to look pretty in Walmart and in AT&T stores and in Apple stores. Its designed to have nifty little IMHO useless widgets that impress your friends in 2 minute water cooler conversations. But when it came time for me to finally buy a new phone, there was no way in hell I was buying an iPhone. Thus, this article surprises me in no way. I had no interest in developing for the thing as soon as I read the license agreement, especially after having used it for a while. It would seem to me there's a huge opportunity here for someone else to come in and blow the doors off of them, in terms of developer friendliness, openness, support, price, etc... but in searching for a new phone I didn't see anyone clearly better.

stanleydrew 17y ago
Android doesn't do it for you?
darshan 17y ago
It would seem to me there's a huge opportunity here for someone else to come in and blow the doors off of them, in terms of developer friendliness, openness, support, price, etc... but in searching for a new phone I didn't see anyone clearly better. Have you not heard of Android? Developer friendliness? Check. Openness? Check. Support? Check. Price? Check. Google is spectacular in all of these regards. Android is open source, and Google is throwing serious weight into making things extremely easy for developers. It's not without its problems, but I give it an 'A' in every area you brought up.
- dca 17y ago
  You're absolutely right - for the points I explicitly listed Android is probably fine. My problem with the Android was different - I couldn't seem to get my hands on one. Plus I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of switching to T-Mobile anyway. Also, I merged a bunch of ideas together and probably rushed that reply. I'm horrible at posting to forums like this because I almost never get up the nerve to do it. Anyway, if Android was more available (i.e. if the O/S was adopted by a major cellphone manufacturer like a Nokia or Motorola across many different models on multiple carriers), and I could have easily got my hands on one, I would have bought that instead. But as far as I know its only available at T-Mobile, and only in the form of the G1, and was only maybe available at this one T-Mobile store that was quite a drive from here. Many other phones are easily available within a very short drive, so that's what I ended up with.
  - darshan 17y ago
    Yeah, lack of options is currently a problem — but not for much longer: there are around 20 new Android phones expected by the end of the year. < http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/28/google-expects-18-20-android-handsets-this-year/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/28/google-expects-18-20-an... > I'm guessing at least half will be available in the U.S. I'd also wager that, if not by the end of the year, then at least by next summer, all major carriers in the States will have multiple Android phones to choose from. So things are moving in the right direction; when you're ready for your next phone, I think you'll be very pleased with your options.
- kaiser 17y ago
  Developer friendliness/ support? I only played with the first Android release so far. Yet, honestly, for me the Iphone developer documentation and support seem by far better. Openness? Why do I still have to jailbreak and unlock an Android phone, when it is so open? (Rhetorical Question) Price? Yes, check if you want phones with really bad battery lifetime (so far, let's see when a decent phone comes out, I might reconsider). Btw, is it true that you can only use the phones if you have a google account and that there are several phone home features in the phone?

by dca 17y ago

stanleydrew 17y ago

Android doesn't do it for you?

darshan 17y ago

It would seem to me there's a huge opportunity here for someone else to come in and blow the doors off of them, in terms of developer friendliness, openness, support, price, etc... but in searching for a new phone I didn't see anyone clearly better. Have you not heard of Android? Developer friendliness? Check. Openness? Check. Support? Check. Price? Check. Google is spectacular in all of these regards. Android is open source, and Google is throwing serious weight into making things extremely easy for developers. It's not without its problems, but I give it an 'A' in every area you brought up.

dca 17y ago
You're absolutely right - for the points I explicitly listed Android is probably fine. My problem with the Android was different - I couldn't seem to get my hands on one. Plus I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of switching to T-Mobile anyway. Also, I merged a bunch of ideas together and probably rushed that reply. I'm horrible at posting to forums like this because I almost never get up the nerve to do it. Anyway, if Android was more available (i.e. if the O/S was adopted by a major cellphone manufacturer like a Nokia or Motorola across many different models on multiple carriers), and I could have easily got my hands on one, I would have bought that instead. But as far as I know its only available at T-Mobile, and only in the form of the G1, and was only maybe available at this one T-Mobile store that was quite a drive from here. Many other phones are easily available within a very short drive, so that's what I ended up with.
- darshan 17y ago
  Yeah, lack of options is currently a problem — but not for much longer: there are around 20 new Android phones expected by the end of the year. < http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/28/google-expects-18-20-android-handsets-this-year/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/28/google-expects-18-20-an... > I'm guessing at least half will be available in the U.S. I'd also wager that, if not by the end of the year, then at least by next summer, all major carriers in the States will have multiple Android phones to choose from. So things are moving in the right direction; when you're ready for your next phone, I think you'll be very pleased with your options.
kaiser 17y ago
Developer friendliness/ support? I only played with the first Android release so far. Yet, honestly, for me the Iphone developer documentation and support seem by far better. Openness? Why do I still have to jailbreak and unlock an Android phone, when it is so open? (Rhetorical Question) Price? Yes, check if you want phones with really bad battery lifetime (so far, let's see when a decent phone comes out, I might reconsider). Btw, is it true that you can only use the phones if you have a google account and that there are several phone home features in the phone?