4 ms·

I've got an iPhone, iPad, and MBA. In an abstract sense -- that is, all other things equal -- I'd like to swap them out for non-Apple products. I dislike Appl

by jmduke 13y ago

I've got an iPhone, iPad, and MBA. In an abstract sense -- that is, all other things equal -- I'd like to swap them out for non-Apple products. I dislike Apple's software, their entire "magic/creative/yadda-yadda-yadda" branding, and of course their price tag. But the app ecosystem and hardware to me seem absolutely incomparable. I can't see myself ever switching my phone or tablet because it seems as though iOS apps are just unapproachably better than Android counterparts -- and there aren't any laptops as functional and, yes, straight-up pretty as the MacBook Air. (The reason the author cited for switching from Apple was two failed laptops. For what it's worth, my previous laptop -- a Dell -- broke every six months or so. [I had four-year insurance, thankfully, and replaced it once the insurance ran out.]

jccalhoun 13y ago
I switched from ipods and ipod touches to android and I can't really see myself going back any time soon because of the ability to tweak and customize android. I don't miss any apps from ios and I don't think I have ever felt like an android app was worse than an ios version.
- Legion 13y ago
  I'm of the same mind. I switched from the iPhone to Android because I was dissatisfied with the tiny iPhone screens, but I expected a quality drop-off in apps. The drop-off, in the instances where it does exist, is not nearly as dramatic as advertised. It's pretty small, really, which has me looking at switching my tablet from iPad to an Android tablet as well. Plus, on Android, I have a browser with functioning plug-ins (Firefox). iOS's app ecosystem doesn't seem so great when it fails so dramatically at perhaps the most important app: web browser.
- astrodust 13y ago
  It's like switching from real orange juice to Fanta. Some people won't notice, and some people will like it better. The problem with Android isn't the OS, it's the stupid number of hardware configurations possible that make fine-tuning the application to the screen virtually impossible. Most applications, even the best, are still rough around the edges compared to their iOS counterparts. If you want tweaking and customizing, Android is the only way to go.
wyager 13y ago
I would ditch Apple in a heartbeat if I felt that anyone could provide a similar hardware experience. I'm not just talking about CPU/RAM/Graphics card (yes, I know I can get a slightly better deal with non-Apple hardware), but everything else as well. Apple displays are beautiful and completely free of defects, Apple trackpads are incredible, the computers are ridiculously thin (my new ThinkPad is twice as thick as my MBP), the battery life is incredible (my early 2013 MBP gets 5-6 hours, new MBPs get 10-12 hours), etc. The hardware is just great. I don't understand why no one else can make hardware like this. Re. failed laptops: I had to take my last MBP in for repair something like 8 times in 6 months. Totally unacceptable. Most of the time it was for something they botched during the last repair. However, Apple gave me store credit for the purchase price of the laptop and then some, so I'm happy. I do beat the shit out of my laptops, so I'm sure someone who was more gentle would have better luck.
- skinnycow 13y ago
  Lenovo X1 Carbon (wait for the X3 or the revised Haswell X1) Nexus 5 Done.
- usaphp 13y ago
  > I would ditch Apple in a heartbeat... Why would you ditch it in a heartbeat if you think that: - Apple displays are beautiful and completely free of defects - Apple trackpads are incredible - Apple computers are ridiculously thin - The battery life is incredible - The hardware is just great --- It's like saying I would ditch my wife in a heartbeat, but her face is super pretty, her body is perfect and her heart is a heart of angel...but I would still ditch her in a heartbeat...
  - skj 13y ago
    Maybe you and your wife have fundamental differences in beliefs about how people should live their lives?
  - jasonlotito 13y ago
    Pretty sure the problem is what he is describing is purely the hardware, but doesn't equate that with a heart of gold. What he's saying is that she's beautiful, but he doesn't like her personality. Basically, he's ditching her because he's not superficial.
coldtea 13y ago
>I dislike Apple's software In what sense? Does it run slow? Does it not give you enough options? I've used Linux on and off, from RedHat 5 (circa '97) to the latest Ubuntu. Heck, I've even worked with CDE and such on Sun and HP boxes before Linux. Have also used Windows. Besides political reasons, I haven't seen anything compelling enough to move over. I have all my commercial software (from Adobe to MS and beyond), I have most UNIX cli stuff, and if I want hardcode unixy stuff I can do it an a VM with Vagrant (as I would on a Linux system anyway, why pollute my desktop with project specific dev installations?). I've tried Gimp -- it's no match for Photoshop, and I prefer Pixelmator and Acorn for lightweight stuff. I also try Open Office every couple of years -- it remains mostly as it was 15 years ago, and has added cruft and slowlyness to it (why it needs a JRE I don't even...). Pages, Numbers and Keynote are fine for my needs -- the only time I need something more it's when I need more MS Office compatibility, and there OO doesn't cut it either. I also dabble in multimedia, and nothing on OSS comes close to Logic and FCPX. And I've been keeping an eye on the DAW space in Linux since before there was Jack and ALSA. Heck, even Mail.app has no much of a competition. If you like clunky, you can go for Thunderbird. >The reason the author cited for switching from Apple was two failed laptops. For what it's worth, my previous laptop -- a Dell -- broke every six months or so. I never understand this reasoning. Don't people understand that there are faulty shipments in all production runs? I've had AMD CPUs overheat, IBM disk drives fails, Toshiba laptops crap out, etc. I've also had Apple stuff die on me. Those things happen.
- busterarm 13y ago
  I don't know. Mail.app does a lot of things that are pretty nonsensical. It's easily the buggiest OS X app that I use b y about 10 to 1. I'm not saying Thunderbird is an alternative though. For all the grief that Microsoft deserves, Outlook is far and away the best mail application I've ever used, baring stupid quirks of PST/OST files (especially when it comes to Calendar). That's like the one application that Microsoft has completely nailed. I WISH there were a better alternative.
  - adrianpike 13y ago
    Is there a reason browser-based doesn't work for you? I moved to gmail only a few years ago and haven't looked back.

by jmduke 13y ago

jccalhoun 13y ago

I switched from ipods and ipod touches to android and I can't really see myself going back any time soon because of the ability to tweak and customize android. I don't miss any apps from ios and I don't think I have ever felt like an android app was worse than an ios version.

Legion 13y ago
I'm of the same mind. I switched from the iPhone to Android because I was dissatisfied with the tiny iPhone screens, but I expected a quality drop-off in apps. The drop-off, in the instances where it does exist, is not nearly as dramatic as advertised. It's pretty small, really, which has me looking at switching my tablet from iPad to an Android tablet as well. Plus, on Android, I have a browser with functioning plug-ins (Firefox). iOS's app ecosystem doesn't seem so great when it fails so dramatically at perhaps the most important app: web browser.
astrodust 13y ago
It's like switching from real orange juice to Fanta. Some people won't notice, and some people will like it better. The problem with Android isn't the OS, it's the stupid number of hardware configurations possible that make fine-tuning the application to the screen virtually impossible. Most applications, even the best, are still rough around the edges compared to their iOS counterparts. If you want tweaking and customizing, Android is the only way to go.

wyager 13y ago

I would ditch Apple in a heartbeat if I felt that anyone could provide a similar hardware experience. I'm not just talking about CPU/RAM/Graphics card (yes, I know I can get a slightly better deal with non-Apple hardware), but everything else as well. Apple displays are beautiful and completely free of defects, Apple trackpads are incredible, the computers are ridiculously thin (my new ThinkPad is twice as thick as my MBP), the battery life is incredible (my early 2013 MBP gets 5-6 hours, new MBPs get 10-12 hours), etc. The hardware is just great. I don't understand why no one else can make hardware like this. Re. failed laptops: I had to take my last MBP in for repair something like 8 times in 6 months. Totally unacceptable. Most of the time it was for something they botched during the last repair. However, Apple gave me store credit for the purchase price of the laptop and then some, so I'm happy. I do beat the shit out of my laptops, so I'm sure someone who was more gentle would have better luck.

skinnycow 13y ago
Lenovo X1 Carbon (wait for the X3 or the revised Haswell X1) Nexus 5 Done.
usaphp 13y ago
> I would ditch Apple in a heartbeat... Why would you ditch it in a heartbeat if you think that: - Apple displays are beautiful and completely free of defects - Apple trackpads are incredible - Apple computers are ridiculously thin - The battery life is incredible - The hardware is just great --- It's like saying I would ditch my wife in a heartbeat, but her face is super pretty, her body is perfect and her heart is a heart of angel...but I would still ditch her in a heartbeat...
- skj 13y ago
  Maybe you and your wife have fundamental differences in beliefs about how people should live their lives?
- jasonlotito 13y ago
  Pretty sure the problem is what he is describing is purely the hardware, but doesn't equate that with a heart of gold. What he's saying is that she's beautiful, but he doesn't like her personality. Basically, he's ditching her because he's not superficial.

coldtea 13y ago

>I dislike Apple's software In what sense? Does it run slow? Does it not give you enough options? I've used Linux on and off, from RedHat 5 (circa '97) to the latest Ubuntu. Heck, I've even worked with CDE and such on Sun and HP boxes before Linux. Have also used Windows. Besides political reasons, I haven't seen anything compelling enough to move over. I have all my commercial software (from Adobe to MS and beyond), I have most UNIX cli stuff, and if I want hardcode unixy stuff I can do it an a VM with Vagrant (as I would on a Linux system anyway, why pollute my desktop with project specific dev installations?). I've tried Gimp -- it's no match for Photoshop, and I prefer Pixelmator and Acorn for lightweight stuff. I also try Open Office every couple of years -- it remains mostly as it was 15 years ago, and has added cruft and slowlyness to it (why it needs a JRE I don't even...). Pages, Numbers and Keynote are fine for my needs -- the only time I need something more it's when I need more MS Office compatibility, and there OO doesn't cut it either. I also dabble in multimedia, and nothing on OSS comes close to Logic and FCPX. And I've been keeping an eye on the DAW space in Linux since before there was Jack and ALSA. Heck, even Mail.app has no much of a competition. If you like clunky, you can go for Thunderbird. >The reason the author cited for switching from Apple was two failed laptops. For what it's worth, my previous laptop -- a Dell -- broke every six months or so. I never understand this reasoning. Don't people understand that there are faulty shipments in all production runs? I've had AMD CPUs overheat, IBM disk drives fails, Toshiba laptops crap out, etc. I've also had Apple stuff die on me. Those things happen.

busterarm 13y ago
I don't know. Mail.app does a lot of things that are pretty nonsensical. It's easily the buggiest OS X app that I use b y about 10 to 1. I'm not saying Thunderbird is an alternative though. For all the grief that Microsoft deserves, Outlook is far and away the best mail application I've ever used, baring stupid quirks of PST/OST files (especially when it comes to Calendar). That's like the one application that Microsoft has completely nailed. I WISH there were a better alternative.
- adrianpike 13y ago
  Is there a reason browser-based doesn't work for you? I moved to gmail only a few years ago and haven't looked back.