Gahris wrote:Orbital101 wrote:I highly recommend you read this. It's an excellent guide with very little hype or PR in it.
Its a very good read. I learned alot tbh
I will say four things about Android that have prevented me from jumping in. I'm not here to evangelize or start a flame war or anything like that, but as a guy who's entitled to his opinion I'd like to just state it and let you take it for what it's worth. As a guy who writes tech trend analysis, I do hear quite a bit of stuff about the strengths and weaknesses of various systems.
Apple's business model is built on selling iPhones. If you don't like the iPhone, you won't buy one. If you don't buy one, Apple doesn't get paid. So, as a result, Apple is all about making a phone that users will love because if they don't love it then it doesn't get bought. As has been demonstrated many times, they don't give a f*** what carriers like. They don't give a f*** what advertisers like. They need to sell that phone. That's where their money comes from.
Android's business model is built around getting eyes on ads. That's how Google makes money. The hardware and the OS are secondary concerns. The important thing for Google is to get Android phones into as many hands as possible, even if it's free, because the ads are their meal ticket. More people using Android (which many will because it's cheap or free) means more eyes on ads. This is going to be their focus because this is how they pay the rent. Creating phones you'd be willing to pay for isn't the priority. They just need you to own one so you can look at ads.
This, by the way, is why calling Android an "open" system is a misnomer. Apple is often criticized for not allowing people to install anything they want (even if it's something stupid), but what people need to realize is that Apple protects the experience of the iPhone because that's how they make money. Android may be able to install anything, but the business model is based on ads. If it were a truly open system, Google would allow any ad network to place ads on Android. Think Google is "open" enough to let Admob onto Android and screw with their business model? No way. There's nothing open about Google's business model any more than there's anything open about Apple's.
As for those four things I mentioned...
1. There is nothing protecting you from malware on an Android phone unless you install it yourself. This is not to say you're guaranteed to pick up malware from the Marketplace. Far from it. Many people don't. But... don't kid yourself: Many people do. Due to apps doing evil (i.e. sending your credit card number to a server in the Czech Republic and stuff like that), Google has had to remotely yank at least 12 different apps from handsets, and possibly more (incidentally, remotely yanking apps is an act which Google told everyone Apple would be doing on the iPhone and how bad that would be). The only way you'll know if an app on the Marketplace is malware is if someone else downloads it before you, gets stung, figures out they were stung, and comments on it. There are anti-virus/malware type apps you can install on your phone to help with stuff like that, but I prefer to go bareback... so that's not an option I'd choose. So... if you go Android, give some thought to how you will monitor app activity to protect yourself.
2. OS upgrades are important to stability, speed, security and for cool features... and Android phones have a really tough time getting the latest upgrade. This chart illustrates which Android handsets get the latest OS and which don't... and it's not a pretty picture. When people tell you how great the latest Android OS is, don't assume you'll get the upgrade.
3. A lot of carriers screw with your Android phone before you get to use it. Unlike the iPhone, which does not allow carriers to modify the interface, OS or pre-installed software, carriers are known to positively rape the Android OS before the phone gets in your hand. For instance: A friend of mine had an Android phone with a racing car game demo on it. The carrier had a partnership with the game's publisher, so the icon was on the screen and could not be deleted. I've seen it with my own eyes and my observations have been corroborated by many, many users all over North America. Not all Android phones will have this problem. If you get one, make sure yours doesn't.
4. A lot of the coolest features for the Android OS can't be accessed until you root the phone. This, in itself, isn't a bad thing, but what people forget is that you can root any phone - including an iPhone - and get all those same features. If someone compares a rooted Android phone with an unrooted iPhone as a way to persuade you that it's a more "open" system, they're comparing (forgive the pun) apples to oranges. I'm not personally a fan of a system that has to be hacked to get the most out of it.
Regarding screen size: I did learn something interesting about Samsung phones, lately: The Samsung handset screens keep getting bigger and bigger. I believe their latest is 4.5", which is pretty damn big. Yet, at the same time, the resolution is lower than that of the iPhone 4 or 4S, and I wondered about that. Why would they introduce a 4.5" screen to the market if it's not higher resolution? It's not like you can get your thumb from one side to the other. It's not like the zoom feature is disabled so you need the largest screen available to see things. And it doesn't fit particularly well in your pocket. And you know what I found out? Just recently, in fact: Koreans watch TV on their phones wherever they are. Most Korean phones come with rabbit ears even so you can pop them up, get reception, and watch your favorite show. I literally had no idea. And that's a task for which you don't use zoom and you don't need high resolution, but you DO need a big screen. Samsung is a Korean company, so their handheld screens are going to be larger because they're meant for watching TV. Unfortunately, we don't watch a lot of TV on our handhelds in this country, so I'd caution against buying a Samsung phone with a huge screen. You don't need it unless you're going to be watching broadcast TV on it. That's what it was made for.
Yeah, I know this is a very negative commentary on Android and I don't think it's going to change anyone's mind. But I thought I'd put it out there in case you found it helpful or informative. As I said, I'm not looking to evangelize or champion the iPhone... but if you're going with Android then you need to know this stuff.
Good luck.
