In the red corner, from Cupertino, California, weighing in at $65.23 million, the iOS Incinerator, Apple!
And in the blue corner, originally from Menlow Park, now residing in Mountain View, California, weighing in at $29.32 billion, the Open Source Obliterator, Google!
So let me start off by saying I don’t have a smartphone. I did, but not anymore. I had an iPhone for nearly 2 years, then it died and I was forced to use some ancient Nokia for about 3 months till my contract ran out. I decided to renew my contract, but go for high-end Android phone. A Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. I hated it. I used it for 3 months and wanted to break the thing because of how sluggish an unreliable it was. Effectively I was without a functioning smartphone for nearly 6 months, which changed the way I use my phone. So now all I want is a phone that can message and make calls. Remember that’s what a phone is? As a result, I bought a Nokia X3-02 last week.
However, in the debate of Apple v. Google, iOS v. Android, I am on the side of……Apple. Why? Because of the level of control Ted was discussing in the lecture. Apple control the hardware, the system and the software on the system. The result is, in my opinion, a fully functioning system, with hardware and software synchronised to work perfectly with each other.
I believe the problem with Google’s idea of everything being open is that it leaves the door open to sub-standard development. In an ideal world, the open freedom of a system like Android attracts independent developers who are yet to be employed by a company. Kind of like a musician yet to be signed to a label. Unfortunately though, the app market (both Android and Apple) attract wanna-be developers. Apple’s setup filters out the garbage, whereas the Android system doesn’t.
An article on ZDnet.com identifies 3 key flaws in both the Apple and Android setups. Apple’s are software inflexibility, productivity limitations and fewer hardware choices. To me these were a stretch, Software inflexibility is it’s strength, the productivity limitations it discusses are inaccurate and it’s screen is the highest resolution one on the market. The android limitations it mentions however are much more accurate.
Ecosystem chaos – an open source OS, allowing hardware and software manufacturers to do anything they want with it, with minimal-to-no regulation.
Wildly inconsistent experiences – Identical versions of an Android OS running on two different manufacturers phones will do completely different things, resulting in the reliability of a particular version of Android having completely different public opinions.
Leadership vacuum – A lack of top down control from Google means there is no centralised framework or standard to build upon. Ultimately it gives hardware and software vendors free reign to manipulate Android however they please.
I could quite literally go on for 8 pages about the Apple v. Android debate. But I won’t. It’s a topic I know a fair bit about and have strong opinions on.
i like how you've set up this blog, but you have the same picture as me! (devastated).
ReplyDeleteI think you've taken on some interesting point, especially by only discussing the 'apple flaws' with us. I definitely agree that they are quite inaccurate. But no matter how many people follow or wander from the apple-path to the android track, haters are still gonna hate. Good post.
I love reading people's blogs this week because they're all so opinionated and written with heavy bias.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like a good candidate to give a knowledgeable opinion on this topic because you've had an iPhone and an Android phone. Being solely an iPhone user I know how it feels to have them die and when they die, they die hard, but I persevere.
You're probably on the right track forgoing smartphones altogether but with the release of Nokias first smartphone I think phones like yours will soon be phased out.
Just as a side note, I researched your phone here http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_x3_02_touch_and_type-3479.php
and found the reviews hilarious. Gives the appearance of illiterate people taking preference for your phone (no offence).
I'm kind of in a similar boat to you. I just recently got a smartphone (iPhone) and was since using a nokia just basically allowed me to check email, call and text. I essentially do the same thing now. At the end of the day I guess I just want something that works. I'm not really into games and all that jazz. Having said that I very much like the iPhone...it's simple to use, has been very reliable and like you said I don't mind the level of control it has. Having been a PC user for many years I know the frustration of incompatibility issues with both software and hardware...it sucks. Macs on the other hand are built to work...and they do that just. Everything is tested, there is no issues with software and hardware conflicts and Apple has carried this on throughout their entire range of products. For this I applaud them. But I am also a man of innovation and the Android system and phones that run it are of great interest to me...But for now I'll stick to the iPhone.
ReplyDeleteSo, I am refusing to pick sides in this Apple/Android debate, partly because, like you, I don't have a smartphone and don't really see the point, but also because I see pros (and of course, cons) on both sides.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you totally that Apple's strength in ths arena is the level of control, the compatibility- the basic fact that you know what it can do and that it can do this reliably. But I can't dismiss the freedom the open source software can give you, and I'm sure that although the phone you got was unreliable, there are some more resilient models out there that handle all the different quite well. What I'd really be hoping for in this fight (you know, if I actually cared about smartphones) is that there will be some kind of gamma ray accident or chemical spillage that forms the best parts of the two into one incredibliferous smartphone! Or it creates a big lump of melted plastic...
I don't a smartphone either, I really wish I did though. I do find the iPhone quite amazing as it was and is probably one of the best smartphones out there, however, as you have mentioned it does have many flaws. I have tested out both the iPhone and smartphones with the Android system and found that both have their strengths and weaknesses. This is exactly why I cannot decide which phone to buy (iPhone or Samsung Galaxy s2), unless of course as Nomi said above if a spillage of chemicals forms Android and the iPhone into a mega smartphone, I would probably go with that. I think it could be called iDroid :) (just a thought).
ReplyDeleteI was in the same boat as you, although my iPhone was lost, not dead, it was always lagging and the screen was so cracked it hurt my fingers to play angry birds. I went back to an old Nokia that made could call and txt, and had snake 3! For a while it was happy days free of constant Facebook obsession and anger in the failings of a new phone trying to send a txt. I have since purchased an Android (HTC) phone rather than getting another iPhone. So far so good with the Android, but it's yet to be dropped in a glass of beer.
ReplyDeleteReally, I think sometimes we ask too much of our phones. If it makes a call and txt, should we leave everything internet based to computers?
I like how you've just decided to use a phone based on what it was originally designed for even though it is surprising for a digc student! I can relate to with the android phones. I have one at the moment and I want to smash it into a brick wall (sounds like your feelings towards the xperia.) Mine is so lag and freezes all the time and I think phones these days break a lot easier then the trusty old nokias we used to weigh our pockets down with.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you brought up the point of "substandard" development. Isn't part of good creativity having a piece that's finished? malfunctioning equipment sounds like a 'design' flaw if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly my point though. The apps available on android can be piss poor, under-developed and not actually work, yet they are still available for purchase
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