On Androids and iPhones
I used Apple products when I was younger. I played The Oregon Trail and Lemonade Stand in elementary school and I first experienced the Web on a Mac when I was an undergrad. Mixing in long-dead computer lines (I had a TI-99/4A and a Commodore 128 growing up) along with Microsoft systems, I was relatively software agnostic as a personal computer user until about a decade ago.
About a decade ago I cut my teeth in the workplace using Windows machines. When I was working late on a RealNetworks demo or a Nintendo website, I was working on Windows. Over time, my technological agnosticism was replaced by ... something else. By a reliance on Microsoft technology.
I didn't realize that Steve Jobs was paying attention, let alone that he would feel betrayed. I didn't realize that until I received an early generation iPod as a work bonus. From the minute I tried to use my iPod, I knew something had changed from my undergrad days: I no longer liked Apple, and Apple no longer liked me.
(Yes, I'm typing this on a MacBook Pro... but neither of us are very happy about it.)
I didn't like the wheel interface. I didn't like the sluggishness. I didn't find the iPod useful or compelling. And I didn't like how so much of the rest of the world seemed to be doing handstands over how awesome it was. I gave it away and didn't look back. I managed to avoid Apple and its products (other than having to test websites for Safari, of course) for several years.
Until the iPhone.
I knew the iPhone was a huge step forward. I knew I would enjoy it. But I remembered my terrible experience with the iPod and I held my ground and muddled along with my Sidekick.
In early 2010, that changed. Google released the Nexus One and there was, finally, an alternative to the iPhone hegemony. The Nexus One was a superior phone, and the systems surrounding it were ones I felt more closely aligned with than with the iPhone. The app marketplace was smaller, but the developer support and hardware approach are more consistent with my personal philosophies and I tend to be an anti-censorship kind of guy.
In spite of Apple getting in one last dig at me with its closure of Lala.com, I respect their products. The iPad seems to be all the rage and the new iPhone has several cool features.
I still think, though, that I made the right choice going with an Android phone.
Over the weekend, Android 2.2 was pushed to my phone. "Froyo" runs noticeably more quickly and it supports Flash, which is something that Apple's mobile devices will seemingly never do. I've enjoyed watching embedded video and getting a fuller Web experience already.
I saw a couple of charts today that made me feel even better. First of all, over half of the applications on the Android Market are free, which is over double the percentage of freebies that Apple offers for the iPhone. This is good news for consumers--at least in the short run. Secondly, a greater percentage of developers work in the Android app space than any other--including Apple's iOS.
A cynic might say that developers are putting up a lot of drek that no one wants to pay for, and that the path to profitability for developers--and, therefore, superior applications--is a tougher one than with the iOS. Eschewing cynicism (this once), I see a huge opportunity for developers and consumers to reap the rewards of an open system that encourages experimentation.
And, of course, an opportunity for me to have a cool phone without worrying about Apple trying to get me.
Comments
Normally I try to actually add something of value to a conversation and not just tell my opposing version on the OP's story. But this time, I'm going to have to ignore everything I stand for and just grab for some retro computing street cred while I have the chance - and stand up for my Apple Computers.
I've been using Apple computers since the Apple II - if you don't know what that it, it's the beige, keyboard-connected-to-everything system that was introduced by Steve and Steve in 1977. That's the same year I was born. My dad was a teacher, and always had access to the district's leftover computers - which were always Apples (this was long before anyone ever said "Macintosh" let alone "Mac"). So we always had an almost-current supply of hardware and software in the house. I'm pretty sure I was writing BASIC before I was writing cursive.
Our family lived through the Apple II, the Apple IIE, Apple IIC, Apple III, the adorable Mac and Mac Plus (and I think there was an "SE" in there somewhere), Performa, Quadra and right up through the G series to today, and including every iMac model ever made.
I've enjoyed watching the company and the OS evolve and stay strong through every little detail like the Trash Can, even when MS moved to a Recycle Bin. Come on, you're not fooling anyone. Nobody is RECYCLING those bits, it's trash! Apple was successfully using GUI "windows" at least 2 years before the primitive MS Windows 1.0 even existed. I was happily dragging and dropping while so-called PC users were still in a DOS Shell at very best. Suckers. And can we reclaim that term "PC"? It stands for "Personal Computer" and I'm pretty sure that applies to Macs as well as Windows machines - in fact, they are MORE personal, hands down.
So Apple was cool before Windows, so what? That might not matter, except that they continue to be cooler - alas, I digress. My intent was only to wax poetic about my own cultural/historic connection Apple computeres, and maybe hint they they do have a soul, at least to me - they remind me of countless hours spend with my dad.
I used to like Edward best, but then I started to like Jacob. Now I like Jacob best. I hope Bella picks him.
From my snarky comment you can probably guess that I find this argument somewhat futile. But in Ed's defense, Apple's shut down of LaLa was indeed pretty assy. I feel your pain.
I have also eschewed Apple products, mainly because I was irritated by the limited number of games available on that platform. Walk into a Comp USA, or Incredible Universe, and you'd see rows after rows of PC games, and one small row of Apple games. As a gamer, this was poor planning on Apple's behalf.
However, did Apple ever improve their product? Every time I would opt for a computer upgrade, it was apparent that PC's out-shined Apples in every category, given the same price range. Apple knew it couldn't compete with the PC market in hardware, so it went after our psyche, which I find irritating. The Apple brand went from incompetent and pointless to incompetent but different (cool).
Marketing, and possibly a slightly shallower learning curve were its only edge in the marketplace. Yet 70% of people (99% of women) desire an Apple product for their mobile device, when there are products far superior in hardware. Why???
-Disgruntled Travel Mate from the 21st century
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