Why Android is better than iPhone.

[iridebikes]

1st, you are indeed a huge nerd.

2nd, all those things are possible on a jailbroken iphone.. I've nerded mine out quite a bit.

The same kind of basement-dwellers who mod droid phones also do the same ish for iPhones.

 

[ZX600]

1st, you are indeed a huge nerd.

.

lol thank you all in this thread for bringing my cool factor to -2

...trows the microphone on the ground and leaves

 

[Duster929]

I agree, I have 124 parches installed on my phone to do anything from changing colors on screens to increasing from 500MGz to 1000 MGz.

I love open source because it allows smart people out there anywhere to enhance the phone given to you out of the box.

You guys need to remember that until you experience the awesomenessss of adding patches to an open source phone you really wouldn't know what is all about, so don't try to convince the Iboys, they won't get it and will start talking about amount of apps and the "safety" of a locked OS bla bla bla


...and Oh my I just realized I am a geek

And here you hit it right on the head. Don't get me wrong, I'm not insulting you. I'm a geek too, I love messing around with operating systems, old laptops, etc. I'm certainly not writing any code, but I'm always tinkering with things. As a result, I'm often drawn to open-source type of stuff.

However, it's important to get some perspective. This doesn't mean that open source is better, automatically. It means I/we like tinkering. It also doesn't mean we're smarter than people who DON'T like to tinker with technology. There are plenty of lawyers, surgeons, and astronauts out there who are highly intelligent, but can't be bothered messing around with their phone.

And this is where Apple hits home runs, time after time. Their products work, and are easy to use. We can say that the people using them are too dumb to realize what they're missing, but in so doing, WE would be missing the point. The fact is, they don't care what they're missing. They care what they're getting.

Some people like to tinker with cars. Some like to tinker with operating systems. Some don't care for either - maybe they like tinkering with their guitar, or the latest medical procedure for removing anal warts. Many people, every day, declare which phone they think is best, by buying it. We can tell them they're wrong, but they're probably not.

--- D

 

[FiReSTaRT]

I just wanna include a bit of perspective.. Just because a platform is open, don't automatically assume that you'll need or even want to tinker with it. I have a laptop (personal toy) and a nettop (used as an STB) running stock Ubuntu. The nettop had 0 tinkering because, other than to run updates, it never leaves XBMC, even boots directly into it. The only tinkering that I did on my laptop was to install a different OS theme and tweak my desktop effects a bit.
I like it when my regular workhorses do their jobs without any complaints and hassles. That was the reason I switched from Winblows in the first place.
The reason I generally prefer open platforms (as long as they can do the job with a minimal amount of fuss) is that they are actively maintained. You don't have to beg a faceless corporation to implement a feature and then wait for some pencilpusher to run a CBA before you get your answer on whether it will be implemented or not. You can either implement it yourself (way over my head lol) or see if it'll appeal to some random geek with enough coding knowledge to make it happen. I have been actively involved (mostly bug reporting, end-user support and brainstorms) in some medium-sized FLOSS projects, where my ideas were considered by the developers and some got implemented on my "pretty-please with sugar on top."

 

[iridebikes]

And to add to that perspective, most open source 'ideas' are implemented slowly over time and take forever to actually flush out into what a real manufacturer would call a finished product.

Furthermore, and pertinent to this thread, all these things are possible on an iPhone.

 

[ZX600]

And here you hit it right on the head. Don't get me wrong, I'm not insulting you. I'm a geek too, I love messing around with operating systems, old laptops, etc. I'm certainly not writing any code, but I'm always tinkering with things. As a result, I'm often drawn to open-source type of stuff.

However, it's important to get some perspective. This doesn't mean that open source is better, automatically. It means I/we like tinkering. It also doesn't mean we're smarter than people who DON'T like to tinker with technology. There are plenty of lawyers, surgeons, and astronauts out there who are highly intelligent, but can't be bothered messing around with their phone.

And this is where Apple hits home runs, time after time. Their products work, and are easy to use. We can say that the people using them are too dumb to realize what they're missing, but in so doing, WE would be missing the point. The fact is, they don't care what they're missing. They care what they're getting.

Some people like to tinker with cars. Some like to tinker with operating systems. Some don't care for either - maybe they like tinkering with their guitar, or the latest medical procedure for removing anal warts. Many people, every day, declare which phone they think is best, by buying it. We can tell them they're wrong, but they're probably not.

--- D

I can agree with that. I am not really advocating for open source, you are right most people dont care and that is just fine, i was just responding to people saying the Iphone has the best OS and I think i demonstrated that is simply not true, everything else is geek talk

 

[iridebikes]

gloss over the fact that iOS is very much modifiable when jailbroken..

Gonna go on a limb here and say that there is an iOS alternative for just about anything that Droid can do. Vice-versa probably too.

 

[Duster929]

I just wanna include a bit of perspective.. Just because a platform is open, don't automatically assume that you'll need or even want to tinker with it. I have a laptop (personal toy) and a nettop (used as an STB) running stock Ubuntu. The nettop had 0 tinkering because, other than to run updates, it never leaves XBMC, even boots directly into it. The only tinkering that I did on my laptop was to install a different OS theme and tweak my desktop effects a bit.
I like it when my regular workhorses do their jobs without any complaints and hassles. That was the reason I switched from Winblows in the first place.
The reason I generally prefer open platforms (as long as they can do the job with a minimal amount of fuss) is that they are actively maintained. You don't have to beg a faceless corporation to implement a feature and then wait for some pencilpusher to run a CBA before you get your answer on whether it will be implemented or not. You can either implement it yourself (way over my head lol) or see if it'll appeal to some random geek with enough coding knowledge to make it happen. I have been actively involved (mostly bug reporting, end-user support and brainstorms) in some medium-sized FLOSS projects, where my ideas were considered by the developers and some got implemented on my "pretty-please with sugar on top."

Firestart, I respect your abilities and knowledge of what you're talking about, but I'm afraid that you might need to take a few steps back, still. What you consider to be minimal hassle and zero tinkering, is very different from what the general public considers those concepts to be.

Can you run me through the process whereby you get a nettop to run stock Ubuntu? By the way, first explain what STB is, and what the difference is between "stock" Ubuntu and any other kind. Then run me through the steps required to get that nettop to boot into XBMC. One more thing - could you tell us what XBMC is?

Also, what exactly is the difference between begging a faceless corporation to implement a feature via a pencilpusher running a CBA (nice TLA), and having your ideas considered by the developers with a "pretty-please with sugar on top."? Is it that one of those drives a nice car, while the other lives in their parents' basement?

--- D

 

[ZX600]

gloss over the fact that iOS is very much modifiable when jailbroken..

Gonna go on a limb here and say that there is an iOS alternative for just about anything that Droid can do. Vice-versa probably too.

I showed you 4 / 5 videos of what Webos can do better than IOS, maybe its time you show something on video the Iphone can do better than Webos...remember we are not talking about apps, we are talking about multitasking and UI..and once again, something the Iphone does better...on video, not just talk

 

[AdRath]

I showed you 4 / 5 videos of what Webos can do better than IOS, maybe its time you show something on video the Iphone can do better than Webos...remember we are not talking about apps, we are talking about multitasking and UI..and once again, something the Iphone does better...on video, not just talk

Let's admit palm has crappy hardware. Maybe this will be rectified with HP backing webOS but the quality and feel of their hardware has always been their Achilles heal and something apple has gotten right. Palm has in my opinion concentrated too much on the spec sheet and missed the other aspects that appeals to consumers. I wish them good luck as I'm a fan of competition.

 

[iridebikes]

I showed you 4 / 5 videos of what Webos can do better than IOS, maybe its time you show something on video the Iphone can do better than Webos...remember we are not talking about apps, we are talking about multitasking and UI..and once again, something the Iphone does better...on video, not just talk

Just Type, thats something a phone with a physical keyboard can exploit. Apple's alternative is a simple search... swipe left from the main screen and type anything you want... it automatically shows results from your contacts, your emails, or searches the web. Next?

Multitasking? iOS has it and it works wonderfully well.. and you dont have to manage all the crap you have open as it doesn't take up additional battery life or much memory at all. Double click the home button and a taskbar with all your crap pops up... doesn't get any easier! Next?

Getting an SMS while playing a game? Uh, DUH! You can get and answer SMSs without even leaving the game.. it even pauses automatically. Owned. Next?

The dumb video with the OSX multitasking? Clearly a user who has no idea what a keyboard shortcut or even alt-tab is. The guy uses the friggin red close window button every time he wants to switch a task or check his calendar? aaahahahahahahah what an idiot.. That was a pathetic video and only a pathetic basement-dwelling PC nerdvirgin would post that up to back his argument. Pathetic. Next? Oh wait there's nothing else.

 

[Mikey-D]

Firestart, I respect your abilities and knowledge of what you're talking about, but I'm afraid that you might need to take a few steps back, still. What you consider to be minimal hassle and zero tinkering, is very different from what the general public considers those concepts to be.

Can you run me through the process whereby you get a nettop to run stock Ubuntu? By the way, first explain what STB is, and what the difference is between "stock" Ubuntu and any other kind. Then run me through the steps required to get that nettop to boot into XBMC. One more thing - could you tell us what XBMC is?

Also, what exactly is the difference between begging a faceless corporation to implement a feature via a pencilpusher running a CBA (nice TLA), and having your ideas considered by the developers with a "pretty-please with sugar on top."? Is it that one of those drives a nice car, while the other lives in their parents' basement?

--- D

I'll take this one. haha!

Installing "stock" ubuntu is pretty much exactly the same process as installing windows (which, granted, is not something I'd recommend for the "average user; Most people will just use whatever their computer comes with). Pop in the cd, boot from it, follow the instructions. Done and done.

As for the difference between faceless corporation and some developer, you have many more avenues to search for an implementer. If it's a decent idea, some random guy can write the code and release it. Instead of having only a single (or few) teams working on an entire system (which means your "feature" is less likely to be high on the priority list) you have thousands of bored programmers who'd love to put their own spin on your idea and implement it themselves. People who are passionate about it because it is a pet project for them, and not a job.

 

[ZX600]

Let's admit palm has crappy hardware. Maybe this will be rectified with HP backing webOS but the quality and feel of their hardware has always been their Achilles heal and something apple has gotten right. Palm has in my opinion concentrated too much on the spec sheet and missed the other aspects that appeals to consumers. I wish them good luck as I'm a fan of competition.

Agreed, crappy hardware and crappy marketing, now lets see a better OS anywhere else

 

[ZX600]

Just Type, thats something a phone with a physical keyboard can exploit. Apple's alternative is a simple search... swipe left from the main screen and type anything you want... it automatically shows results from your contacts, your emails, or searches the web. Next?

Multitasking? iOS has it and it works wonderfully well.. and you dont have to manage all the crap you have open as it doesn't take up additional battery life or much memory at all. Double click the home button and a taskbar with all your crap pops up... doesn't get any easier! Next?

Getting an SMS while playing a game? Uh, DUH! You can get and answer SMSs without even leaving the game.. it even pauses automatically. Owned. Next?

The dumb video with the OSX multitasking? Clearly a user who has no idea what a keyboard shortcut or even alt-tab is. The guy uses the friggin red close window button every time he wants to switch a task or check his calendar? aaahahahahahahah what an idiot.. That was a pathetic video and only a pathetic basement-dwelling PC nerdvirgin would post that up to back his argument. Pathetic. Next? Oh wait there's nothing else.

I was pretty sure i asked to see a video of something the Iphone can do better and not just talk, but i am yet to see a video just more talk and talk

come on put your video (visual prof) where you mouth is

 

[iridebikes]

Yeah bro Ill get right on that. Im recording and uploading video proof right now! Stand by, k?

 

[FullMotoJacket]

While RIM was there first, Apple's marketing machine was more effective.

Funny, but the people inside RIM seemed to think Apple's hardware was better, too.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/12/27/rim.thought.apple.was.lying.on.iphone.in.2007/

RIM had a complete internal panic when Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007, a former employee revealed this weekend. The BlackBerry maker is now known to have held multiple all-hands meetings on January 10 that year, a day after the iPhone was on stage, and to have made outlandish claims about its features. Apple was effectively accused of lying as it was supposedly impossible that a device could have such a large touchscreen but still get a usable lifespan away from a power outlet.
The iPhone "couldn't do what [Apple was] demonstrating without an insanely power hungry processor, it must have terrible battery life," Shacknews poster Kentor heard from his former colleagues of the time. "Imagine their surprise [at RIM] when they disassembled an iPhone for the first time and found that the phone was battery with a tiny logic board strapped to it."

Friends who were Microsoft employees at the time were also said to have had a similar reaction.

He further added that RIM, as well as Motorola, Nokia, Palm and other early pioneers, lost ground partly because of a self-defeating attitude. RIM in particular assumed from the start that smartphones would be outgrowths of its pagers and that there would never be enough battery life or wireless technology for more functions. It started growing beyond this view before the iPhone shipped, but the OS foundation until recently was based on the early assumption.

The remarks confirm a widely held belief that BlackBerry Storm development started only after the iPhone was made public rather than having been in development at all before. RIM didn't have its first touchscreen phone until the Storm shipped in late 2008, almost two years after the iPhone's unveiling, and didn't have multi-touch support or a fully accurate web browser until the Torch arrived just this past summer. Apple is now gradually overtaking RIM in market share and is being quickly joined by Android, which now makes up the majority of Verizon sales just a year after the BlackBerry was the carrier's top earner.

RIM may be poised for a comeback as it has promised an aggressive 2011 roadmap, but virtually all of what it will do outside of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is a mystery.

 

[AdRath]

And after seeing RIM execs talk it seems that their future smartphone plans are a mystery to them also.

 

[Duster929]

I'll take this one. haha!

Installing "stock" ubuntu is pretty much exactly the same process as installing windows (which, granted, is not something I'd recommend for the "average user; Most people will just use whatever their computer comes with). Pop in the cd, boot from it, follow the instructions. Done and done.

So right from the get-go, we have tinkering. An OS that doesn't come pre-installed, a user has to install it themselves. Like buying a car, but having to swap out the motor. For you, this seems a simple task, for many people, it simply isn't. You forgot the first step - you have to DOWNLOAD Ubuntu from somewhere. Which means that, first, you have to have some other computer, running some other operating system. And then you have to decide that, no, you don't want that operating system, you want "Ubuntu". So you have to google it, find it, the newest version/build, whatever. Then read some instructions on how to install it. Do you have to burn it to a DVD? ISO image? With every step, you eliminate more and more of the population.

Again, step back. All of this, to the general population, qualifies as unproductive and unneccessary tinkering. People have surgeries to prepare for, contracts to read, meetings to attend, children to feed and put to bed....

--- D

 

[Mikey-D]

So right from the get-go, we have tinkering. An OS that doesn't come pre-installed, a user has to install it themselves. Like buying a car, but having to swap out the motor. For you, this seems a simple task, for many people, it simply isn't. You forgot the first step - you have to DOWNLOAD Ubuntu from somewhere. Which means that, first, you have to have some other computer, running some other operating system. And then you have to decide that, no, you don't want that operating system, you want "Ubuntu". So you have to google it, find it, the newest version/build, whatever. Then read some instructions on how to install it. Do you have to burn it to a DVD? ISO image? With every step, you eliminate more and more of the population.

Again, step back. All of this, to the general population, qualifies as unproductive and unneccessary tinkering. People have surgeries to prepare for, contracts to read, meetings to attend, children to feed and put to bed....

--- D

Oh, believe me, I get all that. This all stems from the fact that it doesn't come pre-installed on many computers. You can get them, but they're very obscure. You also don't have to download it, as you can order cds shipped to you (for whatever amount you want to donate).

I get that this isn't something for most people (in fact, I wouldn't even recommend Ubuntu for most users). I think the point that firestart was trying to make, however, is that you don't have to tinker with open source projects to find them useful. I think a better example of a good, open source project that requires no tinkering at all would be open office. It's free, open, and easily obtained/installed. Most importantly (to this discussion), I'm most certainly not an advanced user of office software, but in my opinion it is as good, or even better than its expensive MS equivalent. You can't try to tell me that installing open office is too technical for most users. It's no different from installing ms office, except that it's generally downloaded rather than using a cd.

 

[FiReSTaRT]

Putting in a CD or a memory stick and clicking on "next" a few times isn't all that complicated. The 2 most complicated decisions for a typical computer user would be choosing the username and choosing the password.
Choosing a theme is no different than downloading a Winamp skin. In any case, once I found a theme that works for me, I just kept it through 3-4 versions of Ubuntu.
Stock Ubuntu is just a plain install, where I didn't go with a different desktop environment, make any modifications to the kernel, I just installed it from the memory stick.
As for desktop effects.. They are in the settings menu (1 click to get to it), and you just choose whether you want a rotating cube, whether you want wobbly windows, animations, blurs, fades etc etc etc, by checking off boxes.
STB = Set Top Box = media player.. I run this program called XBMC on it, and with it I am able to watch movies, play music, look at pics and watch some streaming content (mostly Mythbusters and National Geographic). The good thing about it is that the only time I use anything other than the remote control on that computer is when I run system updates (which are simpler than updating a Windows system). Here's what it looks like:

I don't remember the steps to get it to boot into XBMC.. I just googled it, selected a link from the first page and it involved a couple of clicks and a selection from a dropdown menu. Ahh ok.. I just logged out, and changed the session to XBMC on the login screen. I knew it was simple enough, easily googlable and not worth remembering since it's not like I'll be messing with it again.

Logout of your system.
From the Login screen choose "Select Session"
Choose "XBMC" and click "Change Session"

You're finished. Next time you login you should be greeted with XBMC.

Taken from the XBMC wiki page.

By the way, the geek living in his mother's basement is easily approachable via chat/email and you can shoot ideas back and forth with him until you're blue in the face. Try getting such direct access to someone with such a level of control over a Microsoft or Adobe package.