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Why Android will not beat iPhone (kind of an article)

How about the classy row of icons on the iPhone? Blah.
I have widgets on my home screen that are actually useful.
Android phones will probably never sell more than the iPhone. So what? Since when is commercial success a indicator of how good something is? I bet Transformers made more in its opening weekend than The Big Lebowski. Which was a better movie though?
Apple products, in my mind, were always for people who are satisfied with things the way they come out of the box.

Not the best analogy..... transformers rocked big time. Much better movie.
 
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A lot of you are missing the point. There is a danger android could implode if it's growth is not managed better.

- Apps:
Developers will grow tired of re-writing the same apps over and over for new phones. This could lead to devs turning away from android because development requires so much more work than, for instance, an iphone app.

- Market:
The market is shockingly bad at the moment. Both content wise and interface wise. There are many excellent apps yes, but they get lost and "pushed down" by people adding new sounds to their soundboard. It's quite a trawl to look for what you want, and search isn't highly accurate either. And not haivng paid apps available to most countries is in-excusable.

- Phones:
If Google continue to pump out updates at the rate they are, phones de-value faster than usual, and manufacturers and carriers don't have the resources to update every phone with every update, especially with more and more phones coming out with different hardware specs. Also if google fly ahead with updates to the Nexus One, obviously people will by that over e.g. some Samsung or LG phone, which could eventually push those manufacturers out of android.

I love android, and will prob use an android phone now till the day I die, that is assuming the platform doesn't implode on itself first though!
 
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i love my eris, and i love the iphone. only reason i didnt get an iphone is because

1. i already own an ipod
2. at&t's service is just appalling. most of my friends with iphones are constantly getting no service, dropped calls and just horrible 3G connections (5 mins, literally for a web page to fully load) Apple really made a mistake releasing the iPhone exclusively on at&t. verizon clearly has superior service.
 
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Think of it like this:

iPhone = Windows
Android = linux

/end

You have it backwards.

iPhone is exactly like a Macintosh computer circa 1980's. It is a singular platform, well-built, and only available through certain distribution channels. On one end, it is a great system since the platform is very singular in hardware nature, and OS.

On the other end, Android is like Windows. It crashes a lot, has a ton of different hardware inside the machines, but can be sold through anyone, to anyone, regardless of retailer (carrier).

And it's for that reason that the windows-esque device, the Android, will win.

Some may find it odd, but not everyone wants to be on AT&T to use an iPhone. Not everyone wants to fork over the money for an iPhone. Some people may not like the way it looks from a form factor standpoint.

And it is for those reasons that Android can capitalize on the iPhone. That doesn't mean the iPhone will die or go away, but it means that the Android will likely beat it in market share in a few years. Its not like the Apple II, Amiga, or Commidore were beat overnight by windows. It took years, yet we complain that Android isn't the iPhone killer in a matter of a year.

Android still needs another year to flesh out where it'll stand, but I think that given the history of PCs, Android will wind up having a large portion of market share compared to devices that are tied into one manufacturer like RIM, and certain carriers like the iPhone.


 
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for me the iPhone vs Android arguments are pointless because both are better and worse than the other when comparing the two. popularity wise the iPhone will beat out because of the it's coming from one manufacturer and therefore you have one standard and it can be used with accessories that work with iPods. It was geared towards a specific point, be a portable iPod that can make calls and support applications all while being simple. Those that I know have an iPhone have stopped using their iPods long ago.

I can give my parents an iPhone and within a few minutes they could use it just fine. With Android, it'd be much more than that and it would confuse them quite a lot. Apple managed to tap into the general consumer market while still staying simple. Had the OS been released just like Android was, it would be different.

For me, I like the idea of the iPhone, and have even owned one originally, but it's the lock behind it that kills it for me. I don't like that my OS can only come from one supplier (limits the creativity of the models), there's not enough freedom with it (both in the market and just personalizing the phone), and with those two limitations it just kills what I want out of a phone. I actually went from the iPhone back to my Samsung U600 and found it a much better phone in the aspects that I needed.

The iPhone vs Android debate can be seen elsewhere, in the MP3 segment. While there are a lot of different companies making MP3 players, the iPod still is the most widely used because of similar layout and connectivity which allows for a great amount of aftermarket accesories that is hard to make standard if everyone has different connections.

As for Android, It's too early to tell if it will pick up andb eat the iPhone. Looking at sales of it then you can see that they are picking up and fast. With more desirable phones, N1 and Droid, now out we can see that they are catching up.

To say that Android is better than the iPhone is a lie and so it saying the iPhone is better than Android. Both exists because they serve a specific purpose for their users. For me, Android is much better iPhone. If the iPhone better served my needs then I would be with it.

It's definately going to be interesting to see how these two play out over the next few years but do think of this, had it not been for the iPhone, would we really have Android now with the way that it is? I'm sure it'd be here but not in the same way that we know it now.
 
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Its already beaten it. What metric do we use to decide if it is beaten? Forget sales, its if a device offers a more in-depth, fun, and creative experience. Most of my mates use iPhones, so I get to play with them all day at work. Honestly the iPhone was great, it was top of the pile because no one else did that.

The android has raised the bar, much higher. To me its actually crazy to compare iPhones to Androids. iPhone cannot win simply because of the benefits android has.

We will see what happens when iPhone 4G comes out, I may change my mind, but not if the os is still locked down.
 
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The android has raised the bar, much higher. To me its actually crazy to compare iPhones to Androids. iPhone cannot win simply because of the benefits android has.

App Market that is unavailable in many countries (at least for paid apps).
Users unable to buy protected apps on stock devices even in the right countries due to Google not sorting out ROM numbers.
Devices that lock you out requiring a hard reset if you happen to enter you unlock pattern wrong three times.
Devices limited to Mb of storage space for applications.
The most popular devices now unable to run Googles own map and search software.
Basic software features missing or broken and logged over a year ago and still not fixed or even acknowledged.
No access to the Market from anything other that the device itself, with limited and broken search and filter.
No reliable sync solution to Outlook, including nothing at all for Notes or Tasks.

Sorry - but much as I love my Hero as it *is* a damn nice phone, Android is like Linux on the desktop. Great for fiddling with but NO-WHERE near ready for mainstream adoption. If I gave my wife an Android phone, she would throw it back at me within the week due to all it's shortcomings.
 
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Linux no where near main stream adoption? Guess you don't work in the IT industry. Anyway, any list of faults with android you give, and i agree there are issues that really do need sorting, there is a longer list wrong with iPhone. And thats the basis from which i come to my conclusion.

I will say however, that an android is not for everyone, thats why the choice is there.
 
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Linux no where near main stream adoption? Guess you don't work in the IT industry.

Standard answer when anyone says Linux is ready for masses. Yep - it's all over servers but it's NOT ready for the AVERAGE desktop user. Neither is Android.

Anyway, any list of faults with android you give, and i agree there are issues that really do need sorting, there is a longer list wrong with iPhone.

I used an iPhone for seven months (was supplied by work) and I have also used Blackberry and WinMo devices. None of them have ever been as broken as Android or given me greater disappointment.

It's incredibly frustrating as I can see how good Android can be and how great the devices can be but I can't understand HOW Google can throw development time at Goggles, voice search and animated wallpaper (animated wallpaper!!!) when they fail to address year old basic issues.
 
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Well thats where we disagree. I think these basic issues are something I can handle to get the benefits that android brings, at least over my blackberry (can't speak for winmo on a personal level).

But again, ultimately its down to what you require. I'd say the standard user would gain a LOT more from android than from something like bb. Lots more. I mean I use my Hero to sync with my work exchange server (calendar and emails) and I cannot ask for more.

So android for the masses? Right now, absolutely.
 
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Well thats where we disagree. I think these basic issues are something I can handle to get the benefits that android brings, at least over my blackberry (can't speak for winmo on a personal level).

But again, ultimately its down to what you require. I'd say the standard user would gain a LOT more from android than from something like bb. Lots more. I mean I use my Hero to sync with my work exchange server (calendar and emails) and I cannot ask for more.

So android for the masses? Right now, absolutely.

that's you alone though. my parents would quickly give up any android handset and if i gave this phone to my gf, there'd be a nexus one shaped hole in the wall right now. until Google works out the kinks, such as the launcher crashing constantly without reason, Android won't have too much of a chance.
 
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I also think that they should make their SDK like apples and make it cost something... It will weed out alot of those soundboards, and clean the market up... a little.

App testers are a must! I mean come on, think...

You have the name Google! You can make a super phone, launch a massive ad campaign, and unleash your wrath on apple. If the Droid and N1 had a baby, it would pretty much be the Acer Aspire One netbook, but smaller. If we can get a phone as simple as the iPhone, as customizable as Android already is, and a full QWERTY keyboard, google would pwn. Who knows, take over verizon, and either LG or HTC and make your own stuff. Google has enough money to pretty much buy the world.
 
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Its already beaten it. What metric do we use to decide if it is beaten? Forget sales, its if a device offers a more in-depth, fun, and creative experience. Most of my mates use iPhones, so I get to play with them all day at work. Honestly the iPhone was great, it was top of the pile because no one else did that.

The android has raised the bar, much higher. To me its actually crazy to compare iPhones to Androids. iPhone cannot win simply because of the benefits android has.

We will see what happens when iPhone 4G comes out, I may change my mind, but not if the os is still locked down.

a 4G iPhone won't hit until 2013 at least lol..... LTE is a long way from being deployed, unless they make a WiMax/Sprint iPhone....
 
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