Why Android Will Beat iPhone and BlackBerry??

[TgeekB]

Im pretty sure you can just clear the cache for gmail, market, calendar, and contacts and it will ask you to re-sign in when you try to open one of those apps, I could be wrong though.



The point riki1kenobi was making is that as people start using more and more technology and starting at a younger age, there will be more "tech heads" and they are going to want something more than a simple device. the iphone will not die in the next 5 yrs, but the users will drop because currently the "apple way" (excluding jailbreak) does not allow for the technological freedom that the "tech heads" will want.

I wish I had a stat on how many people are "tech heads". Of course, most of us who come to this forum are, but we are a minority. Many of the ordinary people who are using iPhones (and now Android), know little about tweaking their phone. They just want it to work and be able to do lots of things to make their lives easier. But again, I don't have numbers to prove one way or the other, just interested in the theory.

 

[muab]

Some of the frustration though, riki1kenobi, I think comes from spiraling into personal attacks...on both sides of the equation. My son is a programmer and near genius and he owns an iPhone. I have been giving him a bad time since I upgraded (heh, take that!) from the iPhone and I have been suggesting he should also do so. I believe the superior tweak-ability of the Droid would ultimately give him a more powerful device that he would enjoy more and utilize more broadly.
He is not a fool, nor is he simple. The phone works quite well for him and he enjoys its capabilities. I think once he became accustomed to the Droid he would prefer it.
My daughter and many other people I know would prefer the iPhone because (in my opinion) it works very well with less fiddling around. I would say perhaps (arbitrarily) 70% of the functions of the iPhone are easier/slicker to do than the same functions on a stock Droid.
For very busy people or people who hate complications or fiddling with technology I feel the iPhone is the better choice unless you have someone to fiddle your phone for you.
If you are willing to invest time and effort I think the moto Droid at least can be tuned and adjusted to be a much more custom fit, much higher-performance tool than the iPhone.

Just my .02 on the topic for whatever it is worth (maybe .o2?)

Cheers

 

[A.Nonymous]

A. Nonymous, I think we may have to settle upon a definition of dominate. To me for a single platform to possess over 50% of the total market share compared to the combined efforts of ALL competitors is domination... but perhaps my definition is flawed...?

You are certainly free to define domination any way you choose. Personally, I wouldn't take the bet based on 50% market share. They've got like 45% now I think. I wouldn't be shocked to see that jump 5 points way before 4 years.

When I think of domination, I think of how Windows dominates the desktop market. They've got a 90% + market share. To me that's domination. They literally have no real competition in the desktop space. If you were to tell me that Android will get there in 5 years I would take that bet in a heartbeat.

A.Nonymous, why do you think that every post I make is about you bud? To go on a public forum and then demand everyone provide you with facts or statistics whilst attempting to ridicule other peoples opinions is poor form mate......

First of all, you quoted me therefore I responded. That's why I think the post is about me because you quoted me. Second of all, you said, " iPhone users are migrating by their droves to android." That is a strong statement. How is it trolling to ask where you got those statistics from? Can I say, "Android users are migrating by the droves to iOS" and then refuse to backup that statement at all or simply back it up with anecdotal evidence? You can't go on a forum and expect that nothing you say will ever be questioned. That's not what a forum is about.

You have tried to insinuate that I am against Apple, IF that was the case why would I have an iPod, a 3GS and an iPad? When I post I base it on experience or fact. Not supposition or baseless rumour! IF you had even bothered to read my posts, you would see that!

I read your posts where you said the following:

The majority of iPhone users own/owned an iPod, the majority of iPhone4 users came from owning a 3G/3GS. IF they really wanted to move on to something new they wouldnt keep buying what is essentially the same tech in a different coat!

iPhone will have a market as long as people are tied into "Doing it the Apple way!".

Now, why would anyone reasonable read that and think you were anti-Apple?

I agree with the website being open to all, but there has to be a cut-off point otherwise all we are going to get is trolls and fanbois simply spreading their "our tech is better than your tech" BS all over the place. Even when it is proven that it is clearly NOT!!

Two points here. 1) No where did I state that Apple products are better than Android. I simply stated that they are quality products and people buy them because they are quality products. 2) It's not proven that Android is better than iOS or vice versa.

Side note - just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them a troll. I politely disagreed with your conclusions and I asked for statistical facts to back up the stronger points you made. No where did I ever call you names although you did me several times.

 

[riki1kenobi]

What I notice on this thread is just how personal people take things. It is a piece of tech we are talking about here after all!

To say that the majority of iPhone users are tech savvy is plain wrong! Even IF people dont want to believe the stats, we all have eyes. Just look around, it isnt difficult to spot the iPhone users as they are the ones waving their phones around in the street!

I have never once stated on this or any other thread that tech minded people dont use/have iPhones. I have/had one and I am a programmer/developer but in the overall picture people like me are in the minority!

IF peeps read my posts from a different perspective you will see that I am actually applauding Apple for the way they have taken a piece of tech and made it accessible to all.

 

[A.Nonymous]

What I notice on this thread is just how personal people take things. It is a piece of tech we are talking about here after all!

Let's see. You said I was a troll. You said I was ignoring facts that were right under my nose. You said my credibility was dropping faster than a hooker's G-String. Why would I take any of that personally? Silly me.

To say that the majority of iPhone users are tech savvy is plain wrong! Even IF people dont want to believe the stats, we all have eyes. Just look around, it isnt difficult to spot the iPhone users as they are the ones waving their phones around in the street!

Again, you allude to stats that say iPhone users aren't tech savvy. Where are these stats. Do you not see that I can just as easily say that the majority of Android users are not tech savvy? I can also say the majority of BB users are not tech savvy. I don't have any facts to back that up but I can say it because I have my anecdotal observations to back it up. That's a good way to construct a logical argument right? Please cite these stats that you claim are out there. How is that an unreasonable request?

 

[mastermind1431]

Guys..... If check out three years down the line iPhone and RIM was only considerable smartphones that people preferred buying... They set up their own rules like iTunes in the market and people were forced to follow it.... Anyone who is using the iPhone and RIM would be in a comfort zone now and they never want to come out of it.... People who gets the taste of the young blood, come out of their comfort zone and is opting for Android. That's exactly the Android is gaining the market gradually.

Being said that, one more thing on why people stand in large Qs to get a new version iPhone on its releasing date.... Do you think that buying a phone on the same day it is out there in the market is a good idea?? Do you think watching a movie on the same day it released is a good idea?? Any products, for that matter, buying it on the same day it is released is really bad idea. coz you are influenced by the marketing strategies they come out with...and not by the user reviews or it's quality... It just indicate that the people think iPhone as a symbol of prestige and they die to grab a fresh copy of it...

They just need to come out of the comfort zone... and look around and see the new world is.... it's the world of Android that's gonna come!...

 

[riki1kenobi]

First of all, you quoted me therefore I responded. That's why I think the post is about me because you quoted me. Second of all, you said, " iPhone users are migrating by their droves to android." That is a strong statement. How is it trolling to ask where you got those statistics from? Can I say, "Android users are migrating by the droves to iOS" and then refuse to backup that statement at all or simply back it up with anecdotal evidence? You can't go on a forum and expect that nothing you say will ever be questioned. That's not what a forum is about.

Seriously! The stats I refer to exist online (hell some even exist within this very forum) IF you can be bothered to look for them. I dont see why I should have to provide any evidence to back up what I say. I dont expect anyone to take what I say as Gospel, they can either choose to believe what is said or not. I'm sorry IF that doesnt sit well with your rules of how a forum should work, but hey we all cant be reasonable

Also, IF you choose to interpret posts to mean only what you want it to mean, irrespective of being told it didnt by me and by a number of different people now, then I wont be wasting any more time trying to explain it! Just move on and forget about it......

I read your posts where you said the following:



Now, why would anyone reasonable read that and think you were anti-Apple?

I think the the term "Grasping at straws" applies here.

Oh well..........C'est la Vie

 

[A.Nonymous]

Seriously! The stats I refer to exist online (hell some even exist within this very forum) IF you can be bothered to look for them. I dont see why I should have to provide any evidence to back up what I say. I dont expect anyone to take what I say as Gospel, they can either choose to believe what is said or not. I'm sorry IF that doesnt sit well with your rules of how a forum should work, but hey we all cant be reasonable

Fine. I say that iPhone users are way more tech savvy than users of any other OS. If we don't have to provide any evidence to backup anything we say, what's the point? You keep claiming these stats exist online yet I can't find any of them. I googled "tech skills iPhone user." It came up with nothing. I googled "computer skills iphone user." I also came up with nothing. I googled "computer literacy iphone user" and "literacy iphone user." In all of these I found no statistics backing up your claim on the first page of search results.

I'm sorry, but a forum (IMHO) is not a place where you can go and randomly spout made up statistics to back up your conclusions. If you want to say that you think iPhone users aren't as tech savvy. Fine. That's your opinion and you're certainly entitled to it. When you say that statistics back that up and those statistics are completely imaginary, you're not telling the truth. That's the difference. You may think that iPhone users aren't as tech savvy. You can't say that statistics prove that because they don't.

I guess your idea of a forum is a place where people can claim that imaginary statistics exist and no one should be allowed to question them? People can state that things are facts when they aren't and no one can question them at all? Really?

 

[bearsfan85]

I dont want to make anyone mad but if you have ever sold apple products or been to a mac store as they were trying to sell you something these stats dont have to be mad up. I have, I worked at Best Buy for 2.5 yrs and most people who use apple products only buy them because they are advertised as easy to use.

Not all stats are from scientific studies but they can be from personal experience and are probably somewhere online.

As for the iphone not being tech savvy, I went with my friend to the mac store because she wanted a mac and as we waited I looked at the new iphones, the people around there couldnt do tech shit at all, they only wanted an iphone because it was made by apple and was advertised as easy to use. My brother who who has a mac wants an iphone because he's an "apple whore/fanboy" He doesnt know how to do anything with a phone. Google does not account for personal experience and the first page of most google stuff is either wiki/forums/ad sites.

As for the person who was selling the mac he didnt know what cloud computing was, and told my friend that she didnt have to be connected to the internet to access her idrive on her ipod touch.

However this is generalized based on a small sample of people and does not reflect the whole. My neighbor who is a CS major makes applications for the Iphone and has one, he is extremely tech savvy, there are people who know what they are doing with iphones.


DONT TAKE THINGS PERSONALLY ON A FORUM. LETS NOT MAKE THIS ABOUT ATTACK ONE PERSON FOR SOMETHING HE SAID. WE ARE ALL FRIENDS HERE WHO LOVE ANDROID.

 

[fanaticore]

Google Android phone will beat iPhone's iOS, Blackberry, etc. because it's hack capable. It's the only mobile OS that is widely "can reverse engineered" by community devs.

 

[riki1kenobi]

Fine. I say that iPhone users are way more tech savvy than users of any other OS. If we don't have to provide any evidence to backup anything we say, what's the point? You keep claiming these stats exist online yet I can't find any of them. I googled "tech skills iPhone user." It came up with nothing. I googled "computer skills iphone user." I also came up with nothing. I googled "computer literacy iphone user" and "literacy iphone user." In all of these I found no statistics backing up your claim on the first page of search results.

I'm sorry, but a forum (IMHO) is not a place where you can go and randomly spout made up statistics to back up your conclusions. If you want to say that you think iPhone users aren't as tech savvy. Fine. That's your opinion and you're certainly entitled to it. When you say that statistics back that up and those statistics are completely imaginary, you're not telling the truth. That's the difference. You may think that iPhone users aren't as tech savvy. You can't say that statistics prove that because they don't.

I guess your idea of a forum is a place where people can claim that imaginary statistics exist and no one should be allowed to question them? People can state that things are facts when they aren't and no one can question them at all? Really?

My idea of a forum is a place for discussion....NOT a courtroom! You dont need to back up everything you say with facts or evidence! People can have opinions, those opinions can be based on speculation, fact, statistical evidence, anecdotal evidence or merely supposition.

Its only people like YOU that want to cross examine the right for anyone to have those opinions and as others have said you do appear to be swimming firmly against the tide!

You not only take things completely out of the context they were written but then you "quote" things I am supposed to have said about YOU! Funny thing is, I find no reference to any of the supposed comments I am supposed to have made about you, other then the joke about your credibility going down faster than a two bit hookers g-string. Which is still pretty funny by the way What I dont understand is why you even bothered to get so worked up in the first place? You could have just quietly said I disagree, but hey ho and left it at that!

The stats you require regarding people moving from iPhone to Android reside on this forum and in the many android forums across the web. They have not been compiled into one big document that can be shoved, nay handed nicely, to you for your perusal. So you will simply have to either take my and many other posters word for it or not......I dont care either way

But to back up the other quotes I have made and some I have been accused of making but havent, and since you asked SOOOOOO nicely, here have a gander. Took me all of 2 seconds to find the info I required by doing a search online!

As you will see, those stats back up the fact that that Apple are grooming, for want of a better word, users to move up to the next Apple product.

As for your comments regarding tech savvy.....well I suppose it all depends on the way you define tech savvy! Would you describe someone who is capable of turning a PC on and loading up a website and sending and recieving e-mails tech savvy? Personally I would not! Mildly computer literate I would call that!

My definition of tech savvy is someone who can do more than the basics. Someone who can be put in a room with a piece of tech (any piece of tech be it phone, microwave, PC, Playstation, Xbox, TV etc etc) and withing seconds have it figured out/working!

So I guess we are always going to disagree on that point IF you define it as something else!

Interesting stats of note are that just over half of all Apple users are male comapred to over 70% of Android users being male! Now you can argue that they are all Programmers or IT consultants, but that would be foolish!

Since android is a much more user intensive device, that requires much more baseline technical knowledge to use it it, is not too difficult to see that the more tech savvy user is the android user!

IF you or anyone else doesnt see it that way, then you are in the minority and always will be. I never intended to come onto this forum to change peoples opinions or even to force my opinion down anyones throat. As I said, I could care less IF you believe me or NOT!

 

[TrojanZ]

Hey guys, Can't help noticing this thread and straight away grabbed a bag of popcorn and a bottle of coke to enjoy the show

Anyways i'll keep my post short and end with a link (that points out with facts) that android has surpassed ios market share :- HTC hits top 10, Android surges | Wireless - CNET News

In the lead is nokia's symbian (what it still exists? *scratches head* lol it's true but it's losing it's market share) and rim is in 2nd place (also losing it's market share). Look how much android has gained it's market share in only a year!

 

[A.Nonymous]

Google Android phone will beat iPhone's iOS, Blackberry, etc. because it's hack capable. It's the only mobile OS that is widely "can reverse engineered" by community devs.

I don't think the average Android user cares about that. I really don't. Obviously people here on the forum care about that because we're all nerds and tech heads for the most part. However, the average consumer isn't and doesn't care IMO.

My idea of a forum is a place for discussion....NOT a courtroom! You dont need to back up everything you say with facts or evidence! People can have opinions, those opinions can be based on speculation, fact, statistical evidence, anecdotal evidence or merely supposition.

You stated that something was a fact and there were statistics to back it up. You didn't say something was your opinion. You said that iPhone users are not as tech savvy and that statistics back that up. I asked where those statistics were.

If I told you Las Vegas was the greatest place to vacation because I've been there before I'm stating an opinion based on my personal experience. You then have every right to say, "Oh, what did you do while you were there?" You're asking me to tell you the personal experience that backs up my opinion so you can then judge the validity of my opinion. If I say that I gambled non-stop until 4 am and you don't gamble then my opinion of Vegas is not convincing to you. If I said I saw some amazing shows and you like amazing shows then my opinion is convincing to you. In either case you have every right to ask for the experience that backs up my opinion. If you state that you have statistics to back something up then I have every right to ask to see those statistics.

The stats you require regarding people moving from iPhone to Android reside on this forum and in the many android forums across the web. They have not been compiled into one big document that can be shoved, nay handed nicely, to you for your perusal. So you will simply have to either take my and many other posters word for it or not......I dont care either way

I have stats that prove that all BB users are certified insane. You can take my word for it or not, but the stats are there. You can't question this or ask for my stats. It's up to you to find them. If you can't find them, then that's on you, not me. Logic holds up right?

But to back up the other quotes I have made and some I have been accused of making but havent, and since you asked SOOOOOO nicely, here have a gander. Took me all of 2 seconds to find the info I required by doing a search online!

As you will see, those stats back up the fact that that Apple are grooming, for want of a better word, users to move up to the next Apple product.

I read the article. It said nothing about the tech savvyness (not sure if that's a word, but it is now) of the users. Perhaps I'm misreading the article. If I am, please feel free to point out where. The article talks about users of the Android vs iOS and their likelihood to purchase apps. It then says that 54-58% of iOS users are male and Android users are 73% male. 78% of iTouch users are below 25. 16% of iPhone users plan to purchase an iPad. It says that 91% of iPhone users and 88% of iTouch users would recommend their devices to friends vs 84% of Android users. Now, all of that is fine and good and interesting information. How does that back up your premise that iPhone users are not tech savvy? Which of those statistics back that up?

My definition of tech savvy is someone who can do more than the basics. Someone who can be put in a room with a piece of tech (any piece of tech be it phone, microwave, PC, Playstation, Xbox, TV etc etc) and withing seconds have it figured out/working!

By your definition, I am not tech savvy myself. I'm in the middle of programming my phone to send email when I leave the office. I'm also in the middle of writing an Android app. I can do tech stuff, it just takes me awhile to grasp it. I don't pick it up and understand it immediately. By your definition I'm not tech tech savvy and I'm an Android user. Therefore, Android users are not tech savvy. That's my anecdotal evidence so it must be true.

Interesting stats of note are that just over half of all Apple users are male comapred to over 70% of Android users being male! Now you can argue that they are all Programmers or IT consultants, but that would be foolish!

Not sure what your point is. Are you arguing that males are more likely to be tech savvy than women or am I misunderstanding you? I don't get your point. Your stats are correct, but I don't know what conclusion you're drawing.

Since android is a much more user intensive device, that requires much more baseline technical knowledge to use it it, is not too difficult to see that the more tech savvy user is the android user!

Your premise here isn't true. I don't think Android is a more user intensive device that requires a lot more technical knowledge. Android is very user friendly. That's why it's so successful. It has more of a learning curve than iOS for sure, but it's also easy for the average user to pick it up and use it. The average user doesn't want to root their phone or add custom home screens, etc, etc..... They want to pick up the phone, make calls and run an app or two. This is easy to do on Android and is why it's so successful.

IF you or anyone else doesnt see it that way, then you are in the minority and always will be. I never intended to come onto this forum to change peoples opinions or even to force my opinion down anyones throat. As I said, I could care less IF you believe me or NOT!

It's about facts. If you say something is a fact, then be prepared to back it up. That's what a forum is about. Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't put them in the minority and even if it does, it doesn't make them wrong.

 

[IOWA]

Fine. I say that iPhone users are way more tech savvy than users of any other OS. If we don't have to provide any evidence to backup anything we say, what's the point? You keep claiming these stats exist online yet I can't find any of them. I googled "tech skills iPhone user." It came up with nothing. I googled "computer skills iphone user." I also came up with nothing. I googled "computer literacy iphone user" and "literacy iphone user." In all of these I found no statistics backing up your claim on the first page of search results.

I'm sorry, but a forum (IMHO) is not a place where you can go and randomly spout made up statistics to back up your conclusions. If you want to say that you think iPhone users aren't as tech savvy. Fine. That's your opinion and you're certainly entitled to it. When you say that statistics back that up and those statistics are completely imaginary, you're not telling the truth. That's the difference. You may think that iPhone users aren't as tech savvy. You can't say that statistics prove that because they don't.

I guess your idea of a forum is a place where people can claim that imaginary statistics exist and no one should be allowed to question them? People can state that things are facts when they aren't and no one can question them at all? Really?

Umm, contrary to popular belief, not EVERYTHING can be found on Google.

 

[A.Nonymous]

Umm, contrary to popular belief, not EVERYTHING can be found on Google.

Heresy!!! Heresy!!! **forms mob with pitchforks and torches**

 

[darreno1]

From my own experience Apple users generally tend to be less tech savvy. They also tend to be less likely to research issues for themselves and more likely to heavily depend on Apple support. The general perception is that Windows is more problematic and harder to learn. They tend to also feel the same way about hardware that's not Apple branded. Of course there are exceptions but this has been what I've observed over the course of my career in IT.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

Umm, contrary to popular belief, not EVERYTHING can be found on Google.

Very,very,very true. I can tell a good programmer/developer by the amount of time he spends googling things. If he spends way too much time googling; we call them code-monkeys.

 

[A.Nonymous]

From my own experience Apple users generally tend to be less tech savvy. They also tend to be less likely to research issues for themselves and more likely to heavily depend on Apple support. The general perception is that Windows is more problematic and harder to learn. They tend to also feel the same way about hardware that's not Apple branded. Of course there are exceptions but this has been what I've observed over the course of my career in IT.

From my experience in IT it doesn't seem to matter. We have some Apple users who are completely clueless and some who know what they're doing. We have some Windows users who are completely clueless and others who know what they're doing. That's the problem with anecdotal evidence. In any case, you're certainly entitled to your opinion and that's fine. Just don't claim you have statistical facts to back it up is all.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

From my experience in IT it doesn't seem to matter. We have some Apple users who are completely clueless and some who know what they're doing. We have some Windows users who are completely clueless and others who know what they're doing. That's the problem with anecdotal evidence. In any case, you're certainly entitled to your opinion and that's fine. Just don't claim you have statistical facts to back it up is all.

Exactly. Anecdotical observations means jack. All the Unix sysadmins, Database admins/developers, PHP developers I know use Macs. Heck, a large majority of the developers on Google campus in Mountain View are using Macbook pros. The same people that develop apps for Android OS are toting around in Macbooks. At the Froyo release, every speaker where using Macbook Pros for their demos.
What does that say? It means jack because thats only MY observations.

 

[muab]

Exactly. Anecdotical observations means jack. All the Unix sysadmins, Database admins/developers, PHP developers I know use Macs. Heck, a large majority of the developers on Google campus in Mountain View are using Macbook pros. The same people that develop apps for Android OS are toting around in Macbooks. At the Froyo release, every speaker where using Macbook Pros for their demos.
What does that say? It means jack because thats only MY observations.

Hmm, I think it might mean that Macbook laptops are pretty righteous.
The only notebook I would spend any real money on would be a Macbook.
In general I prefer inexpensive laptops because I view them as somewhat disposable. And I currently own no Apple products.
(I had an awesome Apple IIe back in the day that I worshiped)

I wonder how one can actually judge tech-savvyhood though? My associate has a degree in computer science and he cannot troubleshoot hardware worth a darn. He can program in a number of useless programming languages though.
Other's I know seem to be represent equal dichotomies.

In my *anecdotal* experience more tech savvy people are more likely to utilize the Android OS, and a very, very large percentage of the people who utilize the iPhone are less tech savvy. (everyone in a marketing agency I dealt with used an iPhone...very smart people but very focused and finite tech knowledge).
There are heaps of exceptions to this tendency (as I mentioned my son above, who is in the top few percent of tech-savvy-hood by nearly anyone's measuring stick).

I think part of this is driven by Apple's amazing brand and marketing. Part of this is driven by the fact the iPhone does not REQUIRE much tech savvy to operate very nicely. Part of this phenomenon is caused by (I believe) the fact that Android overall is not quite as user-friendly as iPhone OS and thus people who love Android OS are willing to fiddle with it to wring all the goodness from the OS.

Once again, opinions are like metaphors, and I am like a shark...I just keep making metaphors.



Cheers

 

[woofermazing]

If the iPhone is any car, it's a PT Cruiser. It's cool to some people and pretty polished, but there's not much going on there besides looks.

The person who buys it thinks it's super bad ass. They are also perfectly happy spending a ton of money on accessories.

Some people look on those with a PT Cruiser with envy, but most just don't see the point and would rather have something either more functional or with some real power under the hood.

 

[A.Nonymous]

I wonder how one can actually judge tech-savvyhood though? My associate has a degree in computer science and he cannot troubleshoot hardware worth a darn. He can program in a number of useless programming languages though.
Other's I know seem to be represent equal dichotomies.

Supposedly there are statistics on the subject so someone has defined it somewhere. I don't know how to define it myself. My mom has no clue about technology and I have to go to her house when she needs to copy files from her Windows computer to a thumb drive because she has no clue how. Well, I usually scream at my brother who lives there to do it for her 'cuz he knows how. She's definitely not tech savvy. Then there are people like me who's microwave still says 12:00 on it 'cuz I have no clue how to change it, but I can write basic programs and scripts as well as debug programs in languages I know nothing about. I can troubleshoot hardware and software with no issues once I get a grasp of how it's supposed to work in the first place. I consider myself tech savvy for whatever that may be worth. Then there are people who pick up a brand new piece of tech they know nothing about and are a power user in 10 mins. No clue how you define tech savvy myself.

In my *anecdotal* experience more tech savvy people are more likely to utilize the Android OS, and a very, very large percentage of the people who utilize the iPhone are less tech savvy. (everyone in a marketing agency I dealt with used an iPhone...very smart people but very focused and finite tech knowledge).
There are heaps of exceptions to this tendency (as I mentioned my son above, who is in the top few percent of tech-savvy-hood by nearly anyone's measuring stick).

I think part of this is driven by Apple's amazing brand and marketing. Part of this is driven by the fact the iPhone does not REQUIRE much tech savvy to operate very nicely. Part of this phenomenon is caused by (I believe) the fact that Android overall is not quite as user-friendly as iPhone OS and thus people who love Android OS are willing to fiddle with it to wring all the goodness from the OS.

I go back to my mother (who's not tech savvy by any definition) who uses a dumb phone. I have lots of friends who use dumb phones. They may be plenty tech savvy, they just have no need or want for a smart phone because they don't want the extra expense. I wouldn't argue that those who use dumb phones are less tech savvy. I don't even know that most Android users are more tech savvy. I think the average person on here is more tech savvy than the average Android user. We're all nerds who will spend the time fiddling under the hood to find all the goodies. I think the average person can spend 30-45 mins and figure out what they need to do with their phone. I know people who would not qualify as tech savvy at all who use Android phones and higher end phones like the DInc or EVO. (There I go with the anecdotal evidence again.)

You're right about Apple's marketing strategy though. They do market their phone as being so easy a moron can operate it and they're generally correct. Perhaps that contributes to these supposedly existent statistics that say Apple users are less tech savvy.

 

[muab]

If the iPhone is any car, it's a PT Cruiser. It's cool to some people and pretty polished, but there's not much going on there besides looks.

The person who buys it thinks it's super bad ass. They are also perfectly happy spending a ton of money on accessories.

Some people look on those with a PT Cruiser with envy, but most just don't see the point and would rather have something either more functional or with some real power under the hood.

I can see your metaphor to some extent but I think it may be unduly harsh.

Have you spent much time with an iPhone yet?

I would say that the first 3 months I felt my Droid 1 was only better than my iPhone in 6 ways:

--Hardware keyboard
--SD card
--removable battery
--the phone function actually works more of the time
--seemed more geared toward customizing
--seemed faster--internet particularly

At the same time I felt my iPhone was better in a number of small ways

--everything seemed smoother
--most functions seemed more intuitive
--had fewer freeze-up/FC situations
--loved the clean integration to iTunes (but hated the heavy Apple control!)
--sensors seemed a little more integrated and predictable

It took 6 months or more before I began to really feel that my Droid was really, truly a better device than my iPhone...and that was because I was willing to screw with and modify and tweak the phone.

Even VERY tech savvy people want some devices that require zero effort to work smoothly. A guy who is screwing with server boxes and routers all day may want a phone that he never has to mess with. I think the iPhone fits that bill better.

Of course, as I say above, I think my Droid is a much more capable device than my iPhone was...with certain provisos.

Cheers

 

[mastermind1431]

Guys...

I'm so glad to see that the thread is back to the discussion of advantage and disadvantage of both iPhone and Android.... a good way to go...
Didn't we have any RIM fanboiys on the board??... coz RIM is totally out of the discussion....

What do you think integrating RIM's secure mails and messaging system to our beloved Android???

 

[darreno1]

I wonder how one can actually judge tech-savvyhood though? My associate has a degree in computer science and he cannot troubleshoot hardware worth a darn. He can program in a number of useless programming languages though.
Other's I know seem to be represent equal dichotomies.

Very good point! I've been in IT for about 15 years and I've met lots of bright self taught and formally trained programmers, analysts, network admins etc who I would not in a million years consider tech savvy because they were unable or unwilling to 'connect the dots'. Or they get that blank look when shown a piece of hardware or in the insides of the very computers they were working with for months, sometimes years. Yeah, you can be in the business and NOT be tech savvy (by my definition).

Then there are those who aren't in the computer business, but yet are tech savvy in that they are not only able to analyze / identify a problem, but are willing and able to troubleshoot it themselves using various resources, mostly online. And while they may not succeed for lack of experience or knowledge of a particular piece of hardware or software, they are still able to grasp the principles and articulate the issues to someone like myself who's job is now half as difficult. Not many can do that.