An Alarming Trend...

[nickdalzell]

why would i want a separate device to do the same job? my phone has the ability to play music. why would i want a separate device? see what i'm talking about? backwards evolution. smartphones once could function as many different devices in one, now they are making it where folks will need three or four devices, each doing one task at a time. sad.

i thought the days of buying cheap MP3 players, which required drivers and a laptop or desktop computer to load the music onto them, were long gone. i actually loved how i could simply open an app and download songs straight from my phone. my laptop is in storage. i have moved to tablets and phones. now Google wants me to go back to a laptop and MP3 player again? or worse, burn CDs again, because they think everyone wants their MicroSD slot removed?

 

[jhawkkw]

Rooting is actually easy. If you can read you can root.
My little brother bricked his S4 active and told them it just stopped working, he got a free replacement.

This is warranty fraud.

 

[funkylogik]

I agree with wanting an SD slot. Not everyone has cheap reliable unlimited data to use the cloud (yet).
Google have their reasons for not liking SD, thats fair enough. It would be different if they banned phones with SD slot from using Play services but they dont. The manufacturers are making that choice by themselves because, obviously thats what the average customer wants.
There is less and less choice of phones with expandable storage but i dont blame google for that.
I think we're gona see much bigger internal storage drives soon though :thumbup:

 

[new optimus]

I dont think its what people want, they just follow the "trends" sure there are complainers, like myself but if the choice is no phone or a phone with no sd most will pick the phone.

 

[JIMV]

Yes, striving to be mediocre is so much better than trying for greatness....

 

[boyo1991]

One day this will sadly be our pc and what little upgrades we have currently will vanish even then

I believe the reason for this is similar to that of why we cannot upgrade ram, or the processor in our device. Because it forcibly takes more space and heat and money to make it happen. Carriers and manufacturers want devices to be as cheap as possible. Seeing as getting a brand new device at full price costs more than my laptop, part of me doesn't blame them. But if you've got 32GB, if nothing else its a good start. Just hope for the best is all we can say. As its been said previously, Samsung is pretty much the only one that still includes the sd card slot. We can only hope they don't switch over as well. The dark side is tempting for they have cookies!

 

[funkylogik]

Sony too :thumbup:
samsung are working on a small 128GB internal storage chip and i dont think theyll abandon expandable storage until then :thumbup:
Think of how hard (and flash) drives have improved in size and capacity over the years. I dont think the futures dark

 

[mikedt]

I agree with wanting an SD slot. Not everyone has cheap reliable unlimited data to use the cloud (yet).

All Chinese Androids still have expandable SD card storage, and is not likely to go away any time soon. Cloud storage is not really a viable proposition anyway for many, because it's often blocked and censored in quite a few countries, or is restricted to certain countries only, e.g. Google Music. As well as frequently limited internet access of course.

When I was buying a new phone a couple of months ago, one of my requirements was that it must have an SD. So that immediately ruled out a Nexus.

 

[nickdalzell]

i still think 'that other company' is inspiring Google to follow some of their crap. the no expandable storage is just one out of many. that, and like their UI changes, perhaps they want to cater to folks who would choose that other company over Android somehow. but by doing so they're making their loyal customers a bit peeved, myself included. Personally the reasons Google has stated for not having an SD slot are crap, and only idiots would believe them (it's too complicated and folks won't be able to tell internal from external storage..lolwut?)

Seriously, this dumbing down has to stop.

 

[Medion]

I apologize if I come across as nitpicky, it's what I do

The Nexus line has always lacked removable storage - this isn't a new trend but a continuing feature.

Nexus One had it, but you're correct, it is a continuing feature. They've had three consecutive generations of Nexus phones without expandable storage.

I think you'll find that 'Find My Droid' predated Apple's version by a few months.

He's talking about Google. Find My Droid was a third party app, not a Google product. There are many "find my phone" apps for Android. Android Device Manager is an official product by Google being pushed to all 2.2+ devices.

Android has had Google account-based sync since Day One. Again it's hardly a "new trend".

Yes, we've had account sync, but he's talking about the media sync and the move from expandable storage. Google Music was redone with cloud-based music for Android 4.0 (2011). Before ICS, we could also purchase Books and such that would reside in the cloud, but Google has only made that a default sync option relatively recently. It's a more dedicated push by Google as they refine their products.

Citation please. I like to think I keep my ear pretty well to the ground, but I've not heard anything to this effect.

In mid-June there were UI concepts going around. It was just "educated" speculation based on the following factors;

• Google's card-based flat UI being pushed to their apps (Plate Store, Music, Now, Maps, etc)
• Motorola supposedly releasing a dual-core flagship (which they did, the Moto X)
• The desire for Google to streamline their interface throughout (around the new flat interface) while making the next version of Android more feasible on lower-end devices (we hear this rumor virtually every revision)

Here was one of those speculative links:
Android 5.0

 

[funkylogik]

stupor pooper

 

[Stannis the Mannis]

I agree with you, its a trend that a lot of people dislike. Samsung is really about the only manufacturer that still does SD cards. Google is really pushing everyone else away from them to try to get them to use their own could based options (and carriers love it because doing so eats more data)


Curious, how much storage do you currently use? What is the main media that you use that much storage for? Photos, videos, music?

I have 32 GB of storage on my phone and have never had any issues with space. I know that doesnt work for everyone, but if you check out how much space you're currently using you may notice you can get by quite easily.

So does LG at least with their mid range phones. I don't know if it's only limited to my phone's variant but ever since I got the 4.1.2 update i've been able to add apps to SD so that's a nice feature.

 

[divinebovine]

Holy carp, I made a megaquote and it was encyclopedia-length. I guess I'll split the two users I responded most to into other posts...except this first quote that I want to make sure gets read, just in case ss1992 is right about it:

Like I said 2-3 tb external hard drive for approx $40-80 on Amazon or at radioshack? There are other options other than an SD card.
But I can agree. Although most phones only support 32 gb sd cards anyway.

1. PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME A LINK TO A 2-3TB DRIVE FOR $40-80! If you're not engaging in hyperbole, I could finally afford the storage I need at home. I checked Radio Shack's site and it looks like they get $150 for 2TB. On Amazon I could score 2TB for $100 or 3TB for $110.

2. A phone only supports a 32GB MicroSD card, but I can carry two dozen of them in a case the size of two half-dollar coins and swap them out whenever I damn well please.

The manufacturers are making that choice by themselves because, obviously thats what the average customer wants.

If by "customer" you mean "carrier" then yes, but the users don't want that. At most, I can imagine lots of users not knowing or caring, but that's not the same as wanting it gone.

I think we're gona see much bigger internal storage drives soon though :thumbup:

That'll help, but it's only a stopgap measure. Leaving the user in control by having the SD slot is what really works.

I dont think its what people want, they just follow the "trends" sure there are complainers, like myself but if the choice is no phone or a phone with no sd most will pick the phone.

There is a third option...older phone with SD. Of course there are compromises with that choice too.

Sony too :thumbup:
samsung are working on a small 128GB internal storage chip and i dont think theyll abandon expandable storage until then :thumbup:
Think of how hard (and flash) drives have improved in size and capacity over the years. I dont think the futures dark

128GB? That'll be fine...for a couple more years.

So does LG at least with their mid range phones. I don't know if it's only limited to my phone's variant but ever since I got the 4.1.2 update i've been able to add apps to SD so that's a nice feature.

I've observed that mid-range and low-end devices often have better flexibility and standards-compliance than high-end stuff. For example, you can only get one form factor for high end phones: slab. No flip, no slide, just slab. SD slot, same thing.

I've seen a few people mention the latest 4.x version handing app2sd as if it's new, but is it different than it was for versions dating back at least to 2.x?

 

[divinebovine]

they've also recently started copying Apple verbatim lately. Device Manager (Find my iPhone), cloud-based backup/music/books (iCloud, iTunes, iBooks). i am seeing this becoming a disturbing trend. it's like to make Android appeal to the masses they have to make their latest products a harsh reminder of iDevices. i am already hearing rumors that Android 5.0 is going to have a pretty slim UI based off of Google Now (Siri) with cards and such, a dark harking to the slim-pickings of iOS with the look and feel of the long-dead WebOS. I wouldn't put it past 'em to even lock it down where custom launchers no longer work.

Android came out because there was a place in the market for the opposite of Apple. Now with Android Appleifying, will a new competitor emerge and do what Android did?

SD Cards and removable storage are very important. if cloud-services (Dropbox included) go away, so does your data.

You really should have it backed up somewhere other than your phone. The day your phone, SD card and all, falls off the boat to the bottom of the ocean or gets run over by a truck or whatever is inevitably the day that Dropbox goes away. Either synchronize with a second cloud storage service or local storage at a computer.

The stylus. once thought to be gone (finally) in favor of more accurate touch-screens with capacitive input is once again showing a sign of return. i'm already seeing folks sporting the Note and tapping with a stylus. none of them artists. but they all remind me of Palm Pilot users or those sporting a Newton. if the stylus comes back, what's that saying for the progress of touchscreens?

Are these styli required, or can you still use your finger?

i thought the days of buying cheap MP3 players, which required drivers and a laptop or desktop computer to load the music onto them,

Every cheap MP3 player I've ever had used standard USB Mass Storage drivers. Proprietary drivers and cost kept me away from the more expensive ones, but the cheap ones never required any drivers. Plus, just like with phones, I bought MP3 players that have SD slots.

Haven't bought one in forever, the old ones are still working fine thanks to SD slots and standard AAA batteries. Got a free one once with an integrated rechargeable battery...used it for a year and then it died, now it's a brick. Folks, that's why guys like nick and I don't like the stuff we're ranting about in here.

perhaps they want to cater to folks who would choose that other company over Android somehow. but by doing so they're making their loyal customers a bit peeved, myself included.

Yup, they are chasing those customers. They already have all of the other kind of customers. Where are we going to go if they make changes that we don't like? Is there a competitor offering what we want? Not yet, but if one arrives then we will have that choice available and you can then expect Android to offer better options again.

Personally the reasons Google has stated for not having an SD slot are crap, and only idiots would believe them (it's too complicated and folks won't be able to tell internal from external storage..lolwut?)

Call me an idiot then, but I work in IT and I know how the general population operates. They don't even know their backside from a hole in the ground, let alone where their data is. It's probably my biggest concern about uers, they never know where their data is, ever. "It's in Word" is the most common statement.

Seriously, this dumbing down has to stop.

It's the natural progression of things. Everything gets dumbed down more and more. In 400 years we'll be able to hop into a previously unencountered alien's ship with a language that's not even compatible with our brains and still figure out how to pilot it, repair its warp engines, etc...haven't you been watching Star Trek? It's not just that these characters are the best in Starfleet, it's also that interfaces everywhere are severely dumbed down.

 

[divinebovine]

And to all the people comparing the Closed Source to Google and saying they will become like apple.. Please. Considering it's all founded on Open Source..

Realistically, in this context open source's effect is that manufacturers can do stuff, we can review some code for security, and we can maybe put together some ROMs on some devices. It does not mean that we are empowered to fix all the ills if only we have the necessary abilities.

Do you really need an SD card? Use Dropbox and what not.

I think you will find that I am the biggest fan of cloud storage. Just look at my sig. However, it is not the same. Sure, you can accomplish some of the same goals with it, but overall cloud storage and local storage are very different products for very different purposes. Folks like me, nickgrumpycatdalzell*, and JIMV aren't well-served by cloud storage in all of our needs, only some.

For me, a major shortcoming of cloud storage is connectivity, which is something that I lack. As well, all that radio use would (not exaggerating) make my battery last an hour or two at most. Working with local storage I can get much more reasonable battery life.

*: nick, I hope you take that humorously. I enjoy your grumpy rants about this stuff and agree with most of it.

And for the batteries not being able to be removed. If you're lazy it'd be a problem. All you have to do is unscrew it. I changed my iPhone battery in 5 minutes.

Because of the aforementioned battery life I carry a spare that I can plop in, it's small and fits easily in my pocket. Without a removable battery spares are USB-connected, large and clunky. I'm not taking apart my phone in the middle of the forest when my GPS has sucked up all the juice.

AND as for the apps. Last time I checked Google does not own Dolphin Browser. Just because apps are choosing that UI means absolutely nothing. That does not mean android 5 will be all "flat card based UI"

It is normal for an OS maker to strongly recommend certain choices by third party programmers and really make it easy to comply by providing SDKs and APIs and other TLAs.

As for the Play Store get in and get out? It's not an app you play with. You find what you want and leave.

Indeed. That's how I use it. I don't like it but since it's not something I need to spend a lot of time on I just tolerate it.

Also there are alternative catalogs for Google Play apps. You can use Appbrain to choose an app and then it takes you to Play to actually install. Competition is good.

You have to consider these movies tech are just that. Movie tech. Let's be realistic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicator_(Star_Trek)#Relation_to_current_technology
Dr. Martin Cooper, inventor of the first handheld mobile phone, credits the TOS communicator as being his inspiration for the technology. Although the first "brick" mobile phones were much larger, modern flip phones strongly resemble the original series communicator.

Nobody's saying we need exactly the fictional item from a movie or TV show but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't strive for things that are similar. Giving up and then even taking away functionality is not a good thing. We're supposed to be adding functionality or reducing size, not increasing size while taking away functions.

1980s mac versus now. MAJOR leap. Brick phone versus Galaxy S4. Huge leap.

Phone from a scant few years ago vs. phone of today. Leap backwards, features removed and size increased.

Or you can just get a non apple mp3 player.

This thread is about Android stuff becoming more like Apple. How do you get a non-Apple device when everything is just like Apple?

 

[zuben el genub]

You can use a Sandisk. There are other MP3 players.

This is a trend. There's a big discussion on Firefox about adding some kind instant connection to social media and a few other things now done automatically. A lot of people are simply too damn lazy to figure out how to get where they want to go, apparently they are the majority of the buyers, or else the only ones that fill out forms on how the product is liked.
In FX, you wind up editing about:config to get rid of the crap.

The other reason is that business and government want lots of data, and the more they can get, the better. I just saw a blurb about a bed that records what kind of sleep you are getting. That info should be between you and a doctor, but marketing wants to sell you bedding, a new bed, something to kill outside sounds, etc.

You need fora to find out exactly what the story is, and since I see a lot more new people posting - I have a glimmer of hope.

 

[JIMV]

I believe the providers, like Verizon see the writing on the wall. Files are getting bigger. CD and Hi-Rez quality music and High Def videos are becoming common. Those files are big. The carriers sell cloud storage. If they sell phones without serious memory, they can sell more cloud space and make a lot more money. There is no real profit in phone service any more. The money is in data plans and cloud storage and that is where they are driving us regardless of what we want.

 

[nickdalzell]

Appbrain is just a browser. when i choose to install something i have to cringe at the pastel card-crap of Play Store. if there was only a market with paid apps with the entire database from Play that i could simply replace it with, you can bet i would. i've tried downgrading Play Store but it always auto-updates and in Android 4 and up, there is no 'Market Updater' to freeze to prevent it, and the older Android Market won't run on 4 and up either. Amazon has 1/3 the paid apps of Play, and so far that's all i got. I prefer to pay for apps to avoid Airpush crap, or banners that slow the interface down, or to support the Dev with a more polished product. i have found a lot of 'free' versions of otherwise paid apps, include ads that slow it down, or seem intentionally crippled or crash-prone as if they intended to influence you to pay for the more polished product. now i just avoid the crap by paying for it if it is possible--it's not expensive.

It really is a shame. i actually enjoyed Google's apps before the upgrade, they worked a bit better than they do now. Books had a nice 3-D looking library, now gone. Store had a nice layout that made Android Market primitive in comparison and fit more in the screen. it also had a much more eye-friendly lighter text on dark background. Music had a nice visualization when the current song was playing. Google+ was far superior to Facebook with its lack of crap like Candy Crush and often-improper targeted advertising. (Facebook constantly fails to differentiate 'Deer Lover' from 'Deer Hunter' and 'Vegan' from 'Meat Lover'). but now their attempt at copying Windows 8 and WebOS and trying the same crappy gesture input of BlackBerry 10, just lost me.

Google Now is a very nice app, but i feel the UI needs to be exclusive to Google Now, and not start taking over Android itself. it works for the app, much like its iOS version. but as an interface it falls, well, for lack of a better term, 'flat'.

As for references to Star Trek, i am a huge fan of the series and older movies. i am pretty familiar with how it inspired much of what we have now. Deep Space Nine has devices in later seasons that probably got Glass inspired. The Next Generation had tablets, with people actually tapping them with their fingers as if they were using our tablets today--in 1989. and no one would forget the Original Series' inspiring cellular phones. there are other forms of tech that have become reality as well (There is a real-life analog to the VISOR and a real-life medical scanner is now being used)

Star Trek LCARS, as much as some folks assume is just like Windows 8 and Google's new UI, isn't at all like it. in later movies, namely, Nemesis, the Windows 8 colors became a default blue theme. any information displayed in the panels around those colored bars was usually a 3-D or more graphical app, such as a planet orbit display, or molecule data on a Patient Biology scan. Brain scans were shown in 3-D (Voyager) often. LCARS was even used in Holodecks to show 3-D interactive images, with the flat-panels only setting up the program itself like writing a program in BASIC. LCARS also has a light-on-dark background which Google refuses to use.

LCARS and what our UIs are turning into are nothing alike. i highly doubt that anyone today could tell the button to display the Stardate from the Photon Launcher by all the dazzling touch-buttons that were constantly blinking throughout the ship. There was NEVER any sign of a Fisher-Price style UI on any Star Trek ship, from Enterprise, to TOS and beyond.

 

[Slug]

Slug, have you seen the Play Store?

Of course I have - I'm there almost daily to update my many apps.

they are already doing the flat card-based pastel garbage on all of their apps

It's a 'look', nothing more.

they are going with a more card-based flat UI for their latest Android.

Incorrect. There are no "cards" involved, just a different look. The UI is still the same - apps work the same way, don't they?

Google has already convinced other manufacturers to do away with external storage and removable batteries, not just the Nexus line. the Droids already seem to be releasing without SD slots.

So? Sony and Samsung, along with Huawei and LG, continue to offer external storage. Choice is good.

the USB OTG trend scares me. who really prefers a clunky dongle over built-in slots? it's truly disturbing.

You need to expand your imagination. I can connect a card reader to my smartphone and backup a CF card of RAW images from my dSLR, letting me review them on something better than the 3" low-res LCD on the camera. Or I can transfer recorded HD tv programs straight to the handset for watching away from home by connecting my 320GB storage drive.

instead of moving away from stylii, we see more and more devices sporting the pens. (what's next? return to resistive touch screens?)

You've tried this argument before, and I'll give you the same answer.... an S-Pen with the associated software is MUCH more than a simple stylus.

 

[Thatdad]

Like above user said there are plenty of other mp3 players.

I don't want people to get me wrong, I would love to see tech like in Star Trek. But nickdalzell was somewhat implying that we should have tech like that already. It's going to be a while when we see a holodeck. Much less Google Glass with a SIM slot.

Like I said before WIFI itself was popularized only in around 2003. People thought wifi was to hard at one point! Cut some slack people good God.

Let's not forget the fact that multi touch hit mainstream in just 2007!

Can we honestly say technology isn't advancing? What about the S4 eye tracking? That's a pretty decent advancement. Oh but no SD card? Oh the whole phone went backwards. Oh dear lord.

2007-2013. 6 years. 2007 multi touch itself was considered a huge advancement. Now 6 years later we have straight up RETINA TRACKING TECHNOLOGY, and we've gone backwards??

I do not see Android being anything like Apple at all. Google is money hungry, do you all really think Google is going to grab their customers and shove them right out? Android, no matter what device, has way more features than any iOS enabled device.

I do agree about the SD card issue, I rely on it too. But it's really not such a big deal to the point where I'm dropping android entirely. If you don't like Android anymore go to iOS and tell us Android isn't worth it.

I rest my case.

 

[new optimus]

Like above user said there are plenty of other mp3 players.

I don't want people to get me wrong, I would love to see tech like in Star Trek. But nickdalzell was somewhat implying that we should have tech like that already. It's going to be a while when we see a holodeck. Much less Google Glass with a SIM slot.

Like I said before WIFI itself was popularized only in around 2003. People thought wifi was to hard at one point! Cut some slack people good God.

Let's not forget the fact that multi touch hit mainstream in just 2007!

Can we honestly say technology isn't advancing? What about the S4 eye tracking? That's a pretty decent advancement. Oh but no SD card? Oh the whole phone went backwards. Oh dear lord.

2007-2013. 6 years. 2007 multi touch itself was considered a huge advancement. Now 6 years later we have straight up RETINA TRACKING TECHNOLOGY, and we've gone backwards??

I do not see Android being anything like Apple at all. Google is money hungry, do you all really think Google is going to grab their customers and shove them right out? Android, no matter what device, has way more features than any iOS enabled device.

I do agree about the SD card issue, I rely on it too. But it's really not such a big deal to the point where I'm dropping android entirely. If you don't like Android anymore go to iOS and tell us Android isn't worth it.

I rest my case.

What we need is more competition, keep android, and iOS on their toes.

 

[Thatdad]

Holy carp, I made a megaquote and it was encyclopedia-length. I guess I'll split the two users I responded most to into other posts...except this first quote that I want to make sure gets read, just in case ss1992 is right about it:


1. PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME A LINK TO A 2-3TB DRIVE FOR $40-80! If you're not engaging in hyperbole, I could finally afford the storage I need at home. I checked Radio Shack's site and it looks like they get $150 for 2TB. On Amazon I could score 2TB for $100 or 3TB for $110.

2. A phone only supports a 32GB MicroSD card, but I can carry two dozen of them in a case the size of two half-dollar coins and swap them out whenever I damn well please.



If by "customer" you mean "carrier" then yes, but the users don't want that. At most, I can imagine lots of users not knowing or caring, but that's not the same as wanting it gone.


That'll help, but it's only a stopgap measure. Leaving the user in control by having the SD slot is what really works.



There is a third option...older phone with SD. Of course there are compromises with that choice too.



128GB? That'll be fine...for a couple more years.




I've observed that mid-range and low-end devices often have better flexibility and standards-compliance than high-end stuff. For example, you can only get one form factor for high end phones: slab. No flip, no slide, just slab. SD slot, same thing.

I've seen a few people mention the latest 4.x version handing app2sd as if it's new, but is it different than it was for versions dating back at least to 2.x?

Sorry Divine just saw this! Well when it does go on sale like that it's almost always in store only. I see them all the time on Amazon. (I have one from amazon 2 TB for $80 and one from radioshack for $60. (the $40 sale had ended) it's just about shopping around and filtering.

 

[nickdalzell]

yeah, multitouch (iOS) started with the first iPhone. it also paved the way towards more accurate touchscreens and finger input, far more natural than a stylus. but wait! the stylus is BACK! just like speech recognition, we're going to see touchscreens held back by the few dinosaurs who prefer to wield a stylus. heck for a while HDTVs and flat-panel monitors were held back because the same folks preferred a CRT for a few years.

We're seeing tech evolution going backwards. it's plain as day. devices were getting smaller, faster, and starting to look like they were going towards integrated tech. or wearable tech. now what is happening? it's getting bigger, clunkier, and looking like a modern take on 1980s tech. the Note 2 is the best example. sure, it sports a touch screen, a high-res display, and does far more, but dimension wise it reminds anyone from the 1980s of the DynaTAC. it looks every bit as goofy as one when used as a phone. it just lacks the rubber antenna and grey finish, and has a much better battery.

the Note 2 also reminds me of an Apple Newton with it having a stylus and folks actually using the darned thing. folks, who, mind you, hated touchscreens from day one of the iPhone. i can only pray they're a minority and won't halt the progress of touch input farther.

No, i am not expecting 24th Century tech today. i am stating however that as long as we're dumbing stuff down and not evolving towards much more advanced tech like translucent screens, flexible dispalys, or 3-D UIs, we might not see the 24th Century. everything is going Fisher-Price! Windows 8, iOS, even speculations of Android 5.

I don't want to give up on Android. i certainly don't want to go back to iOS (even iOS 7 seems to be all cartoony now anyway from what i am reading). However if Google gets the same ego as Microsoft and Facebook and starts ignoring user complaints and responds with 'hey, this is our new look, take it or leave it' then i am not going to be comfortable remaining with 'em.

if it were any other issue i'd just use my root experience to remove what Google is doing. unfortunately, there is NO. Root. way. to. de-pastel and de-card. Google. Play.

No matter how many complain how it SUCKS, Google doesn't care. in fact, just like Facebook, they just expect us to complain and make the excuse that 'oh you're all afraid of change'. and pray that people adapt and move on. are we such doormats that we just let that happen?

 

[bjacks12]

Some of these things are good candidates for http://www.whitewhine.com

The only issue that bothers me is lack of SD card slots.

My fat fingers love the bigger screens. I hate using that tiny screen on my ipod. Even the 4" on my S1 was bad enough.

I don't have an issue with the pastels in Google play. I am liking Google's UI. To me the current look is way better than 2.3.

 

[Thatdad]

yeah, multitouch (iOS) started with the first iPhone. it also paved the way towards more accurate touchscreens and finger input, far more natural than a stylus. but wait! the stylus is BACK! just like speech recognition, we're going to see touchscreens held back by the few dinosaurs who prefer to wield a stylus. heck for a while HDTVs and flat-panel monitors were held back because the same folks preferred a CRT for a few years.

We're seeing tech evolution going backwards. it's plain as day. devices were getting smaller, faster, and starting to look like they were going towards integrated tech. or wearable tech. now what is happening? it's getting bigger, clunkier, and looking like a modern take on 1980s tech. the Note 2 is the best example. sure, it sports a touch screen, a high-res display, and does far more, but dimension wise it reminds anyone from the 1980s of the DynaTAC. it looks every bit as goofy as one when used as a phone. it just lacks the rubber antenna and grey finish, and has a much better battery.

the Note 2 also reminds me of an Apple Newton with it having a stylus and folks actually using the darned thing. folks, who, mind you, hated touchscreens from day one of the iPhone. i can only pray they're a minority and won't halt the progress of touch input farther.

No, i am not expecting 24th Century tech today. i am stating however that as long as we're dumbing stuff down and not evolving towards much more advanced tech like translucent screens, flexible dispalys, or 3-D UIs, we might not see the 24th Century. everything is going Fisher-Price! Windows 8, iOS, even speculations of Android 5.

I don't want to give up on Android. i certainly don't want to go back to iOS (even iOS 7 seems to be all cartoony now anyway from what i am reading). However if Google gets the same ego as Microsoft and Facebook and starts ignoring user complaints and responds with 'hey, this is our new look, take it or leave it' then i am not going to be comfortable remaining with 'em.

The stylus never went anywhere. The Stylus is only used for certain functions of the Note 2. How are people using a stylus for a stylus related function going to hold back the advancement of touchscreen technology?

Google has always had an ego. (ever heard of Google Analytics?) they invade your privacy every time you turn around. With big money and power comes large egos.

All of the big advancements I have seen have come from companies such as Samsung. Google just dishes out Android and some Google services.

Trust me tech is advancing incredibly fast. There is a actually a friend I know who is in on the tech and beta testing scene and has heard that there are a lot of companies developing TV tech that used Virtual Reality. (supposedly will put you in the movie or show)

I wouldn't worry about SD Cards or using a Stylus to be the downfall of technology advancement. Truth be told my grandmother has nerve damage so bad she can't even use her iPhone 4s touchscreen without a stylus. Her using a stylus isn't a step backward and there are plenty of people who can't. I've seen it before.