

An iPhone Lover’s Take On The Nexus S - Bud
http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/31/nexus-s-iphone-review/

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jfb
I wrote about this when the N1 came out; what it came down to was that fit and
finish were significant issues (why won't apps move aside when re-arranging
them on the screen?), but for me, the dealbreaker was that you really can't
take advantage of Android without buying into the whole Google ecosystem, and
I'd recently opted _out_ of the Google ecosystem.

I use my phone as an extension of my computer, not a portal into the cloud, so
the metaphor was never a good fit for me. I certainly think that there were
plenty of good things about the N1 and Froyo (although I _hated_ that stupid
trackball, the notifications and maps on Froyo were enormously better then
their equivalents on iOS), and if you're not already locked into a way of
interacting with your phone, that there's not a lot of _functional_ daylight
between vanilla Android and iOS at this point.

I am curious to see what WP7 turns into. They have some wiggle room and may
just surprise.

 _EDIT_ : On the off chance anybody's interested:

<http://homonculus.net/tags/phones.html>

~~~
martythemaniak
Well, that's actually true for all major smartphones - Android is an extension
of Google's cloud, iPhone is an extension of your PC's iTunes, BlackBerry is
an extension of your corporate BES/Outlook server etc.

Android, while incomplete, is the model which all others will have to switch
to eventually. I mean, imagine using iTunes v15 on your PC as your personal
email/contacts/media hub in 2016. Seems pretty ridiculous to me. In fact, it
seems ridiculous to me in 2011.

The interesting thing about Android (the Nexus lines in particular) is that it
is the only major OS that gives you the option of using it _without_ any
attachments through ASOP. CyanogenMod and others let you use Android without
any google things, something which none of the others will let you do.

~~~
jfb
"I mean, imagine using iTunes v15 on your PC as your personal
email/contacts/media hub in 2016. Seems pretty ridiculous to me. In fact, it
seems ridiculous to me in 2011."

No argument here. And I think you're right about the convergence -- holdouts
like me will just have to learn to cope. All I want is someone to sell me the
service, not rely on data mining and ad impressions.

~~~
martythemaniak
Well, there are options out there now. If you want an unattached smartphone, a
Nexus S with CyanogenMod will get you a great smartphone with a modern OS and
no googly attachments.

OTOH, if you're distrustful of Google's ad model, you can get a blackberry and
sign up for a hosted BES, which will give you all the benefits corp users have
for like $10/month.

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oasisbob
_Having said that, I still prefer the build quality of the Nexus One (HTC-
built) a bit more than the Nexus S (Samsung-built). Like the Windows Phone
model I used (a Samsung Focus), the Nexus S feels a bit too plastic-y for my
taste._

Yes. This. I'd buy a Nexus S in a heartbeat if it felt anything like the Nexus
One. I have a hard time rationalizing intangibles like this, but something
about a phone is deeply personal (always on you, handles communication, etc),
and the aesthetics matter.

Polyester underwear, anyone?

~~~
pkulak
I had a Captivate for a while and loved the build. Very solid, it just was
light. I don't tend to conflate weight with quality.

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stcredzero
The obvious come-from-behing strategy for Windows phones: Look at how is
market leader (Apple) is beating everyone else (RIM/Android) and emulate their
success. I think they're trying to do this: use tighter control over the
platform to ensure superior UI/UX and seamless integration with their desktop
products. If Microsoft can pull this off, they will take a big bite out of the
2nd/3rd place competitors and threaten Apple. If they can't, Windows Phone 7
will be an also-ran like Zune.

~~~
johns
Microsoft probably loves the leeway that Apple's position gives them right now
to act the way they love to act.

~~~
jtchang
Microsoft needs competition to create awesome products. Without it they don't
ever seem to have any direction.

~~~
stcredzero
Sort of a large-scale corporate procrastination.

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solipsist
This is why the iPhone still dominates the market more than any other Android
phone does.

" _Sure, I’m more accustomed to the iPhone, but I could switch [to the Nexus
S] anytime I wanted to. But that’s the thing, I don’t want to. The iPhone
experience is still overall a better one in my mind. It’s that simple._ "

~~~
niclupien
One question : If you had bought an Android phone before your iPhone and you
were accustomed and comfortable with it, do you think you would say the same
thing ?

~~~
younata
Yes.

I've been playing with a g1 for quite some time (got it in september). Did a
bit of development with it (nothing I'd ever release to the public,
unfortunately). I did get quite a bit used to it. I had it rooted and was
running android 2.2 on it, which was rather fast.

Then, I got an iphone 4 for christmas and holy shit, this is a much better
experience. My only complaint about the iphone is that the bar you swipe to
unlock the phone is lower than what I'm used to. Low enough that if I'm not
looking at the phone, I'll still have my thumb high enough to miss the bar
completely.

~~~
blinkingled
G1? That would be like iPhone 1G prototype! The phone was too weak hardware
wise. The difference between newer Android phones like the Galaxy S or G2 and
iPhone has greatly narrowed to the point where it is mostly an individual
preference / needs for specific features that dictate if you will buy one or
the other.

~~~
younata
the g1, in terms of processor speed, was probably on par with as much as the
iphone 3g.

I've played with the droid x, and other than the screen size, didn't really
see that much of a difference between it and the g1.

Edit: After a quick browse of wikipedia, the g1, on paper, looks to be faster
than the iphone 3g.

~~~
blinkingled
Your G1 is probably not everyone else's G1 ;) Seriously - no difference
between Droid X and G1 - you might want to rethink about that!

~~~
younata
Ok, maybe I was wrong.

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ericb
Does anyone else think Android phone desktops look vaguely like Windows 3.1?

~~~
martythemaniak
Yeah, like totally! I fondly remember downloading and arranging the widgets on
my windows 3.1, and the cool parallax-effect when you scroll through the 5
home screens.

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nazgulnarsil
i consider stuff that lacks GPU acceleration to be so unbelievably retarded
that I question the core competence of the engineers and company behind it.
android and flash have been the two biggest offenders recently. I despise
adobe (well, for lots of reasons besides this as well) and am starting to hate
google. (is flash fixed yet BTW?)

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mcantelon
>A couple of the apps I use the most on my iPhone: Twitter and Foursquare,
still lack to polish of their iOS counterparts.

Twitter's Android app is crap, and strangely mine is locked so I'll have to
root to remove it. Twidroyd, however, works well.

~~~
ergo98
Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon MP3 are "built-in" apps in many Android images
(e.g. Nexus One 2.2), at most allowing you to uninstall updates to them.

It's a major irritation, really. Google needs to stop that nonsense.

~~~
dannyr
On Nexus S/Android 2.3, you can completely uninstall Facebook and Twitter.

~~~
ergo98
This is fantastic to hear.

------
ergo98
Google sent out phones to both Gruber and Siegler. What were they thinking?
Neither are fair actors, and neither have any credibility outside of the core
Apple base.

They are lost causes. There is no value in courting them: Let the product
diminish their relevance, which is _exactly what has already happened_.

Siegler's review pretends that he gave it a fair shake, yet like all Apple
reviews it only notes where Android fails, in his opinion, relative to the
iPhone. Where, for instance, is any comment on the superior Android
notification system (which to me is a dealbreaker of the iPhone), the power of
widgets, the granular app permissions, etc.

As much as he doth protest, his conclusion was predetermined. There is no
scenario where he would consider it a superior device.

~~~
Lewisham
While true, I don't necessarily think that the opinion should be discounted.

I have been looking to buy a Nexus S this week, I went to Best Buy, $530 in
hand, but I vowed to play with it first. The demo unit was not good. Google
have let themselves fall behind, particuarly that the GPU still isn't
accelerating graphics (leading to a jerky experience) and little things being
to irritate (double-tap to zoom in Browser results in a jerky 3 fps zoom,
whereas the iPhone does it wonderfully). It all adds up to say "I'm not ready
yet." Unfortunately, Android hasn't been ready yet for a long time.

They need to stop hiring engineers and start hiring UX guys. All the apps from
Google are great. The technical underpinnings are great. The UX is pretty
poor; the only win over iOS are widgets and notifications. It blows my mind
that Apple hasn't emulated those yet. Windows Phone 7 is providing a better UX
than Android on version 1, and it doesn't strongly emulate iOS like Android
does.

~~~
blinkingled
I can take your same argument and claim that iOS is not ready yet for a long
time and there are no signs that it will ever be. You focus on the few things
that it doesn't do and claim it's not ready. Let me do the same thing with the
disclaimer that it is wrong -

The iOS browser doesn't adjust text to the screen like the Android browser
does. The notification system is horrid. There are no OTA updates leaving many
people who don't use iTunes running old versions of software. The UI is not
flexible at all - widgets simplify so many things. Sync is pathetic on iOS -
on Android picasa photos, contacts, apps and settings are there in the cloud
and all I need to do is sign in to my google account and everything is right
there. Has Auto Correct been added to iOS keyboard yet? There is no chance for
things such as Swype on iOS. There is no back button. Etc. Thus iOS is not
ready yet.

~~~
Lewisham
Well sure, if you want to take it that way :)

I just meant "Does this _OS_ feel like it is fully baked?" and it sort of
doesn't, because the jerkiness makes you feel like you're interacting with an
OS, not a physical item. You have to sit and think a little bit about how your
finger movement is going to translate. Graphical acceleration ala iOS and WP7
means you don't have to do that. Notifications, sync, etc etc are all features
built on top of that UX foundation, and that's where _I_ (and I think,
consumers in general) feel that is the first hurdle you have to overcome.
Everything else is gravy.

But I do agree about Swype... that's awesome.

~~~
tensor
This is still a really terrible argument. The Nexus S I have is far, far
smoother and responsive than an iphone 3gs and you saw no "half baked"
comments about the previous iphones.

Not to mention that you don't have to think at all about how your finger will
translate: despite a bit of chop occasionally, it still ends up exactly where
it should, just like all the previous iphones.

As far as I can tell, android is getting a lot of criticism for no reason
other than iphones are popular. It's ridiculous, both the nexus s and iphone 4
are extremely advanced, amazing pieces of technology and people argue over
some minute perceived jitter or other non-objective observation. From this,
they jump to over the top criticism like "half baked," "inferior device," and
"second rate."

Your Lamborghini sure is half baked compared to my Ferrari. Consumers will
never like Lamborghini until they fix the feel of the steering wheel material!

