
Android Is For The Masses, iPhone For The Rich - terpua
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/android_is_for_the_masses.php
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demallien
We're starting to get the first user reports from owners of iPhone 3Gs, and
they are being particularly harsh on battery life. Considering how draconian
Apple has been on trying to oblige apps to be low-consumers of power, I will
be very interested to see how Android's more open platform goes. I note that
in the article they mention that location aware and social apps (the kind that
need notifications) are very popular.

Despite Apple's best efforts, these apps hurt the battery life of the iPhone.
What will this do for Android, which has much less control over hardware, and
much less control of apps that can be put on the system?

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SwellJoe
I went looking for a phone to replace my current one (I've been rollin' with
the deuce, err...Sidekick II...for about five years now) last week. The space
is just abysmal.

I expected to find a half dozen phones with similarly priced plans that had a
decent browser. But it turns out, the carriers won't sell me a plan as cheap
as my current one, and that's the _main_ reason I want to move to something
else. I use the damned thing so little, it's just stupid for me to keep paying
$65/month for the privilege. I talk about 45 minutes per month, on average,
with occasional peaks up to 100 minutes or so, if my folks are feeling chatty.
I browse the web about 30 minutes per month, maybe as much as 100 minutes when
I'm traveling. I don't use email (because email sucks on the Sidekick, though
I do use our own webmail client which has a pretty good mobile interface), and
I never use SMS.

To get pretty much anything with the same sized screen or larger, and a data
plan (of any kind--even one that bills by the minute), it'll cost me more per
month than I'm already paying.

Why won't they sell me a cheap voice plan (100 minutes would do me just fine)
and a reasonable data plan? I guess because that'd be less money for them.
But, it's ridiculous...they've priced me out of the smart phone market
entirely. I don't need the damned thing, but it'd be convenient to have when I
want GPS or something...but it's definitely not $80/month worth of convenience
to me. So, instead of a smart phone provider getting $40/month from me, one of
the pay-as-you-go dumb phone providers will be getting $20 every three months.
I'll probably be happier with it anyway. I won't feel the urge to read reddit
or HN while I'm waiting for my tea or lunch, and instead might talk to someone
or something.

