

Why I Switched from iPhone to Android - quizbiz
http://www.pcworld.com/article/197015/why_i_switched_from_iphone_to_android.html

======
malbiniak
tl;dr version

 _1\. crappy at &t service._

no argument here, except i've yet to find a cell provider that doesn't have
crappy service (chicago), including sprint and verizon.

 _2\. apple app store policies and requisite adobe/flash dig._

get over it. some people like consistent ui controls between apps (hello, HIG)
for a less confusing user experience. and really folks, flash has never been
allowed to be in the store, yet somehow they've built a 200,000+ app ecosystem
worth > $4B in revenues.

 _3\. I'd have to buy a new iPhone for 4.0_

let's breeze past the android fragmentation topic. 3g, 3gs, and the to-be-name
next version iphone are all capable of supporting 4.0. the author has a 3g.

 _Ultimately, my reason for switching can be summed up thusly: I used to feel
that, to get the best smartphone software and hardware experience, I had to
live in Apple's walled garden._

like the other points, this is highly subjective and up to each individual. in
my opinion, having played with the droid, incredible, and hero, the best
hardware/software experience is inside the apple garden.

~~~
daten
_get over it. some people like consistent ui controls between apps (hello,
HIG) for a less confusing user experience. and really folks, flash has never
been allowed to be in the store, yet somehow they've built a 200,000+ app
ecosystem worth > $4B in revenues._

"get over it"? why?

Can I be the judge of what kind of UI controls I like instead of Apple
deciding for me? This hasn't be a problem with any Windows or Linux app I've
ever used or any webpage I've ever visited. I guess I don't confuse easily.

And without those same app store policies holding them back, how long do you
think it will be before Android passes Apple's ecosystem?

200,000+ is a lot of apps, but how many of them are "fart apps" or something
equally as useful?

The $4B in revenue also sounds like an impressive number, how much of that
money is because users had to pay for apps to make up for the lack of flash?
And why does it matter to me how much money they've made? Isn't that part of
the problem? At the end of the day the app store doesn't exist to serve users,
it exists to make Apple as much money as possible, this motivates them to
maintain as much control over it as possible no matter what the cost to users
or developers is.

~~~
naz
> "get over it"? why?

Because Apple care about the consumer, not some techie with a blog. What
matters to techies means nothing to the average consumer.

~~~
devinj
So let me get this straight, you're saying he should get over the fact that
Apple is acting against his interests, because Apple doesn't care about his
interests? How does that make sense?

It sounds to me like the sensible choice is _not_ to stick with a company that
doesn't care about you, but to switch to one that does. Which is exactly what
he did.

------
MrRage
As tempting as it is to jump on the Android bandwagon, here are some of my
reasons for sticking with my iPhone 3GS.

* I don't live in the San Francisco area bubble, so I get great service. The only time it was crappy was the one day I was on vacation in midtown Manhattan.

* I still have over a year left on my contract. But even when it's up, I'm going to stick with my iPhone until it dies. The only thing that would possibly get me to switch is if my monthly payments would be at least $20 less than what I pay now for the same level of service.

* What I really wanted in a smart phone is a good web browser, which the iPhone has. I do use a handful of apps from the store, but they're not essential to me.

* My whole family uses at&t, so free minutes. I talk with my brother in NYC for hours each week and no minutes are eaten up.

Saying all that, I'll probably won't be buying Apple products for a long time
because of all the usual complaints.

~~~
grayrest
I jumped because I'm in NYC. I thought I'd be disappointed but I love the
custom keyboards (swype) and that you can press and hold (aka long press) the
search button and say "Directions to 88th and 2nd" or "hacker news" or "pizza"
and it magically does what I want it to do. As such, I actually think android
is the better platform for people who don't use apps.

~~~
MrRage
I guess my main point is there are millions of us between NYC and San
Francisco that don't have these issues and are happy with the iPhone. I've
just never had any issues, but that's the price I pay for living in crappy
city in a red state. Totally understand switching if you have bad service.

BTW, my experience with NYC is that the bad spots seemed "localized". Up in
Washington Heights where my brother lives service is fine. But maybe that
neighborhood is the boondocks by Manhattan standards.

------
jerf
Why am I still reading about bad reception in San Francisco? I've been hearing
about this for years. Why hasn't it been fixed? Is there some technical
problem?

Genuinely curious. (Not interested in conspiracy theories or guesses, though.
I can come up with those on my own.)

~~~
axod
One interesting data point:

I popped over to SF for a week, taking with me my UK 3g iPhone. At _no_ time
did I have less than stellar reception from AT&T. I travelled from SF to San
Jose or so, it seemed pretty solid to me.

Is the US version of the iPhone different hardware? :/ Maybe it's only crappy
if you have a contract with AT&T? Maybe 'roaming' phones are given priority?
idk...

~~~
KirinDave
Did you go into the Mission? Or Hayes Valley? Or over by Jtown? And god help
you if there is any sort of Event nearby. During the maker faire every iphone
read "5 bars" but no one could get their iPhones to do anything. Oh sure, it
_said_ it was sending texts and trying to make calls, it _said_ it was trying
to load webpages, but it all failed.

We Are Not Making This Up; and it's not just iPhone customers.

~~~
axod
Yeah good point, I mainly use my phone for SMS/data rather than voice calls.
So I probably don't have enough data there. I probably only had 3 or 4 voice
calls. All of them were fine though.

Also I was at Google I/O, so there were probably 10,000+ phones all trying to
get signals etc

And you're right, perhaps I'm assuming that my phone showing 5 bars actually
means it has a strong enough signal to do stuff (Which is certainly the case
in the UK) :/

The whole communications industry in the US seems like it needs a massive
shake up from government to me.

~~~
KirinDave
Data is just as bad as voice in these regions. I don't now why people think
it'd be much better.

------
mikeryan
I live and work in San Francisco, which is basically ground zero for crappy
AT&T service.

... this is the reason I'll jump ship as soon as my contract is up.

~~~
ryoshu
NYC isn't much better. Union Square, Midtown, Downtown; full bars and I can't
connect to a web page or sitting by a windowsill and dropping calls. My
iPhone/AT&T is done as soon as the contract is up.

------
Terretta
After enough of these articles, I'm fairly sure they did it for the page
views.

------
Dirt_McGirt
The way syncing works is what's making me consider a switch. Oh how I despise
the horrible hodgepodge of an app that is iTunes.

------
amanuel
Straw man arguments are boring. This article is just whoring for page views.

1\. AT&T != iPhone. 2\. People don't care about AppStore policy. 3\. Flash
isn't ready on ANY platform as demonstrated by others (search on youtube)

------
WiseWeasel
I'm just happy to see the tech media finally putting real pressure on Apple to
open up. I love my (jailbroken) iPhone and all, but Apple deserves a swift
kick in the pants for fighting me for control over it.

------
daten
The reasons the author states are all why I'm not getting an iPhone, primary
Apple's unwelcome control over the app store.

I'm eager to "jump on the Android bandwagon" but I have to figure out how to
deal with the ETF on my current featureless Motorola phone with Sprint.
Apparently replacing a broken phone resets your contract date.

~~~
buster
"Apparently replacing a broken phone resets your contract date."

What? This is legal in the US? oh dear...

~~~
andreyf
It is unless you're willing to pay $700 for your replacement phone.

------
dpnewman
Was hoping there'd be some reasons grounded in specifics as to why an android
phone provides a better overall experience than an iphone.

------
jamiequint
I really want to switch and get the Incredible or the EVO 4G on Sprint, but
I'm too addicted to Instapaper which is iPhone only.

~~~
telemachos
I've never used Instapaper on an iProduct, so I can't compare. But I'm
addicted to Instapaper and I'm very happy using it with InstaFetch on a Droid
Eris.

------
nkeating
Andriod + HTC EVO on sprint will be the beginning of the end for the iphone
OS.

