
It's hard to like Android. - pclark
http://jerakeen.org/notes/2009/07/hard-to-like-android/
======
DrJokepu
(Caution: I'm an Android fanboy)

I got two main problems with this article. First, it's mixing the weaknesses
of Android with the weaknesses of the G1 hardware. There might not be a lot
options available these days when it comes to buying an Android-enabled phone
but it looks like this is going to change soon.

Secondly, all platforms have their pathologies and obviously Android is no
exception, neither is the iPhone. I honestly think this is a fairly unbalanced
presentation of Android. How long did you have to wait to get copy and paste
working on the iPhone? Can you run multiple apps at the same time on the
iPhone? Can you have widgets on the iPhone? What about the well known problems
of the iPhone App Store we all hear a lot about these days? And about the
hardware: if you have a problem with the non-standard earphone connectors of
the G1 (which can be solved by a $5 adapter), what do you think about not
being able to replace the battery of an iPhone yourself? You don't have these
problems on Android.

I'm not trying to bash the iPhone here as I truly believe that it's a great
phone, all I'm trying to say that this review isn't really fair and balanced.
It's alright to be subjective but still, come on, isn't this a bit too much?

~~~
jemmons
I know we're not supposed to ding Android for the G1's faults. But it's been,
what, over a year and a half since the OHA unveiled the platform? Doesn't
Android deserve some blame for being an OS that, in 20 months, only one
company has been able to put on one model of one phone?

I'm looking forward to all of the new Android devices that are apparently
waiting in the wings, but this long downtime hasn't done the platform any
favors.

~~~
dflock
The future that your looking forward to is already here but, as usual, not
evenly distributed yet. I live in the UK and have had an HTC magic
(<http://www.htc.com/www/product/magic/overview.html>) for a couple of months
(with vodafone). It's a really good handset.

------
gamache
I love the closing statement:

 _Linux vs Windows/MacOS, all over again. You gain Freedom by using an open
platform, making life worse for yourself in a thousand tiny ways, any one of
which can easily be dismissed, so they are. But it’s still worse._

Zing. I recognize exactly what the author is talking about.

~~~
tc
I recognize what he's talking about too, but having given both sides a serious
whirl, my life is still definitely better for free software.

Years ago Linux desktop usage was a bit of a drag. But at the time, Windows
servers were so much worse that as an integrated system, you were still net
ahead.

Now that my printers, scanners, and peripherals have all worked without hassle
for years there isn't even a trade off. Rather, I shake my head while watching
people fight with driver wizard CDs.

~~~
dkarl
I agree. Desktop Linux is a great source of hope for struggling platforms.
Even if it isn't for Aunt Millie, it has gone from being embarrassingly bad to
being [a couple of] my favorite desktop environment[s]. Here's hoping Android
follows the same trajectory. (It's certainly starting in the same place.)

~~~
antonovka
Linux is only a reasonable desktop if you're only spending your time in a
terminal, using emacs/vi/eclipse/netbeans/etc. Before moving to Mac OS X from
Linux/BSD desktops, I failed to appreciate the value of polished, non-
developer software.

Now, I regularly tear my hair out trying to interact with Linux users. From
diagram software (OmniGraffle/Visio) to accounting software (QuickBooks) to
billing software (Billings by Marketcircle), Linux just doesn't have the
solid, polished applications, and it interoperates exceptionally poorly in
environments where Mac OS X and Windows get along just fine.

For example -- I can easily share diagrams with Visio users, but Dia is not a
replacement for Visio/OmniGraffle and won't do the trick. How am I supposed to
diagram with Linux users? Use dot/graphviz and create remarkably ugly
diagrams?

If I had to assign blame for the lack of quality applications, I'd say that
the APIs are unstable and inconsistent, there's no standard application API
(gnome vs. kde/qt vs. straight qt vs. wxwidgets), the user market just doesn't
exist, and that it's difficult to mix the GPL / free software world with
expensive development that requires professional UI, design, and art work, and
all the other components of a polished _end-user_ product. End-users don't buy
'support'.

Of course, this is an unpopular opinion among free software advocates. As soon
as you figure out how we can share diagrams that I want to place in my LaTeX
documents, interact with artists producing photoshop/illustrator files, and
modify complex word documents sent by lawyers without losing required document
meta-data -- let me know.

~~~
altano
Holy shit, you just called Quickbooks solid and polished.

I'm floored.

~~~
antonovka
Compared to the open source alternatives, it is.

It seems to require a paycheck to convince anyone to produce feature complete
business accounting software, and even then the A-list individuals are
probably otherwise occupied with more enjoyable projects.

------
metachris
(I'm developing software for Android and i want to add my point of view
regarding the Android market and the apps)

The author complains about sloppy apps that sometimes work, sometimes not. I
see it the way that the Google/Android approach is even more revolutionary
than the one of iPhone, especially for independent developers. They do not
have manual reviews of apps.(!) Any developer can just go to the market
website, create a new project, add a description and the bundle and click on
"publish" -- it's immediately available on the market for users around the
world -- and it's up to the users to judge it's quality. Think of it -- no
manual reviews -- no approval process. It's a lot of freedom! (in particular
if you think about all the iPhone approval process problems we hear of each
week)

If the app is poorly executed, it will receive lower ratings and go down the
"by date" list without ever being seen again. If it is alright the users vote
it up and often leave comments, indicating that it works and hinting at things
that could be improved. Apps can really quickly climb the "by popularity"
list, so if well made, are seen by a larger number of people.

Therefore for me it's excusable if some apps don't work perfectly, especially
because they are having lower ratings and a lot of comments complaining -- all
things one knows of before installing.

Finally I think that the apps are _currently_ of a lower overall quality for a
variety of reasons, one being the kinda small user-base compared to the iPhone
-- i mean it's like 45 million vs. 1.5 m! :P

Around 20 new Android phones were announced for this year, all with a better
performance than the G1. This game will be very interesting to follow over the
following 5 years (and more). Android is here to stay, and will certainly
become more equivalent to the iPhone and it's immense market share over time.

------
icey
I would _love_ to see Android running on some kickass hardware. I'm convinced
that's half of why the iPhone is so dominant.

~~~
steilpass
Android on the iPhone? Anyone?

------
elai
Actually the fact the G1 uses micro-sd vs internal memory is better, since if
all you want is a memory upgrade, you don't need to sell your phone, get a new
contract and spends hundreds extra just for that extra 16GB. There are 16GB
microSD cards out there, 32GB ones soon to come.

The fact you need a headphone adapter is a major pain.

~~~
kleevr
Especially when you want to change the battery and listen to music. Can you
use as USB hub? Haven't tried it myself...

~~~
Andys
There are cheap things on ebay that let you connect both power and headphone
at the same time. All the accessories for android are very, very cheap on
Ebay: batteries, cables, dongles, cases, charging docks, etc.

I personally use a Nokia stereo bluetooth to listen wirelessly so no worries
about the headphone socket.

------
shimi
I'll be happy if people will start blogging about how they like things instead
of how they don't. I can write a few lines about Blackberry, iPhone, S60,
Android but it won't get me anywhere, apart from spreading bad Karma

------
s3graham
> I can’t listen to music on it. It won’t sync with iTunes

Wow, is that really true for most people these days? I had no idea. TBH,
that's the #1 reason I _haven't_ got an iPhone yet.

------
TrevorJ
Several of these problems are, or could very well be hardware issues.

------
freetard
Android is just an OS, no point in saying the G1 is slow as a critic against
android. As for the rest, the iPhone OS has its quirks too.

------
jpwagner
_"The browser just isn’t up to the standard of the iPhone’s."_

Helpful.

