
Choice is Beauty: Why I'm leaving Apple Mobile for Android  - messel
http://www.victusspiritus.com/2010/02/07/choice-is-beauty-why-im-leaving-apple-mobile-for-android/
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jsz0
Android doesn't give you as much choice as the author implies. OS updates are
handled by the carrier/handset maker so you don't really have much choice
there. I'm stuck on 1.5 with no options to upgrade unless I want to root the
device, install a third party ROM, and unfortunately lose GPS & Camera
functionality because there are no drives to make them work in 2.x yet. The OS
update I get from my carrier may or may not include multi-touch support in the
third party apps. This is a choice the carrier/handset maker impose on me.
They will also bundle carrier specific applications that I have no choice in.
For Sprint, with the HTC Hero, I cannot remove these applications without
rooting the phone. (I can delete the shortcut and pretend they're not there
but I can't remove the binaries) I can't do wifi tethering on Android without
rooting the device because Google blocks those apps in the Android Market.
Android presently offers more choice by default but still imposes a lot of
restrictions. So if we're ultimately comparing Android and iPhone on the basis
of needing to jailbreak/root the devices there isn't a whole lot of
difference.

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wanderr
"I'm not the administrator on my own hardware (without jailbreaking)"

I'm an android user and definitely think Android is the better and more open
choice, but this point is just as true on Android as it is on an iPhone.
Getting root may be easier than jailbreaking; I've never jailbroken an iPhone,
but the point is that even on Android hardware which you purchase directly
(not subsidized by carriers), you're not the administrator on your own
hardware.

~~~
semanticist
I have an iPhone, my wife has a T-Mobile G1.

I looked into getting root on the G1 - it appeared to be hugely more
complicated than the pretty simple jailbreaking process, involving downgrading
the OS to find a local root exploit. I didn't bother, it looked like far too
much bother for too little reward.

~~~
joeyo
IMHO, getting root on Android is worth it if only for gaining
USB/Bluetooh/WiFi tethering.

~~~
semanticist
I think that's actually why there's not a click-and-it-does-it solution for
the G1 - because there's far less restrictions on what apps you can install on
the device there's much less incentive for people to 'risk' fiddling with it.

Tethering is probably the 'killer app' for jailbreaking/rooting on both
platforms for most people, but there's a lot more to be gained by jailbreaking
your iPhone.

Having said that - I haven't bothered to re-jailbreak mine after the last few
updates since I realised I never used the jailbroken features.

~~~
joeyo
Absolutely. If/when Android has tethering "out of the box" I doubt I'll
continue to run alternative kernels.

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nomoresecrets
"Software apps or Apple can push updates I don’t want."

The badge on my iPhone's App Store icon that says '34' seems to suggest
otherwise.

~~~
messel
I haven't JB'd mine. Haven't had time to mess with xpwn

~~~
rufo
You don't have to jailbreak to avoid updates - neither Apple nor app
developers have the ability to force updates upon your phone. Both iTunes and
the App Store ask for permission before updating your device and apps.

There is the remote app killswitch functionality, but Android has that as
well.

~~~
messel
Can you turn off the remote app killswitch?

Reminds me of the loss of functionality for the Amazon readers to auto-read
files. It was done by Amazon and pushed to all hardware/software.

~~~
rufo
I don't believe iPhone or Android devices have a user-facing toggle... there
might be some way to hack it out, but I'm not sure.

I don't think it's ever been used on either device, so it hasn't exactly been
a burning issue yet; the stated purpose is only in the event of a highly
malicious application.

------
khelloworld
Its like going from one lion's den to the other. Either way you're going to
get eaten.

~~~
chanux
I tried to say this in another way and got downmodded :)

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cmallen
This faux disgruntled move from Apple to Android trend is kind of sad. They're
showing it off and blogging it like it makes them a 'maverick' when in fact
it's just a "Grass Greener" situation.

There are advantages and disadvantages to either platform, but don't pretend
Android is a panacea of freedom. My friend has a t-mo MyTouch and it _STILL_
doesn't have Android 2.0 available. The carrier/manufacturer refuse to put in
the effort to deploy it for his handset.

He's completely fucked and if he wants the new OS he has to buy a new phone.

If Apple forced people to buy a new phone to upgrade their OS (with all the
benefits thereof) they'd file a class action lawsuit.

But as soon as it's Google/Carrier-Not-AT&T/manufacturer with them waving the
"FREEDOM" flag next to a sign that says, "Don't be evil", they get a free
pass.

Give me a break. This whole post was poorly written, sophomoric and not
thought out at all. He's making a buying decision based on pure conjecture
based upon the "FREEDOM" advertising Google has been doing.

Personally, as someone who is planning to begin deploying mobile apps soon,
I'll be deploying to Apple.

You can keep your rose-colored glasses.

Utter foolishness.

~~~
messel
Maverick, haha, I'm far from it. Just tired of the restrictions on computing
devices I buy. If what you say is true, than I'll have the same woes with
Android. In that case it's a shame there's not really an open mobile hardware
device out there.

I liken the Apple version of the net to AOL. It's a fully controlled interface
with one corporate interest at heart. If Google's no better that doesn't mean
I should be stuck with Apple.

What I want is a framework where I don't need approval to copy files to and
from my device. That's it.

"This whole post was poorly written, sophomoric and not thought out at all." I
challenge you to do better (I'm serious I get a lot out of well written
conflicting views). I admit to being a very challenged writer. It takes hours
of effort for me to write something that comes across as coherent, but it's
good practice.

~~~
cmallen
>Maverick, haha, I'm far from it. Just tired of the restrictions on computing
devices I buy.

Me too, I dream of computers that are designed from the ground up to be
accessible to the curious (in the vein of the PCs from the 80s).

I am however, extremely pragmatic.

>If what you say is true, than I'll have the same woes with Android. In that
case it's a shame there's not really an open mobile hardware device out there.

OpenMoko. Too bad it sucked as a product.

>I liken the Apple version of the net to AOL. It's a fully controlled
interface with one corporate interest at heart. If Google's no better that
doesn't mean I should be stuck with Apple.

Ah, Google is better, but they're annoying in less visible ways. Apple doesn't
control the net, their browsers support open standards several orders of
magnitude better than everyone but Chrome.

>What I want is a framework where I don't need approval to copy files to and
from my device. That's it.

You still need to pay money to get an API key for Android. As for copying
files to and fro, I know nothing of that.

>"This whole post was poorly written, sophomoric and not thought out at all."
I challenge you to do better (I'm serious I get a lot out of well written
conflicting views).

I don't care enough about the subject. Ask me about something else. I'm only
replying out of respect.

>I admit to being a very challenged writer. It takes hours of effort for me to
write something that comes across as coherent, but it's good practice.

Writing is good, but don't make disingenuous posts that look past the faults
of the alternative.

------
zitterbewegung
I think that android offers opportunities but still you are locking yourself
in another vendor. What I plan to do to develop for mobiles is to have a
common web interface accessible to all phones. Then you develop an app that is
more enhanced that loads the site but also persists data using HTML5 and AJAX.
PS.I really hope that the Author doesn't clutter your android apps like your
website.

~~~
messel
I admit to craptastic info overload design. When I can afford some design love
I'll be very happy.

You can see an app example at <http://imm.victusmedia.com> It's leaner, our
first draft was overloaded

~~~
Nogwater
On the up side, you site inspired me to finally install flashblock. :)

~~~
messel
What did you find distasteful if you don't mind me asking?

Flash cloud?

Personalized ads based on user shared interest?

~~~
Nogwater
I think it was the animation of the word cloud. I found it really distracting.

------
glhaynes
Choice isn't (necessarily) beauty. It's one more engineering tradeoff among
others, with its own upsides and its own downsides. Giving up choice in favor
of the benefits gained from doing so can be pragmatic, rational, and lead to
more beautiful results.

I guess I'm just saying: don't fetishize choice. Assign it a value like the
one parameter among hundreds which it actually is.

~~~
messel
Thanks. Admittedly I overweight choice. I respect that beauty can come from
the contrasting space between freedom and framework.

------
xoai
Somehow it sounds like "Why I'm leaving Windows for Linux". j/k

~~~
olefoo
The comparison would be apt, except for the fact that Apple has taste, whereas
Microsoft does not.

Seriously though, it's great that we live at a point in time where it's
possible to have a choice between two damn good mobile computing platforms.

As a developer and content producer though, I'm more focused on Apple than I
am on Android because that audience has a demonstrated willingness to spend
money on software.

