
Contrary to popular opinion, Android isn’t beating the iPhone - evo_9
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/116201-android-isnt-beating-the-iphone
======
AndrewDucker
It clearly is. No individual Android phone is, but why would I care about
that? I want an Android phone, I don't really care who makes it.

And by the same reasoning, Windows isn't beating Apple, because Apple is
bigger than any individual PC retailer.

------
tokenadult
From the submitted article: "The major flaw in how Android has been declared
the victor is the misconception that the hardware manufacturers and carriers
that support Android act as a unified front."

This fits my experience as a user. I have had an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy
S 4G on the T-Mobile network) since June 2011). It has been frustrating to
realize that my "Android" user experience is not the same as someone else's
user experience, because both the handset manufacturer and the network carrier
have modified the phone so that it doesn't behave just like other people's
Android phones. I have been on the same network for more than a decade, having
brought a GSM phone into the United States from my last foreign residence, and
I never felt I had any reason to shop for a different network, on multiple
trips to other parts of the country, until I got my Android phone. And my wife
has a Samsung feature phone that she likes very well, so I was initially
inclined to trust the Samsung brand (I had previously used Motorola handsets,
as that is the brand I started with overseas).

My experience with Android, which I tell all of my friends about, is that I
can't count on usability, I can't count on features that worked well on my
last handset working on my Android handset, I can't count on battery life at
all, I can't count on speedy Android upgrades (Gingerbread came quite late to
this model on this network), high-speed data connections get consumed rapidly
by the phone unless I shut down useless app notifications, and I just
generally don't enjoy my "smart" phone as much as I enjoyed my first "dumb"
phone.

Here on HN, other participants report good experiences with Android phones,
some by installing the Cyanogen mod and others by choosing the Google-branded
handsets. I'd be happy to hear more stories about what Android trade-offs are
the most helpful and pleasant for the user. But for the moment, I am SERIOUSLY
considering making my next mobile phone upgrade a switch to a new network and
purchase of an iPhone. I don't hear about as much hassle from the many iPhone
owners I know as I do from my fellow Android users. If the user experience
isn't plainly superior, the Android ecosystem can't count on keeping users.

What do all of you think? Would I be a chump to switch to the iPhone, or a
chump to stick with Android? When I buy consumer products, I like to feel like
I'm enjoying some consumer surplus, not like I'm being a chump.

------
mooism2
Category error, no? Android is an OS, iPhone is a phone.

So: Android is on more phone units sold than iOS, but the iPhones are the most
successful phones in the market.

Meanwhile in tablets... iPad and iOS are both wiping the floor with the
competition. We'll see if that continues when the competition gets its act
together. (Really: Amazon is the undisputed number two, not a Dell nor a Nokia
in sight.)

------
i_am_a_human
Why is this article getting up-voted on HN? This type of journalism is more
suited for a Gizmodo.

Contrary to popular opinion, Android is an OS and iPhone is both iOS and
associated Apple hardware.

~~~
danmaz74
Absolutely correct. And why is your comment being down-voted? I haven't been
on HN very long, but from what I see I'm afraid the number of fanboys (and
fangirls) is coming up pretty fast. That's a real pity.

~~~
AndrewDucker
Complaining that X doesn't belong on HN gets an automatic downvote from many
long-time HN readers.

If you don't think an article belongs then flag it and move along.

