
Why I’ve Fallen in Love with the Nexus One - tortilla
http://www.horsepigcow.com/2010/02/why-ive-fallen-in-love-with-the-nexus-one/
======
jokull
I'm a pretty happy Nexus One user. Well I was until I picked up my iPod touch
again and played with it. I now have even more respect for Apple. It's the
level of polish and responsiveness that blows everything else out of the
water.

~~~
pkulak
Same here. It's the little things. Like how menus don't have any elastic when
you get to the end. I could never tell if I was at the end or if the phone
froze. I'm looking forward to checking out the Desire. The hardware buttons
plus Sense could be pretty nice.

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holygoat
It seems that a lot of this guy's "this is awesome" points are cloud related —
the gCal integration, seamless contact info from Google — and are the main
reasons I _don't_ want to move to Android.

Frankly, I think that Google already has too much of my information, and the
recent Buzz debacle demonstrates that they can't really be trusted with it.

No thanks. I'd much rather sync with my local address book.

~~~
nuclear_eclipse
At least with android you still have the option to use different contact
systems, dialers, calendars, and browsers if you choose to. Android, unlike
iphone, is perfectly happy allowing to replace core functionality just about
everywhere on the phone.

~~~
freshfunk
I have my iPhone syncing with my google contacts, google calendar and gmail.
It's very easy to do and probably the top link if you google it.

~~~
nuclear_eclipse
Syncing != Replacing. If you were forced to sync your iPhone's contacts with
MobileMo, there would be no way for you to get around that like there would be
on Android. That was my point.

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martythemaniak
A lot of Android's criticisms come from the fact that people expect it to be
an iPhone - they want the screens to scroll like the iPhone, they want to
navigate apps using header buttons (instead of the standard back button), they
want shaking to undo, they want pressing the trackball to take them home etc.
It kinda understandable, as the iPhone is almost everyone's first smartphone,
but still pretty silly.

If they get over their iphone-centric view, they'd find Android has many
strengths. The standard buttons (home, back, menu) actually improves usability
immensely, since you never have to care how a specific app wants to place its
navigation elements or options etc. You know the back button will almost
always take you back/cancel, you know that if you're ever in doubt, the menu
button will save you etc.

I also very much appreciate the fact that the phone doesn't treat me like a
dumbass. For example, while the iphone is easier to unlock the first time
around (pretty hard to miss the SLIDE HERE TO UNLOCK message), it becomes
stupid and annoying after awhile and takes away from the aesthetic appeal. Or
the fact that the only allowed customization you can make is to re-arrange
your icons, rather than making the phone YOURS and seeing what you actually
want to see.

~~~
glhaynes
I don't feel at all that my iPhone treats me "like a dumbass". I could not
have _less_ desire to change the way I unlock my phone: by about the third
time I did it, it was _completely_ natural... so much so that I just had to
think for a second to remember whether I have to slide to unlock each time
(and I do so probably 100 times in an average day). It just "happens".

In cases where the designers can make a choice for me that's the "right" one,
I'd much prefer them to just do that and remove any cognitive burden from me:
I don't WANT more things to make a choice about in my life, it's complicated
enough as is.

I certainly understand that other people feel differently, and I'm happy that
they enjoy their Android phones. But I think our industry has labored for far
too long under the assumption that everybody wants to tinker. The fact is,
most people actively don't want to tinker; tinkerers are just vastly
overrepresented in the group that designs these devices.

~~~
martythemaniak
You completely missed the point of the unlock (and pretty much the rest that
followed). I _WAS_ talking about the defaults. Take a look at the Nexus One
and iPhone unlock screens.

[http://www.simonblog.com/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2008/1...](http://www.simonblog.com/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2008/11/iphone_lock_screen.jpg)

[http://www.thesearethedroids.com/wp-
content/uploads/2009/12/...](http://www.thesearethedroids.com/wp-
content/uploads/2009/12/nexus_one_3.png)

The nexus one is far more subtle - first time users have no obvious way of
knowing they have to drag the green unlock button except for a small green dot
that appears when you press. The iPhone is certainly more user-friendly
here...except after that first time, it becomes annoying, whereas the N1's
button remains pleasing. This isn't about _replacing_ the lock screen, its
about how the _default_ works. This is one small example of how many other
things work. In their endless praise of the iPhone, people are not aware (or
refuse to acknowledge) the sacrifices and tradeoffs that go into making things
obvious for _first_ time users.

~~~
glhaynes
So how is it that the N1 remains pleasing? Just because it doesn't have a
"slide to unlock" caption? Gotta say, that one _really_ doesn't worry me much.
And I often hand my phone to people who don't have an iPhone and appreciate
that I never have to explain to them what to do.

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eplanit
At least there's a nice disclaimer that cues one (one who's looking for
objectivity, that is) to stop reading at paragraph #1:

"That is to say, if I wasn’t addicted to using every Google app out there
(calendar, mail, docs, maps, etc.), the phone may not have wowed me so much,
but I AM a Google girl, so it fits beautifully into my lifestyle."

~~~
dminor
She's not saying she likes it because it's _from_ Google, she's saying she
likes it because it makes interacting with Google services easy. Which is
entirely objective, and apparently compelling enough to switch from her
iPhone.

~~~
eplanit
Didn't say she was from the company. I was pointing out that she admits to
being a thorough Google Fan-gal, enamored of everything the company produces.
Fan-boys/gals typically aren't critical, and this article did not give me any
objective insights. I read more emotional torment in it than I did concrete
analysis.

Plus, what I do gather is more repulsive than attractive. Google is building a
device to [ultimately] lock us into their services and devices (or make their
services available solely via their devices)? This is great?

Same concern with Apple. I worry about the fans of both behemoths.

~~~
wolfmanstout
Google isn't forcing anyone to use their services on the Android. Unlike the
iPhone, the app API exposes all the device functionality used by the Google-
made apps, so any other company could easily build a competing ecosystem for
the Android. What's more, Google doesn't even control the Android OS itself;
it's completely open source.

~~~
dminor
Agreed, although I'd say that Google controls Android -- maybe not completely,
but pretty thoroughly.

------
ctrager
I was in "Like" prior to the update that added multitouch to the browser, and
prior to finding into Aedict, a Japanese/English dictionary app. After
multitouch and Aedict, I'm in Love.

And, shameless plug: Did y'all try the free Hacker News reader app I uploaded
to the Market?

[http://ifdefined.com/blog/post/A-Hacker-News-app-for-
Android...](http://ifdefined.com/blog/post/A-Hacker-News-app-for-Android.aspx)

~~~
aschobel
Thanks for making this! Let me know if you want any help hacking on this.
[username]@gmail.com

------
shade
I just ditched my iPhone 3G today in favor of a Droid, and I love pretty much
everything she mentioned here. I already use most of Google's services (GMail
in particular, but the calendar is nice too) so it's a much better fit for me.

That, and I love the multitasking, and that the notifications are (in my
opinion) much more useful since I can see that I have new emails or texts
without having to actually unlock the phone.

I'm also very impressed with the navigation feature. The interface on it
pretty much destroys that of every other GPS I've used, whether it was a
stand-alone device or an iPhone app. Quick to load, extremely accurate, and
surprisingly quick to notice and reroute if you don't take a turn.

I know a lot of people like the iPhone, and it's still a nice device, but I
think this is a much better choice for me; I'm a heavy Google user (and have
more loyalty to Google than I do to Apple) and I wanted fewer limitations.

------
GeneralMaximus
This is offtopic: can you buy an Android phone, remove the vendor-supplied
version of Android and install a fresh, straight-from-SVN version of the OS
instead? If an Android phone allows that kind of flexibility, I'll really
consider spending some cash on a smartphone as opposed to another cheap-ass
J2ME phone.

~~~
arantius
It depends on which "an Android phone" you want to consider. Manufacturers can
lock down the phone as much as they like.

The N1 however requires one simple command (which can and probably does void
your warranty, depending on how nice HTC/Google feels like being) and then you
can flash whatever you like.

For other phones, there's usually a nonsupported hack that will let you do the
same.

------
Zak
It seems like everyone but me hates the HTC micro-trackballs. I admit I've
only spent a few minutes using one, but it seemed harmless at worst, and
actually struck me as a very nice input device. Maybe I just have fond
memories of my first laptop, an early Powerbook.

~~~
kylec
I like the trackball too. It's great for moving the text cursor, something
that's always frustrated me on the iPhone.

------
apotheon
Why I Haven't Fallen In Love With The Nexus One:

no physical keyboard

~~~
joshu
I am much happier with a Droid than my wife was with a Nexus One. But I rarely
use the keyboard, to be honest.

NB: I have all kinds of conflict here.

~~~
Zak
I played with a Droid in a store and the keyboard was _awful_. Every other
similarly configured phone, including Motorola's own Cliq had a far superior
keyboard.

