Choice is Beauty: Why I’m leaving Apple Mobile for Android

Google has built a very viable competitor to the iPhone in under 2 years. The growth rate of the Android platform (and number of devices that run it) is truly stunning.

In another 2 years time I think we will see a near identical market share percentage.

Just my 2c.

http://www.nexusoneforum.net

I was with you all the way, and figured out you were laying out a good cogent argument for stopping development for the iPhone, until you said “For me it comes down to user experience”

What's wrong with wanting a good experience. Is the mention of user experience considered poor form? That's all I think about when developing now.

I support your gratuitous sharing of nexusoneforum.net. May your site explode with great value.

Exactly. Except that it's the iPhone that gives a better UX, point for point. A windowing environment does not lend itself well to smartphones.

You can “buy from Last.fm” ??

Looks like they just have links to Amazon, iTunes, etc…

Affiliates, that's right.
Buy through better represents using Last.fm.

Considering that you're a Linux user, it is only natural that you would want Android. Enjoy. I'm keeping my iPhone and looking to buy an iPad too.

Echoed my thoughts exactly.

Android may not be perfect, but open and competitive will always win long term over closed and monopolistic.

There are advantages to having Apple handle the administration. It's just a little more than I want right now. It's been a great couple of years, but opportunity is a knocking.

I'm sure you'll love the iPad, looks like a solid device.

Goodbye and farewell. I'd like to say you will be truly missed, but you won't. It's the wisest thing you can do. You're a rebel. Master of your own domain. Free as the wind. No walled-garden for you. The iPhone platform will be rock solid a year from now and Android will be a fragmented and splintered platform. So many variants of smartphone from so many different companies. Good luck with that.

Apple wants to make things as simple as possible for all the millions of users on their mobile platform. To protect and serve. Nice motto, huh.

[...] Choice is Beauty: Why I'm leaving Apple Mobile for Android … [...]

nonsense man. I'm an user and I prefer android.

So did AOL or MSN “win” the Internet? Or did something far stronger develop in the wild and uncontrolled space of the web?

I hear your argument, Apple is buiding something very attractive. A mobile web where I don't have to worry about the details. That's pretty powerful. But I don't believe it's a winning strategy.

An interesting read on the network economy, is New Rules for the New Economy Kevin Kelly.

Appreciate the feedback.

This is like a hard boiled unix sysadmin geek saying farewell to the Windows platform. Understandable, but not very relevant.

It's relevant from my perspective. I've been a dedicated windows user for many years. Just under two weeks back I switched gears and took a look at my computing needs from a different perspective.

“Apple wants to make things as simple as possible for all the millions of users on their mobile platform. To protect and serve. Nice motto, huh.”

Simple isn't better in this case. They remove choices and act as our parent, and we get enough of that from the government without inviting companies to do it for us.

Don't get me wrong, I think they offer a choice: the choice to live with their authority over us, or not. I think they have the right to do this, and would not want to stop them. I would also not want to use their service.

We should not be so complacent with others deciding for us. If they had some options set by default, but these options were easily changed, that would be one thing. Disallowing their customers from running various unapproved applications and only letting them use one service provider doesn't protect anyone but themselves. They can suggest only using their approved apps, and they could suggest using one service provider or another, but taking away our options does not serve us.

I disagree with Mark that this kind of practice should be disallowed, but, I also think that Microsoft should have been allowed to bundle IE into their OS. The reason is: we can choose not to accept this authority. Why would people be so willing to embrace more authority in their lives? When I buy a piece of hardware, I am supposed to be the super user of that hardware. This may be a tired old concept, but it makes sense.

I think at the time the EU started the case the competition (Netscape) had no chance because Microsoft was on a huge majority of pcs (98%) and was leveraging it's presence with manufacturers to not ship with competing browsers.

history repeats and the strong leadership of Jobs is showing its hand. this is no doubt the beginning of the end for iPhone (and iWhatever) domination. but the decline will be slow and long and Apple will make a ton of profits along the way and give many a very useful platform. so what me worry?

and then Apple's recent announcement “Apple Puts Ban on Location-Based iPhone Apps”. yikes, what are they thinking? its a rhetorical question folks. they want to keep that revenue for themselves. more of the same sort of closed thinking.

its all for the best – for Apple. i find the comments here defending Apple to be quite amusing. its a war of the believers against the heretics. nothing more. peeps, its important to know who your friends are, Apple is not one of them. they are simply using you.

tho i do agree that simple is good and Apple is the master in that regard. to each their own.

Thanks Ron, your view resonates with my own. It's time I explore alternatives in mobile. Looking forward to more learning.

I have tried neither the iPhone nor android…I guess I am a little behind the times. I like my Blackberry, it's new to me and I will see if I enjoy the experience in the long run.

I like your views, Mark. I am a sprint customer so I am effectively locked out of the iPhone market. It still looks neat, and if I were planning on moving to AT&T with my wireless I would consider it.

I had a choice to go for an android phone, but price was a major factor for me and I could get my Curve for much cheaper. I wonder how the android and the blackberry match up?

Heyo Terence!
I know my friend at work swapped from a blackberry to a droid and was very pleased. What was the price difference? If I buy an unbound phone (better to get the discount and leave in 3 months) it's pricey. I did that with my iPhone 3Gs but it might be cheaper to get the subsidy and jump to another plan. One day smart phones will be super cheap and data will be near free, but we're not quite there yet.

[...] feels like a lifetime ago when I decided to make my next mobile an Android phone. I picked up a Droid X Thursday and unfortunately I am once again on a platform which I don’t [...]