IPhone v Android debate 'not important'

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-&-technology/iphone-v-android-debate-not-important-201101173436/

by gaius • 16 years ago

64 25 16 years ago

thedailymash.co.uk

scrrr• 16 years ago

Yes, life is so much bigger than arguing which phone is the best. Until it matters again.

See: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/hamiltonian.png

Swizec2• 16 years ago

Would just like to note that [in the xkcd comic] he should have used her abdomen or back to take notes. The chest has an unfavourable topology for that kind of thing.

Yes I have empirically proven this.

Someone• 16 years ago

[pedantic]

Topology? AFAIK, all of these are homeomorphic to a piece of paper.

Topography != Topology.

revorad• 16 years ago

Depends on the chest. Or abdomen for that matter.

cosgroveb• 16 years ago

When you only link to the image you lose a very important part of xkcd's content (the alt text): http://xkcd.com/230/

windsurfer• 16 years ago

And for those on an iPhone or Android phone: http://m.xkcd.com/230/

thret• 16 years ago

It is of some importance to people yet to upgrade to either one. Google's voice translator app & rush poker tipped the balance for me.

rorymarinich4• 16 years ago

Arguments like this are enjoyable so long as they're argued with a spirit of fun. But I think too frequently people forget the insignificance of the debate and begin really getting angered and hurt over the other side's arguments.

I mean, it's a phone OS. Neither iOS nor Android is going to have a monopoly. Some people really don't like the idea of a locked-down phone, and they're completely happy with Android. Some people care more about the excessive polish that Apple's so good at delivering, and they're completely happy with the iPhone. Some people aren't completely happy with either, so they either jailbreak iOS or they come up with some other compromise. But really as long as there's something for everybody, it doesn't matter if other people are enjoying their other phone.

ergo984• 16 years ago

I mean, it's a phone OS. Neither iOS nor Android is going to have a monopoly.

Many fail to see how perilously close we actually came to an iPhone monopoly. While work-issued Blackberries and not-really-smartphone Nokias made the chart look less intimidating, from a real consumer perspective the iPhone owned the game completely.

And of course that matters to all of us because mobile devices are the future, and the choices today -- like the choice of DOS in the 80s -- will impact us well into the future. I don't want to live in a world where the freedoms we enjoy is granted by the department of justice.

But yes, just a phone and all that.

rorymarinich4• 16 years ago

Dude, no way. While the iPhone may have had a temporary large majority in the "smart phones consumers actually want to buy" field, they never had more than a fraction of the cell phone market, and they never established a monopoly in the sense that there was essentially no other phone you would want to get. How could it be? It was only on AT&T, and AT&T doesn't have a monopoly as a network.

While the iPhone's very competitive, and while it has a near monopoly in terms of media popularity — I've seen many iPhones in movies, and no Droid — it by no means came remotely close to a monopoly. Just as the iPod was never a monopoly — it had an enormous marketshare, but there were many successful MP3 players that competed with it and served as a viable option for people who didn't want an iTunes lock-in.

viraptor• 16 years ago

I try not to get too involved, but sometimes I think people don't realise what they're paying for... If you buy an iPhone, then jailbreak it, you just paid Apple some money. Part of it will be used to sponsor lawyers and lobby who will actively fight against jailbreaking and try to introduce laws which makes jailbreaking illegal. You're additionally sponsoring research on further closing down systems.

So basically you funded some people to prevent you from doing what you've just done. If they succeed with any similar laws, they'll be also extended to other systems, so even if google won't sue someone for jailbreaking Android, another producer might.

equivalence• 16 years ago

Does anyone think the debate as to what platform a developer should be targeting (assuming they are trying to earn a living from it) is important?

The reason I ask is I'm currently developing an Android app (as I have an Android phone and no mac) but I keep wondering if it's worth getting hold of a mac and iPhone sooner rather than later.

laujen2• 16 years ago

I don't think it matters where you start as long as you think through design and architecture to be as cross platform as possible. You have got to start somewhere.

gte910h• 16 years ago

iOS is stupidly better for monetization, and the demand for Objective-C developers is still very high.

Android users simply don't buy as many apps, and the pretty steep upper limit on app sizes mean several apps you can easily do on iOS are considerably harder on android. We've yet to see a project yet where android outsells iOS. (This very likely has to do with the wonky payment system for Android which started with very few nations and still isn't anywhere near Apple's numbers of participating nations. For Most non-US specific apps, they sell about 50% abroad 50% domestic, so that's a HUGE deal.)

The tools have a laughable difference in quality (XCode/InterfaceBuilder used to be a little sketchy for apps, is now pretty good, but eclipse is still eclipse, and graphical layout and editing is still very out there for android, but is the norm for iOS).

(I used to be an embedded Linux dev, I really wish android was doing considerably better).

That $1289 you'd spend buying a late generation iPod Touch and a white macbook is very worth it (or a mac mini even).

laujen2• 16 years ago

Interesting that this would run on the same day Jobs takes a leave of absence. Talk about reinforcing what matters.

solipsist• 16 years ago

   "A phone's a phone. In two year's time they'll all be buried in a
   landfill with a load of dirty nappies and rotting chicken carca[s]ses."

Ignorance at its greatest. As long as millions of people continue to use smart phones, the OS will continue to hold great significance. What ever replaces iOS or Android will be based off them, so it's important not to pass of these OS's just because a new OS will replace them. People are spending a huge portion of their lives on their phones. The OS is what they are interacting with, and even a slight change in the interface or functionality can leave a lasting impression on users. Mobile OS's are very, very important, and concluding that they're useless without any justification whatsoever is simply crazy.

IPhone v Android debate 'not important'

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