Why don't people like iPhones?

[kaebfly]

A little confused by some of what you said so maybe I am misunderstanding parts of it. Just to be clear, I'm still not trying to say the iPhone is the best phone choice out there. I don't believe such a thing exists. I just think that if you are going to point out the things you see as flaws in any device you need to be sure you are completely (or at least more accurate as I admit that I may explain things less than perfectly or not have all of my facts completely correct) correct in what you say. In some cases, if one device can't do the exact same thing there may be an alternative or option that is equal or at least gives the same opportunities.

cprice12 wrote:

The build of hte iPhone is very good and the GUI is very good as well.  Apple products are usually made very well.

The problem most people, including myself, have with iPhones is:

1)  The operating system is very limited and lacking in features.  It's very locked down and not customizable at all.

Another scenario... at 8am when I start work, my phone goes right to WIFI instead of using 3G all day at work.  Then when I get off work, it goes back to 3G for the ride home, and them maybe back to WIFI when I get home based on GPS. Are you saying that the iPhone does or does not do this? Because the iPhone does switch from WiFi to 3G automatically if you have the settings done right and if the wifi connection is one that it has already accessed. In your scenario, your iPhone would switch to your work wifi when you get to work, switch back to 3G when you leave, and switch back to your home wifi when you get home.

2)  You can also tether your phone and use it as a modem for your laptop if you have an Android phone.  Very handy if you are on vacation or a business trip in a hotel.  The iPhone can't do this. For people that use this feature enough to justify it, there is the hotspot feature that they can use. Unless you're saying it is completely free if you use an Android device to tether then the option/ability to use your iPhone as a hotspot if needed exists. Although honestly, most hotels seem to offer free wifi connections so tethering isn't something that a lot of people have to utilize when in hotels as you mentioned (even a lot of "budget" hotels offer free wifi access to their guests).

3)  Not to mention seamless integration with most Google apps, including Gmail. 

4)  Can't replace the battery in an iPhone and can't upgrade storage.  You can do that with an Android phone. I get the complaints about this for some, but...aren't there some Android devices that you can't upgrade storage on? I may be wrong on that.

5)  You are forced to use iTunes with an iPhone and link your phone to one, and only one computer.  Not cool.  Android doesn't require you to use a computer at all, and if you do, you can access it on any computer.
Not completely true. The only time you are "forced" to link your iphone to one computer is if you have the computer auto-manage your device versus manually managing it. Also, you are not forced to use a computer at all at this point to use your iPhone. As long as you are using iOS 5 then you can use the Cloud and update OTA....and if you are manually managing your iPhone then you can connect to any computer that has iTunes on it. You can access iTunes without using a computer and have access to your iTunes purchases to re-download if need be.

6)  You can get 4G on numerous Android phones.  As of right now...no iPhones can do 4G.

Android phones can just do a whole lot more.

HOWEVER, there are all kinds of Android phones out there for the different needs of folks.  There are high powered and high end Android phones and there are cheaper, less powerful versions.  If you want a high end phone, do your research and get a good one.  Not all Android phones are the same...which is a great thing, so you can shop around and get exactly what you want.  Some have more storage, faster processors, more ram, better cameras, slide out keyboards, bigger screens, etc.  Unlike the iPhone, where you have one phone to choose from with different hard drive space...which brings me to another annoyance from Apple, instead of offering you an SD card slot to upgrade storage, they offer different phones with different storage space...and charge you a LOT more for it.

What kills me is those folks who want an iPhone and buy an iPhone, thinking they are getting the best phone out there, when that just isn't the case.  It hasn't been for a while.

If you want the best smart phone on the market, you'll be getting an Android phone...it's not even close really.  New, better, faster, stronger Android phones that constantly push the envelope come out seemingly every month.  New iPhones are released...what...once every year or so? "Best" is an individual opinion and not something that can truly be declared just because of specs. What is best for me may not be what's best for you. Just because a device is loaded with the most specs or the latest of technologies doesn't make it the best. Prime example...people that purchase 4G devices because 4G is the latest and greatest...yet they don't actually have 4G in their area...can boast that they have the latest technology that they can't actually use. Sure, if they go in an area where they can use it they get to enjoy it, but otherwise they have something that doesn't actively benefit them. Also, you have to consider the needs of the person. For the person that values battery life over speed then 4G would be a major hit to that battery life. Sure, that's what chargers are for, but then you have to decide if being connected to a charger more often or spending extra money for things like battery packs or extended/extra batteries is a cost that someone is willing to take on.

If, after all that, you still decide on an iPhone, then that's cool...you get what you want.

But if you want the best phone on the market or an extremely powerful feature rich smart phone...then buying an iPhone over a high end Android phone would be a mistake.

[oldfashioned]

Actually Geri O, I keep myself up to date on certain things as I need to.  I keep things as simple as possible and make upgrades only when I need to because I'm usually pretty stubborn and I must be a slow learner even though I'm not that old.  lol...But given enough time, I do eventually come around.  That's my personality even though at times, I risk falling behind on things that my parents are more up to date about.  lol...I just also feel that life is complicated enough so why add more complications?  E-mail I have had to use inevitably over years as I do at work and I'm very literate when it comes to the Internet and computers, except for programming.  I do have a cell phone from Verizon Wireless but anyone who knows me will attest that I almost always have it turned off and that I primarily have it available for emergencies.  I have Verizon Fios and there are certainly upgrades I've had to make with that.  So with me, it really depends and I guess you can say that I'm more "in between".  If I can keep something the old way and it still serves its purpose just fine for me, I'll leave it until I see a reason to change if I'm forced to or if I think about a new idea enough and consider that it may have more advantage over the old way.  I have caught onto the concept of paying my bills on line after stubbornly sticking with mailing manual checks for the longest time and now I pay my bills on line through my bank.  The news about more possible layoffs with the post office really got me going on that and I honestly hope that doesn't happen because some things inevitably need to be mailed regardless.  I'm just selective, that's all.  I have a digital camera, so it's not like I'm living in the Stone Age.  lol  But even with digital photos, nobody can ever tear me away from traditional digital prints.  I just try to keep a balance but I was also raised to hold onto appliances and devices for as long as possible before junking or replacing them.  My whole house is a mix of the old and new. 

It's easy to say the it's the user and not the device that causes all of these problems with poor manner and misuse which is true to a point but I think they can also become addicting and it can often be the allure that draws people into this more isolated world despite their intentions because it's so quick, instantaneous, and convenient with the way it can immediately grab the user's attention.  There is nothing wrong with technology because it can have its advantages but I think just in general, we need to be sensible about it too and take a step back because I find that sometimes, the old and proven method cannot be replaced like speaking to someone directly over the phone or in person.  There is the whole "give and take" in everyday life and in dealing with people that is never going to be replaced by any of this technology, when it's an iPhone or some other new gadget that comes out and it's something that I think, from my observation, that a lot of younger people are losing as an important life skill.  Technology is really meant as a supplement, not a substitute for these things.

I'm not so much speaking about iPhones per se but just about all of these newer devices in general, that suddenly everyone seems to need.  I'm not anti-technology or anti-modern age as my username might suggest or as someone here misinterpreted from my initial statements about iPhones but I also don't advocate change for the sake of change.  It's way too easy here for anything that someone says to be taken out of context.

If I eventually have to replace my existing cell phone with an iPhone so be it but until then, I'm not even going to worry about it.  We really have become a throw away society, I hate to say.  I'm just speaking more broadly.  I often find it enjoyable and interesting to learn new things and to figure things out when the time comes.

[droidsw]

Point #3 didn't get a comment and here goes.

GMail is junk. Or, GMail on my phone with Blur, is junk.

Going back to Froyo, GMail has been buggy and glitchy on my phone.

Messages "stuck" in my Outbox. Messages showing in my Inbox that won't open, but on a PC.

Messages indicated as present in my Inbox and Priority Inbox, but when I open the respective folder, nothing is there (until I go to my PC to retrieve them).

I email mp3s I pay for to my PC, as a shortcut to avoid connecting my phone to my PC (where I store them as a back-up).

I learned to only email (GMail) them one at a time, or none will be sent. They just get stuck in my Outbox.

And, when I email them one at a time, I can forget about sending or receiving any other emails at the same time. And, this is with wifi, I should add.

Today, I opened and read an email in my Inbox. I then moved it to "Trash". However, whenever I tried to open ANY other emails in ANY other folder, that same email that I moved to Trash, kept opening. I had to reboot my phone.

GMail has not impressed me and is not a "selling point" for Android.

[kpanchot]

cprice12 wrote:

The build of hte iPhone is very good and the GUI is very good as well.  Apple products are usually made very well.

The problem most people, including myself, have with iPhones is:

1)  The operating system is very limited and lacking in features.  It's very locked down and not customizable at all.

Another scenario... at 8am when I start work, my phone goes right to WIFI instead of using 3G all day at work.  Then when I get off work, it goes back to 3G for the ride home, and them maybe back to WIFI when I get home based on GPS. Are you saying that the iPhone does or does not do this? Because the iPhone does switch from WiFi to 3G automatically if you have the settings done right and if the wifi connection is one that it has already accessed. In your scenario, your iPhone would switch to your work wifi when you get to work, switch back to 3G when you leave, and switch back to your home wifi when you get home.

I think what he is referring to is the ability to have his phone turn off 3g period in general automatically during a time frame of his choosing. Its true that the iphone can connect to wifi automatically whenever a wifi is in range. However it is reccomended to keep this feature turned off because if you are trying to do something and a wifi is in range and you cant connect to it(aka a wifi hotspot that isnt yours suchthat is secure) then your internet will quit working AT ALL. You will have to turn off wifi completely if you want to use 3g data but there is a wifi network you cannot connect to. Iphone doesnt havefactored into its settings for wifi. Droid didnt either. But there are apps to sidestep it completely as cprice noted.

2)  You can also tether your phone and use it as a modem for your laptop if you have an Android phone.  Very handy if you are on vacation or a business trip in a hotel.  The iPhone can't do this. For people that use this feature enough to justify it, there is the hotspot feature that they can use. Unless you're saying it is completely free if you use an Android device to tether then the option/ability to use your iPhone as a hotspot if needed exists. Although honestly, most hotels seem to offer free wifi connections so tethering isn't something that a lot of people have to utilize when in hotels as you mentioned (even a lot of "budget" hotels offer free wifi access to their guests).

The hotspot is 20$ on iphone. Once again more money wasted on iphone. I agree with cprice. I understand that MOST hotels carry free wifi. But that means thats something you have to look for. You mean to tell me you let your phone decide what hotel your aloud to go kae? Or do you just waste the 20$?

3)  Not to mention seamless integration with most Google apps, including Gmail. 

4)  Can't replace the battery in an iPhone and can't upgrade storage.  You can do that with an Android phone. I get the complaints about this for some, but...aren't there some Android devices that you can't upgrade storage on? I may be wrong on that.

There are 66 android powered devices on verizons network alone. ALL have removable memory.

5)  You are forced to use iTunes with an iPhone and link your phone to one, and only one computer.  Not cool.  Android doesn't require you to use a computer at all, and if you do, you can access it on any computer.
Not completely true. The only time you are "forced" to link your iphone to one computer is if you have the computer auto-manage your device versus manually managing it. Itunes is needed to activate an iphone. ALL iphones need itunes to activate. Also, you are not forced to use a computer at all at this point to use your iPhone. (See above) As long as you are using iOS 5 then you can use the Cloud and update OTA....and if you are manually managing your iPhone then you can connect to any computer that has iTunes on it. (icloud ota requires "icloud control panel" to be downloaded on a COMPUTER to actually manage your icloud and "find my iphone" You can access iTunes without using a computer and have access to your iTunes purchases to re-download if need be. That is true but only AFTER you have tied your phone to an itunes account. Also btw you have to use your apple id to setup the iphone. It has to be tied to an itunes with the same apple id or IT WIPES YOUR PHONE. Just like an ipod. it gives the following error "we're sorry. The device you attached is not attached to this computer, if you would like to sync your device to this computer your phone must be reset and all media erased." anyone who has an ipod knows that you cant connect it to your friends computer to get their music without consequences.

6)  You can get 4G on numerous Android phones.  As of right now...no iPhones can do 4G.

Android phones can just do a whole lot more.

HOWEVER, there are all kinds of Android phones out there for the different needs of folks.  There are high powered and high end Android phones and there are cheaper, less powerful versions.  If you want a high end phone, do your research and get a good one.  Not all Android phones are the same...which is a great thing, so you can shop around and get exactly what you want.  Some have more storage, faster processors, more ram, better cameras, slide out keyboards, bigger screens, etc.  Unlike the iPhone, where you have one phone to choose from with different hard drive space...which brings me to another annoyance from Apple, instead of offering you an SD card slot to upgrade storage, they offer different phones with different storage space...and charge you a LOT more for it.

What kills me is those folks who want an iPhone and buy an iPhone, thinking they are getting the best phone out there, when that just isn't the case.  It hasn't been for a while.

If you want the best smart phone on the market, you'll be getting an Android phone...it's not even close really.  New, better, faster, stronger Android phones that constantly push the envelope come out seemingly every month.  New iPhones are released...what...once every year or so? "Best" is an individual opinion and not something that can truly be declared just because of specs. What is best for me may not be what's best for you. Just because a device is loaded with the most specs or the latest of technologies doesn't make it the best. Prime example...people that purchase 4G devices because 4G is the latest and greatest...yet they don't actually have 4G in their area...can boast that they have the latest technology that they can't actually use. Sure, if they go in an area where they can use it they get to enjoy it, but otherwise they have something that doesn't actively benefit them. Also, you have to consider the needs of the person. For the person that values battery life over speed then 4G would be a major hit to that battery life. Sure, that's what chargers are for, but then you have to decide if being connected to a charger more often or spending extra money for things like battery packs or extended/extra batteries is a cost that someone is willing to take on.

You are 100% correct in your assumption that best is an oppinionated statement and is in the eyes of the beholder. If a phone has a smallest slowest dual core processer ever put into a phone. Smaller hard drive. No real ram. Doesnt even HAVE 4g capabilites(for when it is in your area and many people already have 10X faster speeds). No customization. No widgets. no flash. (according to forbes magazine top 100 websites list 85 of them use flash) Thats 85% of the internet you cant do. Higher maintenance cost. And yet still costs at least 200$ more than any other phone on the market( i compared full retail rezound which is a high end phone with 8gig iphone which is the cheapest of them). Does that make it a worse phone? No. By definition absolutely not. Best worst is impossible to prove. Would most people agree that it is inferior? yes. If after knowing all that you still feel that the phone is for you then by all means go for it.There is a droid for everyone. over 60 models. No matter what you do on it theres a droid that does it and some might say better if its not better, then the cool part is that with a droid, its open source MAKE IT BETTER. As far as battery goes. 4g isnt necesarrily bad battery life. There are a lot of settings that can be modified to make battery last longer. My phone last 4 hours the 1st day i had it. After a little enriching of myself(aka research) i changed a couple things. Havent charged my phone in 3 days. Iphone doesnt have an extended battery option. Of course droid by definition is better on battery. The battery they in iphone is small. It just comes with everything turned off already.

If, after all that, you still decide on an iPhone, then that's cool...you get what you want.

But if you want the best phone on the market or an extremely powerful feature rich smart phone...then buying an iPhone over a high end Android phone would be a mistake.

[Tidbits]

I see some discrepencies... You DO NOT need iClouds control panel... You Only Need a computer ONCE to activate your iPhone(unless you factory reset) Out of all the flash on the web 60% of it is advertisements. So unless you play flash games or stream content(the good sites already converted to HTML5 or converted a lot of their flash content away from flash).

There's a few others but I won't bother anymore... This stuff is old and just what people often use to validate their purchases. If you like one over the other buy it. In the end only you can make yourself happy...

[Tidbits]

Oh... FYI there are a slew of Android devices that don't have removable storage. A lot of the newer ones are moving away from UMS which eliminates certain bugs by switching to MTP(which the iPhone uses).

[droidsw]

I wonder how many of the issues with the Droid X are/were SD card related?

[Tidbits]

if you notice tablets, and the Nexus lines(S and Galaxy) you don't hear about missing apps, not able to use widgets if put on an external SD, broken short cuts, ringtones reseting to default, or missing icon grapghics. Also people complaining about how the phone is partitioned and wasting space.

[kaebfly]

kpanchot I have been an iPod user since the 2nd generation iPod mini (which would now be considered an ancient dinosaur but still actually works) so I have a pretty good understanding how iTunes works with the iPod...and although this is my 1st iPhone I think being an iPod Touch user helped a great deal as far as understanding a lot of the similar things between the 2 and how they interact with iTunes. I have not tried plugging my iPhone in to a friends computer but I have done so with my iPods for several years. I can connect to a friends computer and get music from their iTunes...just like friends have connected to my computer and done the same thing (if you do this you will see that your computer keeps a back-up of that person's iPod on your computer). If you are manually managing your device (not letting iTunes auto-fill it) then you can do this with no problems. I stated this in the post that you responded to. The message you are referring to occurs if you are allowing iTunes to auto-fill your device. It is comments like yours that I was referring to when I said that if you're going to point out the "negatives" of any device you need to make sure you are as completely correct as possible or else you scew the facts.

iCloud control panel is NOT required to use iCloud OTA. It is required if you want to be able to use some features with a PC, but to declare that it is required to use iCloud OTA period is incorrect. My mother does not have the iCloud control panel downloaded on her PC...yet she uses iCloud for her iOS updates and for backing up her device to the iCloud.

As to your comment regarding the hotspot feature. No, I don't plan trips based on where I can use the internet on any device. But even if I had to it is much harder to find a place that doesn't provide free wifi than it is to find a place that does. I have stayed in top tier hotels and I have stayed in economy based hotels...and every place I have stayed in the last 2 years (at least) has had free wifi access. I would assume if you are traveling on business this would be something you would require anyway. I don't care how many bells and whistles a cellphone might have I can't imagine any business person choosing a hotel that would require them to rely on their cellphone to act as a modem for them to complete work related tasks...I highly doubt a valid excuse for not being able to get something done for work would be "Well, even though I had my Android device that I can tether to my computer with me, the signal was weak so I wasn't able to actually keep a strong connection to the internet while I was in my hotel room in Boondock USA". It would be a surefire way to guarantee you wouldn't have your job for long if you used that as your sole method for having an internet connection while traveling for business. Let's be honest here...tethering and even the iPhone hotspot is for convenience but it is not to be mistaken as the most reliable way to always have internet access. And no...I don't personally pay for the hotspot feature. If I am traveling for pleasure I'm pretty sure I have no intent on staying in the hotel playing with my computer and my phone when I traveled to actually experience the place I went to visit. When I travel for work I wouldn't rely on my cellphone to give me the internet connection I need. Not completely and not in place of actually booking a hotel that provides free wifi access. It's not that time consuming to find.

[droidsw]

Tidbits, the very fact the new trend seems to be moving away from SD cards is enough to indicate they couldn't get it right, so they are going a different direction.

I'm getting strange error messages like others such as Keiffers have spoken about. Just waiting for my "corrupt card" fun experience.