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How about a forum for Android, Pre, etc.?

-aggie-

-aggie-

macrumors P6
Original poster
Jun 19, 2009
16,793
51
Where bunnies are welcome.
Doctor Q, mods, and whoever:

I know you've been making changes to the site, but would it be possible to make a forum as this thread title suggests? This would accomplish a number of things. Animosity to these posts would be reduced. Those wanting to talk about other phones would have a forum. Members wishing to write their blog stories about being former iPhone users would be able to write to others feeling the same way. Trolls would have a place to play.

Win-win?
 
MacDawg said:
I understand the reason behind the request, but I can't say that I totally agree with it. I don't think you would suggest we make Forums for every product that competes with an Apple product, so I am not sure this is the way to go either.

Just my opinion

EDIT: Then again, maybe some would suggest it... https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/915316/
Click to expand...

He posted that thread after mine. I don't think we need forums for every product that competes with Apple. I'm mainly talking about the products that seem to bring out all the animosity, which is the phones I pointed out in my thread title. I could be wrong, but I don't see people posting stuff about Dell laptops in the MBP forums, for example.

Anyway, it's just a suggestion. If we did this, then instead of all the negative posts, the threads would be moved by the mods. If you have a better idea suggest it, of course.
 
I don't think its a good idea.

There wasn't a "Dell" forum category 8 years ago nor now, and their isn't a Windows category now. This is MacRumors, a site dedicated to Apple and Apple's products. If this were a general tech site, I would agree that it should have a place. But its not.

My $.02 anyhow...
 
-aggie- said:
I could be wrong, but I don't see people posting stuff about Dell laptops in the MBP forums, for example.
Click to expand...

You're not wrong. Most of them are about HPs.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/913520/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/911151/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/896569/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/817836/

etc.

runplaysleeprun said:
There wasn't a "Dell" forum category 8 years ago nor now, and their isn't a Windows category now.
Click to expand...

Well, there kind of is. I get your point, though.
 
runplaysleeprun said:
These all seem to be comparing the HP's to MBP's, which make them perfectly on topic, and correctly placed in the Macbook Pro subsection of the forum.
Click to expand...

Right. But all of the Android/Pre/whatever threads are comparing them to the iPhone, making them on-topic as well. There is a "Please help me choose a PC" thread every once in a while, but since they come once in a blue moon they tend to get left in whatever forum they're created in as far as I can remember.
 
miles01110 said:
Right. But all of the Android/Pre/whatever threads are comparing them to the iPhone, making them on-topic as well. There is a "Please help me choose a PC" thread every once in a while, but since they come once in a blue moon they tend to get left in whatever forum they're created in as far as I can remember.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. They are on-topic in the iPhone sub forum, thus negating a need for their own forum.

If the post is about the Android/Pre/etc and nothing else, the only place I can imagine it has a place is in current events if their is some breaking important news about those pieces of hardware or software.
 
runplaysleeprun said:
I don't think its a good idea.

There wasn't a "Dell" forum category 8 years ago nor now, and their isn't a Windows category now. This is MacRumors, a site dedicated to Apple and Apple's products. If this were a general tech site, I would agree that it should have a place. But its not.

My $.02 anyhow...
Click to expand...

I wasn't saying we needed a Dell forum. Or a Windows forum. :confused:

miles01110 said:
You're not wrong. Most of them are about HPs.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/913520/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/911151/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/896569/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/817836/

etc.

Well, there kind of is. I get your point, though.
Click to expand...

miles01110 said:
Right. But all of the Android/Pre/whatever threads are comparing them to the iPhone, making them on-topic as well. There is a "Please help me choose a PC" thread every once in a while, but since they come once in a blue moon they tend to get left in whatever forum they're created in as far as I can remember.
Click to expand...

Skimmed through those you posted Miles, but I don't see the animosity in those posts that I see in the iPhone forums. However, I also don't recall seeing any of the posters in THIS thread posting in the iPhone forums. These posts I'm referring to are not, for the most part, posts by someone comparing the phone. They're posts saying they got "such and such" phone and it's so much better than the iPhone, which is not such a big deal, but then that's the only posts they make. It's trolling isn't it? Anyway, a lot of members think it is. If the mods think not, then forget I brought this up. I'm just trying to suggest something to make these forums less belligerent. In the MBP, Mac OSX, and other forums I go in, I don't see the kind of nasty posts I see in the iPhone forums. The behavior seems non-existent. It's definitely a problem in the iPhone forums. I don't know why, but it is.
 
I agree.
Something like reviews or discussion of other Mobile OS or cellphones.
Or a section for other non-iphone related wireless devices that are beeing released and could be examined in a seperate section that wouldnt clutter the iphone forum and leave it focused on, well, the iPhone.
We have Ipod and Ipad sections for that same reason.
A dozen threads every day about Evo HTC 4G, or the incredible, or the desire, the N1 and many other phones gets old and ridiculous after a while.
The Administration should consider it. It will also cut down on the flame threads and troll posts IMO.
Good idea Aggie.
 
-aggie- said:
I wasn't saying we needed a Dell forum. Or a Windows forum. :confused:
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that. I was simply comparing not having a Dell forum here, even though Dell competes with Apple in the desktop/laptop arena, as not having forums for competitors to the iPhone.

The idea being that this is a place for discussions on Apple products and Apple product related items. And I don't see having a forum specifically about the HTC incredible or any other phone or phone OS is in line with that.

I could understand your idea were this a vanilla tech site that was not specific to any one company.

On the other hand, I agree that those posts that you mentioned should be deleted as being trolls or off topic, as they add nothing to the conversation and are only posted to incite arguments.
 
runplaysleeprun said:
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that. I was simply comparing not having a Dell forum here, even though Dell competes with Apple in the desktop/laptop arena, as not having forums for competitors to the iPhone.

The idea being that this is a place for discussions on Apple products and Apple product related items. And I don't see having a forum specifically about the HTC incredible or any other phone or phone OS is in line with that.

I could understand your idea were this a vanilla tech site that was not specific to any one company.

On the other hand, I agree that those posts that you mentioned should be deleted as being trolls or off topic, as they add nothing to the conversation and are only posted to incite arguments.
Click to expand...

I understand. MR shouldn't have to do anything to the forums. I like them the way they are, but I've been increasingly disturbed by some of the back and forth squabbling, which "seems" to be incited by what "seem" to be trolls. These posts should be reported, but I'm sure the mods have a hard time telling what their intent is. Like you guys wrote, it looks like they're comparing a phone to the iPhone. I don't think anyone, at least not me, has a problem with comparing. However, the problem some have, I think, are the posts that are the first post by a member who posts just to say they're leaving for the Droid or whatever. Or the threads by certain members that constantly post new threads stating why such and such phone is better than the iPhone and just vary the words somewhat. This is the kind of stuff I've seen and we all know who they are. Eventually they leave or get banned, but in the mean time they stir things up. I'm not saying the poster who precipitated this thread was one of these, but it was very similar to other threads that are.
 
I like the idea also. Yes, this is MacRumors, but a person can be a Mac user/fan and still use non-Mac gear (a person with a MacBook/iMac, but uses an Android phone), and I think it would be nice if they/we had a place that we could still interact with our fellow Mac users, but talk about other devices without the chance of the typical flame wars that even i've witnessed break out in several threads. I've seen where other sites/forums dedicated to other platforms have sub-forums for devices that run other OS's (the crackberry forums have sub-forums dedicated to talk about iPhone and other devices OS's), so I don't see why macrumors couldn't. Then again, it's up to the Arn/the mods, so if they see fit for the site to remain strictly Mac, then that's their call, and I'm fine either way.
 
If MacRumors is going to post news on the Pre and Android why not have a forum for it. If MR doesn't want it on the site stop reporting news about it.
 
My opinion is that we should not have separate forums for products that compete with Apple.

Users should post threads about competing products in the forum for Apple's equivalent product. That's the most appropriate place for it and it's where others would search or browse if they were looking for such a thread.

If we had a single "Competing Products" forum, it would have a mixture of threads about rival smart phones, computers, MP3 players, media players, office productivity suites, web-based services, etc. Users would be unlikely to go browsing in such a forum. We also don't want a separate "competitors" forum for each type of Apple product. We're already doing our best to fight forum bloat.

There are good reasons to discuss Apple's competitors, not the least of which is comparison shopping. It's also instructive to consider how the competition stacks up feature by feature and how Apple might change their products to compete.

If someone tries to derail a thread simply because it's discussing Apple's competitors, report their post. On the flipside, if you think a user is posting about non-Apple products simply to troll among users of Apple's product, report that too. But when users are simply discussing the choices that consumers have, Apple vs. non-Apple, it's fine.
 
-aggie- said:
They're posts saying they got "such and such" phone and it's so much better than the iPhone, which is not such a big deal, but then that's the only posts they make. It's trolling isn't it? Anyway, a lot of members think it is.
Click to expand...

It definitely is trolling, and it does happen occasionally in the Mac forums as well (and in the iPad forums, for good measure). I don't frequent the iPhone forums because I don't really have anything constructive to say about the iPhone, but I'm sure if I saw something trollish I'd report it like most other troll posts.
 
-aggie- said:
They're posts saying they got "such and such" phone and it's so much better than the iPhone, which is not such a big deal, but then that's the only posts they make. It's trolling isn't it? Anyway, a lot of members think it is.
Click to expand...

I'd like a place where we can discuss competing products without the Apple fanboys coming in and telling us X product sucks and Apple's product is so much better, blah blah blah blah. The fanboy trolling is just as bad as the trolling you mention.
 
I don't know whether this is the solution, but something has to be done. The iPhone forum is being overrun by threads about such topics as "I just switched to Android!" and "Time to switch to EVO?" posted by people whose only posting activity is Android-related. The iPhone forum used to be a place where one could come to discuss iPhone-related issues, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to wade through these off-topic and trollish threads.

The best solution would probably be to have more active moderation of the iPhone forum. Threads about Android and Android-based phones should quickly be moved elsewhere or deleted. The problem is that we just don't have such moderation. Nobody is there on a regular basis cleaning up this dreck.
 
thelatinist said:
The iPhone forum is being overrun by threads about such topics as "I just switched to Android!" and "Time to switch to EVO?" ... but it is becoming increasingly difficult to wade through these off-topic and trollish threads.
Click to expand...

If the thread titles are so obvious, it seems that it wouldn't be that difficult to avoid them. :confused:

Threads about Android and Android-based phones should quickly be moved elsewhere or deleted... Nobody is there on a regular basis cleaning up this dreck.
Click to expand...

Why? It's been established by the forum administration that merely discussing competing products isn't "dreck" as long as it's constructive.
 
thelatinist said:
I don't know whether this is the solution, but something has to be done. The iPhone forum is being overrun by threads about such topics as "I just switched to Android!" and "Time to switch to EVO?" posted by people whose only posting activity is Android-related. The iPhone forum used to be a place where one could come to discuss iPhone-related issues, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to wade through these off-topic and trollish threads.
Click to expand...

On the first page of the iPhone forums, I counted 6 threads related to Android, out of 60? And one of those threads is about why the EVO sucks and isn't comparable to the iPhone. I'd hardly consider that being "overrun". And the thread titles are so blatantly obvious that I don't know why you just can't ignore them.

And if you say that people shouldn't be coming here for Android/Pre/BlackBerry/WinMo advice because this is a Mac forum, might as well close down Community Discussion because people shouldn't be coming here for car/relationship/home theater advice because this is a Mac forum, right?
 
miles01110 said:
If the thread titles are so obvious, it seems that it wouldn't be that difficult to avoid them. :confused:

Why? It's been established by the forum administration that merely discussing competing products isn't "dreck" as long as it's constructive.
Click to expand...

How about asking how to use competing products?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/914886/

It's getting where you might as well change the title of the iPhone forums to Smartphone forums.
 
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