You have to excuse LagunaSol. He made close 50 posts in MacRumors today. I am sure he must be exhausted (from the lack of life
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Android Smartphone Sales Exceed iPhone in the U.S. for First Time
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You have to excuse LagunaSol. He made close 50 posts in MacRumors today. I am sure he must be exhausted (from the lack of life
)Glad to see apple get spanked. They deserve it for going with only one carrier. I'll be getting a evo for sprint since apple can't get off there high horse and put the iPhone on all carriers. Until the iPhone gets to the other carriers, android phones will stay ahead of the iPhone for awhile.
This used to be exactly the way things worked in the States. One of the (many) positive things that the iPhone did for the cell phone market was to dramatically alter the mindset of consumers. Huge numbers of completely "non-technical" (if there is such a thing in today's world) people own iPhones, even more own at least seem type of smart phone. In fact, if you listen, people who carry a non-smart phone often give a little apology when they pull it out, perhaps mumbling something about how they prefer simplicity. This is a far cry from the days of the pink RAZR with the dangling bling when most smart phones were business BlackBerrys or nerdy people's toys. The upshot of this is that people are now taking the time to educate themselves about their phone purchases like never before and manufactures (including Apple & the Google cohort) are being pushed to create far more compelling products as a result.
That makes two of us. I carry an iPhone, and a Samsung Moment. I also had an HTC Hero for about a week and it was all I could do to keep from flushing it down the toilet. There simply is no comparison. Walled gardens can be a very beautiful thing.
I disagree, In a short while the hackers will find the exploits and grandma will be forced to update her Android phone just to protect her "depends" behind. That the Android will come to be a behive of Virii and worms and other nasties is because it is so open. The code is out there, open to the world to study, and there is no app gatekeeper testing what may be downloaded to the phone.
So, to counter your statement above, there will come a time that upgrading will not be a choice on the Android and she will never know the name of the hacker that took that choice away.
How can some people be so blind to not realize they are on an APPLE USERS FORUM and bias is implied? You want the non-Apple perspective? GO ELSEWHERE.
Seriously people, the constant whining about pro-Apple bias here is getting old. Gee, I think I'll go to WinSuperSite and complain about all the pro-Microsoft commentary.
There's enough trolling on the non-Apple-related sites. A billion sites out there where people rant and rave about Apple. Go find one. You'll be among friends. Might I suggest Engadget?
You have to excuse LagunaSol. He made close 50 posts in MacRumors today. I am sure he must be exhausted (from the lack of life
I'm glad someone is busy (from the lack of life) counting my posts.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
People drive Beemers, wear Rolexes, and don Armani suits for a reason.
If the general rabble wants to grub through the bargain bin to snatch up a two-for-one special on the next-to-latest Andriod phone, that's their business.
Sometimes, for a prestige company to make twice the money by selling half the units as their competitor, is a far better place to be than to be struggling to capture sales from cheap users with no brand loyalty. At the end of the day you have not captured market or mindshare. Your only "win" for the day was stealing a few sales away from the giant and tomorrow you get up and slug it out all over again with the other bottom- feeders.
On Verizon and ATT, If you get a subsidized smartphone then you have to keep a $30 data plan on it for the whole two year contract length.
At least on Verizon, if you buy smartphones off eBay or Craigslist or friends, and thus don't owe the phone company a subsidy repayment, then you're not required to keep a data plan. You can add and remove it pretty much any time you want. (Have to talk to a rep, though. Most other plan options are changeable online.)
(I'm trying to get my wife to try out smartphones, but she always goes back to her favorite dumb clamshell that she likes. So I have to add data and soon remove it.)
But how many people want a smartphone without a data plan? What's the point? For the vast majority of smartphone owners, a data plan is a given. You're paying the $30/month anyway, so better to recoup some of that money via a hardware subsidization from the carrier. I don't see the draw to the Nexus One pricing strategy. Contract or no contract, you're on the hook (if you want a usable device) for $30/month anyway. Whether you sign a 2-year contract or not, at the end of 24 months you've still spent $720 for data.
I agree. Apple's year over year increases in sales of their products are huge! Just how much growth a company can handle is important to regulate by management or it becomes a monster that gets out of hand destroying the metrics of success.
For example, too many sales can strain the customer relations, then it stresses the manufacturing and raw materials pipeline which affects quality control. Once the products get into the hands of the end users, it becomes a human resources problem staffing the expanded customer service staff which affects your customer satisfaction in the eyes of the public and news organizations. This then affects how much a premium customers are willing to pay to have a premium user experience that lowers the margins you can demand, which automatically dials back the demand. In the end you've joined the rest of the rabble in your market mad-scrabbling for sales at low margins. The solution: restrained product availability protects margins and helps the corporate's image in the market place.
It's hilarious to see all these people saying "Ha! Take that apple! That'll teach ya to stay with one carrier."
Do you have any idea how successful the iPhone has been for Apple? You must be out of your minds to think that this affects them in anyway. Sure Android might be open source and have more options for open source (****** made) apps and the phones might have better hardware for now. But that doesn't change the fact that the iPhone is still the most popular phone on the market. When I say most popular phone thats exactly what I mean. PHONE. NOT OS. Its the smoothest OS and nicest to use. Keep your ****** interface. I'll stick with my iPhone and update to the 4g in July.
Apple is laughing all the way to the bank.
Do you have any idea how successful the iPhone has been for Apple? You must be out of your minds to think that this affects them in anyway. Sure Android might be open source and have more options for open source (****** made) apps and the phones might have better hardware for now. But that doesn't change the fact that the iPhone is still the most popular phone on the market. When I say most popular phone thats exactly what I mean. PHONE. NOT OS. Its the smoothest OS and nicest to use. Keep your ****** interface. I'll stick with my iPhone and update to the 4g in July.
Apple is laughing all the way to the bank.
One would like to believe that, but Apple lost the PC war because customers didn't mind buying crap as long as it was cheaper, and didn't give a fig for brand loyalty.
I don't think that any of my unibody MacBook Pros are superior to PCs, apart from the nice aluminium case and the trackpad. In fact, we have to put up with annoying limitations all the time. Once, I didn't get Firewire. Then I've had only one USB. No Blu Ray option and I'm sticking to a 15" MBP with faulty graphics, because that's the only one to include an ExpressCard slot.
Quality with Apple is not an absolute attribute.
Oh god, another one being convinced that Apple is the top in quality. There is not much premium about the iPhones. These HTC phones are direct competitors. In fact, when sold unlocked, a couple are even more expensive and if you look at the specs and finish, you see why.
Do you know what would be a luxury phone? Vertu from Nokia. With the iPhones, we are talking about ordinary smartphones that by definition, are more expensive than basic handsets. But it takes more than a big screen and a larger CPU to make a premium product. Also, scratchy plastic is not the default luxury material...
So I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but you are not entering any club, just because you have a smartphone.
Gotta agree with this.
http://www.goldsmiths.co.uk/product.asp?cid=7&pid=16181
PRICE: £10,400.00
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi?Amount=10400&From=GBP&To=USD
$15,367.15. That is some impressive markup.
Makes all other handsets look decidedly cheap.
Check any customer satisfaction survey. Despite your own issues with Apple hardware, as a company they are consistently on top of the rankings. The numbers say you are an exception to the rule.
As for build quality, Macs are in a league of their own (though I've always liked a good ThinkPad). The current iPhone, meh, cheap, but if the new model is anything like the leaked (stolen) prototype, Apple looks to be going upscale.
I know of quite a few people who want a smart phone with out a data plan. The reason some people want them is for txt messaging. Smart phones tend to have much better keyboards than feature phones do.
My girlfriend has a blackberry with out a data plan and she loves the phone. It has very good voice quality and for text messages it is great. She also likes the built in apps. My dad has a hand-me-down Blackjack II from my brother and he really likes it because of its keyboard. My sister has a blackjack II and she uses it all the time because it is a great phone for text messages. None of those people have a data plan on their smart phones.
Smart phones tend to have really good keyboards. As for an iPhone with out a data plan I can think of plenty of reasons as well. You have the apps and music. Plus it is a pretty good phone for text message when you get around the craptactor notification system.
What "winning" are you speaking about ??? We are discussing of a SINGLE MODEL/SINGLE CARRIER sells almost on par with several models/several brands/multiple (and better carrier).
If you see that like a victory ...
The iPhone is also the most emulated phone, OS, and interface, none of which come close its overall user experience. (I've used Nexus 1 and Droid phones) Each new iteration has set off substantial waves of growth. Having essentially one evolutionary model on one carrier, the iPhone continues to do impressively well. Greatly looking forward to the June release.
Apple lost the micro-computer war long before crap PCs came along. One of the principle reasons was that IBM came out with the PC and that legitimized it in the MIS-manager's mind at the time. The PC was 16 bit to Apple's 8-bit and offered early connections to the corporate big iron. There was a lot of factors at play early on, but price wasn't one of them...the early PC cost more then the Apple in those pre 1984 days.
Customer satisfaction surveys are not about build quality. While I've had 11 (I think) Macs over the years, I've never filled out any form myself. If I have, I would have probably put a few remarks about several Apple Genius lacking ANY knowledge of Automator or Terminal.
I don't think Macs are "a league of their own". They are PCs with above average quality aluminium housings. That's all about the hardware. Without exclusivity to OS X, Apple wouldn't get away with charging so much for this kind of hardware.
With the quality issues, I'm not an exception. My first-gen unibody 15" MBP has a faulty card, because Apple used faulty parts. This issue is widespread, Apple admitted it. My Air is on its third hinge, that is common too. Our Apple store does nothing about constant fan issues and overheating, so I don't know about them, but I see other people complain about these issues too. It's the same with my '7 hours' batter which lasts less than 3 in moderate use and less than 90 minutes with a few basic applications, like RapidWeaver open. Even years ago, I remember, how much pain my 'CrackBook' cused me. That made AppleCare a bargain, it had so many cracked plastic parts replaced.
I accept that perhaps the misaligned keys on my previous unibody MBs had to do more with the fact that they were manufactured too soon. I bought one on the day they came out, it had misaligned keys, so I returned it. The new one was the same and another one too. This is actually the kind of fault that I believe is pretty exceptional. But the rest is not. Apple quality is not better per se and even with these simple industrial designs, there are so many things going wrong.
Gotta agree with this.
http://www.goldsmiths.co.uk/product.asp?cid=7&pid=16181
PRICE: £10,400.00
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi?Amount=10400&From=GBP&To=USD
$15,367.15. That is some impressive markup.
Disgusting aren't they. That's also one of the cheaper Vertus. The true limited editions are $100,000+.
I've said it before, but if you consider Apple a luxury product maker you've got an incredibly low bar for the definition of luxury.
Until the iPhone came along, data plans were not required on even a subsidized smartphone. Once Verizon saw how lucrative that idea was, they made it mandatory on all smartphones. Then ATT did the same.
So yes, you're right that nowadays it makes sense to at least get a subsidized phone in return for paying for the required data plan. But it wasn't always that way:
A lot of people used to get smartphones and just use it either as a synced-to-PC PDA and/or use WiFi for data connections. Perhaps you'll recall that the first iPhone suffered from lack of 3G, but Apple insisted (as only a California company could) that it was okay because "WiFi was everywhere".