make no doubt about it man... Android is a SERIOUS COMPETITOR(for phones)... i saw reports that they had a higher market share/etc than apple earlier this year... due to putting multiple devices on all networks...
apple cannot continue to release 1 phone every 12-15 months... when android puts out 2-3 every 4 months
Android is pretty much every bit as technologically sound as apple..
android a very scary competitor... with the exception of their customized OS's on various devices..
android proved something... give the customers MORE choices, stylish hardware and the popular features, and they could care less about a dominant brand or hardware brand
1) They do have an overall higher market share than Apple. There are more Android devices sold than Apple phones.
2) They can continue to do this and I think it HELPS them sell. You KNOW there is going to be a new version at a set period of time. Just look around here. People buy the newest Mac or MB, keep it in prestine condition, then sell it next year when the newest thing comes out. Ebay was flooded with 2010 MBAs before and after the new one dropped. It was crazy. Because you know a new one comes out and, I ould say this to be true, each new one is a lot better than the last, there's a strong tendency to sell what you have (because the value holds up) and just buy another one.
2.1) With Android phones (or Windows computers for that matter), they always have higher specs because anybody can make a device to run on it. However, with this method, you get fragmentation and the worry of buying something now (e.g., the Galaxy S 2 which is the best phone out right now in the world) when Samsung TOLD US they would have a better one release in Q1-2 of 2012.
3) Overall, I do agree with you. There are a plethora of devices for every carrier to chose from and, personally, I love Android over iOS because you can do anything with the phone. On my nexus 1 I had the trackball light up depending on what notification it was (tweet, facebook, sms, mms, gmail, phone signal, battery life), I could turn the screen off by hovering my hand over the proximity sensor, and I could overclock it and create exact backups (like Time Machine) to use any ROM I wanted, at any time.
It's nerdy but, as you might know, people who love to tinker get a dual core Android and prefer it over the closed iOS ecosystem (and relying on Cydia and whatnot).
My main concern with Android devices, just as with Windows Mobile and Symbian, etc. since the past, has been with the manufacturer abandoning their older devices, or not providing enough updates and upgrades.
And Nokia, HTC, Sony-Ericsson have proven to me that their commitment to their current models will not really last much.
I don't like this either. I also don't like it when new hardware comes out with old software on it. Motorola releasing the "world's most powerful phone", e.i., the Atrix, earlier this year was awesome. Sadly, it had 2.2 and MotoBlur on it. Two things that should never be on a phone during ANY time in 2011. Period.
It's great ATT is stepping up and putting 2.3 on all Android phones this year, however, unless you get a pure Google phone or root it, you're going to be stuck with dated software.
Which, I think, is part of the problem with all the other tablets. They look like an iPad, they're priced about the same as an iPad, but they aren't an iPad. If you're going to sell knockoffs (I'm not saying they actually are knockoffs, but I think that's how the consumer probably sees them) you have to sell them at a greatly reduced price. Otherwise, why wouldn't I just buy an iPad?
The problem is that these companies don't know how to sell a damn thing. They aren't used to being at the back, only the front/middle and tied to each other. They sell on specs, not the experience. Apple sells on experience; it gets people to WANT the products BECAUSE they are Apple products. That is the most powerful kind of image you can have about any product.
Who cares about tech specs? They should show people using the damn tablets the way they can be used. I can't count the times I wished they would just put a camera over my shoulder while I used my Android phone. It would sell. Guaranteed.
All of Apple's ads for the iphone are dark, intimate, moody, fast, and exciting. (I should really get a job as a PR lol) That's what separates that from any old ad that comes on before and after it. You hear the iconic voice and and the music you KNOW it's an apple ad. And you stop and watch the tv. You don't do that with anything else.
