Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

I am too smart for my iPhone

T

themkook

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 27, 2010
22
0
I am not meaning to start a flame war, I am merely expressing my observations about the new iPhone thus far. And please, refrain from giving "...And what are you doing here, exactly?" responses.

I used an Android phone before and I am finding myself increasingly baffled by all the seemingly fundamental features the iPhone lacks. Let me say, though, I think it's a beautiful piece of engineering, very intuitive and simple. But herein lies the problem.

By that I mean, for instance, no saving attachments, no searching within web pages, no multiple separate inbox icons, no multiple email notification settings, no status bar notifications...

Of course, "there's an app for that" - but that's beside the point. I shouldn't have to pay between $0.99 and $4.99 or more to be able to search a web page - besides, I don't want a bunch of icons on my phone that all amount to incremental improvements to performance that should really be built in.

Does it just come down to the fact that the iPhone is, really, a phone for dumb people or light users?

I don't necessarily mean dumb, but after using Android, the lack of customization and features on the iPhone is a bit of a shock. (For the record, Android comes with all of those above features built in).

What does the average iPhone user want from a phone? Is it just basic Internet browsing (without Flash) and a bit of music listening?

I don't mean to offend but to spark discussion. I love how shiny my iPhone is, but I just wish it was smarter.
 
themkook said:
I am not meaning to start a flame war, I am merely expressing my observations about the new iPhone thus far. And please, refrain from giving "...And what are you doing here, exactly?" responses.

I used an Android phone before and I am finding myself increasingly baffled by all the seemingly fundamental features the iPhone lacks. Let me say, though, I think it's a beautiful piece of engineering, very intuitive and simple. But herein lies the problem.

By that I mean, for instance, no saving attachments, no searching within web pages, no multiple separate inbox icons, no multiple email notification settings, no status bar notifications...

Of course, "there's an app for that" - but that's beside the point. I shouldn't have to pay between $0.99 and $4.99 or more to be able to search a web page - besides, I don't want a bunch of icons on my phone that all amount to incremental improvements to performance that should really be built in.

Does it just come down to the fact that the iPhone is, really, a phone for dumb people or light users?

I don't necessarily mean dumb, but after using Android, the lack of customization and features on the iPhone is a bit of a shock. (For the record, Android comes with all of those above features built in).

What does the average iPhone user want from a phone? Is it just basic Internet browsing (without Flash) and a bit of music listening?

I don't mean to offend but to spark discussion. I love how shiny my iPhone is, but I just wish it was smarter.
Click to expand...

cool story bro
 
i-like-turtles.jpg
 
ksoze said:
Good way to avoid a flame war, Smokey.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. Just go back to Android if you really need to "search within web pages." There's things that Android does that iPhone doesn't, and things that iPhone does that Android doesn't. For me personally, the integration of multimedia capabilities, how it syncs with my mac, the hardware, and simple OS outweigh that of the Android OS.
 
You can search webpages. If you are so smart, you'd do the research to find out how ;)
 
ironbutterflies said:
cool story bro
Click to expand...

These posts are ruining the forums. Some cases they are funny but, really?

Back to the question of the OP. I think I agree with you for the most part, and I know this isn't exactly a valid excuse because people have come up with numerous ways to make the phone better, but Apple always claims to "want to do it right and better than everyone else."

Take "no task bar notifications" for instance. I have JB'ed my phone, and used notifier, it worked great and was helpful. Why hasn't Apple done it? Not sure... I think at some point it will come, as they like to add very minor improvements as very large selling points for future phones/iOS updates. I think they are probably trying to figure out a better notification system (didn't they pick up the WebOS notification designer recently?), so hopefully we can see it in the near future.

Bottom line is Apple likes to do things their own way while preserving their view on how an iPhone should look, feel, operate.
 
themkook said:
What does the average iPhone user want from a phone? Is it just basic Internet browsing (without Flash) and a bit of music listening?
Click to expand...

And to check my email, and call my parents once a week without a dropped call. I'm a pretty average user. The iPhone 4 does everything my 3G did, but faster. Including dropping those weekly calls to my parents.
 
All IMO:

There's not a single Android phone that has looks anywhere near the iPhone 4.

Android OS is ugly.

I've never tried the music player, but I can't imagine it would sync so perfectly with my iTunes and iPhoto, and be as seamless as the iPod.app.

I have never had the need to search a webpage on my phone. Ever.

I jailbroke my iPhone 3G, and could fully customize everything, and it was cool for a while, but then it's just stupid. At some point, I just wanted it completely back to stock. It was just so buggy with all the stuff I had installed on it.

I don't consider myself dumb, and I (will) love my iPhone 4, and I know all its shortcomings.
 
Use what you like and what works best for you, whatever that is, but don't insult those who use something different. Your treading on shaky ground calling the iPhone a device for "dumb" people. So does that mean that anyone who uses OSX instead of Linux is "dumb" because OSX works better?

This is a Apple forum. If ever there was a place not to post your silly hate, this is it. I don't go posting in Android forums about how the iPhone 4 is better, because that is just wrong. Use what you like...
 
iPhone is not really a device for power users; if you find yourself missing all those features, you really should just go back to Android. Apple's made it clear that they will add the features they deem necessary in their own sweet time. it gets annoying sometimes, but it is what it is, and when they do something they typically do it well.

it's certainly not built for the geeks among us, but to classify it as a device for 'dumb people' is more than a little small-minded.
 
themkook said:
I don't necessarily mean dumb, but after using Android, the lack of customization and features on the iPhone is a bit of a shock. (For the record, Android comes with all of those above features built in).
Click to expand...

A shock? Why is that? The deficiencies about the iOS are pretty clear and they're well known to anyone who did research before buying a phone. Since you're a smart guy, I assume you knew the iPhone doesn't have Flash, status bar notifications, and the like.

It's certainly reasonable that you prefer one phone's features to another, but I don't know why this breaks down into "phones for smart people" or "phones for dumb people" instead of "phones with characteristics that I want my phone to have."
 
You can't search in web pages on iPhone?

And you people are defending this? That's like the iPod not having a microphone.

Apple does a lot of amazingly stupid things. Not saving attachments or having search in Safari would be great examples. Also I heard there is no PDF viewer or Acrobat. If so that is nuts. And can you use it as a flash drive? I hope so. And not *wanting* to have a good install of Flash is bizarre. Flash is great, perhaps the best solution, for many web things. It just needs to be optimized, and of course that is not in Apple's hands but still the Flash hating just blows my mind.

Anyway those glaring omissions are kind of like the general design of iPhone 4. Stupid. So stupid I might get an Android.

Look this original poster seem to share my sentiments EXACTLY: I want Apple to be BETTER. When they hit a home run it is really good. Their good products are great. But when a great product becomes so-so or falls behind the times (Iphone 4, current generation of basically every computer they offer, etc) then we notice this and hope Apple will catch up or fix things. Why is that wrong to think and furthermore post here? Look when iMac was new it was great. Even if Jobs said the exact same thing about its stupid hockey puck mouse "Just hold it with your fingertips!". Look that one up, that's so funny because it's exactly what Steve said. And iPhone was great when it first came out, it reset the industry. Now, it's about to be blown away by Android.

And yah cool story bro was funny when it made sense. This time it was lame, in a trombone wah-wah-wahwahwah sound effect kind of way.
 
I didn't insult, I asked a question. What a boring place the world would be if opinions weren't shared. I paid (and am paying) for an iPhone, I am entitled to say what I think.

Thanks for those who provided constructive replies, though.

Am I to conclude that the main arguments pro-iPhone are:

- It is pretty (I agree, very much so)
- It plays music well and syncs with iTunes seamlessly

Personally the no search within web pages and no email attachment features are baffling, at the very least.

I don't personally think Android OS is ugly - HTC Sence is quite beautiful really, for instance. And much more customizable. Is it just because it doesn't run with Helvetica like the iPhone does?

So, yes, I agree with whoever said the iPhone isn't for power users. It seems this is what it comes down to. A beautiful, stable phone with fantastic music playing capabilities and a solid Internet browser.
 
OP, I know this was hard to say/ask without sounding "flamey." I'm not sure how I feel about people getting called a "flamer" whenever they say something honest but opposed. Internet etiquette is a concept that never truly stuck, and most people on web forums are not looking for seasoned intellectual debate. (I don't blame them either, life is hard enough.) Either way, thanks for the honesty.

I take it your main question is here:

themkook said:
What does the average iPhone user want from a phone? Is it just basic Internet browsing (without Flash) and a bit of music listening?
Click to expand...

In short, I like the iPhone for its simplicity, beautiful design, and intuitive interface.

Here is a list of things I want from my Phone:

(1) I don't want to have to struggle with menus. There are a lot of menus in Android OS, and things tend to be a little more buried than on the iPhone. Let's put it this way… I've never had to RTFM to set up anything on the iPhone.

(2) Android isn't as responsive. A good UI is one that responds to the actions of the user in ways that make it easy for the user to explore. It would suck to explore the world if there weren't near-instant feedback between your limbs and the ground. Likewise, it is harder to explore the Android OS because the feedback isn't as smooth. It feels like using GTK1 in FreeBSD 3 (…well, definitely not that bad, but I think you get the point.)

(3) Android isn't as "connected." I have never had an easier time managing my contacts, music, documents, etc. than I have had with Mac OS X + iPhone. I have VCFs, I add them to "address book," I click 'Sync,' and they're on my goddamn phone. No futzing with Google Sync, no screwing around with CSVs and random contacts that are automagically added to my list by Google. I prefer simplicity.

(4) Managing my applications and widgets on an Android phone is like using the inventory in Diablo 2—you have to keep track of what can fit where and how much space there is.. lol. It's not a big deal, but it felt very geeky.

(5) Android phones tend to be of shoddy build quality. If I'm going to spend 300-500 on a phone, shouldn't it look and feel the way I want it to? The iPhone 4 is the sexiest device on the market, and that definitely contributes to its functionality. The iPhone has four buttons and a switch. Other than that, it has no moving parts. There is no shabby plastic port cover that will fall off after three months of regular use. There are no stupid camera buttons that only serve to unlock the phone in your pocket. There is no annoying sliding keyboard hinge that loosens up after 6 months and feels floppy. There is no annoying battery cover that pops off when you drop the phone—sending your battery one way and your sim card the other way. The phone is solid, and that's worth the money right there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back