Leaving iPhone... For Evo 4g (The sad tale of an Apple Enthusiast)

[brock2621]

Let's get something straight, this is not a flame post, I'm typing this from my iPad, while sitting next to my Mac Pro that is literally my livelihood as a film editor and designer.

Today, I decided that sadly, I will not be upgrading to the next iPhone. It's truly a bitter sweet for me in almost all regards, and although I'm sure for a few weeks I might struggle with the transition, I believe in the end it will ultimately be of benefit.

I wanted to outline a few reasons why I have decided to switch for those who are wavering, or have toyed with the idea of losing their iPhone.

Apple designed a truely remarkable phone back in 07. They, as usual, pioneered the way and opened peoples eyes to the true potential of what a phone can really be, and do for you. They sold millions. It was incredible.

Fast forward to today. Google watched from behind, took everything Apple did and learned from it, improving on it, and making it open. Apple will be majorily upgrading their hardware this year, but with only a minor software upgrade. And therein lies my grievance. Android has taken most features, and improved upon them while adding some of their own. Apple has taken the road of widest target audience and is trying to still use their old os, so it can work with all of their phones (and slowly in most cases). Rolling out an update a year, while google is releasing froyo, and has already announced gingerbread before years end.

Android is young, but I think they have just passed Apple, and I know it will be ATLEAST another year before apple even considers an os revamp, but by then, there will be 2-3 android updates. Apple will most likely not change the os, for fear of alienating all the people that know how to us their phones and tablets.

Google seems to have their interest is building the best operating system. Period. Apple seems to be building the best operating system while keeping it locked to protect their property and reassure their paycheck, and honestly, I can't blame them. But I can switch to a slicker OS with HTC sense, less restriction, multiple device options, multiple carriers options, multiple contracts options, with multiple OS updates per year.

As an Apple junkie, am I alone in these thoughts and this decision?

 

[rossihvac]

This is like the 5th frakking post about someone leaving their iPhone for some variation of android. We get it AT&T sucks, apple locks you down, no flash etc....WE GET IT!!!!! NOBODY CARES!!!!!! I guarantee you'll be back once you see the wwdc keynote, have fun wasting your money

 

[MassiveAttack]

To the OP, great post and all valid points. What it simmers down to is Android is on the cutting edge and Apple is stagnant with basically the same OS on iPhone 2010 as back in 2007.

 

[brock2621]

This is like the 5th frakking post about someone leaving their iPhone for some variation of android. We get it AT&T sucks, apple locks you down, no flash etc....WE GET IT!!!!! NOBODY CARES!!!!!! I guarantee you'll be back once you see the wwdc keynote, have fun wasting your money

1. You are angry at me because i just happen to be a certain number of a post about dropping the iPhone?

2. Here is why I won't be back for a least a year: They already announced their software. If you read my post, it was software related completely (otherwise I would have gone into a very sad comparison in which the EVO would probably still spank the next iPhone in 75% of its hardware specs, but I digress). I don't believe Apple will announce a software revamp during WWDC. I think they really needed a redesign this year to put them back in the lead until next June. But they just let another year for Android to release more and more updates.

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.1-update1; en-gb; Nexus One Build/ERE27) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/530.17)

Welcome to Android. The best way to be if you switch to Android is to have an iPod touch or iPad sitting by to keep into the Apple ecosystem and seeing as you have an iPad (lucky devil!) you're set.

I'm looking forward to FroYo and it's hotspot feature so I can browse on my N1 and my iPod touch at will when mobile but you will already have that too with the Evo.

 

[mgamber]

I don't really care about Android, it does nothing for me, "open source" is a meaningless concept and Google is just another bland, faceless corporation like anything other BUT....that having been said, Google has most definitely left Apple in the dust in a lot of ways. And it's probably just as well. Perhaps Apple's getting owned in the media will finally get it off it's self-made ivory tower and:

1. Force Jobs into retirement. He's an obnoxious, loudmouthed salesman, nothing more. Get a real CEO that views customers as an asset, for a change.

2. Listen to it's customers and give them what they want instead of imposing what Apple insists is good for them.

3. Open up the iPhone to a real carrier that continues to work after leaving the city and immediate suburbs. I'm not upgrading my iPhone again unless it's available from another carrier and if Apple wants to continue pretending that AT&T is god's gift to carriers, I won't own an iPhone. I like the iPhone but I dislike AT&T and it's overpriced, underpowered service a whole lot more.

4. Gain some consistency in every aspect as a corporation. This company is the definition of "knee-jerk decisions". Acting like a real corporation and less like the old Soviet Union would be a good start.

If Apple decides it's too good to change and above it all, then by all means I hope Android and Blackberry and WinMo7 chew it up and spit it out.

 

[scott99]

I can't say I blame you. You have to be a true fanatical Apple fanboy, to deny that the EVO is an amazing phone. I think any true gadget geek's first response when they saw the EVO, was "WOW". The EVO has so many things to offer, and has truly set the bar extremely high. Plus, the Sprint all-inclusive $80 phone/internet/text package is a tough package to beat (it's $10 more than their $70 package due to being 4G). I am paying a fortune for the same thing ($30 for unlimited texting, gimme a break). I'm sure many people are thinking about jumping at this. The EVO and an iPod Touch, and people can keep all of their apps they've bought the last few years.

I was with Sprint from 1998-2007, and switched to AT&T for the iPhone. In NY, at least in the beginning, AT&T blew away Sprint's coverage. Now, if 4G is available in NY, Sprint will blow away AT&T's coverage. So there are many pros to go the route you are going. There aren't many cons. Me, I'm undecided at this moment. My contract is up, and I'm very excited to see what the new iPhone will be like. While the 4.0 OS still is technologically behind Android's as far as multitasking, I'm loving my 3G iPhone running the 3.1.3. So I think a 4th generation iPhone running OS 4.0 will be a huge upgrade for me, and hopefully, offer everything I need. If I hear that Sprint's 4G is a huge success in NY, I may have to consider switching back to Sprint.

 

[rossihvac]

The thing that annoy me is that the sub title of this forum is iPhone, not android. I want to read posts about iPhone not about how android is this and android is that.

 

[jb1280]

As an Apple junkie, am I alone in these thoughts and this decision?

My only qualm with your post is the above (everything else is just a matter of personal preference)

Given the events of the last year, it would not be terribly surprising that at WWDC Apple lays out a roadmap for the mobile area that shows that they will rev the OS in a more accelerated way.

I am really not one to comment on people arriving to or departing a platform, but I don't think we can fully understand what the next year will look like until WWDC takes place.

 

[supercaliber]

I was committed to switching mainly due to price. Recent pricing for EVO has sucked the wind out of my sales.

If i switch it won't be for tech. You and I know that Apple limits their devices to features you will USE. The EVO has plenty of features that will never be used even once.

I will price Sprint when it finally gets released and make a decision. I won't kneel at the alter of iPhone that is for certain.

As for the guying yelling about running back to iPhone, he has been right so far with me. I have dumped my iPhone twice before and came running back. Maybe the third time is the charm????

 

[jbro1999]

The thing that annoy me is that the sub title of this forum is iPhone, not android. I want to read posts about iPhone not about how android is this and android is that.

My thoughts exactly. You switched congrads. Good for you. I have a iPhone which I love. Which is why I come to an iPhone forum. I could careless about you getting this new phone which hasn't come out yet.

I guess it might be time to find a new forum.

 

[mgamber]

I was committed to switching mainly due to price. Recent pricing for EVO has sucked the wind out of my sales.

If i switch it won't be for tech. You and I know that Apple limits their devices to features you will USE. The EVO has plenty of features that will never be used even once.

I will price Sprint when it finally gets released and make a decision. I won't kneel at the alter of iPhone that is for certain.

As for the guying yelling about running back to iPhone, he has been right so far with me. I have dumped my iPhone twice before and came running back. Maybe the third time is the charm????

Perhaps plenty of features that won't be used by you. Everyone uses their device differently. Apple limits their devices to cater to the lowest common denominator and we all suffer with a locked, limited and occasionally useless phone because of it.

 

[ataboc]

I fail to see how android is better. I've used my buddy's droid and was not impressed. you have to go to settings just to turn on wi-fi

It reminds me of linux. you really need to be on top of your OS to customize it to your liking.

iphone os although 3 years old still feels really polished to me.

I have a 3gs jailbroken on 3.13. it does everything i need it to do.

Another problem with andriod is that there's a new and better phone every two weeks. They're constantly one upping themselves. In my eyes, i'd rather have a phone that's updated once a year. Weird i know, but that's how i feel.

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.1-update1; en-gb; Nexus One Build/ERE27) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/530.17)

The thing that annoy me is that the sub title of this forum is iPhone, not android. I want to read posts about iPhone not about how android is this and android is that.

There has been a request by a few members here in the feedback forum for a board to post questions/posts about other smartphones. The amount of Android posts here is getting pretty bad.

 

[thph27]

Before you go running to that 4g phone make sure you know all the facts. If you thought the battery was bad on the iPhone just wait....

"Sprint 4G Phone Hits New Speeds, but Battery Lags - Sprint Nextel's Evo 4G is the first smartphone made for Sprint's 4G wireless network, which is available in Seattle and a few dozen other cities today. But the vast majority of the time, the phone connects to the current-generation 3G network. It turns out there are gaps in the coverage area, and many consumers may be in that 4G-free zone. That means consumers won't be able to surf the Web and chat on the phone at the same time. Another disappointment is when using 4G, the EVO's battery runs down alarmingly fast. Sprint is thinking of advising users to turn off the 4G network access when they don't think they need it, but this undercuts the whole idea of faster cellular speeds. But, one shouldn't pass on the Evo 4G completely - it's a very good, sleek 3G phone. The Wall Street Journal, online; Associated Press."

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.1-update1; en-gb; Nexus One Build/ERE27) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/530.17)

I fail to see how android is better. I've used my buddy's droid and was not impressed. you have to go to settings just to turn on wi-fi

It reminds me of linux. you really need to be on top of your OS to customize it to your liking.

iphone os although 3 years old still feels really polished to me.

I have a 3gs jailbroken on 3.13. it does everything i need it to do.

Another problem with andriod is that there's a new and better phone every two weeks. They're constantly one upping themselves. In my eyes, i'd rather have a phone that's updated once a year. Weird i know, but that's how i feel.

You don't have to go to settings to enable wifi on the Droid. All you need is the power widget on a homescreen for instant access to wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, sync and brightness settings. You could also install a single wifi widget from the market. I hate turning wifi on and off on my iPod touch and would love a quick on/off widget for that too.

One tap and its on or off.

 

[hippo206]

The thing that annoy me is that the sub title of this forum is iPhone, not android. I want to read posts about iPhone not about how android is this and android is that.

I would have to agree. I do hope the OP has a wonderful experience with the new phone and shares his/her experience by posting about it in the android forums.

Since this was posted, I have to wonder why people make decisions before even touching the device. Have we not learned anything? Pre, N1, now this? All of those phones had wonderful reviews. I will be one of the first to go play with the EVO, and if it is the almighty gift from god, then I'll probably switch. But to sit here today and make the decision off of reviews (and actually engadets review had many flaws that I won't go into) is foolish.

 

[brock2621]

As an Apple junkie, am I alone in these thoughts and this decision?

My only qualm with your post is the above (everything else is just a matter of personal preference)

Given the events of the last year, it would not be terribly surprising that at WWDC Apple lays out a roadmap for the mobile area that shows that they will rev the OS in a more accelerated way.

I am really not one to comment on people arriving to or departing a platform, but I don't think we can fully understand what the next year will look like until WWDC takes place.

True, I can't speak into the future definitively. But I did hypothesize from the past 3 years as an example.

Also, I think apple is in a precarious position: The OS is dated and NEEDS a revamp, but they made a commitment with this iPad that they are doubling down their bets that familiarity will supersede a competitor's OS' faster evolution and innovation.

 

[Oskee2001]

Maybe its because i have a jailbroken iphone, but i have yet to encounter a situation where I say "gee, i sure wish i had a droid." and i'm also fuzzy with the concept of an open source software -- i just want it to work on my end.

 

[drew0020]

Before you go running to that 4g phone make sure you know all the facts. If you thought the battery was bad on the iPhone just wait....

"Sprint 4G Phone Hits New Speeds, but Battery Lags - Sprint Nextel's Evo 4G is the first smartphone made for Sprint's 4G wireless network, which is available in Seattle and a few dozen other cities today. But the vast majority of the time, the phone connects to the current-generation 3G network. It turns out there are gaps in the coverage area, and many consumers may be in that 4G-free zone. That means consumers won't be able to surf the Web and chat on the phone at the same time. Another disappointment is when using 4G, the EVO's battery runs down alarmingly fast. Sprint is thinking of advising users to turn off the 4G network access when they don't think they need it, but this undercuts the whole idea of faster cellular speeds. But, one shouldn't pass on the Evo 4G completely - it's a very good, sleek 3G phone. The Wall Street Journal, online; Associated Press."

The battery on all these phones are terrible including the iPhone. My 3GS sucks battery life when I'm using 3g. The nice thing about the iPhone is that I have multiple chargers and it works through my car.

I'll definitely miss that when I switch to the Evo but I agree that Apple has been left behind. Their os is stale and needs to be revamped. I can hear it now with 5.0 when apple finally announces an intelligent way for notifications to be handled ugh.

I've had the iPhone since day 1 but I'm leaving as well. Maybe I'll be back but I'd someone like me is thinking about leaving (my house is all apple and so are family and friends, etc) then Apple is doing something wrong.

 

[Geckotek]

The thing that annoy me is that the sub title of this forum is iPhone, not android. I want to read posts about iPhone not about how android is this and android is that.

As the moderators have already pointed out, there is no Android forum. Discussions about competing products are perfectly valid.

I'm not an Android fan, but the forum rules are the forum rules. We should respect them and if we don't like the Android posts, ignore them.

 

[jb1280]

True, I can't speak into the future definitively. But I did hypothesize from the past 3 years as an example.

Also, I think apple is in a precarious position: The OS is dated and NEEDS a revamp, but they made a commitment with this iPad that they are doubling down their bets that familiarity will supersede a competitor's OS faster evolution and innovation.

True, it's going to be interesting to see how Apple copes with a true competitor in the post-iPod world.

I think it's possible to revamp the OS without undoing the core usability of the OS.

I would not be surprised if we see a typical iPhone year for 2010-2011. I would also not be surprised if Apple really accelerates things. WWDC will be fascinating.

 

[supercaliber]

Before you go running to that 4g phone make sure you know all the facts. If you thought the battery was bad on the iPhone just wait....

My money is on the EVO outlasting my iPhone. iPhone battery blows.

 

[CocoaPuffs]

Let me summarize these threads for you:

*insert whiny poster*: I am tired of iPhone because *insert the same list of reasons as previous whiny posters*, and I am going to switch to *insert the same list of phones that other whiny posters have switched to*.

So really, we heard them all. The worst part is every new post seems to be increasing its length with more gibberish.

Bye, see ya!

 

[cherry su]

The Evo 4G is a freaking beast. Care to give us your first impressions? I want to know how OS updates are handled; if you can only upgrade with HTC's modified Android updates (that come out weeks after Google releases them), then that really sucks