iPhone insanity

[MinisterofDOOM]

Agreed. I've never EVER resold a phone.

My old phones all get repurposed. Or given to friends when they drop and shatter their iPhones.

[Dattebayo]

Yeah, I see more shattered/non functional apple products all the time. Meanwhile my silly little Galaxy W variant has been dropped 100 times and dropped in many liquids...

[skydragoness]

The 4s is pretty solid. Its boring though. Its like a good daily driver phone. It will do what I NEED it to do, but it wont do what I WANT it to do.

I've been using a slide-qwerty phone and flip phones up until a year ago. So I don't understand why people need "more"
It also was only $100 I think when I signed up with my step-dad's Verizon account/family plan. I should have bought a 30gb because i have a lot of music, but no biggie.

I have it in a hard case with a silicone inner seal, I've dropped it a couple of times and it's been fine. I never took the protective film off of it either. I think people are just klutzes, and if they are they should have their phones in a Otterbox by now.

[MinisterofDOOM]

So I don't understand why people need "more"

This comes back to the same answer I ALWAYS give as to why I prefer Android, why I have a smartphone in the first place and "What does your Android phone do that the iPhone doesn't?":

People who ask that question are looking for a PHONE that does stuff.
I am looking for a COMPUTER. A device. The phone being attached simply means I get to carry one fewer things in my pocket.

I have had a "PDA" or other electronic assistant of some kind since...Hell, as long as I can remember. Back in elementary school I had a SEGA IR7000 Communicator. I certainly did not have a cell phone then. Later, I got a Palm M100, then a Compaq iPaq, and an NEC MobilePro. These were handheld computing devices. I used them for handheld computing stuff. Largely gaming, I will not deny. But note-taking, calendars and scheduling, calculator functions, translation, utility apps, you name it.

Eventually, these devices started to merge with phones. It was a logical progression. My iPaq needed a bulky expansion sleeve and a PCMCIA card nearly the size of the device itself just to connect to WIFI, and driver support for WiFi standards via PCMCIA was terrible on fully-fledged Windows in those days, nevermind Windows CE/Mobile. So adding wifi and cellular data into the device from the start made tons of sense.

The thing you have to remember is this:
These were not designed to be a phone that "did more."
These were designed to be a PDA that had networking capabilities on the go.
The fact that they combined two devices a lot of people already carried into one single device was an obvious bonus.

So, the answer to "what more do you need from a phone" is: Absolutely nothing.
The real question is "what do you want your handheld computer to do.
The answer to THAT is: Whatever the Hell I ask of it, including installing applications from any source, upgrading or downgrading at my leisure, having total control of the filesystems and security features, and being able to customise the user experience. I wouldn't tolerate a PC that restricted what I could do with it artificially for the sake of "user-friendliness" (and Windows 8 is already way too close to that approach). I don't want it from my handhelds, either. I run Ubuntu on my PC. I run Android on my mobile devices. I've owned Apple products (full-on computers, iThings) and they are always too busy being purpose-built to be useful for me.
Just as with cars, I will ALWAYS prefer "does what I tell it to do" over "Just works" every single day of the week.

I don't buy smartphones because I want a fancy phone. I buy smartphones because they're the Palm Pilots of 2013. The fact that I can make calls on them is entirely beside the point and a non-factor in the DEVICE's capabilities. I use my phones for non-phone stuff a Hell of a lot more than for phone stuff. And the fact that smartphones have spawned tablets (nothing more than giant smartphones stripped of calling capabilities) is a great illustrator of the pervasiveness of this behavior.

I'm perfectly happy with a phone that just makes calls. But if I'm going to have a portable computer on me, it might as well have mobile data capabilities, which means Cellular support...which means why the Hell not just make the thing a phone?

[darylzero]

So I don't understand why people need "more"

This comes back to the same answer I ALWAYS give as to why I prefer Android, why I have a smartphone in the first place and "What does your Android phone do that the iPhone doesn't?":

People who ask that question are looking for a PHONE that does stuff.
I am looking for a COMPUTER. A device. The phone being attached simply means I get to carry one fewer things in my pocket.

I have had a "PDA" or other electronic assistant of some kind since...Hell, as long as I can remember. Back in elementary school I had a SEGA IR7000 Communicator. I certainly did not have a cell phone then. Later, I got a Palm M100, then a Compaq iPaq, and an NEC MobilePro. These were handheld computing devices. I used them for handheld computing stuff. Largely gaming, I will not deny. But note-taking, calendars and scheduling, calculator functions, translation, utility apps, you name it.

Eventually, these devices started to merge with phones. It was a logical progression. My iPaq needed a bulky expansion sleeve and a PCMCIA card nearly the size of the device itself just to connect to WIFI, and driver support for WiFi standards via PCMCIA was terrible on fully-fledged Windows in those days, nevermind Windows CE/Mobile. So adding wifi and cellular data into the device from the start made tons of sense.

The thing you have to remember is this:
These were not designed to be a phone that "did more."
These were designed to be a PDA that had networking capabilities on the go.
The fact that they combined two devices a lot of people already carried into one single device was an obvious bonus.

So, the answer to "what more do you need from a phone" is: Absolutely nothing.
The real question is "what do you want your handheld computer to do.
The answer to THAT is: Whatever the Hell I ask of it, including installing applications from any source, upgrading or downgrading at my leisure, having total control of the filesystems and security features, and being able to customise the user experience. I wouldn't tolerate a PC that restricted what I could do with it artificially for the sake of "user-friendliness" (and Windows 8 is already way too close to that approach). I don't want it from my handhelds, either. I run Ubuntu on my PC. I run Android on my mobile devices. I've owned Apple products (full-on computers, iThings) and they are always too busy being purpose-built to be useful for me.
Just as with cars, I will ALWAYS prefer "does what I tell it to do" over "Just works" every single day of the week.

I don't buy smartphones because I want a fancy phone. I buy smartphones because they're the Palm Pilots of 2013. The fact that I can make calls on them is entirely beside the point and a non-factor in the DEVICE's capabilities. I use my phones for non-phone stuff a Hell of a lot more than for phone stuff. And the fact that smartphones have spawned tablets (nothing more than giant smartphones stripped of calling capabilities) is a great illustrator of the pervasiveness of this behavior.

I'm perfectly happy with a phone that just makes calls. But if I'm going to have a portable computer on me, it might as well have mobile data capabilities, which means Cellular support...which means why the Hell not just make the thing a phone?

Perfectly stated.

It really shouldn't even be called a phone anymore, that is just one function out of many.
The way I look at Apple vs. Android is Communist vs. Democracy. Apple controls everything and has to approve everything. Android you are free to do what you want (install what you like).

[Jesda]

I have no needs beyond what the iPhone offers, so I prefer "it just works" to "it can launch satellites into space"

But like most people, cost is the reason I buy Android phones. I beat the snot out of them, drop them, get them caked in sauce, oil, coolant, ATF, grease, grime, sweat, whatever. Plus they get stolen so I don't want to lose something exceedingly nice or expensive.

I miss my Blackberry for those reasons. For -my- needs and purposes, BB was great.

[danfiveten]

Remember when phones were supposed to be smaller...and now their getting bigger again lol

[permyor]

The word trend will help you understand. Every time there’s a new iPhone, people line up worldwide, waiting outside Apple stores, sometimes for days, to be among the first to get it. It’s the height of stupidity; the phone isn’t any different a few days later. Furthermore, if one waits about a year, it gets cheaper and the bugs in the darn thing haven’t even been discovered yet.

[Dattebayo]

Remember when phones were supposed to be smaller...and now their getting bigger again lol

I guess the point just sailed past you, because as previously stated, it's not a phone anymore. It's a pocket computer with wireless networking. If you want a small phone, they make 'em. No one is stopping you from getting what you want, but if you want to pay more, go ahead and do what you want.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Remember when phones were supposed to be smaller...and now their getting bigger again lol

Yep. I have a miniscule "bar" phone from ~2003 that's probably 1/3 the size of my (not very big) smartphone. Battery life was nuts, too.
There actually are still a lot of very tiny dumphones on the market, but I find that the pricing for them is kind of insane relative to their capabilities.

[krash]

I have no needs beyond what the iPhone offers, so I prefer "it just works" to "it can launch satellites into space"

You'll eat your words on the day you're driving around and realize that you need to launch a satellite into space.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I use my satellite launch button regularly. Of course, those damn Russians just keep shooting them down. But I launch a new one anyway.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I use my satellite launch button regularly. Of course, those damn Russians just keep shooting them down. But I launch a new one anyway.

You are a true American Patriot.

[Dattebayo]

Actually, smart phones are satellites now.

Here's the related material.

[AZhitman]

I'm pretty fond of my Razr Maxx. Battery life is insane, compared to most other smartphones, and that's a big deal for me (considering I'm usually up for 18-19 hours per day).

If I replace it, I'll likely move to a Galaxy, considering I do more and more of my web work on a phone (plus, NICO will be fully responsive / adaptive by then).

[Jesda]

Just got a $4 solid case for my POS HTC Evo. That should keep the rest of metal trim piece on the front from falling off... for now. I also picked up an extended life battery (but not extended size) for 20 bucks.

Hopefully this keeps me clunking along for a year or two.

[nissangirl74]

I'm thinking about upgrading to the S4 in April (if my Droid lasts that long). a friend of Katrina's has one and it is amazing.

[Kompresshun]

I will not have anything to do with another Android phone unless it's a Nexus branded device. Samsung puts too much crap on their phones, even though i'd say they're the best Android phone next to the Nexus. I still would not touch a Samsung with a 10 foot pole, because it'll be a pile of useless crap in a year anyways.

If you're due for an upgrade in April, I would not buy an S4 because an S5 should be out by then. The S4 will be a year or so old by then. With the rate that new Android phones come along, unless you can get one within the first 6 months of it being released it's not worth your money.

[krash]

I'll hopefully upgrade to the HTC one this november. Razr M is a garbage. I REALLY like the phone, if it didn't have hardware issues.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The mass fervor over Samsung's stuff is even more baffling than the same for Apple stuff in my eyes. At least the iPhone is the ONLY iPhone. Samsung's stuff is a single drop in the ocean of many android phones and is also trying to be an iPhone. Samsung's products feel cheap and messy to me. Yeah, back in the day, The Galaxy S was ahead of the curve. These days, that's not the case. Other phones like the Oppo Find 5, HTC One, Sony Xperia Z, and a bunch of others are every bit as good, but with better build-quality and cases that aren't cheap and plasticky. And Samsung ruins Android more than any other phone manufacturer, with it's iOS6-alike aesthetic.
Two other big drawbacks to Samsung's devices:
-US market models usually get different hardware than global market models (i.e. Qualcomm processors in place of Samsung's own Exynos).
-Samsung's Exynos processors have some of the WORST manufacturer and community support in the smartphone world, making them very un hacker-friendly.

These two problems compound each other. In the end, your Galaxy S4 ends up being an iPhone copycat with a really huge screen and a cheapass plastic body. For the same price. NO THANK YOU.

Also, I'm still waiting for everyone to remember that white is not "sexy" and electronics look stupid in white. Xbox 360, Wii, Samsung phones, iPhones...all white and they all look terrible.
You can't lose with black. It works 100% of the time. White looks tacky and weird most of the time.

Unless you need a hardcore powerhouse Android phone (and even I don't think I really NEED that), get one of these and call it a day. Dirt cheap. Really good. No carrier or manufacturer bloatware.

[Dattebayo]

Unless you need a hardcore powerhouse Android phone (and even I don't think I really NEED that), get one of these and call it a day. Dirt cheap. Really good. No carrier or manufacturer bloatware.

Only $200? Too bad they're out of stock...

[Jesda]

I always forget about Sony. They make some nice stuff that never gets any attention.

[Dattebayo]

Sony is great, but the monopoly they have on memory is teh suck. My only problem I hate shelling out 30% more for Memory Stick instead of SD.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Right. Especially since odds are you won't have a single other device to use that memory stick in anyway. More money for a less useful product.

I'm starting to remember why I hate Sony so much.

[krash]

Got a replacement Razr M today. Looks like this is "version 2" or something. The packaging was different and lord almighty I can actually hear out of the earpiece when I'm not in a solitary soundproof room. Might not end up getting the HTC one afterall since the super quiet earpiece was my main annoyance with this phone.