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06 November 2009
Posted in
Design
The buzz is building. Android is HERE. The signs are all around. The DroidDoes ads highlight some of the top issues that have been brewing in the iPhone user base. Top on my list are customization, camera quality, swappable batteries, multitasking and open development.
Phones have become a part of our wardrobe. They're a style statement. They're personal. Astoundingly, Steve Jobs and his Apple crew think that you have to adhere to their style and be part of the Apple crowd. Want a Wallpaper on your phone. Sure, but only when it is unlocking. While in use, you can have any color you want as long as it's BLACK.
Apple Style
vs. MY Style 
Sure. It's a bit harder to read, but it makes me feel good. I even have the background slowly fade showing my wife and kids. I can customize icons to suit my tastes. I can make it fit ME.
Maybe most significant is the feeling that Apple and AT&T want to "control" me. They "know better". Apple has rejected applications from Google that would enable me to make free phone calls (Google Voice) using my data service subscription and Google Latitude for connecting with friends. Apple believes that these apps will frighten and confuse me like Kerock The Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer on SNL is when he gets out of his BMW. The hypocrisy of it is that while Apple opened doors by introducing multi-touch screens and virtually a mini Mac OS X in my pocket, they forbid me from doing what I can freely do on the Mac itself - customize it to fit my needs.
With a 30-second "jailbreak" process, my iPhone becomes like a Mac and let's me be an adult again. I can pick wallpapers for my actual phone desktop and I can change alert tones. This simple act of "Jailbreaking" just lets me do what I can do on my PC or Mac already. I can decide for myself how I want it to look and what applications I trust to use to fit my needs. It opens up a huge world of innovation.
So why Android? Android is a mobile operating system used in a new class of mobile phones. Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris are two examples of phones using the OS. They're part of a movement by the Open Handset Alliance. PCWorld provides this list of the top 10 apps for Android, but there are over 10,000 applications available. While 100,000 applications are available in the Apple AppStore, most of those are either wannabees of better apps or are ridiculous. Google continues to provide applications for the Android platform. Google even offers turn-by-turn car navigation for free. Similar applications on the iPhone are $79-$99. I know. I bought one.
So the idea of open development, ability to customize and potentially more powerful multi-tasking make me consider leaving AT&T's inferior network and Apple's Orwellian control.
However, before you get too Android crazy, take a close look.
A jailbroken Apple iPhone is still far superior to the odd combination of keyboards, shapes and applications from the Android world. The ads are great, but here are my concerns:
- It's an early adopter market that has yet to cross the chasm with its a la carte offers. Read this article starting at "Android Takes More Work".
- I love Mutli-touch and iPhone form factor elegance. I can deal with jailbreaking. Apple isn't innovating that fast anyway, so jailbreaking each major release means once a year or so.
- Videos are gorgeous on the iPhone and I don't think that Android phones are ready for prime time there.
- I have some wonderful apps that I paid for on the AppStore. Why give them up?
- I expect the Moto Droid to gather a heck of a lot of "belly lint" in all of its gaps and sliders. I left that behind with the Palm Treo that I loved so dearly.
