Which is better, iPhone or Android?

OC Register ^ | 1-20-2011 | edcoil

[artificial intelligence]

To the average consumer, the war between iPhone and Android is probably very confusing.

Most people don’t know there’s a difference between a “Droid” and an “Android” phone or why these new phones are so different from what came before.

[truthfreedom]

In those cases where you know that you’ll need to connect your ipad to a tv, I presume the apple and the android is about the same.

And, yes, since it’s a minihdmi, it’s not quite as easy as I imagined. But buying an extra cord is only $3-$4, stick an adapter in your glove compartment, and you have the advantage. I can imagine people doing that.

But the advantage isn’t quite as clear.

Apple has traditionally failed (or been worse) on the connectivity front. I have a super cheap mp3 player I bought a couple years ago. Cost less than $50. With my cheap mp3 player, I could transfer the mp3s directly to someone elses computer using a standard usb to miniusb cord. And did that a couple times. Really super easy. The person I was transferring to had apple stuff. he could not transfer his mp3s from his ipod to my computer. This isn’t directly relevant to the ipad (that I know of) but it points to the weakness of apple products in general in transferring data from the apple product to a nonapple system.

[truthfreedom]

I predict endless arguments - apple vs android - in thread after thread. everyone will be saying the same thing. I’m not the one posting the articles saying apple is great. But I’ll be there responding. The same exact people will be saying the same exact things. I know in my case, my arguments on the next ipad vs android will be honed a little better, but they’ll be pretty much the same.

Flash, connectivity, cost vs screen, “user experience”.

[truthfreedom]

the android os is upgraded much more frequently, but that’s not the whole of the story. Only apple makes apple devices. Apple does know what models there are running the apple os.

I don’t even know myself - is gingerbread (2.3) officially out? or is that low number the froyo number?

There are a lot of android tablets out there, right now, being sold, that aren’t being sold with 2.2 with flash 10.1 on them. Often, these tablets cost less than $100. They might not be upgradable to 2.2, or to 3.0. But, again, they cost less than $100. I am not arguing that these android 1.6 tablets are better than the ipad. But they do have functionality, and they, again, cost less than $100.

[comps4spice]

And I wasn’t really arguing so much that Android as an OS isn’t useful/good or an Android phone isn’t.

But they are frequently described as on par with the Apple iPhone, and I don’t think that is all the story. Because Apple controls the universe of hardware, they have a much easier upgrade path. Android phones will be much more like the PC world, where they are cheaper, do nice useful things, but are not easily upgraded.

I don’t believe they will maintain their value like iPhones (or iPad or iPod Touch) either, because of the difficulty of upgrade.

[ReignOfError]

t isn't up to apple to pick and choose, or it shouldn't be.

Yeah, enough of this picking and choosing. Both Apple and the Android tablet makers think they can just leave off RealVideo and iPix. Makers of Android phones act like they have the right to leave out support for AAC, which is the standard used by the world's largest music retailer. None of the phones can play my old Atari 2600 games. Who do these people think they are?

[Swordmaker]

Yeah, enough of this picking and choosing. Both Apple and the Android tablet makers think they can just leave off RealVideo and iPix. Makers of Android phones act like they have the right to leave out support for AAC, which is the standard used by the world's largest music retailer. None of the phones can play my old Atari 2600 games. Who do these people think they are?

Yeah, and they BOTH are leaving out the ultimately important PARALLEL port... I can't print to my dot-matrix printer at all! Just who are THEY do deny me that option!

[truthfreedom]

I think these makers should support realvideo.

couldn’t that just be an app. If you want the browser plug in, you get it.

That’s how it works on real computers, right?

Sometimes, maybe, the browser had realvideo installed, but usually the browser told you that you needed the plug-in and helped you at least a little to get it.

Why not now? What’s the problem?

I had realvideo installed on my mid 90s computer with a Pentium 60. These android and apple computers are much more powerful. The hard drive on my old computer was first 500megs, and then 2gigs. The Ram was something like 8megs, or 64megs. And you can’t have the browser plugins you had when computers were much slower?

Maybe we agree on this, but are failing to understand each other.

I’m not saying that apple should always install flash. Maybe that’s what you thought I was saying. But Flash and RealVideo and whatever other format should be available as plugins as long as someone wants to write that plugin.

They shouldn’t be barred from use. I just want a touchscreen computer. We have the touchscreen part, these computers were twice to 10x as fast as the old computers which were full computers. That’s what I’m looking for.

Android tries to be a real computer, Ipad not so much, tries to be something else.

[truthfreedom]

I wonder why that is? It’s either a dkish move on Google’s part, or Apple is asking for money.

About Flash, Apple is apparently going out of its way to prevent people from viewing flash content.

Is there some sort of free app out there that will play AAC?

I really haven’t heard anything about this AAC issue. I was wondering, and am still wondering, about what things the android couldn’t do and the apples could. I haven’t gotten much feedback there, but apparently playing AAC files is something androids can’t do. Man, if I had AAC files, I’d be pissed for sure, I definitely would stop buying them. What’s wrong with mp3s? They play anywhere.

[truthfreedom]

I see where you’re going with this. Yeah. It will be easier to upgrade Apples. If you’re spending $200 new for a product you might not be too worried about resale value. I think that hardware specs determine in large part the upgradability. So, if you’re looking to upgrade, instead of just getting a new one, you’ll make sure that your tablet has modern specs.

Aren’t a lot of these android devices fairly old phones? I don’t have one, but I’d guess that a lot of people with those phones aren’t necessarily thinking of them as computers that need to be upgraded, but just phones with certain features. I could be wrong, are there a lot of people with old android phones who were expecting that their old phone should be able to run flash 10.1 and android 2.2 and are pissed they can’t.

[antiRepublicrat]

I wonder why that is? It’s either a dkish move on Google’s part, or Apple is asking for money.

Apple doesn't own AAC. It is defined in Part 3 of the MPEG-4 standard, and was created by several companies and a research institute, not including Apple. Apple is just the earliest major player to adopt it.

What’s wrong with mp3s?

Old standard, less quality for the same bitrate, poor response at high frequencies, many other reasons. If a device doesn't play AAC, dump the device. You probably wouldn't want a modern media player that only played MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video and couldn't support the modern codecs such as H.264 or VC-1. We have a word for that: obsolete.

But given that, I don't know of any Android devices that don't play AAC.

[antiRepublicrat]

I could be wrong, are there a lot of people with old android phones who were expecting that their old phone should be able to run flash 10.1 and android 2.2 and are pissed they can’t.

I'm in that boat. I don't care about Flash, because it'll suck anyway. But I'd like to have the JIT compiling of 2.2 with the commensurate speed increase. I've heard I can root my phone and install 2.2, but then you're going back to the same complaints people have against Apple, having to jailbreak iPhones.

[ReignOfError]

But given that, I don't know of any Android devices that don't play AAC.

Yeah, my information was way out of date. I was stuck in a time when pretty much no one but Apple had adopted AAC -- and now I see that Archos, Creative, SanDisk, Sony, and even the Zune support it. Our little standard is all grown up.

[ReignOfError]

With my cheap mp3 player, I could transfer the mp3s directly to someone elses computer using a standard usb to miniusb cord. And did that a couple times. Really super easy. The person I was transferring to had apple stuff. he could not transfer his mp3s from his ipod to my computer.

Your complaint about Apple's "fail[ure] ... on the connectivity front" amounts to the fact that iPods don't facilitate pirating tracks, and that is by design. That is why it is Apple, and not the maker of your cheap MP3 player, that was able to get the record labels on board and sell tracks legally online.

[ReignOfError]

But Flash and RealVideo and whatever other format should be available as plugins as long as someone wants to write that plugin.

You're missing the whole concept. A tablet is not a desktop computer, and keeping apps in their own little sandbox -- not allowing any third party to throw any crap it wants into the browser -- is part and parcel of what makes tablets lightweight, fast and reliable. It's a streamlined model of computing.

If you want what you call a "real computer," with your Real and Flash and what not, Windows tablets have been around for a little over eight years. They provide a user experience at a size, price and battery life that has not exactly set the world on fire.

[truthfreedom]

Hmmmmm. I will say that the ipad was certainly the device
that made the tablet market take off. The screen, especially was pretty compelling. So, now, tablets are the hot things.
Maybe there will be a good Microsoft tablet, a full computer.
But maybe Android grows into a full computer.

A tablet really can be a full computer though. I mentioned before what a computer could do 10 years ago. These tablets have better specs than a 12 year old computer, and I was capturing dv through firewire on that computer 12 years ago.
I think these tablets could handle that, and could handle anything else. If a faster processor is needed, use that processor. More ram needed, use more ram. Better quality
audio i/o would be nice. more connectors, specialty connectors. Tablets don’t have to be thin and light. If
battery life is a problem, just put in a bigger battery. Or sell a external battery pack. I don’t particularly want
everything to always get smaller and smaller. Speakers for
instance tend to be better if they’re a little bigger. I happen to like the size of old phones, stretching all the way from the ear to the mouth. I wouldn’t mind at all a big ol brick phone. 1920 x 1080 screen - 5 inches diag, 8 inches diag. 2 really good stereo mics. Some cheap condensor mics are good. There could be a protools edition
just combine the android with the mbox - 24/192. Might as well put a high end video camera in there. And 24/192 DAC, so all your audio can sound great. Use the quality audio gear in new ways. a db meter, a whole host of formerly esoteric eq stuff can be developed into apps. That’s how I see the future of tablets going, possibly, it’s not all about making them thinner and thinner and thinner. The tablet should start replacing the desktop for an increasing number of people.

[truthfreedom]

I don’t care about the success of Apple’s business model.

As a user, Ipod is less convenient than my cheap mp3 player.

I like my cheap mp3 player. it has line in 16/48 stereo wav.
That’s dat level. Good s/n ratio too, better than the ipod at the time. I just plugged my mp3 player into the soundboard using a standard stereo 1/8 to 2 rcas with 1/4 adapters. Great sound. and this was about $30 or so. also had a sd card slot as well as an external hard drive.

http://www.amdex.com/product-1011470264-5536-140.html - it’s gone up in price in the last 2 yesrs. $51.50 now. I bought a few of em actually. Back in August 09 I bought 3 of them for $77.55. It’s pretty rare when a piece of generic electronic equipment doubles in price over the course of 2 years.

[truthfreedom]

I like mp3s and flacs and wavs. I might not have any aacs at all. I probably have around 100 gigs of mp3s wavs flacs. Is m4a aac? I have a few m4as.

[antiRepublicrat]

M4A is basically AAC.

[ReignOfError]

I think these tablets could handle that, and could handle anything else. If a faster processor is needed, use that processor. More ram needed, use more ram. Better quality audio i/o would be nice. more connectors, specialty connectors. Tablets don’t have to be thin and light. If battery life is a problem, just put in a bigger battery.

Add more connectors, and a bigger mechanical hard drive. And then you could attach a mechanical keyboard, on a hinge. Not a desktop, but something you could use on .. your lap. Call it a lap computer, something like that.

[ReignOfError]

As a user, Ipod is less convenient than my cheap mp3 player.

As a user, being able to instantly download nearly any song I want is more convenient than prowling around Limewire or buying a CD and taking it home to rip. Apple's business model made that possible.