I'm tired of the bloat. This is NOT Android.

[furbearingmammal]

while this is all true, i see where companies are coming from. Samsung, wanted to differentiate from the normal vanilla android that is on the OG droid, same thing with the DX and D2. it is just something they think makes the phone better, and different to make it stand out from the others.

but like everyone said, dont worry about bloatware, b/c if you are on these forums, there will be a way to get rid of it the day you pick it up. sure you have to root, and give up your warranty, but it is something that can be taken care of. i do like your thoughts on having the customer install the bloat, but thats the thing with an open source OS, anyone can modify it to their liking.....thats the great thing, and bad thing about android.

You make it sound like giving up the warranty on a $500+ phone is nothing. Sorry, but I don't think it is nothing. Perhaps those who have more money than they know what to do with think that way, but I don't have that kind of money to just throw away. I'm betting that a lot of other people don't either.

These phones only come with a 30-day warranty anyway. The insurance, however, doesn't give two hot craps in a plastic cup if you're rooted or not. All they want is your co-pay.

To answer CK's OP, I have the following to say --

I like vanilla Android. I don't like bloat. I hate social networking sites, Twitter (though that one CAN be useful from time to time to check up on some things), and the idea of having to pay $10 a month for something Verizon forces onto us and can't be removed, making many clueless users none-the-wiser to the free Navigation included in Maps. That kind of double-faced bull is why I dislike Verizon. I understand they're in it for maximum profits, but it's still bull. Google made a winner, and Verizon has the network it needed, so it was amazing, but it's turning from a dream into a nightmare for the power users like us.

To answer the point about getting subsidized phones, I only have one question. Why, if I'm going to pay $30/month for data plus $40/month for voice plus $5/month for texting whether I get the phone for $20 (I got mine free) from Wirefly or $200 from Verizon with a contract or $500-$600 without, would I pay $600 for the phone? If there was a benefit other than not HAVING to have the phone for 2 years unless I pay full retail for an upgraded phone before then, I could see it. Yes, I realize that if the subsidized phone weren't the MO for all the carriers these days it wouldn't be this way, but I hope you see my point.

 

[furbearingmammal]

Bing should be standard on WinMo phones NOT Google devices.

+1,000,000

And I agree with the rest of the post. I just had emphasize say that.

 

[DF Smod]

This is why...

The Original Droid Still Stands Tall As The Best Device Out Today

 

[czerdrill]

This is why...

The Original Droid Still Stands Tall As The Best Device Out Today

Can't argue with that dancedroid

 

[everstar80]

Sound argument. There are apps on here like city id that I will never use. I haven't even touched the app. I really wish they would let you uninstall crap you have no interest in nd that serves no purpose. Why do I need two separate apps for news and news/weather?

 

[lmapp]

I hate it, but I'm afraid all new phones will have some kind of GUI/skin on top of the android os. I have a feeling that that's the only way that carriers can stop "free" tethering.

Seems like it would be harder for mass-market rooting to occur if you have a million gui's floating around. Look at the iphone...jailbreaking can be done with an app now, so AT&T is doing away with unlimited data. They want those tethering dollars.

Whatever the reason, it looks like skinned android phones are going to be a fact of life. That said, I'm getting an HTC Desire this week (unless the date gets pushed back) through Cellular South.

It's been real!

 

[furbearingmammal]

I hate it, but I'm afraid all new phones will have some kind of GUI/skin on top of the android os. I have a feeling that that's the only way that carriers can stop "free" tethering.

Seems like it would be harder for mass-market rooting to occur if you have a million gui's floating around. Look at the iphone...jailbreaking can be done with an app now, so AT&T is doing away with unlimited data. They want those tethering dollars.

Whatever the reason, it looks like skinned android phones are going to be a fact of life. That said, I'm getting an HTC Desire this week (unless the date gets pushed back) through Cellular South.

It's been real!

So, whatcha doing with your old Droid? I could give it a new home, but I'm a little broke at the moment...

The GUI has nothing to do with the tethering; it's the core OS that gets rooted and allows for the tethering. The GUI is either a lovely addition or a pain in the rump. I agree with everyone who says let it come with it, but give us the choice of booting without it WITHOUT having to install a 3rd-party launcher. I like ADW, though, and it gets rid of the Blur (I'm told).

Even still, the point isn't just the Blur and SenseUI, it's the added apps we can't get rid of that are there solely to turn a buck by the carrier. It costs them $300 to buy the phone (in bulk, estimated), and then they charge us a minimum of $70 a month to have it on the system, plus $35 activation. They secure 2-year contracts guaranteeing the revenue stream for 24 months. At that level of profit they shouldn't be cramming crap down our throats we don't want AND preventing us from uninstalling it.

 

[brando56894]

Ill agree with you guys that they are annoying, but its not the end of the world. As many of you guys mentioned before, all you have to do is root the phone and remove the bloatware.

Whenever I got a new laptop or computer from a large scale manufacturer the first thing I always did was remove the version of windows that was pre-installed on it and install a fresh copy without all the bloatware.

 

[lmapp]

Ok...maybe I'm wrong about the tether-conspiracy theory.

 

[kbatrph]

It's amazing what can be fixed with root access.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

is there any uncomplicated way to root the Fascinate without going through all the adb crap? i'd rather wait for sprecovery or another root process

 

[furbearingmammal]

It's amazing what can be fixed with root access.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

is there any uncomplicated way to root the Fascinate without going through all the adb crap? i'd rather wait for sprecovery or another root process

Give it a few weeks. You might get lucky.

 

[RoyR80]

I hear ya, its a shame. :-/

 

[xkape]

IMO, while I love my D1 I have to agree with Cereal. I like to run a clean computer (and now, phone) with only what I want on it. I'm even upset I cant uninstall the stock messenger, music player, etc..
I should have the ability to have only what I want on my phone and to have it still function properly.
Unfortunately (myself included) we put up with this garbage bloat because of our dependency to the machines. 10-15 years ago, if you left your house you were jsut gone. If someone wanted to contact you too bad. Tehy called your house and left a message. Nowadays with your mini computer.phone at your side, you are always on and always available. Could YOU give up your cell phone to protest a blockbuster app? (That was an example). Hell, could you even keep your job without a cellphone? They have become so incorporated into our daily lives that going without has become almost impossible.

It's like when gas prices went insane. Everyone kept saying to protest and not buy gas. Well guess what? I have a job and a life and in order to make that work I have to get in my car and drive somewhere. That takes gas so I bought some.

In order to protest gas prices, the only true answer was to make something that didn't run on gas. So, how do you effectively protest a cellphone? The answer is to make your own that doesn't run with bloatware. Just like gas, does anyone here have the resources and the money to make this happen? No.

If big business wants to have bloatware, we will buy it because in this day and age we almost have to. Big business will always do this because, with any business, money is the driving force. Without profit, we don't even have a phone. So, find a way to make your own phone or figure out a way to make "vanilla" more profitable than bloat.

 

[glennj]

With any luck, the bloatware may serve to attract the masses enough to bloat total mobile broadband users to the 1.5 billion number of subscribers well before the prognosticated 2015 date.....of course, they will all be Verizon users, relegating D/L speeds to make my '93 Packard Bell 486 SX with its 2400kbs baud rate modem seem like a hot mess.

Good thing I held onto this lusciousness....

Nevertheless ,the OP has solid points; as do others advocating a found usefulness among some customers. But as hookbill noted, chaining Bing to a Google device does not bode well.

 

[superglen99]

I think the manufacturer skins should be optional and available for simple download much like a rom but not require root so as not to void the warranty. everyones happy that way.