Is anyone the tiniest bit jealous of the iPhone 4s?

[czerdrill]

Here's one way to look at that: for almost any priority you have in what you want in your phone, and for almost any task you want it to do, you can find at least one Android phone that is superior in at least that one aspect. On top of that, every Android device is inherently more flexible and can largely be tailored to the individual needs of the user even without rooting or jailbreaking. That should cover your question from pretty much every angle short of picking out every example of every phone that is better in some way than the iPhone, which I think would be tedious and unnecessary here.

There are two (incorrect) assumptions that you're making here. One is that people shop on specs. They don't, no matter how badly everyone wants to convince themselves that they do. If they did, there would be zero reason why iPhone is so successful sales-wise. I know it's hard to admit it, but no one cares about specs. If they were looking at purely specs, the iPhone would be a laughable device indeed. I mean 800MHz processor?? 512MB of RAM?? A 3.5 inch screen?? No LTE?? Why would anyone buy this clearly "outdated" phone? The reason? Because no one cares about specs (of course, to some people the reason is because Apple has brainwashed multi-millions of people). The second incorrect assumption you made was that people are willing to shop on a per spec basis, which is also false. People want the whole package. Telling me that their are 20 Android phones, and each one can do at least one thing better then iPhone doesn't mean anything. Would you buy a phone with amazing speed, a huge screen and LTE if it lasted 2 hrs on battery? Or would you buy a phone with 50hrs of battery life that lagged uncontrollably nonstop? I wouldn't. Specs mean nothing. I put more weight in benchmarks, and sales then I do in spec sheets.

If quality, or even suitability to consumer needs were the main factor in iPhone sales, we shouldn't expect them to be so extremely high, since for a majority of consumers there should be at least one product that is arguably better. On top of that, we keep hearing news stories on how Android is taking more and more of the iPhone's market share. If high iPhone sales mean that Apple is doing something right other than marketing their devices, wouldn't that shrinking market share mean they've been doing much more wrong?

There's a little bit of cognitive dissonance going on here. A few posts ago you stated that sales really doesn't have much to do with quality. But now you seem to be discounting quality by pointing to market share. So high sales doesn't determine quality, but low marketshare determines lack of quality (or, not as much quality as other devices)? How does that work? Either sales means something, or they don't. You can't have it both ways. You can't say in one breath that having millions of sales doesn't speak to the quality of the device, and then in the same breath say the shrinking (which is also false) market share means Apple isn't doing anything right other then marketing their devices.

BTW, iPhone share isn't shrinking. It's remained steady for a very long time. I'm not going to get into why Android marketshare doesn't automatically mean Android is "better" because no one will agree regardless. What I will say though is, if you're combining tablet and smartphone share, iOS comes out on top, and quite easily. So by your argument, does that mean Apple is doing something right other then marketing their devices? If you disagree, you will have contradicted yourself. If you agree, you will have proven my point.

Sales doesn't necessarily equal quality, but its a good indicator that people enjoy the phone and think its a high quality device. You seem to have admitted that by bringing up market share.

 

[czerdrill]

Lol, i dont know if lots of people like rhetoric or not but when people choose to argue about iphones in the droidforums its just going to be arguing to argue. Lots of great points come out but in the end everyone already has their mind made up. I love how the forums have these little debates but i have to admit, i just wish the topic would be changed from iPhones and android....its like beating a dead horse now. Again and again these debates happen. again and again. lol, ive stayed away from this thread for a while, of course it would turn into this again. :biggrin: I hope peoples bp stay low on these threads becuase they will be here for a while. I guess its pretty entertaining every once in a while. One thing is for sure though, czerdrill and OneTenderRebel can sniff out these potential argument a mile away. They are almost as consistent as the arguments themselves. :hail: which i think deserves some recognition. Lol, if we ever have an inter-web debate with droidforums debating something like iphones against androidcentral or something, then my vote would be for one of those guys. Forum wars! haha.

I think I'm entitled to an opinion regardless of what the URL of the site I'm on is. Further, my "opinions" are based on numbers and provable facts. I never said "iPhone is better, and that's that!" In fact, I conceded that if we were looking at only specs, there are "better" phones out there. Why is it so hard for people to concede that if we're looking at benchmarks, iPhone is "better"? Or if we're looking at individual sales, iPhone is "better". I like dealing with tangible things, and not anecdotal evidence like "all my friends...", "I know a lot of people...", and the ever popular "iPhone sucks, and is a cult blah blah".

If I bring up sales, its discounted as "not meaning quality" or "iSheep"
If I bring up benchmarks, its discounted as "not a real world example"
If I bring up total share, its discounted as "you must work for Apple"

However, we've all heard the counters to the above three arguments by people here:

"Android has 48% smartphone share!! What a runaway train!!"
"Wow, iPhone is so outdated and are playing catch up. Apple dropped the ball" (as they sell 4 million units in a weekend)
"Android smartphones as a whole have more share then iPhone! This means they're better!"

The facts, which I deal with and not hypotheticals and extrapolations are: iPhone sells better then any individual android smartphone, iOS has a higher marketshare then Android (without including iPods), and benchmarks show the iPhone performs better then any phone so far (including 4G phones). The problem is when I say those facts, people automatically assume I'm saying iPhone is better then Android, which I'm not. Stop feeling so threatened. It's just the facts, ma'am (Dragnet).

Those things simply can't be denied or dismissed as "iSheep" (well...I guess they can but that doesn't make it true).

 

[jntdroid]

Using market share to compare iOS to Android is really comparing Apples to oranges (forgive the pun...). I'd almost venture to say they each have very different goals from a market share standpoint.

 

[Shadez]

I think people are forgetting about what's really important.... and that is that in 2 months USA will be airing "Christmas Story" for 24 hours straight again..

Let's not forget what things really matter in life..

Sorry, tension breaker..

 

[OneTenderRebel]

Using market share to compare iOS to Android is really comparing Apples to oranges (forgive the pun...). I'd almost venture to say they each have very different goals from a market share standpoint.

I agree, while I do think Apple would love to control the smartphone market, it's not hurting them really by maintaining their 28-30% market share. Android has made an incredible imprint on the market share, absolutely no question. I think Android is single handedly killing RIM off.

 

[OneTenderRebel]

I think people are forgetting about what's really important.... and that is that in 2 months USA will be airing "Christmas Story" for 24 hours straight again..

Let's not forget what things really matter in life..

Sorry, tension breaker..

Best post made in the last 24 hours!

 

[czerdrill]

I think people are forgetting about what's really important.... and that is that in 2 months USA will be airing "Christmas Story" for 24 hours straight again..

Let's not forget what things really matter in life..

Sorry, tension breaker..

haha nice. i always wondered why they play it 24hrs straight though...

 

[OneTenderRebel]

haha nice. i always wondered why they play it 24hrs straight though...

ummm because it's amazing, haha

 

[czerdrill]

ummm because it's amazing, haha

yes but 24hrs amazing? i don't know...haha

 

[OneTenderRebel]

yes but 24hrs amazing? i don't know...haha

I think they see it as catering to different time zones and making sure everyone gets to watch it atleast thrice, yeah I just said thrice, what of it....

 

[Htown315]

I'm jealous of its size(giggity). All verizon puts out is mini tablets these days.

 

[jntdroid]

I'm jealous of its size(giggity). All verizon puts out is mini tablets these days.

That's a good point... people make a big deal over massive screens, but a lot of people don't really care about that. There are actually people in the world that don't watch movies or play games on their phones all the time... we tend to forget that!

 

[ilikemoneygreen]

I am not sure what the purpose of your post was but I have said before, for me it's not about Apple vs Android, it's about not being a fanboy and hating a product for some obscure reason. There were no arguments going, IMO. It was a debate with several points and counter-points. I took absolutely no offense to what any had to say or offer and I value their opinion as much as my own. Why does it have to be an argument?? I almost feel like you are just looking to start trouble with your last 2 posts, I hope I am wrong about that because I have never gotten the impression from any of your other posts on here that you are like that but at the same time I am curious why you felt the need to single us out when we were being nothing but civil? I felt like everyone involved in the little debate was being civil and offered some great points. Just because I don't agree with all of them doesn't mean I don't care what they have to say on the matter. I am sure they feel the same way about what I say on here, I would hope anyway. I know I am not going to sway someone's mind by what I type here in a forum, doesn't mean I should just sit back and not say anything though. Like I have said before too, I would absolutely react the same exact way if I felt the roles were reversed with Android and Apple, if someone is ripping on Android for dumb reasons I will defend Android.

In closing, I don't know how to take your post so I will just assume you meant no harm by it.

Arguing doesn't have to mean nasty things. Arguments are a constructive form of persuasion. I say argument not as a fight but as a debate that has two opposing viewpoints. I think the word argument has a bad rep...because we always take it as the extreme with throwing stuff across the room and yelling. I don't mean any harm by my post, nor am i calling anyone a fan boy which i think is what czerdrill interpreted. It is simply an observation, i'm not even saying you two will argue for or against ipods as that really changes depending on the subject in the ipod debate. But you guys both are dependable in that you show up for every debate that has to do with an iphone. You both have always great points, im not attempting to even get in a debate on anything you debated on here which is why im not going to answer czerdrills response to mine(which seemed more in line on getting in the debate instead of a response to my observation). I think i may have not explained my observation as cleanly as it was in my mind. One thing for sure though to get more on topic i guess, is when the nexus was announced, no i was not jealous of the 4s.

 

[OneTenderRebel]

Arguing doesn't have to mean nasty things. Arguments are a constructive form of persuasion. I say argument not as a fight but as a debate that has two opposing viewpoints. I think the word argument has a bad rep...because we always take it as the extreme with throwing stuff across the room and yelling. I don't mean any harm by my post, nor am i calling anyone a fan boy which i think is what czerdrill interpreted. It is simply an observation, i'm not even saying you two will argue for or against ipods as that really changes depending on the subject in the ipod debate. But you guys both are dependable in that you show up for every debate that has to do with an iphone. You both have always great points, im not attempting to even get in a debate on anything you debated on here which is why im not going to answer czerdrills response to mine(which seemed more in line on getting in the debate instead of a response to my observation). I think i may have not explained my observation as cleanly as it was in my mind. One thing for sure though to get more on topic i guess, is when the nexus was announced, no i was not jealous of the 4s.

Thanks for the response, I figured that's what you meant, just wanted to make sure. And yes the Nexus has furthered my stance on not buying an iPhone anytime soon.

To be or not to be........................wait what was the question? This signature has been Tapatalk approved.

 

[flamepanther]

There are two (incorrect) assumptions that you're making here. One is that people shop on specs. They don't, no matter how badly everyone wants to convince themselves that they do. If they did, there would be zero reason why iPhone is so successful sales-wise. I know it's hard to admit it, but no one cares about specs. If they were looking at purely specs, the iPhone would be a laughable device indeed. I mean 800MHz processor?? 512MB of RAM?? A 3.5 inch screen?? No LTE?? Why would anyone buy this clearly "outdated" phone? The reason? Because no one cares about specs (of course, to some people the reason is because Apple has brainwashed multi-millions of people). The second incorrect assumption you made was that people are willing to shop on a per spec basis, which is also false. People want the whole package. Telling me that their are 20 Android phones, and each one can do at least one thing better then iPhone doesn't mean anything. Would you buy a phone with amazing speed, a huge screen and LTE if it lasted 2 hrs on battery? Or would you buy a phone with 50hrs of battery life that lagged uncontrollably nonstop? I wouldn't. Specs mean nothing. I put more weight in benchmarks, and sales then I do in spec sheets.



There's a little bit of cognitive dissonance going on here. A few posts ago you stated that sales really doesn't have much to do with quality. But now you seem to be discounting quality by pointing to market share. So high sales doesn't determine quality, but low marketshare determines lack of quality (or, not as much quality as other devices)? How does that work? Either sales means something, or they don't. You can't have it both ways. You can't say in one breath that having millions of sales doesn't speak to the quality of the device, and then in the same breath say the shrinking (which is also false) market share means Apple isn't doing anything right other then marketing their devices.

BTW, iPhone share isn't shrinking. It's remained steady for a very long time. I'm not going to get into why Android marketshare doesn't automatically mean Android is "better" because no one will agree regardless. What I will say though is, if you're combining tablet and smartphone share, iOS comes out on top, and quite easily. So by your argument, does that mean Apple is doing something right other then marketing their devices? If you disagree, you will have contradicted yourself. If you agree, you will have proven my point.

Sales doesn't necessarily equal quality, but its a good indicator that people enjoy the phone and think its a high quality device. You seem to have admitted that by bringing up market share.

Actually, your last paragraph is exactly what I'm trying to get across. Sales don't indicate quality, but many consumers *think* they are getting a superior device-- often without giving the competition a look. That's marketing and brand recognition at work, and it wouldn't matter if Apple made the worst phone on the market as long as it was good enough not to drive users to actively look for alternatives. All they have to do is put some more gas in the hype machine occasionally to keep the consumer inertia going.

Remember when Norton and McAfee became two of the worst antivirus products available? They were still the most successful, due to their high visibility and the vague reputation leftover from when they still made decent products. They were on top because they did something right a long time ago, and because nobody ever heard of Kaspersky and NOD32. While I don't think Apple has quite reached that point, I think that's the direction they are gradually drifting toward.

As for benchmarks, I've made my OG Droid eclipse the Galaxy S series and match the Droid X. That doesn't make my phone less outdated, it demonstrates that benchmarks are largely BS.

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