The dirty secret is that neither one of the phone platforms in the long run will be better than the other. In the short term one phone will only be better than the other until the deficient phone is upgraded. The general public has spoken: iPhone is the clear winner in public opinion. So…Why does the iPhone seem to draw a bigger response than new Droid phones?
Simply put Apple is a hype machine. It seems relatively old school, but Apple simply hypes everything up. CEO Steve Jobs gives hour long presentations extolling the virtues of each new device as it is released. He describes the painstaking work that went into every little detail of the new device and then used more, and more, and more flowery speech to pump it up.
Just as the press conference room is at a fever pitch he releases them into a room where they get the opportunity to play with the devices and give their readers/viewers a first impression of the device.
Droid doesn't have a singular spokesperson, they don't have big flashy press conferences that are followed by average consumers, and they aren't a big hype machine. It's not that Droid is an inferior phone, it is all in the presentation.
Apple presents their new devices to the world as if these devices are the very thing that the world has been longing for. Droid phones are presented as an alternative to the iPhone if you don't want to be on the at&t network.
Show us what Droid does without mentioning iPhone. Tell us about your developers and the apps you have in your store instead of talking about iPhone. Only then will Droid and iPhone be in the same league for the average consumer.
What do you think?
comments
The thing I’ve heard about a Droid problem is that programming is a free-for-all for app programmers. As such, unlike iPhone, there is no consistency on functionality. But my Droid-owner friends still like the phone. Personally, I’m sticking with my iPhone and will upgrade to the new one soon.
Jusr read that Eric Schmidt announced over 160k android device activations every day. iPhone stats anyone? http://gigaom.com/2010/06/23/android-daily-activations-top-160000-all-verizon-droids-will-get-froyo/
Apple currently holds a commanding market share over Droid. They sold almost 2 million iPhones in the first weekend. Comparing sales however, is kind of apples to oranges at this point because droid is on more networks.
The real comparison can be made once iPhone is available on multiple networks.
An honest view – both phones are functional and useful, the difference is the users.i Phone users i observe tend to be trend followers, and tend to be teenagers using it for killing time between their teenage phone calls. Droid users tend to be the people that are function over form type.they tend to be seen while using productive applications. More simply, one user shows off how their apps can distort pictures and what new game is out, the other shows off bar-code scanners and navigation tools.
Unfortunately, your experience is atypical of the actual user base of iPhone users. In reality only 5% of iPhone users are under 18 and only 13% are under 24. According to Neilsen 55% of Android users are under 35 while only 47% of iPhone users are under 35. So, it is more likely to see a young person with an Android phone than an iPhone.
Probably what you are seeing are teens using iPod Touch devices. 65% of those devices are used by people under the age of 18. And yes, they will be playing games on those devices while listening to music. (And since they look almost identical to the iPhone 3G and 3GS, they are easily confused.
According to some market research we conducted, most people under age 18 do not have an iPhone or an Android device due to the high cost. They are given their parents used blackberry and/or are given one of the less expensive smart phones for the purpose of texting and listening to music.
I did not expect my Android phone to be better than the iPhone in any capacity, but I was wrong. Here are a few things that stick out:
Android phones double as a mobile wifi router.
Android phone directory consumes/aggregates/links contact info from installed social network apps, in an easy 2-click process.
Android hardware benefits from free market economics (competition!) for both price and feature set.
Android photo/video management is brilliantly intelligent and fast.
The Android notification system is smart, always available no matter what app I am using, and has a one-click “clear all” button. If I am in a game and get a text, I get a discreet preview. If I’ve been away for 8 hours, I have an easily managed list of notifications to review and clear.
Just a few.
peace | dewde
Oh, and commenting is a pain here. comments are in reverse order? no paragraphs or line breaks? No option to remember my info? It almost feels like you hate me.
.
peace | dewde
Yeah, we know it is a pain…new website is being developed as I type. Hopefully will launch soon!
Let’s not forget that the iPhone is currently only available for AT&T customers. If you want to use another cellular provider you have to hack an iPhone. Therefore, the Android OS is the best alternative for non-AT&T customers.