5 reasons not to buy the iPhone 4

Col Man

Pittens, quite a hilarious person...

That is the Android lovers attitude, pick something unique to the Android ( wallpaper for chrissakes) and that becomes the defining point as to why the Android is better.

Not quite sure who exactly was implying that wallpaper was the defining point as to why Android is better... And if your problem is that people who are trying to say that the Android is better keep pointing out examples of where Android outperforms the iPhone, or has something that the iPhone lacks, then unfortunately you may soon realise that that's pretty much how one goes about logically arguing that one piece of technology is better than another...

I hate widgets on OS X ...(widgets) on a phone - must be batter consuming, a major worry for Apple.

Oh please glorious Apple, take widgets away from absolutely all of us because some of us hate them... As far as I'm aware, there are a few widgets creeping into the new software....

Google has a gatekeeper as well, however they dont use any resouces to run proper testing on the apps, they just wait until something is dangerous and then pull it. 25% of the ( generally useless) Androids applications are information thieves.

Thats actually a major reason for the normal person not to buy an Android phone.

of course pulling an app, including one you have paid for, is quite severe. Notice how little press that act got, although people woke up to find Big Brother Google not just not allowing the applicaiton in the store, but removing it remotely.

Thats great until some popular app gets pulled because it is straining the networks.

That literally will never happen, don't you worry.

Not quite so much Pittens, but other good comments:

Again the problem will be battery live(sic), if the file you are playing back isn't MPEG4, then it needs to be decoded in software by the CPU, rather then natively by the GPU hardware optimised for MPEG4, which is much more efficient.

You can do this also with a jailbroken iPhone using VLC.

Apple made the decision to only support MPEG4 video so that ordinary users won't complain if non MPEG4 killed their battery life. I think that is a wise decision for the majority of consumers, for us techies you can just jailbreak.

Oh please glorious Apple, please take away our ability to use other video formats in case we happen to drain the battery and then cry to you about it...

"flash is awful and will quickly kill your battery life. One of my favorite things about my iPad is the lack of Flash."

Once again glorious Apple, please decide for me, take away flash just in case I use it without thinking and ruin my beautiful battery juice....

Running trend here, Apple fans seem delighted by Apple's decision to restrict a lot of things on their products "for our benefit". I mean, the general public aren't ridiculously stupid, are they? Just stick in a note somewhere if you're so worried about it, "btw using flash will smash through your battery, if you want you can turn on a subtle notification system when you're about to use a flash application, or you can turn it completely off just like the way we used to have it" - leave it off by default, can't go wrong there.... Do basically the exact same thing with widgets, do the exact same thing with file formats, do the exact same thing with full multitasking. Leave them all on the current settings by default, and let the user go from there. It really wouldn't be that difficult to figure out. Apple-fans, please stop pointing out your utter delight at this company making decisions for you that you're perfectly capable of making.

[disclaimer - the "note" that I suggested of course is just something I came up with off the top of my head, I'm sure apple could do a better job than I]

However, while almost everyone could figure out a system like that, I really think that jailbreaking is not a realistic option for the overwhelming majority of users. Almost all are ruled out by the "technological difficulty" (i.e. anything along the lines of they couldn't be bothered figuring out how to do it/pure laziness/it's actually too complicated/don't even know how the term jailbreaking could possibly apply to anything resembling a mobile phone... or something along those lines), and then a lot more would think that it is too risky (regardless of how risky it actually is), messing with their phone in that way. So I feel that jailbreaking is not a realistic solution to most of the iPhone's problems that it appears to solve.


In my opinion, for all their complaining about apple haters, it's the apple fans who do a much worse job of arguing for their product in general (no, not all of you of course...). I am NOT saying that the iPhone sounds better, just that the Android side generally do a better job, including in this forum. I'm not sure why.

However, I will add that I'm probably going to get an iPhone 4. Happy days.

[also, even though I'm pointing out examples of dodgy iPhone fans' arguments, there are also of course plenty of examples of dodgy Android fans' arguments, just less in my opinion]

SolarNexus

There seems to be only one major theme throughout this whole Android vs. iOS thing:

Apple have, as is in keeping with their past, chosen to provide a solution which they believe to offer the best set of features and functionality for their target users. In other words, iOS is a system where there is one narrative, Apples. A curated platform. In practice this means a more stable environment for developers and users alike, but as we are all aware of, it is not without its disadvantages. Android is almost completely open.

Neither are a holy grail. Android suffers significantly, at least in my personal estimate, in user experience. Though they are rapidly improving in this area. Whereas Android will for the most part offer many features iPhone does not, often by choice by Apple, the iOS system on the whole is more well rounded, has a better user experience and to coin a cliche "just works".

We can go back and forth until the cows come home about which operating system is better than the other, but in reality its too complicated to be black or white. Apple's philosophy works for them and for the majority of its users, as is evident by the 77% returning customer statistic for iPhone4 amongst other things. If customers want something different, they can do as Steve Jobs said himself and vote with their wallet.

Use the right tool for the job, don't insist on pushing a square block into a round hole, just because it's philosophically more appealing to you to do so; or at least if you do, don't be so arrogant as to try to convince me to follow in toe.

It's a personal preference, you cannot convince people either way, they will always make their own choices based on what they like.

Edit:
for the record, this is coming from a person who runs Windows, Linux and OSX and owns Blackberry and iPhone devices (looking at getting a HTC Desire) and holds no loyalty to ANY OS or Device. I dont know about the rest of you, but I like choice, its diversity that makes things interesting, if everything was the same the world would be one hell of a boring place to be.

wayne040576

SolarNexus wrote: »

There seems to be only one major theme throughout this whole Android vs. iOS thing:

Apple have, as is in keeping with their past, chosen to provide a solution which they believe to offer the best set of features and functionality for their target users. In other words, iOS is a system where there is one narrative, Apples. A curated platform. In practice this means a more stable environment for developers and users alike, but as we are all aware of, it is not without its disadvantages. Android is almost completely open.

Neither are a holy grail. Android suffers significantly, at least in my personal estimate, in user experience. Though they are rapidly improving in this area. Whereas Android will for the most part offer many features iPhone does not, often by choice by Apple, the iOS system on the whole is more well rounded, has a better user experience and to coin a cliche "just works".

We can go back and forth until the cows come home about which operating system is better than the other, but in reality its too complicated to be black or white. Apple's philosophy works for them and for the majority of its users, as is evident by the 77% returning customer statistic for iPhone4 amongst other things. If customers want something different, they can do as Steve Jobs said himself and vote with their wallet.

Use the right tool for the job, don't insist on pushing a square block into a round hole, just because it's philosophically more appealing to you to do so; or at least if you do, don't be so arrogant as to try to convince me to follow in toe.

It's a personal preference, you cannot convince people either way, they will always make their own choices based on what they like.

Edit:
for the record, this is coming from a person who runs Windows, Linux and OSX and owns Blackberry and iPhone devices (looking at getting a HTC Desire) and holds no loyalty to ANY OS or Device. I dont know about the rest of you, but I like choice, its diversity that makes things interesting, if everything was the same the world would be one hell of a boring place to be.

Well said.
Hoping this thread doesn't become overrun with fanboy arguments as there have been a few informative posts. I actually decided to make the jump from the iphone to Android since because I have the ipad I think I can try something different in the phone department.

I was going to get the HTC desire but instead went for a Samsung Galaxy s as I think it has the best set of features for me.
I'll report back when I get it. I'm hoping Android offers the portable Linux solution I've been looking for since I started using it 8/9 years ago. Plus I'll be finally getting rid of Mobile Me which has been driving me mad since I got it.

Dades

I thought seriously about a HTC Desire until I realised it didn't have a front facing camera.

Always wanted one of those.

wayne040576

Dades wrote: »

I thought seriously about a HTC Desire until I realised it didn't have a front facing camera.

Always wanted one of those.

I've had them before. They aren't that great.
The samsung galaxy has one.

Dades

Yeah but I'd only want it for messing about (in daylight ), tbh.

Hogzy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcGfufinsYc

Or Linky if embedding doesnt work

Heliosvector

that video really makes the iphone sound crap. i kinda feel good though that the HTC EVO isnt available in europe and probably wont ever be (nowhere has 4g)
so i can rest easy that i got the best smartphone available to me

Zascar

In technology there are always nice vendors with possibly better products, but usually there is a lot to be said for going with the one that is kinda the defacto standard like the iphone, having such a large userbase and things like the appstore etc usually has massive benefits.

djgaillimh

Zascar wrote: »

In technology there are always nice vendors with possibly better products, but usually there is a lot to be said for going with the one that is kinda the defacto standard like the iphone, having such a large userbase and things like the appstore etc usually has massive benefits.

True, but 160,000 Android phones activated every day indicates that the standard may be shifting.

At that pace it won't be long before Android overtakes the iPhone userbase, regardless of the launch buzz that each new Apple phone generates.

Good news for the consumer anyway.

fayer

Dades wrote: »

I thought seriously about a HTC Desire until I realised it didn't have a front facing camera.

Always wanted one of those.

I bought one after being an iPhone user, in on adverts now Android is not as nice as iPhone OS, lots of buggs.

banquo

It's also worth mentioning how people identify with their phone and network. Nobody says ''I'm Nokia'', they say ''I'm Vodaphone/02/meteor/3''. Similarly, only Android fans say ''I've an android phone''. Most Android users don't identify with android in any way. It's just the OS that happens to be on their phone. Whereas iPhone users say ''I've an iPhone''.

Hogzy

banquo wrote: »

Similarly, only Android fans say ''I've an android phone''. Most Android users don't identify with android in any way. It's just the OS that happens to be on their phone. Whereas iPhone users say ''I've an iPhone''.

Well iOS cant be found on any other phone apart from the iphone. I think the reason people say they have an android phone is because Android is recognised more over say a HTC Hero/Desire etc etc. Im sure people with a Nexus One say iv a Nexus One over an android phone as Nexus One is familiar to some people.

slainte1

SolarNexus wrote: »

I dont know about the rest of you, but I like choice, its diversity that makes things interesting, if everything was the same the world would be one hell of a boring place to be.

Couldn't agree more. It is change, choice, diversity and challenge that drives innovation. We should all remember that three years ago the iphone didn't exist. Who is to say whether it will exist in another three years ?
Consumers benefit from competition. We are living in an era of constant innovation: how lucky we are.

suckler man

ar wor wrote: »

According to Yahoo finance there is a few shortcomings with new iPhone 4. I think that iPhone 4 is the best one in his category. Go Apple!!!

im 15 years old and was wondering should i get an iphone 4 for christmas as it is 389 euro

Bazsutto

suckler man wrote: »

im 15 years old and was wondering should i get an iphone 4 for christmas as it is 389 euro

Would you not concider getting a 4S second hand?
Better camera, faster processor, Siri and twice the Storage as 4 has only 8GB. Will get it cheeper than 389 also

Darksaga87

Iphone 4 doesnt just come in 8gb.

Jimdagym

Darksaga87 wrote: »

Iphone 4 doesnt just come in 8gb.

That a fact?

http://store.apple.com/ie/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone4

Darksaga87

My iphone 4 is 16gb. O.o

Bazsutto

Darksaga87 wrote: »

My iphone 4 is 16gb. O.o

I have a 32GB one but I bought it 2 years ago. Can only get 8GB now buying it new.

Media999

suckler man wrote: »

im 15 years old and was wondering should i get an iphone 4 for christmas as it is 389 euro

Nexus 4.

manu2009

suckler man wrote: »

im 15 years old and was wondering should i get an iphone 4 for christmas as it is 389 euro

I definetly wouldn't recommend getting one now, it's over 2 years old and 389e is way over priced for what you'd get.

Like the above post i'd recommend getting the Nexus 4 when its back in stock, 299e for 8gb version or 349e for the 16gb, specs are miles ahead of the Iphone 4 and its cheaper.

If you really want an Iphone get a second hand one on Adverts.ie for around 250e or a 4s for around 350e.

Media999

Even 250 is a bloody ripoff. Ive a nokia 5110 here if its old junk your after. 200s a fair price.

vinnycoyne

Media999 banned from forum for repeatedly trolling and ignoring mod warnings.