Why did you pick the ecosystem you did?

[pizza_pablo]

I picked Android.
The first time I heard of someone plugging their iPod into a different computer, resulting in it being wiped, I decided no iAnything for me.
Plus, I like rooting and customizing.

 

[lparsons21]

My primary ecosystem is Apple and has been for a number of years. Most of my family and friends are on iOS so iMessage and FaceTime make sense in lots of ways. I also do calls and text from my Macs, iPhone and iPads, that is very handy.

But I’ve also got some Android here as well as a pixel book. The phone is a Moto Z3, an ASUS Z3, FireHD 8 and a Nexus 9(?), all get some use.

 

[mustang7757]

I use both Android/Apple , I like Android for customization and features but I also like iPhones for the design and how good they work .

 

[lcs101]

Was an iPhone guy until I figured I'd try out S7 a couple years ago. There are certainly things I miss about iPhone, but I'm not sure I could go back anytime soon. I'd miss out on the customization too much (including actual widgets).

 

[EMGSM]

I fee like I could do more with Android. Apple was just a little to locked down IMO.

 

[anon(5719825)]

Ok, this will be a long post so grab a drink and settle in.

Apple.

Today I bough the iPhone XS Max and although it's the most expensive phone I've ever purchased, I have no problem doing that because of everything I get with it.
First, there's the camera and shooting videos. I make a lot of videos on YouTube (urban exploring) and in doing these, I often use my Apple AirPods. Since these use bluetooth, I can use them to record the audio, set my phone down on a mount or tripod and walk away thirty feet and still be able to record excellent audio. I'm sure I could do that on my Note 9 but I haven't gotten it to work yet with BT buds, only with a wired mic.

I also feel that Apple makes the best smart watch out of any other manufacturer. I own two Apple watches mostly do I can not worry about battery life. When one needs charging, I out it on the charger and out on the other. Everything that the previous watch was tracking syncs over to the watch I just now put on and I carry on with the day.It's just seamless. Plus, as I mentioned in another thread, the LTE service can easily be swapped between watches within seconds using the watch app on the phone. I can also use my AirPods to play music stored on the watch or through Apple music while on LTE even when my phone is at home. I use my watch every day even if I only bring my Note 9 with me because I still get notifications and texts and anything else the phone gets while it is not with me.

I can also use the watch to control the music playing through bluetooth on my cars stereo if I want to do that and I can even control what's playing on my Apple TV.

I also listen to a lot of podcasts because of my job and the Apple Podcasts app just does an excellent job of downloading new episodes as they come in and with cloud syncing, when I stop listening to a podcast on my XS Max and take my 8+ with me the next day, the podcast app on the 8+ knows where I left off and continues playing. My AirPods also instantly work with whatever iPhone I decide to bring with me that day. And of course, there's the AirPods case that charges the AirPods while they are not being used.

Android Or should I say, Samsung

I have only owned one non Samsung phone and that was the Nexus 4, the phone that brought me to this forum back in the day. Since then I've been a Samsung fan and have owned the Note 4, Note Edge, Note 5, Note 8, Note 9, S7 Edge, S8+ and the S9+. I still have all but the S8+.

I like these phones because not only can I customize them with themes, but I can also use SD cards and swap them at any time between phones and have cards filled with different media and the storage possibilities are endless.

The apps between Android and Apple really aren't that different in todays world as they were 3-4 years ago. Back then, I was also a huge iPad user and the iPad versions of the apps were so much better then the same app versions for the Nexus 7. Now the apps for the Android phones and iPhones are almost identical with minor differences in some cases.

Security will always be tighter on the iPhone side but even then as we've seen, apps have gotten through that had intentions of stealing location data while hiding that fact and it's happened on many occasions over the years. even Google got caught doing some things they shouldn't have been doing a few times on the iPhone side.

There are far more other things I can do on my Samsung phones such as moving pictures around to folders and storing them on the SD card. I can also connect my phone to my Windows computer and drag and drop files to the SD card or phone storage just by connecting a cord. On the iPhone, you gotta use iTunes or download from the cloud or Apple.

I wasn't sure that I still saw a future with iPhones beginning with the X last year. I didn't like the notch and no home button so today (Monday) I kind of forced myself to move past that and got the XS Max. It's got a huge learning curve in the way you do things over what you did with the 8+ and previous phones but I'll get there.

I'll still continue buying the next Note and S series phones every year and I'll see what happens with Apple next year. I enjoy owning several new phones each year.

Thanks for reading. My next book will be entitled "it Was All a dream" and will be available nowhere. Bye.

 

[burwil]

Ecosystems don't matter to me. I flip back and forth between Android and iOS seamlessly. Practically all the Google apps work on iOS so I don't see the big deal.

 

[marcb11]

I was deep into Apple, iPhones, ipada, apple TV, Mac computers, Apple WiFi routers, across me and my family. Heck I even had an Apple rechargable battery charger.

But then Apple started playing games with features and pricing, started with the iPhone 4s when features in it would not work with the iPhone 4 for no other reason than Apple wanted you to upgrade.

Then they iPad 3 was refreshed just a few months after release with a better processor and lightening port instead if the normal annual release.

Then they added features to iOS for newer iPads, like gestures that we're proven to work on older devices.

Then around 2012 they started dropping features from osx on older devices that were proven to work on them.

All just to push people to upgrade.

Of course pricing got out of control too, with Apple skimping on including items on the box like head phones, dongles, fast chargers, etc.

As Apple became greedy I was disenchanted and moved to Android and Chrome OS in 2013 for my needs and with the exception of just one program (which I bought a Windows laptop to run) I haven't looked back.

It's as easy as looking at the iPhone XS price vs features or the years old design and tech in the MacBook air or Mac Mini that Apple has continued to sell at a price can technology that is laughable. Seemingly they will get updated tomorrow after many years of aging but I'll bet the pricing will follow suit. With Apple there is no free lunch.

I also appreciated the choice on hardware and flexibility of the OS Android and Chrome offer me.

Neither iOS, Chrome OS nor Android are perfect, all have strengths and weaknesses but I just couldn't justify being taken advantage of by Apple as they bankroll billions upon billions of profit without doing right by the customer one bit.

 

[EMGSM]

I was deep into Apple, iPhones, ipada, apple TV, Mac computers, Apple WiFi routers, across me and my family. Heck I even had an Apple rechargable battery charger.

But then Apple started playing games with features and pricing, started with the iPhone 4s when features in it would not work with the iPhone 4 for no other reason than Apple wanted you to upgrade.

Then they iPad 3 was refreshed just a few months after release with a better processor and lightening port instead if the normal annual release.

Then they added features to iOS for newer iPads, like gestures that we're proven to work on older devices.

Then around 2012 they started dropping features from osx on older devices that were proven to work on them.

All just to push people to upgrade.

Of course pricing got out of control too, with Apple skimping on including items on the box like head phones, dongles, fast chargers, etc.

As Apple became greedy I was disenchanted and moved to Android and Chrome OS in 2013 for my needs and with the exception of just one program (which I bought a Windows laptop to run) I haven't looked back.

It's as easy as looking at the iPhone XS price vs features or the years old design and tech in the MacBook air or Mac Mini that Apple has continued to sell at a price can technology that is laughable. Seemingly they will get updated tomorrow after many years of aging but I'll bet the pricing will follow suit. With Apple there is no free lunch.

I also appreciated the choice on hardware and flexibility of the OS Android and Chrome offer me.

Neither iOS, Chrome OS nor Android are perfect, all have strengths and weaknesses but I just couldn't justify being taken advantage of by Apple as they bankroll billions upon billions of profit without doing right by the customer one bit.

Apple does play a lot of games and so many people are hooked on Apple that they don't see it. They were charging this guy $1200 for repairs that could have been fixed for free up to $150. Here is the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY7x9dSU95c

Not saying others don't play games but c'mon Apple $1200?

 

[burwil]

I read here and there that Apple is greedy/ripping off/overcharging people. Unfortunately too many have an emotional connection with a company who does not love them back. They love their shareholders instead. If you think they are being unfair, take your business elsewhere. I got the Max just because. I know their gross net is somewhere around 60% but I just wanted the phone and was willing to pay the price. And help them maintain their opulent spaceship building main office in Cupertino. But next year it may be Samsung or Google or OnePlus. If you get roped into an ecosystem then be prepared to pay.

 

[donm527]

What do you mean next year? While the iPhone X cost $389 in components to make, the Note 8 cost $369 to make and sold close to the same price to the X ($950-960 to X's $999) so Samsung is no better IMO in the greed department while I think they really lack in the support/update area that Apple gives to their phones during that time which I feel is a value-add.

The difference to me that would make me think which is worth the high premium... Which phone do I have more faith in to be running better in two or three and maybe even longer in years in terms of hardware holding up, phone performance and software to be current and not feel dated... for me that's iOS and I feel that's why more people are will to pay the premium.

Like mentioned before, I've got a 6s that's gonna get iOS 12.1 today as well as my iPad Air 2. You can see those showing their age of course against current phones being a tick or two slower but honestly not enough to justify ugrading and was thinking today I wouldn't mind if my iPad did crap out to give me an excuse to get the new Pro lol. I'm going to probably get my daughter a X this X'mas cause she's had her 6S from day one but she doesn't even give a hint or notice it being over 2 years old but she'll be a senior in HS next year and I know that phone will serve her well another 3-4 years when she goes off to college on her own.

I love my Note and is my favorite phone to date, but I don't have that kind of confidence in the hardware or software or Samsung to stay commited to their ecosystem to be as solid that far out to recommend that far out.

Edit: To add... if Android versus Android phone, I'll recommend Samsung over most others. But there are a lot of good phones that are catching up like OnePlus and Huawei.

But next year it may be Samsung or Google or OnePlus. If you get roped into an ecosystem then be prepared to pay.

 

[stuckingoo]

The X is not comparable to the Note 9. The Max is. The Max comes in at 64 or 256 gig. No one wants the 64. So the cheapest realistic price is $1,250. I really don’t need more than 128. The Note 9 128 is $1k even. So the Max is 25% more. Substantial. You don’t see Note users complain about the price anywhere near iPhoners in the MacRumors forum. They are quite bitter.

 

[donm527]

My use of numbers was just to show that with cost to build and sell price, Samsung’s gross net is on the Note is also close to the 60% mentioned for X and I used the 8 because it’s something I already knew having an 8. I could probably use the numbers for the 9 and + and probably be as close. The point is Samsung is not that different from Apple in the greed department and don’t have to wait a year to see it.

The X is not comparable to the Note 9. The Max is. The Max comes in at 64 or 256 gig. No one wants the 64. So the cheapest realistic price is $1,250. I really don’t need more than 128. The Note 9 128 is $1k even. So the Max is 25% more. Substantial. You don’t see Note users complain about the price anywhere near iPhoners in the MacRumors forum. They are quite bitter.

 

[chanchan05]

My use of numbers was just to show that with cost to build and sell price, Samsung’s gross net is on the Note is also close to the 60% mentioned for X and I used the 8 because it’s something I already knew having an 8. I could probably use the numbers for the 9 and + and probably be as close. The point is Samsung is not that different from Apple in the greed department and don’t have to wait a year to see it.

The use of component in establishing greed is inherently flawed and cannot be used because it takes more than just component costs. You also have labor and marketing, plus the fact that some of that money goes to the salaries of the people developing the software updates for the phones in the next two years. So anyone who thinks that the $700 above the component costs goes in straight as income is sorely mistaken.

Although the fact that an iPhone costs nearly as much to make but costs $250 more, assuming salaries and labor costs are the same, is a better way of pointing out 'greed'.

 

[cckgz4]

If I had my choice, I would still be using a Windows Phone

Windows Phone had the cleanest, sleekest, and better integrated interface at the moment compared to the rest. The toast notifications, facebook baked into the OS, the live tiles, it was all done SO well. And while it brought the consistency iOS had, it had the variety in hardware that Android had. I was definitely a die hard of that ecosystem. But Google beat them to the punch in a lot of areas (Apple too) and weren't going to share their products with them and wanted to keep them in dead last place.