About Filmore's comment:
All this a just about phones. It seems a bit more animated than is warranted.
However, folks do customize their phones and we customize and personalize, which explains a lot.
For Apple folks, that means customizing the covers, and for Android users it means customizing. . . well, every part of the user experience.
Some points on the other comments:
1. "These are things that are SUPPOSED to work from the getgo." is a good principle that no phone manufacturer can deliver on, including Apple. iPhone maps, early wifi glitches, screen blotches/colors that will "cure"/dry away and all those other little gremlins that plague(d) iPhones were fixed after the fact; much like Samsung fixed the lag.
2. "The 2 year old iPhone 4s camera is STILL better than the 13 megapixel S4 camera as far as quality of photos," is not credible.
Aside from the specifications, I'll add an anecdotal example. For the past year when we would go out together, my wife and I were inclined to use her iPhone5 for pictures (at the beach, park, visiting the grandkids, etc.). The images were noticeably better than my Galaxy S2. However, after I updated to the S4, even my wife started pushing me to take the photos --just because the results from my camera on the S4 were visibly better, both on the screen and on the computer later on. That's just the reality now. Can't say 5s, since we have not seen it, but 4s "better" than s4? That is stretching it.
3. As to the rest, well one person's gimmicks are another's features. I like Buffalo Wings, and air gestures seems to work really well when doing a photo review together with another person -let them hold the screen and just wave by. (It seems less intrusive!) The eye-follow to keep the screen awake is nice, the rest is take-it-or-leave-it and I think I have all that turned off for the moment. Also the concept of meeting or enhancing corporate security with a fingerprint scanner is puzzling since the phone's security still only is as strong as the backup security options, which appear to be legacy. I have never been comfortable with "only" a four-digit backup password --on any phone. At least provide an option for eight characters.
4. In the past I had the old 3GS and iP4 (when they were new ;-). Had them both stock and Jailbroken. So, I can't disagree more about the comment on rooting (or jailbreaking). It is not ridiculous for either OS. For older phones, including on the Apple ecosystem, which (btw) does not apply all OS features to all (older) phone models, rooting/JB keeps the phone current and makes it more functional. Kind of silly to sneer at that option.
5. And on customization, well I really enjoyed customizing the screen and apps on my old iPhone, (I still recall Cydia & and all that ;-). It was actually easier than the rooting I have done on Android phones!. However, now, while using Android phones, I have the most consistent experience possible -using any Android phone! I switched from one HTC to another HTC and then to a Motorola and to a Samsung and now a new Samsung, throughout all that I was able to preserve the UI exactly to what *I* like by using the same launcher (backup config and restore), and ensuring I had the apps I like and the phone rooted to allow my customizations. Perhaps, that is a bit boring, but the phone is essentially "done" and set up exactly the way *I* want my phone to look and it allows me to use it how I want it. I am not compromising for some Apple "unified user experience." Who wants that anyway? My Mac and my old iPhones were never really unified, the iPad (gave way in my usage for a KFFT, rooted, customized Amazon rom and smaller and more useful for me!) did not quite look like the old iPhone interface, so what is unified?
I am less concerned about the abstract notion of failure of some "principle," than I am about how the device I purchase delivers what I want and how I want it. So far, Android does that better (oh... that 5" screen I have is really nice on my eyes -maybe that means I am too old ;-)
All this a just about phones. It seems a bit more animated than is warranted.
However, folks do customize their phones and we customize and personalize, which explains a lot.
For Apple folks, that means customizing the covers, and for Android users it means customizing. . . well, every part of the user experience.
Some points on the other comments:
1. "These are things that are SUPPOSED to work from the getgo." is a good principle that no phone manufacturer can deliver on, including Apple. iPhone maps, early wifi glitches, screen blotches/colors that will "cure"/dry away and all those other little gremlins that plague(d) iPhones were fixed after the fact; much like Samsung fixed the lag.
2. "The 2 year old iPhone 4s camera is STILL better than the 13 megapixel S4 camera as far as quality of photos," is not credible.
Aside from the specifications, I'll add an anecdotal example. For the past year when we would go out together, my wife and I were inclined to use her iPhone5 for pictures (at the beach, park, visiting the grandkids, etc.). The images were noticeably better than my Galaxy S2. However, after I updated to the S4, even my wife started pushing me to take the photos --just because the results from my camera on the S4 were visibly better, both on the screen and on the computer later on. That's just the reality now. Can't say 5s, since we have not seen it, but 4s "better" than s4? That is stretching it.
3. As to the rest, well one person's gimmicks are another's features. I like Buffalo Wings, and air gestures seems to work really well when doing a photo review together with another person -let them hold the screen and just wave by. (It seems less intrusive!) The eye-follow to keep the screen awake is nice, the rest is take-it-or-leave-it and I think I have all that turned off for the moment. Also the concept of meeting or enhancing corporate security with a fingerprint scanner is puzzling since the phone's security still only is as strong as the backup security options, which appear to be legacy. I have never been comfortable with "only" a four-digit backup password --on any phone. At least provide an option for eight characters.
4. In the past I had the old 3GS and iP4 (when they were new ;-). Had them both stock and Jailbroken. So, I can't disagree more about the comment on rooting (or jailbreaking). It is not ridiculous for either OS. For older phones, including on the Apple ecosystem, which (btw) does not apply all OS features to all (older) phone models, rooting/JB keeps the phone current and makes it more functional. Kind of silly to sneer at that option.
5. And on customization, well I really enjoyed customizing the screen and apps on my old iPhone, (I still recall Cydia & and all that ;-). It was actually easier than the rooting I have done on Android phones!. However, now, while using Android phones, I have the most consistent experience possible -using any Android phone! I switched from one HTC to another HTC and then to a Motorola and to a Samsung and now a new Samsung, throughout all that I was able to preserve the UI exactly to what *I* like by using the same launcher (backup config and restore), and ensuring I had the apps I like and the phone rooted to allow my customizations. Perhaps, that is a bit boring, but the phone is essentially "done" and set up exactly the way *I* want my phone to look and it allows me to use it how I want it. I am not compromising for some Apple "unified user experience." Who wants that anyway? My Mac and my old iPhones were never really unified, the iPad (gave way in my usage for a KFFT, rooted, customized Amazon rom and smaller and more useful for me!) did not quite look like the old iPhone interface, so what is unified?
I am less concerned about the abstract notion of failure of some "principle," than I am about how the device I purchase delivers what I want and how I want it. So far, Android does that better (oh... that 5" screen I have is really nice on my eyes -maybe that means I am too old ;-)
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