The iPhone Topic

[CVByrne]

It's so bad that the lad who sits beside me isn't upgrading to iOS 6 until Google Maps is out. Another colleague is really loving the Galaxy Note. I miss that phone, it's ridiculous but brilliant. As he said its easy to find things with Google Maps on it.

Lunch today was fun.

Apple need to delay Google Maps release until this maps fiasco has calmed down. If they let Google be the saviour it'll leave a bitter taste in their mouths.

[MCU]

I won't go into it too much but here's a hypocritical fool for you; yesterday I cancelled my iPhone 5 pre-order and instead ordered a HTC One X. First Android phone after always being on iOS.. Just a sorry to all, in particular CVByrne for what I said. I know **** all and yes, how things change...

[CVByrne]

Well you'll be able to get from a to b better with the one x.

When you get your one x pop over to the Android thread and we'll answer all your questions. It doesn't take long to get used to Android

[VillaForever1970]

Android sounds just perfect.

[MCU]

Thanks, mate.

Being honest, I was on my 3GS for over 2 years and decided once the contract was up I would definitely be getting the iPhone 5. I thought it was going to be a huge upgrade to me with lots of extra's and you know what. I was looking forward to the keynote and yes I was disappointed but thought hey, I'm still upgrading to a better camera, retina display, siri and generally quicker phone. So I pre-ordered.

Then once I knew when iOS 6 was being released and available for the 3GS (and my iPad) I was looking forward to that. Wednesday comes around and I update. At first I was a bit overwhelmed but literally after a few minutes I put my phone down and carried on with what I was doing. Did the same with iPad.

I went into work yesterday and had a huge discussion with a couple of people, one who's had nearly every phone on the market (currently has a 4S so was more disappointed than I was) and the other who's always had Android. In the end me and the lad with the 4S both came in this morning and said we'd ordered new phones.

It did get me thinking though, and taking into consideration what you guys say on here, this is the big sum up for me; Why pay £529 for a phone that technically I already have when I could get arguably a better phone for £200 less? I'm getting a better, bigger screen, the same or better camera and just a generally a different experience which I'm far more excited about. Obviously I don't know too much regarding the software but hardware wise, I'm chuffed - and I haven't even received the phone yet. I can't wait. I've done my research and I'm happy with choosing the One X.

Oh, and something else I was really looking forward to was Siri. Can't believe I hyped myself up over it. Overrated and shit. I wouldn't use it. As I said, I had a few minutes play and put it back down.

Well, I'm slowly breaking out of these chains Apple had me in for a very long time...

[jim]

It did get me thinking though, and taking into consideration what you guys say on here, this is the big sum up for me; Why pay £529 for a phone that technically I already have when I could get arguably a better phone for £200 less? I'm getting a better, bigger screen, the same or better camera and just a generally a different experience which I'm far more excited about. Obviously I don't know too much regarding the software but hardware wise, I'm chuffed - and I haven't even received the phone yet. I can't wait. I've done my research and I'm happy with choosing the One X.

This.

The same reasoning behind my decision, I have a better specced phone for half the price.

[CVByrne]

I think going from a 3GS to a One X will blow your mind. Haha. The One X is a great phone, it has the best screen around and that includes the Iphone 5 according to reports.

I want apple to take a kicking, so they stop all their nonsense and arrogance and go back and make a game changing phone. They can do that they just won't.

[mykeyb]

Apple have some big decisions to make. The iPhone used to be the best phone you could get. The 4 was probably the best phone they made, trouble is they have stalled.

They have to change their user interface, it simply cannot stay as a screens full of icons, they are being left behind by Android and Windows.

The maps fiasco will see how much Apple values their users. Let Google get their maps app out to help the iPhone users while they sort out their own version and a lot of users might forgive and forget. Make them soldier on with the useless version in IOS6 and they will burn a lot of bridges.

[Dodgyknees]

Have had a few more friends turn down iphone 5 for android devices.

[The_Lions_Roar]

I won't go into it too much but here's a hypocritical fool for you; yesterday I cancelled my iPhone 5 pre-order and instead ordered a HTC One X. First Android phone after always being on iOS.. Just a sorry to all, in particular CVByrne for what I said. I know **** all and yes, how things change...

Wow, fair play to you.

[darrenm]

I hear about a lot of people going from a 3GS, 4 and 4S onto something like an S3, or a One X quite a lot.

So with all these people not going to the iPhone5, why are they selling so many?

[Dodgyknees]

Fair play to Warnock, I used to feel the same and would defend Iphone. But I was wrong to think they was nothing better, there is - and the contract is half the price too!

I updated my old Iphone (Now my GF's) and it wiped her numbers.. **** stupid.

And Maps is shit.

IOS6... erm

The best thing I saw from an Apple fan yesterday on Facebook was "I am not complaining, its a free update"

lol.

[Xela]

I'm still using an iPhone 3GS and its been a great servant. Over 3 years now and still going strong. I do feel the need to upgrade though... its a straight choice in my mind between Samsung Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5. Is there any other ones I should consider? Anything from HTC? How about Windows phones?

[The_Rev]

If I were upgrading tomorrow it would either be iPhone 5 or Galaxy Nexus. I'm not a fan of the S3 (or rather, I'm not a fan of Samsung's custom Android skin Touchwiz) so it's a total non starter for me. Problem is the Galaxy Nexus is almost a year old itself so it's not the best time to buy that either. So iPhone, you should see a serious bump in performance if you are coming off of a 3GS, and you should get plenty of use out of the 5, because I expect the iPhone 5S to be an entirely skippable version.

[limpid]

Comparison of ip5 vs S3

I'd be looking at the new Moto RAZRs too.

Rev, Touchwiz on the S3 is probably better for someone coming from the more primitive iOS UX.

[leviramsey]

How Apple's obsession with Google is hurting Apple

Every once in a while, a company becomes so obsessed with a competitor that it loses focus on its own customers. They start designing and positioning their products more to hurt rivals than thrill users.

And I fear that now it’s happening to Apple.

Again.

Everybody knows about Apple’s near-death experience in the 90s. But few appreciate why it happened.

From 1985 to 1997, Apple went in a series of bizarre product directions. Yes, Apple made some cool stuff back then. But they also made a lot of weird moves that would be inconceivable by the standards of today’s Apple.

One small example was that Apple introduced an insanely grating plethora of confusing PC brands, including the Centris, Quadra and Performa lines, which nobody could differentiate. But why?

They also launched half-heartedly into all kinds of unexpected consumer electronics directions. They sold digital cameras that were really made by Kodak and Fujifilm. They sold a CD player really made by Philips. Again, why?

And they spent enormous attention suing Microsoft for copying the Apple Lisa operating system user interface.

The reason is that they become obsessed with Microsoft, and were throwing all kinds of spaghetti against the wall to see what would stick. They became blind to the truth that great products bring more and better customers, and instead tried to beat Microsoft and the larger PC industry at its own game. They tried to litter the market with narrowly targeted product lines just like the clone companies did, even though most of the positioning was just a bullshit series of lies. The Centris, Quadra and Performa lines were more or less the same line, and the consumer electronics products had the Apple logo on them but weren’t Apple products.

Famously, war raged internally at Apple during these years between the “suits” and Steve Jobs’ “pirates.”

To oversimplify the overlooked reason for this war, the “suits” were obsessed by Microsoft and were more interested in out-maneuvering the WinTel world than designing awesome products and thrilling customers, while the “pirates” just wanted to make really cool toys.

The suits took over and stripped Jobs of his authority, so he quit.

I believe Jobs’ time at NeXT made him the kick-ass CEO he was when he returned as interim CEO in the summer of 97 because he had gained a number of key insights during his time away from Apple.

And what was the first thing Jobs did as CEO of Apple? He buried the hatchet with Microsoft, announcing a partnership that brought a pathetically small $150 million in Microbucks to Apple in exchange for non-voting stock and a commitment by Apple to make Microsoft Internet Explorer for Mac the default browser. The two companies also agreed to cross-license patents.

The details of the deal were irrelevant. The important thing was that Apple would stop obsessing about Microsoft and instead focus on thrilling customers with amazing products.

And Here We Go Again

Apple’s triumph over shipping what is currently and arguably the greatest phone ever was tarnished by mockery over its disastrously bad Maps app.

People are pointing and laughing at Apple with blogs like this and memes like that.

And people are right to mock Apple. The previous default Maps application on iOS was Google’s Maps app, and it was — and is — incredibly good.

Google Maps was since the beginning part of the seamless, powerful, ultra-functional, hyper-competent lineup of solid apps that made the iPhone experience so good.

And then Apple replaced it with a piece of crap.

I’m not going to sugar-coat this for anyone: Apple put crapware on their most important product on purpose in order to screw a rival at the expense of users.

But that’s not the only place Apple is doing this. The company has also gotten into bed with both Twitter and Facebook on social networking, and doesn’t offer any out-of-the-box integration with Google+.

Twitter integration makes sense for Apple. But Facebook integration does not, as I explained in June.

Meanwhile, Google+ is the Google Maps of social networks. Although Google+ may have as little as 10% of the active users of Facebook, it’s growing faster than Facebook ever did. And more importantly, Google+ has a vastly superior user experience to Facebook and has a much brighter longterm future, in my opinion.

But Facebook is the industry standard and has the biggest user numbers by far, you might argue. That’s why Apple favors it, right?

OK, if that’s the criteria, then why did Apple also remove Google’s YouTube app? YouTube is the clear standard with by far the most users, and it’s been one of the keystone iOS apps since the first iPhone shipped in 2007.

And Apple removed it in iOS 6.

(Yes, you’ll still be able to go find a new YouTube app and download it. But the “bundled” apps define the user experience for the majority of users.)

Google is out; Facebook is in.

We all know the reason why Apple is doing these things. They’re more focused now on hurting Google than thrilling users, just like they were with Microsoft in the 90s.

It sucks. And it’s a recipe for longterm failure.

They say that those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.

The history that Apple is repeating is its own history. It’s time to get smart, bury the hatchet, make peace with Google and start putting users first again.

[darrenm]

Wasn't sure the best place to post this, but as the topic has been iOS6 maps, I'll put it in here.

My Google+ post"]My own #iOS6Maps vs #Android maps comparison. Courtesy of the unfortunate +Colin Reader's iPhone and my Galaxy Nexus.

We attempted to get the same point of London on screen, with traffic switched on.

Few observations.

1. Those few red dotted lines on the iOS6 map are what passes for traffic information now. The red, yellow and green lines on the Android map are enhanced traffic information for almost every road and street.

2. Public transport etc. There are routes for boats on the Thames shown on the Android maps, as well as all the tube stations with real time running times.

3. The look and feel of iOS itself against Android. The iOS fonts are over-antialiased, the colours are overly simple and look dated compared to Android, where the dialogs are transparent, the dark theme with cyan, and the Roboto font look much more clean and modern.

[CVByrne]

I'm still using an iPhone 3GS and its been a great servant. Over 3 years now and still going strong. I do feel the need to upgrade though... its a straight choice in my mind between Samsung Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5. Is there any other ones I should consider? Anything from HTC? How about Windows phones?

Wait 4 weeks and buy the new Nexus phone. That's the only answer.

..Or get a big yellow nokia windows phone like me.

[The_Rev]

Wait 4 weeks and buy the new Nexus phone. That's the only answer.

Do you know something we dont?

[CVByrne]

Was watching the vergecast this morning and they're saying they're pretty sure there will be a new nexus phone next month.