Given the massive success of the iPhone despite a number of problems (Wi-Fi, maps), tech pundits have been writing stories this week about the death of Android and suggesting it become more like iOS. This is ironic, considering Apple still maintains that Android was essentially a stolen product.
Microsoft isn’t even in the discussion, because the few of us who have Windows phones are just thankful that we aren’t in lines, that we have more hardware choices than the iPhone buyers have, and have fewer malware problems than the Google folks have. Because everyone else is on the other two platforms, in our minds, we Microsoft users are the new elite geeks. In everyone else’s heads, we’re just geeks.
However, underneath all of the buying activity is an unfortunate trend: Consumers are thinking about what they need and want less and less. Did those in line waiting for the iPhone first sit down and think through what they liked and didn’t like about their existing phones? Did they consider what features were worth their money? Did they eventually come to a well-thought-through conclusion, or did they just go rabid when the words “new iPhone” came from Apple?
Despite the massive amounts of information on the Web that should help us make better decisions, we increasingly focus on stuff that agrees with a decision we’ve already made. That is foolish, and it even could be dangerous.
Ultrabook example
Because passion surrounds anything Apple, and I don’t want to get buried in hate mail for suggesting another phone might be better for you, let me use a different platform as an example. I was recently asked, if I to buy an Ultrabook today, which I would choose.
Currently I’m using a Samsung Slate running Windows 8, so the thought of returning to a laptop configuration forced me to sit down and think through the decision. The number one priority for me is battery life. I’m always forgetting where I’ve left my laptop and forgetting to keep it charged. But as I thought some more, I realized battery life really wasn’t what I needed. What I need is the ability to fast-charge the device, because I generally have 30 minutes to an hour to get ready. But even a 20-hour battery will be dead if it has been sitting for a few weeks. (Unless you completely turn off a laptop, it will slowly drain its battery in suspend.)
So I decided what I really wanted was a fast-charging battery with decent life. This led me to the Lenovo Carbon X-1, which also has the best keyboard, one of the best touchpads, and a decent set of ports. The Carbon X-1 is also is sturdy (semi-hardened). But I would have traded all of these things (well, maybe not all) for that eight-hour battery that can charge to 80 percent in 35 minutes. The sexiest notebook does me no good if the battery is dead. Most of the events I attend have many analysts, and typically only three or four plugs, most of which the A\V guys use. So I regularly need a good battery.
Despite not being the most popular Ultrabook, the ThinkPad Carbon X-1 is a perfect fit to my particular needs and situation.
Why I ‘ve avoided the iPhone 5
The feature most important to me on a smartphone is a keyboard, because I’m often writing long answers to long questions. Usually I’m carrying something in one hand, which means I need a single-handed phone experience. Yes, I can and have lived off a screen phone, but I’m far slower typing on it single handedly. I prefer a portrait keyboard. That’s why I keep returning to my old, obsolete, 3G Dell smartphone. I have no doubt that eventually I’ll have to give it up, but I’m not going to do it easily. I can get around the 3G to 4G thing with a Verizon 4G hotspot (which works just fine with my tablets and notebook computer).
If I need a bigger screen, my 7-inch Kindle Fire HD is far better than even the biggest super smartphones, and all my data flows fast through that Verizon hotspot. When I travel, the hotspot stays home, forcing me onto Wi-Fi and keeping my data charges from nosebleed range. (If you want an impressive cell phone bill – as in four digits – let your kid use his or her iPhone on roaming while on vacation.)
The iPhone 5 lacks my needed keyboard, its Wi-Fi is having problems, and its navigation is totally broken. Until those last two things are fixed, I’d be very unhappy with the iPhone 5. (I actually use phone navigation a lot.)
Based on the things I do with a phone, the Windows platform is the best one for me. Maybe I’m unique, but I’m OK with that – I’ve never liked looking like everyone else.
Pick what you want
The point of this piece isn’t to slam the iPhone 5, but to point out a practice that likely causes too many folks to buy a phone that doesn’t meet their needs. People who need and use phone navigation and Wi-Fi should buy a different phone, or at least wait until Apple fixes the iPhone issues. (The Wi-Fi issue may be fixed by the time you read this; the mapping issue likely will take far longer.)
A smartphone will cost you around $1,000 a year. Everyone should think through what they need before spending that kind of money. You may discover that your existing phone — or a phone other than the one folks are lining up for — better fits your needs. Because you have to live with a phone for about two years, taking time to make a good decision makes sense. And if more of us planned before we purchased, we’d likely find more phones tailored to our unique needs, and be less likely to stand in line for hours to get a phone that almost everyone else has.
Guest contributor Rob Enderle is the founder and principal analyst for the Enderle Group, and one of the most frequently quoted tech pundits in the world. Opinion pieces denote the opinions of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of Digital Trends.
Great article and very true. I do think the tech companies trap you into their ecosystem somewhat as well though. I do own an iPhone but love some of the features on the S3 and probably one of few Apple lovers that appreciate that Android phones are really pushing boundaries and offering some great features. I looked at my smartphone set up and what i wanted and needed and found myself heavily invested in iTunes, Apple TV and the rest of the Apple infrastructure and even though the S3 MIGHT have just edged it purely from a smartphone perspective due to the issue with Maps and WiFi i decided to go with the iPhone 5 because trying to make an Android phone compatible with all the tech, cloud technology, music & set up i already have just proved too much of a pain in the a$$. So sometimes you do need to look at what you want not just from a smartphone perspective but from a “what do i want from my tech in general” perspective and make a decision based on everything as a whole.
A very good article. Not limited by the emotions that make a functional choice so fuzzy. I have owned Nokia’s, old HTC windows phones, android phones & an iPhone 4s. The latter has now been replaced by a Nokia lumia 820 after 8 weeks. The iPhone was a choice made for me by my company as it was the current company standard. I would not have gone anywhere near it if I had the opportunity to research it myself. Moreover, my company will be changing all 120 iphones as upgrades come about.
The reality now is most of the information we get is from the internet, Apple, to their credit (and profit) have got the internet reviews well covered with positive iphone propaganda. “The iphone 5 is the greatest Iphone in the ever”. This statement will hit well in the search engines. When making such a significant purchase for business one needs to go to a shop and have a tactical play with all the software and hardware. Research needs to be done using to sets of hardware from each software platform you are testing i.e. 2 from windows 2 from android etc. Unfortunately, Apple only has one hardware option. To mind the iphone 4s & 5 are the same hardware.
Why return the iPhone after 8 weeks? Simply because it did not have sufficient hardware to work with all the Bluetooth devices I have effectively, making my day a telephone tennis match. The Bluetooth antenna is insufficient and or to use Apple’s word “simpler than other phones”. It turns out Apple think crap means simpler.
Apple’s customer support’s response was to deny everything and blame the manufacturer of my car even though I had not yet told them who that was. Nonetheless, we updated the car’s software which Peugeot did for free in the hope it would sort the problems out. It did not. Again Apple denied the problem was with the iphone and said that an update on the Iphone will sort things out. On the contrary it made things worse. The iPhone now decided that when it got an email it would not want to connect to the car at all. Moreover, it decided that my wireless network was out of range when it was less than 6 inches away. This is progress according to Apple. Again Apple denied there was anything wrong with phone and said that I needed a new router even though every other wireless device in our house was connected fine. Ironically I was talking to Apple using Skype which was done over my wireless network.
I sheep whilst being unnecessarily derogatory is a fair description of an ill-informed mass of people who when observed objectively make a decision that is not based on logic.
A smartphone should really only chosen based upon performance and how it works on a day to day basis not how it looks and is perceived. I saw a man in a new BMW X5 today who had to stop and take a phone call because his car presumably did not connect to his phone guess what phone he had yep an Iphone 5. Moreover, a product should not begin its development after launch and millions have been sold. This is what Apple does consistently. The antenna fiasco is a good example of this. I do not understand why so many people have bought into the hype and propaganda but then that is the nature of propaganda I guess why else would people cue up overnight outside a retail store for a phone that is flawed and more expensive than what they already have which is just as flawed. Wait that’s lunacy. A friend of mine is a lecturer for supply chain management and he looks at people who have Iphones as lemmings who only accept buyer’s remorse after it is too late. Not a good trait for a potential supply chain manager.
Choose what you want but remember buyer’s remorse is always followed by denial when the price that has been paid is so high.
Good article.
Nope. Already have a Sumsung Exhibit II 4G and it’s doing fine.
love NOKIA, always have and always will.
WARNING! Carry on reading! Or you will die, even if you only looked at the word warning! Once there was a little girl called mary, she was ten-years-old and she lived in a mental hospital, because she killed her mom and her dad. She got… so bad she went to kill all the staff in the hospital so the More-government decided that best idea was to get rid of her so they set up a special room to kill her, as humane as possible but it went wrong the machine they were using went wrong. And she sat there in agony for hours until she died. Now every week on the day of her death she returns to the person that reads this letter, on a monday night at 12:00a.m. She creeps into your room and kills you slowly, by cutting you and watching you bleed to death. Now send this to ten other pictures on this one site, and she will haunt someone else who doesn’t. This isn’t fake. apparently, if u copy and paste this to ten comments in the next ten minutes u will have the best day of ur life tomorrow. U will either get kissed or asked out, if u break this chain u will see a little dead girl in your room tonight. In 53 mins someone will say i love you or I’m sorry
The important thing is atleast Google has IMMENSE varieties of Mobile phone for VAST array of People who doesn’t follow trends and has own thinking capabilities..
iPhone is little self- centered, That’s why there is the ” i ” First.
Although iPhone’s design is exquisite and top notch but all of them looks the same and they only add little corners and stretched them a bit for newer models. I’d go for Nokia Lumia than the ” i ” one.
That can only demonstrate the power of precise marketing. Nothing to do with phone functions, but more on how can this product blend into our daily lives. Nokia once did quite the same with Vertu, if anyone recalled?
That can only demonstrate the power of precise marketing. Nothing to do with phone functions, but more on how can this product blend into our daily lives. Nokia once did quite the same with Vertu, if anyone recalled?
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I love the iPhone’s and ios But I still want a windows phone (specifically the lumia 920) Because how much better it looks compared to iPhone’s. I hate how samsung is trying to always 1UP the iPhone, Samsung is just a cheap Knockoff.
The iPhone is compatible with my iMac, MBP, Apple TV and iPad – all great products – and I want a faster phone than my 3G.
Crazy how inanimate objects cause such emotional responses!
I buy all flavours of smart phone (And other kit) as they come out and I have to say that I find the iPhone is (still) best for all round user experience. I can hear screams. But it just is, if you remove the emotion wrapped up in it all I reckon *most would probably agree.
Windows Mb is not far behind, and bar the SIII (Which is pretty impressive) Android comes 3rd in my book.
Obviously it’s personal choice, obviously we’re not all going to agree! BUT if we stopped digging our heels in for one bleeding minute!, opened our minds and then got our hands dirty with the amazing array of kit we now have available, we would probably make better decisions. Based in the head, not just from the heart.