Do I want a Verizon iPhone? [Android]

January 11th, 2011

The real question is “Do I want an iPhone?“. That used to be an easy question to answer…I used to. However, now I’m an Android Verizon customer. The iPhone hardware advantages used to be hard to overlook. However, now in 2011, the iPhone’s advantages over other phones, if any, aren’t hardware ones. The main difference between phones now are their operating systems and carriers. Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, recently said the Android will “win” because it has “more features”. I’ll get to what he meant by “win”.


The popular comparison we know as MAC versus PC has morphed into Android versus iPhone (iOS). Some time ago Microsoft licensed Apple’s GUI and made their own, called Windows. Apple stole it from XEROX first but the point is that Microsoft took it and made it no longer proprietary…open, arguably better. This is slightly similar to what Google is doing with the Android OS. As far as hardware goes, just like PCs, there are plenty of Android phones with greater hardware specs than the iPhone’s. One example is Google’s Nexus One successor, the Samsung Nexus S. At CES last week we saw the 4G HTC Thunderbolt and a bunch of dual-core Android phones. There are plenty Android phones in existence with more being announced every week. A new Apple iOS device get’s released maybe twice a year at most.

The argument Android versus iPhone is very similar to MAC versus PC. I’m a PC person. One may argue that Apple has more apps or that it’s more stable/safe. I’ve rarely come across an iPhone app that I wanted that wasn’t on Android. I enjoy the freedom I have to plug my phone into my computer and drop MP3′s on it as one would a hard drive. Each OS has their pros and cons.

I’m not one to put value in numbers but according to Nielsen, over the past 6 months, Android phones have been selling more that iPhones. This is only significant in supporting the analogy because PC’s sell more than MAC’s.

In June of 2010, a poll was conducted with mobile developers and the most interesting thing I observed was that they prefer developing for iOS now but 54% percent of them think the Android has the best future out-look. This was in June before the Android got it’s biggest statistical rise.

In conclusion, I like my Android. Six months ago I wanted that Verizon iPhone. Six months is a long time in the technology world. Verizon versus AT&T is a tough argument. It depends on where you are, what you do, etc. Out of the 10 people in my family who own smart phones, none of them had Android ones last year. Now, 5 of them do. So when it comes to the MAC/PC vs Android/iOS, “like Windows…it can get greater market-share and still be crappy.” Steve Wozniak is right. My only response to that is that Windows is better for how I personally use a computer than a MAC is. The same way an Android phone is better for me than a iPhone is. That’s the bottom line.

Entry Filed under: Non Hip-Hop,Technology