Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave_S
After having worked as an electronic engineer in the cell phone industry since 1996, my evidence is my own knowledge and experience and discussions with colleagues working for some of the other manufacturers involved. I don't expect any Apple zealot to believe anything other than their own opinion, so I think it best to just state my piece and move on. FWIW, I base quality an performance more upon what is actually inside the phone case than on how pretty the phone case is.
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About the usual "zealot"/"hater" schism: Part of that could be dismissed if we compared the manufacturing costs and pricing of all major international smartphone companies -- Samsung, HTC, Nokia and Motorola come to mind. There has to be a comparison sheet somewhere.
Another thing to look at might be the rate of discount for phones. iPhones tend to sell at the same price for two years straight, whereas Samsung phones are discounted rapidly after as little as six months. I realize that people are dismissing carrier costs as part of the price. But under contract in the States, a 16GB Galaxy S3 with SD slot costs $119 (three days ago, $99) and a non-upgradable 16GB iPhone 5 costs $199. If the past is any indication, the iPhone is going to stay at its current price for at least the next two years.
Danny S:
Your empirical assessments of Apple and Samsung are to be acknowledged and technical experience respected. I and many others came to this site for technical information originally, but without an interest in the empirical, sites like this probably wouldn't exist.
However, your assessment doesn't invalidate those of the people you're calling zealots, and the danger of relying on credentials to validate a broad statement is the fallacy of argument by authority.
It's telling that I've owned three iPods in the past but never an iPhone; I've only ever owned phones by Samsung, HTC and Palm. I agree with you about Samsung subjectively but not objectively.*
You've said that Apple only strives for superior or cutting-edge tech when it comes to screens, but on a site devoted to reading -- one on which legions of us obsesses about screens every day -- that seems a relevant point of interest. It is also true that -- by default -- Apple is more concerned about sound quality than other companies have been. Far from true in the case of pure media players, but true in the case of smartphones so far.
It seems odd that a company which
doesn't manufacture its screens should produce devices with screens that have consistently bested the quality of the company that
does, but until everyone catches up (possibly in 2013), that advantage remains as important to many as the processor does to you.
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* I'm a rather annoyed that LTE necessitated Samsung's replacing the Tegra 3 in the Galaxy S3 with the Snapdragon S4. Sound is important to me and the Wolfson DAC in the S3 was one of the main reasons I intended to buy it. Unfortunately, the S4 is now ubiquitous in the States and might become so internationally given the rollout of LTE networks. There's a reason I'm still using a three-year-old Galaxy S; the iPhone 4's DAC sounds far better than that of the Galaxy S2 and Stateside S3. We'll see about the iPhone 5.