Android is now the most popular...

[devilsadvocate]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Phones are fashion accessories. Users buy the one that has the features they want with a sufficient coolness factor to impress their friends. They may or may not be aware of what OS is under the hood. Folks who buy iPhones, for example, and buying the Apple brand, not iOS.

I have to disagree on that as a blanket statement. iPhone users may use their phones as fashion accessories first and communications devices second (I've seen this more times than I can count), but I haven't seen that trend with Android phones. Thus far, that crowd has been made up of:

1. Early adopters,
2. employees of forward-thinking companies (and of course Motorola & Google; presumably others such as HTC)
3. technologically savvy and/or geeks.

Where I work, I'm one of 2 Droid X owners. The other guy shows his off every chance he gets; I use mine in all the ways it's designed to be used, but I'm not in any hurry to go flashing it around. Let 'em get their own. The lone remaining iPhone owner knows he's outgunned and doesn't say anything to me.

[Gwen Morse]

Originally Posted by devilsadvocate

I have to disagree on that as a blanket statement. iPhone users may use their phones as fashion accessories first and communications devices second (I've seen this more times than I can count), but I haven't seen that trend with Android phones. Thus far, that crowd has been made up of:

1. Early adopters,
2. employees of forward-thinking companies (and of course Motorola & Google; presumably others such as HTC)
3. technologically savvy and/or geeks.

Where I work, I'm one of 2 Droid X owners. The other guy shows his off every chance he gets; I use mine in all the ways it's designed to be used, but I'm not in any hurry to go flashing it around. Let 'em get their own. The lone remaining iPhone owner knows he's outgunned and doesn't say anything to me.

I've had a somewhat different experience. I work in a NOC for a cable company, which means I'm firmly in the "IT/internal support" job demographic. I'm one of 12 people in my position.

Two have iphones. One has a basic "dumbphone". The other nine of us have one Android phone or another.

When I joined the group, none of them had heard of Android. I bought a G1 and showed it around. Still no interest in Android. When the original Droid was released by Verizon, there was a stampede for Android phones (not all bought Droids however).

I'm not arrogant enough to think I had anything to do with the Android migration -- I think it was Verizon's marketing department.

I'd say folks in my group fall in the third category, except, they're not treating the phone the way a gadget-loving geek would treat it. They're not rooting the phones/installing custom firmware. Individually, they each barely touch the app store (I've asked). They seem to just use them to make calls, text, and play fancy ringtones.

I really get the impression from their comments that they're buying and using the phones for some sort of "geek-cred" accessory. It's like they've each been told to think that Real Geeks (TM) don't use iPhones, they use Android phones. So, each has run out to get the biggest, shiniest phone on their carrier of choice. Once they have them, they wander around saying "Here's my geek phone" rather than tinkering with it, like a geek would.

[kennyc]

This is kinda interesting in the light of this topic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._mobile_phones

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by devilsadvocate

I have to disagree on that as a blanket statement. iPhone users may use their phones as fashion accessories first and communications devices second (I've seen this more times than I can count), but I haven't seen that trend with Android phones. Thus far, that crowd has been made up of:

1. Early adopters,
2. employees of forward-thinking companies (and of course Motorola & Google; presumably others such as HTC)
3. technologically savvy and/or geeks.

It wasn't intended to apply to everybody. But there are hundreds of millions of cellphones in use, to the point where the landline is becoming an endangered species in some places. Most users are just that - users. They place and receive calls, do SMS, play ringtones, and possibly play games. If their phone is equipped with a camera, they probably take pictures. They may do other things, but the vast majority probably don't do more than scratch the surface of what the phone can do.

Where I work, I'm one of 2 Droid X owners. The other guy shows his off every chance he gets; I use mine in all the ways it's designed to be used, but I'm not in any hurry to go flashing it around. Let 'em get their own. The lone remaining iPhone owner knows he's outgunned and doesn't say anything to me.

The Droid is a dandy geek toy. But the appeal pretty much has to be beyond the cases you cite. It has done well enough to put Motorola back into the cellphone race, when they were rumored to be looking to exit the business. That requires more than geeks/early adopters.

One bit that isn't clear is how much name recognition Android has, and how much the fact that the phone uses Android as the OS influences a purchase decision. If two phones have similar designs and feature sets, will a user pick the Android phone because it uses Android? I suspect Android is now a factor in the purchase decision. I just don't know how big a factor it is.
______
Dennis

[devilsadvocate]

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

When I joined the group, none of them had heard of Android. I bought a G1 and showed it around. Still no interest in Android. When the original Droid was released by Verizon, there was a stampede for Android phones (not all bought Droids however).

I'm not arrogant enough to think I had anything to do with the Android migration -- I think it was Verizon's marketing department.

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

One bit that isn't clear is how much name recognition Android has, and how much the fact that the phone uses Android as the OS influences a purchase decision. If two phones have similar designs and feature sets, will a user pick the Android phone because it uses Android? I suspect Android is now a factor in the purchase decision. I just don't know how big a factor it is.

I'm sure VZW has a lot to do with it; the licensing fees they're paying LucasFilm for the Droid name alone would probably feed a Third-World country. They could just as easily have called it HAL or WOPR or Big Red (just think: Special-edition metallic red Droid X...in fact I expect one to drop right around Christmas). VZW wanted people to associate the OS and the brand name thereby blurring the distinction. I'm sure that will rub off on phones such as the LG Ally which runs Android 2.1..."Oh hey, it's the same OS as the Droid, only $100 less..."

My stepdaughter said she wanted a Droid X because she'd seen all the commercials and was surrounded by iPhone users in her part of the country. Backlash perhaps?

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

I'd say folks in my group fall in the third category, except, they're not treating the phone the way a gadget-loving geek would treat it. They're not rooting the phones/installing custom firmware. Individually, they each barely touch the app store (I've asked). They seem to just use them to make calls, text, and play fancy ringtones.

I really get the impression from their comments that they're buying and using the phones for some sort of "geek-cred" accessory. It's like they've each been told to think that Real Geeks (TM) don't use iPhones, they use Android phones. So, each has run out to get the biggest, shiniest phone on their carrier of choice. Once they have them, they wander around saying "Here's my geek phone" rather than tinkering with it, like a geek would.

Ugh...has it really come to that? </rhetorical>

As Dennis will probably agree, there will be a number of people who couldn't care less about the OS as long as it "Just Works". Lots of Ubuntu users fall into that same category, while those more knowledgeable just stand back and nod their heads. If someone wants to gain geek cred with me using their phone, they'd better have a terminal emulator open on it running an ssh session.

On the other side of the coin, if it wasn't for Android, would anyone care about the Droid X?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

...

One bit that isn't clear is how much name recognition Android has, and how much the fact that the phone uses Android as the OS influences a purchase decision. ...
______
Dennis

I blame George Lucas.

Oh, wait I see Chris already said that.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by devilsadvocate

I'm sure VZW has a lot to do with it; the licensing fees they're paying LucasFilm for the Droid name alone would probably feed a Third-World country. They could just as easily have called it HAL or WOPR or Big Red (just think: Special-edition metallic red Droid X...in fact I expect one to drop right around Christmas). VZW wanted people to associate the OS and the brand name thereby blurring the distinction. I'm sure that will rub off on phones such as the LG Ally which runs Android 2.1..."Oh hey, it's the same OS as the Droid, only $100 less..."

Speaking of LG and Android based phones:
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-n...?pageNumber=0#

A $50 Android based smartphone, anyone?

My stepdaughter said she wanted a Droid X because she'd seen all the commercials and was surrounded by iPhone users in her part of the country. Backlash perhaps?

Perhaps. As I said, fashion accessory, where the point is being cooler than thou. The iPhone is probably getting backlash because of the iPhone users exuding "Nyah Nyah Nyah! I've got an iPhone and you don't! I'm cooler than you are!"

With the Droid, a "The iPhone is so last year!" response becomes possible.

As Dennis will probably agree, there will be a number of people who couldn't care less about the OS as long as it "Just Works".

And frankly, they shouldn't have to care. It should Just Work.

Lots of Ubuntu users fall into that same category, while those more knowledgeable just stand back and nod their heads. If someone wants to gain geek cred with me using their phone, they'd better have a terminal emulator open on it running an ssh session.

I've done that on occasion with my old Palm OS PDA, getting into a work *nix server, mostly because I could. I'd hate to try to do anything serious using that connection...

On the other side of the coin, if it wasn't for Android, would anyone care about the Droid X?

You can make a case that if it weren't for Android, there wouldn't be a Droid X.
______
Dennis

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Speaking of LG and Android based phones:
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-n...?pageNumber=0#

A $50 Android based smartphone, anyone?

....

Maybe I'll get one as a backup...in place of $10/month insurance.

[devilsadvocate]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I've done that on occasion with my old Palm OS PDA, getting into a work *nix server, mostly because I could. I'd hate to try to do anything serious using that connection...

Another English sports car?

[Gwen Morse]

Originally Posted by devilsadvocate

Ugh...has it really come to that? </rhetorical>

As Dennis will probably agree, there will be a number of people who couldn't care less about the OS as long as it "Just Works". Lots of Ubuntu users fall into that same category, while those more knowledgeable just stand back and nod their heads. If someone wants to gain geek cred with me using their phone, they'd better have a terminal emulator open on it running an ssh session.

On the other side of the coin, if it wasn't for Android, would anyone care about the Droid X?

I don't ssh from my phone. But, I do occasionally MUD. Do I get half-cred for telnetting to games from my phone?

I'm just baffled that people will spend up to $200 (plus additional contract fees) to buy a phone they'll use for 1-2 years to make phone calls and text people and NOTHING ELSE. Maybe they'll look at YouTube videos a half-dozen times and play some Bejeweled. That's a quite a bit of money to say you're a geek and then not bother to geek out.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

I don't ssh from my phone. But, I do occasionally MUD. Do I get half-cred for telnetting to games from my phone?

I'm just baffled that people will spend up to $200 (plus additional contract fees) to buy a phone they'll use for 1-2 years to make phone calls and text people and NOTHING ELSE. Maybe they'll look at YouTube videos a half-dozen times and play some Bejeweled. That's a quite a bit of money to say you're a geek and then not bother to geek out.

I love the interactive weather maps.

[devilsadvocate]

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

I don't ssh from my phone. But, I do occasionally MUD. Do I get half-cred for telnetting to games from my phone?

Nah, I'd say that's worth the full 100 points.

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

I'm just baffled that people will spend up to $200 (plus additional contract fees) to buy a phone they'll use for 1-2 years to make phone calls and text people and NOTHING ELSE. Maybe they'll look at YouTube videos a half-dozen times and play some Bejeweled. That's a quite a bit of money to say you're a geek and then not bother to geek out.

...or buy the phone for all its features, not bother to learn how to use them, and somehow it'll be the phone's fault. Especially if the discovery of said lack of knowledge happens as you're showing the phone off for the 13,000,000th time.

Of course if it's the most expensive unit on the sales floor, it must be the best, right?

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I love the interactive weather maps.

A friend got a Droid and was raving about the coolest app ever: a Google sky map that didn't care about the weather: it uses GPS to determine your location, and displayed what he sky would look like if you could see it.

He figured that if he and his 12 year old daughter could agree that it was way cool, it had something.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by devilsadvocate

Of course if it's the most expensive unit on the sales floor, it must be the best, right?

Nah. It's the one you can use to look down on your friends because you have it and they don't.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Maybe I'll get one as a backup...in place of $10/month insurance.

What's involved in transferring your contract to a new device? If you have to go to it as a backup, will your provider be a problem?
______
Dennis