Which Are You?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I think it's about phones. If so, then I should vote none of the above. We have trac phones.

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

That's also how I took it, voting none.

That's what I initially thought; but then there's that Amazon ("Love my KF") choice that threw me. Is the Fire a phone now, too? Oh well. Either way... I've no need for smartphones or tablets, so none of the above was my best choice, I guess.

[Joykins]

I am Apple with my phone but Amazon (kindle) is now my primary reader.

I like my (now-old) iPhone but honestly I spend much, much more time reading than anything else. There is no way I would want to go to Apple for reading, as I don't like ibooks or reading on an LCD screen as much as I like the eink. I mean, there are occasions that it's easier to read on the phone, like if I'm outside or in the car in the dark, but I don't prefer it.

[QuantumIguana]

My wife has a Kindle Fire. But it is just a piece of technology, I'm not loyal to it.

[Kumabjorn]

I'm a Droid user, mainly because I have a problem with proprietary solutions, yet I have a Transformer and a Galaxy Tab 2, both have proprietary connectors, so i wish I could be more of a stalwart. I do envy Apple users all the nice accessories they have for their devices, Droids seem like they are engineered by and for engineers.

[Namekuseijin]

I do have an android and a iriver Story. They do what I need, what about your poison?

Originally Posted by Anabran

I am a Mac OS/Android user

oh, just wait until the Jobs mob get to you... ^_^

[JoeD]

All three and neither at the same time

I have an iPhone/iPad and Mac, I use google daily including their app engine and other services and love my kindle. However, I have problems with all three companies too.

Walled garden and the controlling nature of apple, google's persistence in retaining way too much information for way too long and never truly anonymising it and for Amazon, well it's part them and part the publishers, that old DRM chess-nut.

Were it not for work, I'm not sure I'd own an iphone or ipad though. I'd likely favour a more open device. The Mac however, I don't want to part with I really like the OS, just wish the hardware wasn't as expensive as it is.

One thing I've been trying really hard to do for several years, is remain platform agnostic. That means I won't buy an ebook unless I can remove the DRM so that should I move from Amazon/kindle to another reader, I can convert the books myself. I try to avoid platform specific apps, favouring cross platform apps (when possible) for my data/docs. Such as using Lyx/Vim/Open Office instead of Pages or MS Office.

The exception is apps for ipad/iphone, where cross platform isn't a choice at all. For that, I just make sure I can get my data out so that it can at least be converted and moved to another platform later. For games, I'm not too fussed. Whilst it'd be nice to buy once and get multiple platforms (as with Steam) it's not really feasible for developers to offer that with the current trend towards walled gardens and 30% splits Although, I guess "not fussed" is the wrong choice of words, I just won't pay as much for games on locked in devices.

Not quite there yet with all apps though, still a few that tie me to various OS' depending on the task

[Anabran]

"oh, just wait until the Jobs mob get to you... ^_^"

I have been a Mac user all my life
As I used to work in the print design field.
but the android based Kindle fire
was within my current budgetary restrictions
and serves my purpose and it is way more portable than my aging Macbook.

To me the platform loyalty is beyond silly
I just get whatever tech I can afford based on what it does for me.

[DrNefario]

I have a substantial investment in apps for iOS (iPod Touch and iPad), and in books for my Kindle, but none of that dictates where my future purchases will take place. I think Apple and Amazon both do a good job of making it easy to buy things at a good price. I have no complaints, but I'm not drinking the Kool Aid. If I didn't already have an iPad, I'd probably now have a Nexus 7, and if I ever replace my ancient Nokia phone, it might be with an Android.

I will say I don't have much faith in Microsoft's ability to deliver a mobile OS, but I'd be happy to be proved wrong.

[garrybuck]

I resent being told which flavor of koolaid to drink. I have free will, and I will freely choose among the choices that I'm offered........

[elemenoP]

I guess I'm multi-system. I have a Macbook Pro, iPod classic which is more or less permanently attached to the stereo, and an iPhone. But I also have a Sony reader and I subscribe to Amazon Prime. I buy books from anywhere (thanks Alf!). I mostly buy mp3s from Amazon, thanks to the great promos they have, and immediately put them in iTunes. For movies, we use Time Warner On Demand. I have attached the laptop to the TV to stream a movie once or twice. I am thinking about getting an inexpensive Roku or something so that we can take advantage of Amazon's movies more. I have no plans to buy a tablet of any brand.

So... I guess I wander between the walled gardens pretty well.

eP

[sakura-panda]

I picked None of the Above before I read the opening post.

I have an android phone but will be switching to iOS with my next one, just because I think it actually has more flexibility than what I have now. I've not looked much into the Galaxy SIII (I have the original Galaxy S now) but I have both an iPad 1 and an iPad 3 and I find that their apps are less age dependent than the Android apps. (That is, my phone is only up to Gingerbread and can't be upgraded any further; my original iPad is up to iOS 5, which was the current OS until about a week ago. I got the phone and the iPad right around the same time but the phone has been "old tech" for quite a while now!)

As far as books, for myself I only put money toward epub and mostly from the Sony Store, but I also spend money on Kindle books for my son. I read on both Sony (paid books) and Kindle (free books) ebook readers. I don't read on my tablets or computers.

I have a Windows 7 PC and video game consoles for most of the major platforms (Wii, PS3, XBox 360, DS and 3DS. No Sony Vita.)

I like being multiplatform (something I am going to lose when I upgrade my phone) because no matter what platform something is exclusive to, I can always use it. (Except for some Android apps. I have been considering a 7" Android tablet, but can't really justify it when their core software becomes outdated so quickly, as well as because I have two 10" iOS ones. )

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

My daughter got her iphone 5 on Friday, and that is when I decided to root my thunderbolt - to show her how much more flexible my device is. But it really isn't. After rooting my HTC Thunderbolt and installing ics, and losing my apps (my fault, shouldn't have happened), I went to both Google and Amazon to redownload my apps. Google wasn't an issue, but Amazon was a bear! You had to start at the top and scroll down through all your apps! I had 300 apps, and it took 4 days to download them. Finally, when I tried three times to download the last 11, I called up Amazon, and told them I was done, and they were going to have to give me $28 in credit to rebuy the apps (I had gotten them all for free, but they cost up to $10 each now). Well, they did so, but it made me realize--I looked down on Apple users, because the OS was more constraining. But if Amazon came out with an android phone, it would probably download apps as easily as the Fire. And the kindle is my preferred reading device (although epub is my preferred format).

So, I have decided you can't be independent. Things are getting so platform specific, you choose by default. So, which are you trendng toward? And if you pick None of the Above, you should have a substantial amount of data from all three platforms. Since I have an android phone and a kindle fire, my movies come from Amazon, as do my apps, although I am going to go to Google Play a lot more now.

Yeah, I really am not a fan of Amazon. I remember one of the last times I used Amazon, it was before I got my current phone, and was in a wifi/data free area. I tried to use a game I had, to kill the time, and I couldn't because it needed a network connection to verify with Amazon that I was a legitimate owner. WTF? I never have to do that with any apps I bought from Google.

[Penforhire]

It is interesting how the ecosystems can lock you in.

I'm not tied to any one system for my e-books. But since I started buying music through iTunes, and I'm so far too lazy to break that DRM, I'm sort of locked into Apple for my music. I'm happy in that walled garden as long as their devices play the music I want to hear.

I can see where Amazon is getting a nice grip on the e-book market with their DRM'd e-books. DRM-breaking nerds make up a small fraction of the market.

[daffy4u]

Isn't the iTunes music store DRM free now? I remember having to pay to upgrade previous purchases to be DRM-free. I switched to Amazon for my music purchases sometime ago (it was always DRM-free), so I'm not really sure about the iTunes change.

[Blossom]

I like Amazon of course and Android. If it apps I prefer Google Play, If it's reading the Kindles are my preferred Choice. I wouldn't touch an apple device but that's just how I feel.

I love my Kindle Fire, would love it better if they fixed the dang bugs. I love my little phone which runs Android. I have no complaints other then needing more storage. I plan to get Samsung Galaxy Player next for listening to music and Audibles.