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Why your next phone should be an iPhone

Posted: March 30th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Debatable, General | 5 Comments »

Last week I ran two articles on why your next phone should be a smart phone / dumb phone. This week I will post two articles on why your next phone should be an iPhone / Android Phone. Today’s article is from Jeremy Horneck, and he will be giving reasons on why your next phone should be an iPhone.

Who is iPhone?

Mark asked me to answer the question, “Why should my next phone be an iPhone?” Frankly, that’s a difficult question to answer because I don’t know if your next phone should be an iPhone (due apologies to Steve Jobs, peace be upon him). In my opinion, the most exciting part of the current state of  smart phones is that an iPhone shouldn’t necessarily be your next phone. There are countless options for countless different types of people. Instead of telling you why you should get an iPhone I’m going to describe myself to you because I am a stereotypical iPhone user. I think that is the better approach to the Android v. iPhone v. Blackberry v. WebOS debate at this point.

Image Conscious

I am reluctant to describe myself as image conscious because I don’t want to sound like I am too into myself. However, I enjoy art. I like redecorating my house. My MacBook has an 80s retro Apple logo sticker on it. I am very persnickety about the clothes I wear (sometimes). My favorite TV shows include such masculine programs as Top Chef, Project Runway, and anything on Food Network. I wear pink. I just like to look good and I like being ahead of the curve on image related things. That’s part of why I like an iPhone. It just looks good. I love the hard edges and sleek minimalism of the iPhone 4. I love the elegant simplicity of the Apple logo. No other smart phone approaches the sleekness of the iPhone. This extends to all Apple products. Have you seen the iPad competitors? They are hideous.  Not only does the iPhone look good it has apps that are more “artsy.” No other OS has anything to compare to Hipstamatic or Instagram and I love both of those. If this sort of thing matters to you, you might like an iPhone.

Easily Frustrated

One of Apple’s slogans is, “It just works.” I love that. When I pick up my iPhone I know it will work. The truth is, beyond app availability Android can do everything an iPhone does and do it with more power. However, I don’t need to think about my iPhone. Whatever it does it does extraordinarily well. Sometimes, this is limiting. I miss several aspects of Android (notifications, widgets, home screen contacts, etc.), but those are sacrifices I am willing to make because I don’t have to think about how to use my phone. I just use it. When I used Android I had to think a lot more. It has many more features than iOS. Sometimes, I don’t want more features. I just want simplicity.

Discoverer

I love to find new stuff. People make fun of me because I always have something cool to share that I just found out. I am a dream customer for most companies because I get very excited when I discover them and love to share what I’ve discovered with others. Right now I am spreading the good news of Zotero, Dropbox, Evernote, Toodledo, Synergy, BetterSnap, Aviary, and countless others. I just love finding new ways to do things that make my life better. Because of the vibrant app marketplace that iOS provides I am able to discover new things all the time. Android apps are not as polished as iOS apps and there are not nearly as many of them. I enjoy browsing the App Store and finding new apps. I never felt that way in the 1.5 years I had an Android phone.

Gamer

Android games are terrible. iOS offers many excellent games. Not much more to say on that. I need me some Cut The Rope and Tiny Bird when I’m killing time; Android does not offer that.

Scholar

This is certainly using the term lightly, but I am a scholar. I love Greek. I enjoy serious academic Bible study. Accordance and Logos apps on the iPhone are game changers for me. As of yet, Android does not have those things.

 

In conclusion, it really comes down to the apps. All but one of my reasons that iPhone is right for me were app related. Android, Blackberry (remember when people used that), and iOS can’t touch the app store. If you aren’t much of an app person go with something else. The strength of the iPhone is its apps. May I suggest that if you don’t think you will use apps you may want to consider a WebOS device. Almost no app store, but I believe that WebOS is the best designed OS of all four major American systems. What it really comes down to is you. Who you are. What you like. What you hate. That is a good thing. It is much better to chooses the OS that you like than to choose the “best” OS. There really isn’t a “best” OS. Just one that is best for you.

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5 Comments on “Why your next phone should be an iPhone”

  1. 1 Jared said at 8:54 am on March 30th, 2011:

    I just need to add for the record, that Android does have Cut the Rope, and I’m currently addicted to Dillo Hills (which is exactly like tiny birds). PicPlz is just as good as instagram/hipstamatic

    I think Android apps can be very polished and equal to if not better than their iphone alternatives yet I still do agree with the premise that Android generally needs to improve App selection…

    I’m always disappointed when developers choose to develop for iPhone even though it requires you to purchase a Mac and learn an obscure language (Obj-C). When they could program for Android by simply learning a very common language (Java or even Flash) and instantly have their app approved to the market and majority of smartphones.

    I guess thats what master marketer Steve Jobs and a big first mover advantage does for you. Oh well.

    I’ll save the rest for my article later.

  2. 2 Tony said at 11:07 pm on March 30th, 2011:

    Good article. I am excited to see the android article now. By the way… Jared, I believe flash developers have a pretty easy way to develop for iPhone… I could be wrong but I think I heard that.

  3. 3 Jared said at 10:03 am on March 31st, 2011:

    Interesting, I wonder if that would make iphone/android ports easy….apparently they both support Air apps…

  4. 4 Jared said at 11:08 am on March 31st, 2011:

    http://blogs.adobe.com/cantrell/archives/2010/04/porting_an_air_app_from_iphone_to_android.html

    Wow thats actually awesome…wish more apps used AIR.

  5. 5 Tech 4 The Rest of Us » Blog Archive » Why your next phone should be an Android said at 12:58 pm on March 31st, 2011:

    […] If you haven’t yet, make sure you check out yesterday’s counteracting article on why your next phone should by an iPhone. Great stuff, hope you enjoy! (PS, if you do, let me know in the comments and we’ll keep more […]


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