One Phone to Rule Them All.....NOT!!!!
A few years later we finely were able to get a cell phone it was a old Motorola flip phone that had a short little antenna, and a the Flip was a plastic panel that would flip up to cover the keypad, and protect it when not in use. Just being able to call during the day if there was a issue or to call someone back was at first a matter of convince, then it became a matter of necessity.
Fast Forward to today. We now have 5 phones on our plan. I have a basic phone as the the older kids who each have one. My wife is now completely computerized. everything is on her PDA/smartphone. It is plugged in every night to sync and charge. We have a saying;
"If its not in the computer,, It snot Happening.." Which pretty much sums up our dependence on technology. and computers, and her pda in particular.
For the last probably 10 years or so there have been what are generically referred to as Smartphones. which in a very wide sense, means any phone that can do more then just talk and other basic functions. Which could include everything from the keyboard texting phones, up to Palm Pre, My wife's Treo, to the king of the hill, Apple's IPhone.
Ah, the elusive IPhone, which has been hailed as the be all, and end all, of smart phones....
Again Apple followed its usual pattern of not being the first to a market, just doing it better then anyone Elise's once it got there. As was the case with the original ipods, and mp3 players. There were several players making mp3 players, out in the market, but none of them were doing well, their hardware, while mostly functional, was anything but ascetically pleasing and easy to use. Then along came Apple..
Suddenly was a struggling market, only geeks and techies know about bloomed into a national obsession.
Much has been written and made of the success of Apples Ipod Lines. The point is today they are the standard of which all other Mp3 and portable media players are judged against. The did the same thing with the smartphone, They didn't make the first smartphone, they just did it better then anyone else,,,
Until Now..
Now there is the Android series of smartphones, made by Motorola, HTC, and eventually several other manufactures for Verizon wireless, cell phone service. The Android is a direct competition to the Apple I Phone. While the IPhone has for the last couple of years been only on the AT&T network, The Android is only on Verizon . While the AT&T network is constantly panned for their poor service, ranging from coverage, to customer service, Very few, have paned the IPhone itself, except for a limited number of issues particular to that phone. The Verizon network is generally praised for its coverage, among many things, However, in recent years they have not been able to come up with a phone that could seriously directly compete with the I phone. Now it appears they finely have.
The Android runs on the relatively new Google operating system, and widely touted as being equal to the Apple Phone OS. In circles even better. But that's a subjective judgement call.
The pros and cons of each phone and platform, and even carrier, are being debated all over the web.
I am not even going to attempt to compare them, It wouldn't be fair, because at this point I've never used either, the closet I've come is the Apple Ipod Touch, which we got earlier this year.. Color me impressed.
However, that doesn't give me the creditability to compare something I've never seen or used.
The point of this article is there is room for two phones to rule them all ..so to say.
Android will have a tough time competing with Apple, particularly if AT& T manages to improve the coverage and service. However, this may be the ship that many of their IPhone folks were looking for to jump ship, and many may not wait until their contract is up to do it. So based on AT&T's past record,
I see a huge letting of IPhones. That will help drive Android sales, However, Android better deliver, as had better Verizon, if they want to keep all those new subscribers, I've heard talk of their Nickle and dimeing services, That's a ploy that may well cost them in the long run, given T-Mobile's new program, where you buy a phone at regular price up front, and they give you a way better rate on the service plan, Something like from AT&T, and Verizon, would go a long ways to sway customers, and bringing down the retail price on the phones to begin would also help drive that plan, and they would make more in the long run.
In the long run the two will have live together and each will have its strengths, and weakness.
Choosing which one is going to be a matter of taste, in many cases location. Depending on what features you need, and platform you work from, one may be better then the other for specific needs.
I predict that after all the release hula is over over the next few months, Things will settle down, and we find the two AA's ruling their respective carries and coexisting very nicely, While there will probably be a slant towards Apple, if Android, plays its cards rights, and Verizon, keeps it network up and reliable , and the android Apps store matures and useful aps that compare to the aps on the Apple App store come up soon, and the phone just works and doesn't send users screaming to tech support, on a regular basis, Android will do very nicely, it may take a while but Android should do very nicely.. In the long run.
And Two Phones Shall Rule Them All.....
