With love(?) from Android.
I am writing this from the 200$ nexus s that I impulsed off eBay in december. Needless to say, i’ve experienced much of what android has to offer including the supposedly “amazing” Ice Cream Sandwich firmware.
Though android is highly impressive and while I fully understand why people like/love/jizz over this platform, I am simply still not sold.
It again for me, boils down to the whole user experience. From the user interface to the fluidity and consistency of the exprience, android just simply doesnt float my boat and I’ve consistently found myself reaching for my iphone.
Now you might think, “hey you’ve been used to using iphone for all these years, you’re going to be biased/a mindless apple fanboi/(insert other assorted fandroid trash here)!!”. This may be true however you call it, but even simple tasks like flipping through photos and browsing websites are slow, jerky and unresponsive. Now some may chime in that its the age of the nexus s that is to blame for this, and that I should try the shiny new galaxy nexus or S2. BUT people need to remember that this phone was released AFTER the iPhone 4 and was/is considered one of many iPhone killers. But I still use my iPhone 4 now, and the experience is still silky smooth despite being jammed full with music, apps, videos, photos and any other consumer junk you could ask for. This being a phone that will be 2 years old in july this year.
Okay, so then there’s another arguement. “Just simply root your phone and load one of the bazillion custom speed optimised ROMs!” But there’s the root (pardon the pun) of the problem right there, it shouldn’t be up to users to go out and void their devices warranties in order to make a device perform the way it should’ve from right out of the box. Again I’m going to refer to the iPhone here, take the 3gs, an even older phone than the 4 and sporting even now considered ancient technology. These devices still support the latest and greatest of iOS firmwares but still perform vastly more responsively and smoothly than the latest android counterpart on this nexus s with supposedly far superior technology.
The arguements for why people should choose android over iOS are valid and in fact there are still features in android that I wish iOS had (including the way it handles notifications and power centre toggles) and I love the tight integration with google services. But arguements such as customisation, live wallpapers and widgets remain in my “gimmick” zone frankly and are unnecessary drains on battery life (which by the way is an issue on my nexus s at least).
The keyboard(s) all suck. Incredibly inaccurate, silly autocorrect function (though iphone also has its troubles) and I’ve lost count how many times I’ve typed a full stop or the letter “b” when trying to insert a space. I’ve probably spent half this time (or more) correcting spelling and backspacing full stops. (In fact had taken me about 5 attempts just to write that last sentence)
Though these remain small details on a vastly impressive OS with a huge set of features, it is these niggles of basic function that - to me - ruins the user experience and until these are addressed, ill remain unsold.
/end rant
Sent from Samsung Nexus S. Peace.
Update.
My god it’s been a while.
11th May 2010 2:14am – Currently in Armidale.
I won’t bore you guys with every single detail of life in Armidale since the last post. However, recently there has been a Tennis Open and Bake Sale Day! It was a fairly pleasant day with a decent turn out of people. With the job of being the photographer of the day, it was great to finally get a hand in at some sport photography (despite this not being professional hardcore tennis). It was an interesting experience, knowing how to frame the photos right; wondering whether other standard photography techniques would work here; rule of thirds; action shots.
In the end a total of 650 photos were ascertained and my god were there some extremely average shots. But, there were also a some very surprising shots! Here’s some examples…
On another note, second year medical students at UNE are pathetic.
“Oh, we’re not going to Med Ball because they’re too close to exams.” – Generic 2nd Year Student
YOU HAVE FUCKING 2 WEEKS. 2 FUCKING WEEKS. OH SHIT I CAN’T SPARE A NIGHT.
No one is asking you to get wasted. It’s a night to dress up nicely to have a nice dinner with your close friends and colleagues.
Don’t have the money to pay for ball? No problem, speak to Fi and UNEMSA can help you out. UNEMSA is here to help. THAT’s WHAT UNEMSA IS FOR. TO “SUPPORT THE POPULATION OF MEDICAL STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND”
Okay on another note.
Ducks, they’re cute…right?
Time to shower.
