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posted by n1 on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:22AM   Printer-friendly
from the reality-distortion-field-is-impenetrable dept.

Chris Smith writes that Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking during the WWDC 2014 opening keynote, took clear hits at his company's main rival, making fun of Google's Android several times. "Over 130 million customers who bought an iOS device in the past 12 months, were buying their first iOS device," Cook said. "Now, many of these customers were switchers from Android." "They had bought an Android phone... by mistake," Cook added, igniting the crowd in attendance, "and then sought a better experience, and a better life, and decided to check iPhone and iOS." Cook went on to say that nearly half of Apple's customers in China in the past six months came from Android.

Cook took another hit at Google for its fragmentation issues. "If you look at a broader group, over a third of [Android] customers, are running a version of Android from four years ago," Cook said. "That's like ancient history." Cook also addressed Android's vulnerability to malware. "Android dominates the mobile malware market," the exec said, because of its fragmentation. "No wonder experts are saying things like this," Cook said, quoting ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: "Android fragmentation is turning devices into a toxic hellstew of vulnerabilities."

 
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  • (Score: 1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:42AM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:42AM (#51440) Homepage

    Trigger Warning: This post contains homophobic slurs

    Tim Cook's little pep rally is rather silly. It sounds ridiculously juvenile, as if he's trying to rile up the varsity Peoria High Panthers before their big game against the Bloomington High Badgers.

    But what's even sillier is that many people go Android because they want smartphone functionality without marking themselves as effeminate, materialistic faggots everytime they pull their phones out in public. And, make no mistake about it, Apple is the preferred brand of the "new sensitive man."

    Yeah, go ahead and throw rocks at my school bus after the game, it doesn't change the fact that we still kicked your asses at football.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Nerdfest on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:52AM

      by Nerdfest (80) on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:52AM (#51445)

      WWDC has always been a pep rally for the faithful, with tons of free advertising provided by tech sites. Yeah, Apple was traditionally the realm of the art school crowd, but at this point it's really just the 'default' choice. It's what people go to when they don't want to decide what hardware or features they want. I'm fine with that as long as their market share remains small. It was looking for a while that they might control enough of the market to push things in a very bad direction for those of us that want to be able to actually own the hardware we buy. It's really a little too high still in North America for my comfort, but at least there's hope.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by SlimmPickens on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:37AM

      by SlimmPickens (1056) on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:37AM (#51462)

      I'm not condoning this post but 'fag' is not a homophobic slur anymore.

      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:38AM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:38AM (#51492) Journal

        I think he was referring to the "materialistic" part. Faggots are usually quite materialistic, and this is frowned upon by . . . . OK, I give up. Ethanol Failed.

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by velex on Thursday June 05 2014, @01:22PM

          by velex (2068) on Thursday June 05 2014, @01:22PM (#51651) Journal

          Faggot here. I think I rather like that post. He did give a trigger warning, like the feminists requested! And it does kind of make sense that Apple is preferred by the new "sensitive man" aka white knight aka "One Good Man." The only Ethanol Fail was giving a trigger warning for homosexuals, demonstrating a conflation of the brand of politically correct that the feminists are demanding with simply accepting that some assigned males are feminine by nature, god damn it, and further conflating that with homosexuality. But maybe that was the point of the sarcasm.

          Nevermind, it's time for me to take a break and go light up a fag. Karma to burn, etc. brb.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by starcraftsicko on Thursday June 05 2014, @05:22AM

        by starcraftsicko (2821) on Thursday June 05 2014, @05:22AM (#51507) Journal

        Good point. [southparkstudios.com]

        --
        This post was created with recycled electrons.
    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:07AM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:07AM (#51474)
      "But what's even sillier is that many people go Android because they want smartphone functionality without marking themselves as effeminate, materialistic faggots everytime they pull their phones out in public."

      Heh. Basically what you just said, but probably didn't mean to, is that Android fans are really really worried about what their phone says about them. Nice argument.
      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:46PM

        by Grishnakh (2831) on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:46PM (#51789)

        Basically what you just said, but probably didn't mean to, is that Android fans are really really worried about what their phone says about them.

        Except that it's completely false IMO. Most Android users just get Android phones because they're super cheap; you can get them free with contracts these days. Any "fans" probably only like them because they're not Apple products.

        Personally, I'm a big Linux fan, but for me, I only grudgingly tolerate Android. It was a good idea, but the execution has been terrible. They don't perform very well, and they're horribly inconsistent. The carriers and mfgrs don't support models more than 6 months old, because they just want you to buy a new one, and Google either doesn't care or is powerless to change this. The only really great thing about Android is that it uses a Linux kernel. Everything else is shoddy. But unfortunately, the options aren't any better. iPhone is made by a control-freak corporation with even worse ethics than Google, and only lets you do things in The One True Apple Way (tm) using their horrible iTunes software. And Windows Phone is, well, after decades of being forced to use MS products I'm not about to pay good money for a phone from them. Blackberry might be a consideration except that they always look like they're on the verge of bankruptcy.

        • (Score: 2) by everdred on Thursday June 05 2014, @10:09PM

          by everdred (110) on Thursday June 05 2014, @10:09PM (#51931) Journal

          You bring up good points, and there's much that frustrates me about Android, especially when someone asks me which device they should buy.

          But there are some other nice things about it to keep in mind:

          - In a pinch, you can walk into most stores and buy a decent, sub-$100 (or even sub-$50) contract-free phone with a somewhat-recent version of Android.
          - If you don't like Google, you can replace just everything Google-related without replacing the ROM. Set whatever apps you want as your defaults, or disable Google the apps entirely. Use a third-party app store, or no app store thanks to sideloading.
          - Custom ROMs (if you have a somewhat popular device) if you really want to tweak stuff, or if your manufacturer has dropped support for your device. YMMV in the latter, though.
          - There's a choice of hardware. Sure there's only be a small handful of devices at any given time that *anyone* should even consider buying, but there's a choice.

    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday June 05 2014, @12:46PM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Thursday June 05 2014, @12:46PM (#51636) Homepage Journal

      E.F shows his true homophobic colors (many of his posts are racist as well).

      People don't choose Android "by mistake" and they don't choose it to not look effeminate (when are you coming out of the closet, EF?). They choose it because of cost, because of Apple's "walled garden", and I personally perceive Apples to be more fragile than most handsets, because most of the phones with broken screens I see are iPhone (of course, it may simply be because iPhones are so expensive they can't afford new ones).

      Some choose Android to install a variant of the OS.

      Cook's claim of "fragmentation" is silly. It's the same bullshit spewed about Linux. Choice is a GOOD thing. I can choose a cheap $50 Android with a 5 megapixel camera or a high end Samsung with three times the resolution. Apple customers have no such choice.

      I would say buying an iPhone is by mistake unless you just want to impress people with the size of your wallet.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by c0lo on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:46AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:46AM (#51442) Journal
    With 80% market share and increased first-time smartphone adopters rate [techcrunch.com], Tim Cook seems to have an awful attitude toward the world population (or, maybe, an extreme overinflated opinion about himself or Apple?). Anyway, in the absence of any reality warping talent, the effect seems to be a state of denial.
    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by kwerle on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:36AM

      by kwerle (746) on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:36AM (#51489) Homepage

      Apple has almost never been about capturing really large market share. Ipod might be the exception.

      With 80% market share and increased first-time smartphone adopters rate...

      I wonder what Apple's loss rate is for existing customers.

      • (Score: 1) by sjwt on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:27AM

        by sjwt (2826) on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:27AM (#51586)

        Of ppl i know IRL, 3 in 4 swear never to get another Iphone, they were all Iphone 4 cheep contract upgrades.. The rate of dropouts was almost non existent umount ppl I knew on 1 and 2, and about 1 in 4 on a Iphone 3..

        For those looking to drop Apple after the current contract ran out, syncing issues with PCs and general user interface where the two biggest complaints. Basically at the end of the day, it was mostly ppl who were getting Iphones because their own phone carrier was recommending them, not because they had used them or even friends recommendations, it was mostly 'two for the price of one' contracts.

        The rule is about the same across all the brands in the end, if its not what you are used to, or like you are going to have a bad time.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:36PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:36PM (#51694)

          non existent umount ppl I knew

          Did you type that on a phone?

      • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday June 05 2014, @12:49PM

        by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Thursday June 05 2014, @12:49PM (#51638) Homepage Journal

        After breaking her first two iPhones, my daughter is now using a cheap Android. So you may be right.

        --
        mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Nerdfest on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:47AM

    by Nerdfest (80) on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:47AM (#51443)

    While the vulnerabilities knock is true, the interesting part is that unlike with iOS devices, there is almost nothing in later Android versions that can't be done with apps. Sure it's nice to have them built in, but for the most part it's not required. I thought he seemed a little arrogant for someone releasing a product quite demonstrably playing 'catch-up' to its competition.

    I think a good advertising approach for Google would be to point out that the latest iOS devices now have most of the capabilities of Android, but have only a single hardware provider and a single source of software. Historically, being tied to a single company rarely ends well for anyone but that company.

    Just a thought.

    • (Score: 1) by redneckmother on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:27AM

      by redneckmother (3597) on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:27AM (#51487)

      Perzactly.

      Hey, Tim - 3M TA3.

      --
      Mas cerveza por favor.
    • (Score: 1) by kwerle on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:41AM

      by kwerle (746) on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:41AM (#51495) Homepage

      Yeah, that'd be the fragmentation issue. There is no google phone. And I don't have TV, but I'm pretty sure there is no google phone advertising.

      Historically, being tied to a single company rarely ends well for anyone but that company.

      Yeah, that's true - and frustrating.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by evilviper on Thursday June 05 2014, @07:15AM

      by evilviper (1760) on Thursday June 05 2014, @07:15AM (#51530) Homepage Journal

      People aren't going to be afraid of the abstract potential economic disadvantage. It would be insane to advertise that...

      Instead, go after the single model you get to choose from... Android has larger screens, longer battery life, slide-out physical keyboards, user-replaceable batteries, etc., etc. Those are MUCH better advertising fodder.

      --
      Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.
      • (Score: 1) by jpkunst on Saturday June 07 2014, @04:54PM

        by jpkunst (2310) on Saturday June 07 2014, @04:54PM (#52664)

        Android has [...] slide-out physical keyboards

        Models with slide-out keyboards are getting harder and harder to find, unfortunately. I had to order a "new old stock" Sony Ericsson from 2011 which runs Android 2.1.

        • (Score: 2) by evilviper on Saturday June 07 2014, @06:09PM

          by evilviper (1760) on Saturday June 07 2014, @06:09PM (#52678) Homepage Journal

          You shouldn't have to get that desperate. Even smaller carriers have at least one slider with 4.x. I've stayed away from RepublicWireless because of their selection of one non-slider phone, but anybody larger than them should have something decent... even if re-certified.

          Previously, physical keyboards made up 30% of phone sales. Not sure what the penetration is now, but manufacturers ignore the market at their own peril.

          --
          Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.
          • (Score: 1) by jpkunst on Saturday June 07 2014, @07:24PM

            by jpkunst (2310) on Saturday June 07 2014, @07:24PM (#52728)

            I'm in Europe, I have a prepaid SIMcard, so I need an unlocked phone. And over here an Android with physical keyboard turned out to be hard to find.

    • (Score: 1) by karmawhore on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:39AM

      by karmawhore (1635) on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:39AM (#51592)

      Historically, being tied to a single company rarely ends well for anyone but that company.

      I'm not sure that's a point that Google would be eager to make.

      --
      =kw= lurkin' to please
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by joekiser on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:54AM

    by joekiser (1837) on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:54AM (#51446)

    A company in a leadership position should never call out their rival by name. This, combined with the Android-inspired featureset that defines iOS 8, hints that Apple is now following instead of innovating. Remember just a couple of years ago when new versions of Android would come out, and the articles would always ask, "Has Android finally caught up with Apple?" You don't hear that anymore, because quite frankly, Android surpassed iOS around JellyBean timeframe. Now Android is _dominant_. Apple is scared to the point that they just teamed up with Microsoft to lobby for a "killswitch" on phones in California that was worded carefully enough to make open bootloaders illegal.

    On the other hand, he's right regarding the lack of a true upgrade path for many Android phones. In the news today: a heartbleed exploiting worm that propogates through wifi networks to infect unpatched Android phones. Two months after the Heartbleed problem was fixed. At least 150 million users affected with no update available. This is something that Google needs to rectify. The lack of an upgrade for my Galaxy Nexus was one of the primary reasons I migrated to the BB10 platform.

    --
    Debt is the currency of slaves.
    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:25AM

      by TheGratefulNet (659) on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:25AM (#51455)

      its a lie that android is upgradable (long-term).

      I can upgrade the kernel, userland, ip-stack (etc) of even linux kernel 1.2 distros. I can start very very old and upgrade and keep things secure.

      can't do that with android.

      I have an original nexus that is stuck at 2.something and while the hardware still works, the software is utter shit and the system has to be powered off/on many times a day just to reset the x/y calibration on the pointer/touch. simple shit like that, google refuses to fix. "just buy another phone". NO.. FUCK YOU, GOOGLE. just FUCK YOU.

      apple is no better.

      I want a valid 3rd choice.

      I hate apple.

      I hate google.

      but I do need a phone with more than dumb features.

      please, industry, give us a valid 3rd choice for those of us who want to upgrade and keep our phones for years and years. I don't need faster hardware. I don't do that much fancy shit on the phone. simple email, simple mapping/gps and voice. but it should be secure and not have the vendor say 'sorry, go re-re-rebuy your phone again'.

      so, I'm not in anyone's fan camp, here. apple sucks, google sucks and phones generally suck. and they're very expensive, too (which makes the suckage suck even more).

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
      • (Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:43AM

        by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:43AM (#51463)

        This one looks fun: http://hackaday.com/2014/05/29/phoenard-arduino-phone-as-small-as-an-arduino-mega/ [hackaday.com]
        Should be kickstarting in a few months.

        --
        SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:53AM

          by TheGratefulNet (659) on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:53AM (#51466)

          the problem is, phones will never be fully open. the lower level chips are still locked up and there's all kinds of evil going on in there (I have a hint, but only a hint of the kinds of things carriers can do to your 'phone' at the chip level).

          to get on their network, you have to use a closed chip. so there can never ever be full trust in any cell phone anymore.

          still, I'd be happy to be free of the google spying and the apple lock-in, so even if the new arduino phone is not fully open, it might be open enough to be usable and more secure than the others.

          fwiw, I was told (by some google people) that the 'reason' why android can't be upgraded is that they linked the graphics system into the rest of the phone and its not separate like real linux on the server or desktop is. I can upgrade the kernel or ip-stack or user tools or apps - all independantly on real linux boxes. on android, its broken by design. I think the evilness was that they WANTED the phones to be a 'rebuy over and over again' thing. and lets be honest, most of google is younger 'engineers' and they typically have a short attention span (sorry but its true) and the modern generation is fully onboard with throwing out hardware and they could care less. they want 'teh new shiney!' and and old phone is a cultural embarassment to them.

          I just wish with all the brainpower google says it has, it would dedicate just ONE GUY to fixing a showstopper bug on the once-flagship N1 phone. it has been bad since day-1 and even with the last cyanogen update (years ago) the x/y calibration thing was never fixed. you tap on a spot and it vibrates at you, as if a negative x or y offset was entered (which is obviously impossible). the ONLY fix is to turn the phone off and back on again. THAT 'fixes' it.

          the fact that the n1, their best phone (once) is so totally abandoned means that I no longer believe the hype about linux phones being 'upgradable'. they are, only as long as the vendor wants them to be, and slightly longer than that once the free software guys take over. but you won't get years and years of upgrades. that just does NOT happen (and its very upsetting to see that happen to a linux system).

          --
          "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
          • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday June 05 2014, @06:51AM

            by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday June 05 2014, @06:51AM (#51523) Journal

            the problem is, phones will never be fully open. the lower level chips are still locked up and there's all kinds of evil going on in there (I have a hint, but only a hint of the kinds of things carriers can do to your 'phone' at the chip level).

            to get on their network, you have to use a closed chip. so there can never ever be full trust in any cell phone anymore.

            But shouldn't a phone be able to isolate that chip, so it effectively is its own device (that is, the relation between the chip and the rest of the phone is roughly the same as between a computer and a modem)?

            Yes, you cannot get rid of possible vulnerabilities at the phone level (that is, anything you could do also to a dumbphone, like the Java engine in GSM chips). But it should be possible to protect the computer functionality of the smartphone.

            and they could care less

            I'm pretty sure you meant "couldn't".

            --
            The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
            • (Score: 3, Interesting) by tibman on Thursday June 05 2014, @01:46PM

              by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 05 2014, @01:46PM (#51665)

              If they are separate chips, then yes for sure. You can talk with the GSM/GPRS over TTL serial or something. I think the problem is it is more expensive to isolate peripherals from the cell chip. The microphone for example needs to be connected to the cell chip but controlled externally by "our" chip. So we can completely cut signal to peripherals to prevent unauthorized access. Unfortunately some peripherals are integrated with the cell chip, such as GPS (potentially the most privacy invading one).

              Here is an easy to use example: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/GPRSbee-rev-4-UFL-p-1777.html?cPath=19_20 [seeedstudio.com]
              You can drop it into any XBee carrier. There are a lot of hobby platforms out there with XBee shields/capes/breakouts.

              --
              SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by jasassin on Thursday June 05 2014, @05:05AM

        by jasassin (3566) <jasassin@gmail.com> on Thursday June 05 2014, @05:05AM (#51502) Homepage Journal

        I have an original nexus that is stuck at 2.something and while the hardware still works, the software is utter shit and the system has to be powered off/on many times a day just to reset the x/y calibration on the pointer/touch. simple shit like that, google refuses to fix.
        I don't know your exact situation but have you looked at: http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=hammerhead [cyanogenmod.org]

        Its android 4.4 for nexus 5. CyanogenMod offers 4.4 for almost everything. I'm typing this on an original kindle fire with CyanogenMod 11 kikat android 4.4. Kicks ass way faster than the crap it came with.

        --
        jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
      • (Score: 1) by axsdenied on Thursday June 05 2014, @06:58AM

        by axsdenied (384) on Thursday June 05 2014, @06:58AM (#51528)

        I thought the original nexus did not get the latest Android because hardware is not good enough to run it.

        And if you really want to run 4.x.x, get CM11. It runs on your phone.

        • (Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:03PM

          by TheGratefulNet (659) on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:03PM (#51677)

          there is not enough memory for the BLOAT that the fools added to android. that and the fact that the video system is 'not fast enough' (?) to support new additions. that's the official word I heard.

          2 yrs ago there was talk about a real google project to reduce the mem footprint and allow new os's to be ported down to older phones, but that never happened. again, there's no money in supporting older phones. the carriers and sellers want to re-sell things to you and google is part of that ecosystem.

          they simply did not maintain multiple trees and backport the security stuff (at a minimum) to the older source trees.

          it reall astonishes me. the highest amount of brainpower in the bay area (they say so..) and yet they abandon their flagship with showstopper bugs.

          there was a time I respected the intellect of the folks at google. but after seeing how they trash projects and ruin most of the things they touch, I feel the complete opposite now. very book-smart people but poor leadership and such a lack of experience in the world (they are all SO young) that they simply CANNOT be the company they all aspire to be. its just yet another group of youngsters with too much money and too many distractions to keep them stimulated. old ideas like 'support' mean nothing to them and they could not care less.

          I never expected apple to continue to support old phones. but the promise of linux WAS that upgrades can come and won't be limited by the vendor. but in reality, they don't come and they are limited by the vendor, just the same as apple.

          --
          "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
      • (Score: 1) by clutch68rs on Thursday June 05 2014, @06:41PM

        by clutch68rs (4257) on Thursday June 05 2014, @06:41PM (#51835)

        In full agreement with TheGratefulNet. My anecdote would be the opposite of Mr. Cook's analysis, in that we purchased iPhones first, realized our mistake, dumped the iDevices, and never looked back. It will be curious to see some emergent 3rd choices, though, and I hope they are successful (Firefox, Ubuntu, Jolla/Sailfish, etc)

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by tathra on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:17AM

    by tathra (3367) on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:17AM (#51448)

    i have an android phone and an ipod touch. throughout the years, i've found ipods to be the only decent mp3 player available (and hey cool, you can watch video on them now too), so since my old ipod nano finally broke, it was a given that i would be getting a new one. i have to say though, i really hate using iAnything. the only thing about it thats made me glad to have it, aside from being a good portable media player, is that Index finally released an official localization of the original Shin Megami Tensei for iOS but not android (though the virtual controls are so fucking terrible that i want to throw it through the wall). i dont want my portable media player to share batteries with my phone, since the whole point of a mobile is to be mobile, and you cant swap batteries with iDevices.

    that whole knock about people not having the current version of android has nothing to do with android, its just telecomm companies being themselves and refusing to make things better for their customers, like refusing to upgrade infrastructure or service. if your cult is too stupid to direct their anger where it belongs, then good for you, but maybe that could end up benefiting us by forcing the companies to actually work on maintaining their products (haha yeah right).

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:27AM

      by TheGratefulNet (659) on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:27AM (#51457)

      what's so hard about mp3 or music playing?

      all reasonable players play mp3, flac and other formats. what do you need that isn't there?

      this is not a hard problem. video can be hard. audio is trivially easy these days.

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday June 05 2014, @01:00PM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Thursday June 05 2014, @01:00PM (#51642) Homepage Journal

      You have an Android phone, why do you need an iPod? Phones play MP3s (and videos) easily. I download oggs and MP3s to my phone easily; tethered, the phone looks like another drive to a computer. Files easily swapped, and you have a choice of players for your phone (I'm using Winamp but there are others as good and probably better).

      I've run into no battery issues with my phone (which has a replaceable battery when the battery finally dies).

      I can use wireless bluetooth speakers with my phone, can you do that with an iPod? Honestly, I thought iPods were pretty much obsoleted by smartphones.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by tathra on Friday June 06 2014, @09:15PM

        by tathra (3367) on Friday June 06 2014, @09:15PM (#52408)

        You have an Android phone, why do you need an iPod?

        partly just habit (i've had an ipod since they came out, and have tried other portable music players and they've all been junk with clunky interfaces); i was thinking about just getting another nano but figured i'd try a touch since you can make it function like a phone; and partly because i wanted to see what the big deal about them was that had people so obsessed. frankly, i cant figure out why people are so obsessed with them.

        it is useful to have your media player separate from your phone though. the touch is practically weightless and really thin, whereas if it was an iphone it'd be as thick and heavy as my galaxy s3 (or if i used my s3 as my primary media player, the bulk and weight is really annoying, in addition to needing to recharge it more than once a day). i also need them separate because i occasionally (a lot less right now than before, but still) go places with really spotty cell service, which drains batteries FAST, and dont have the ability to recharge anything for 2-3 days at a time.

  • (Score: 2) by EvilJim on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:34AM

    by EvilJim (2501) on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:34AM (#51459) Journal

    Has anyone here caught any malware on their Android? is there some special M$ emulator you have to run? ;) (the first question is serious, the second, not so.)

    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:54AM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:54AM (#51468)
      I haven't, but Samesung hasn't upgraded my OS so I can get the newer malware.
      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 2) by EvilJim on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:07AM

        by EvilJim (2501) on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:07AM (#51475) Journal

        Nice, I don't think I've had updates either, perhaps that is why I'm feeling left out. :(

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05 2014, @05:02PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05 2014, @05:02PM (#51798)

      I have not yet, although my wife had some add popup thing start showing up. I think it was caused by an app that turned evil with an update (I put a free Android anti-virus program on it and it flagged/removed the app and stopped the problem.)
      You basically have to realize that modern operating systems are so complex that there will always be a vulnerability hiding somewhere, so your only hope is to have a way to fix them as they are found.

      • (Score: 2) by EvilJim on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:25PM

        by EvilJim (2501) on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:25PM (#51963) Journal

        Thanks, so that's one positive report. I don't randomly install stuff like women tend to do so I guess that helps. ;)

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by aristarchus on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:53AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:53AM (#51467) Journal

    I don't think I have ever bought an Apple product by mistake. And I know I have never bought one intentionally. So that conclusively means that I have never bought an Apple product. I have bought Android based phones. I knew that they ran Android, and I knew that Android ran a Linux kernel. Now I have been disappointed at the locked down nature of some the the phones I have had, and I have been tempted to jailbreak all of them, but I don't think I could ever have been accused of buying them by mistake, and if it was a mistake, it was mistaking them for Linux, not mistaking them for an iPhuck.

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by kwerle on Thursday June 05 2014, @07:41AM

      by kwerle (746) on Thursday June 05 2014, @07:41AM (#51535) Homepage

      Folks, we have established that at least one person bought an android phone on purpose!

  • (Score: 1) by Tork on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:02AM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:02AM (#51472)
    Android fanboys talk endlessly about Apple. Tim Cook makes a statement that puckers their hinders. Apple lets their PR agency coast for a couple of weeks, saving them millions!
    --
    🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by silverly on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:12AM

    by silverly (4052) on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:12AM (#51479) Homepage

    Android fragmentation is a problem yes. But i don't think the people on fragmented versions of android actually give a damn. Most of these people would be mostly regular people who just want to use their phone for just standard stuff, ie, sending and receiving text messages and making the odd phone call. Anything extra is a just a nice bonus, "great i can check my facebook messages from my phone". I don't think these people care about all the new features since for all they care about the phone works fine and as long as it works its gonna be no issue to them.

    Apple is very smart in a business sense and forces its users to upgrade their device http://vimeo.com/79695097 [vimeo.com] so since android isnt as aggressive / its demographic is totally different then it probaly wont change.

    • (Score: 2) by jasassin on Thursday June 05 2014, @06:52AM

      by jasassin (3566) <jasassin@gmail.com> on Thursday June 05 2014, @06:52AM (#51524) Homepage Journal

      Nice link. Lol.

      --
      jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
    • (Score: 1) by larku on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:13AM

      by larku (4429) on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:13AM (#51580)

      Absolutely - I'm still running some ancient version of CyanogenMod-7.1.0 (that's Android 2.3.7). Why? It's a phone, it works just fine, no need to update.

      Obviously I could easily update to some new version but I just don't feel the need - not because I can't.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by RedBear on Thursday June 05 2014, @09:36AM

    by RedBear (1734) on Thursday June 05 2014, @09:36AM (#51560)

    Look, people, do we really need to flog this horse here? Do we really need to whip the Apple haters into a froth? There are so many other sites where we can wage this ridiculous platform war.

    The comment was meant as a joke, and was taken as a joke, in the middle of a WWDC keynote full of thousands of Apple developers. It was a dumb joke, but it's not like he was tweeting it out to the world as some kind of serious statement.

    I'd really love it if we could just stick to arguing about facts rather than constantly getting into the endless Apple hatred that other site was always steeped in. Why can't it just be OK that everyone buys whatever devices they like? Samsung and Microsoft have been running plenty of stuff directly calling Apple devices inferior and Apple users idiots. I didn't see anyone complaining about that.

    --
    ¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
    ... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
    • (Score: 1) by Paradise Pete on Friday June 06 2014, @02:51AM

      by Paradise Pete (1806) on Friday June 06 2014, @02:51AM (#52030)

      Well said. It's both amazing and disappointing how Soylent News turns into Slashdot by the mere posting of a joke.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05 2014, @10:33AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05 2014, @10:33AM (#51571)

    I find it interesting that Apple needs to take things out of context and make immature slurs about it's competition in order to sell products. when you have a truly stellar product it will sell itself. I wonder what Apple is worried about.

  • (Score: 1) by larku on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:17AM

    by larku (4429) on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:17AM (#51581)

    "Over 130 million customers who bought an iOS device in the past 12 months, were buying their first iOS device"

    Of course, those who already have one have learnt their lesson already.

    Once bitten.

    /jest

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:55AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 05 2014, @11:55AM (#51607)

    everybody, fruit or robot, answers to 3 letters by law. so there goes your malware argument.
    some people prefer pink, some orange and some whatever.
    calling android user stupid is not a good marketing ploy ... that's like calling 80% of the market st0pid?
    sure that's going to convince me to switch.
    i myself prefer the robot. my other family members luv the fruit. *shrug* then again i'm the poore$$$t in the family ...

  • (Score: 2) by DrMag on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:32PM

    by DrMag (1860) on Thursday June 05 2014, @02:32PM (#51691)

    I purchased the Nexus 5 when it was released. At the time, I had a roommate that worked in an Apple store. He was more excited about my new phone than I was. Just sayin'.