It IS like PC vs Mac. With Mac you have closed hardware and closed specs, only newer or older.
With PC you can build your own computer selecting or cherry-picking the components you want, and then install the version and flavour of OS fits better to your liking or needs, Windows server/desktop, lots of Linux distros, even BSDs, you name it, as long as it is x86 architecture.
It's more like Windows vs Mac, since he's talking about Android which is the software operating system vs the iPhone which is the hardware plus iOS.
If HTC made a phone exactly the same as one of their Android phones and put Windows Mobile on it (which they basically do) then it's no longer an Android phone.
I note that he claims there is only one iPhone and you're guaranteed to get this years model, which is of course nonsense. Apple sold the 3G as the low-end model when the 3GS came out, and they're still going to sell the 3GS now that iPhone 4 is out. I can't recall if they still sold the 2G after the 3G came out but it wouldn't surprise me. This may seem like a small quibble but there seems to be a pattern of making stuff up about both the iPhone and its competitors that to me is an interesting sign all by itself.
Yeah, the "its not even pc vs mac" sentence wasn't really backed up in the post. I didn't want to get into it and get off topic but maybe i shouldn't have worded it like that.
I think the main reason this isn't pc vs Mac now is that with pcs the hardware plays a much smaller role in the user experience than with phones. Windows could present a more unified front on lots of different hardware than the current phone ecosystem can. Also in the early days of the windows vs Mac battle compatibility and workplace computers played a much bigger role in the choice. Those factors let windows get a very solid mind-share foothold even if the underlying ecosystem was just as fragmented.
Cars have the same exact problem. I can't just buy a "car". No, first I have to pick the kind I want, and then the manufacturer, and the size, and the color.
Why can't they make just one "car" and stop this fragmentation of the transportation market.
It's more about branding than choice. For example BMW is a brand, they pour all their branding energy into their overall brand and each car is just a model number: 3 series, 5 series, etc. Toyota is a brand but it also brands each of it's cars, for example the prius is a very well marketed and focused brand.
Both these marketing strategies work, the question is in android vs iPhone which strategies there are working. I see the droid brand being handled much better by verizon than the android brand is being handled by google. In the end the mind share may be droid vs iphone, but then it's not a software or hardware company that owns the brand, its a network.
How can this little bit of "opinion" even hit the frontpage of hackernews? This is pretty "thin" information (if at all) and looks like it was written by a mac fanboy. Where is the "news" in that blog post?
[+] [-] drKarl|16 years ago|reply
It IS like PC vs Mac. With Mac you have closed hardware and closed specs, only newer or older.
With PC you can build your own computer selecting or cherry-picking the components you want, and then install the version and flavour of OS fits better to your liking or needs, Windows server/desktop, lots of Linux distros, even BSDs, you name it, as long as it is x86 architecture.
[+] [-] ZeroGravitas|16 years ago|reply
If HTC made a phone exactly the same as one of their Android phones and put Windows Mobile on it (which they basically do) then it's no longer an Android phone.
I note that he claims there is only one iPhone and you're guaranteed to get this years model, which is of course nonsense. Apple sold the 3G as the low-end model when the 3GS came out, and they're still going to sell the 3GS now that iPhone 4 is out. I can't recall if they still sold the 2G after the 3G came out but it wouldn't surprise me. This may seem like a small quibble but there seems to be a pattern of making stuff up about both the iPhone and its competitors that to me is an interesting sign all by itself.
[+] [-] Mazer23|16 years ago|reply
I think the main reason this isn't pc vs Mac now is that with pcs the hardware plays a much smaller role in the user experience than with phones. Windows could present a more unified front on lots of different hardware than the current phone ecosystem can. Also in the early days of the windows vs Mac battle compatibility and workplace computers played a much bigger role in the choice. Those factors let windows get a very solid mind-share foothold even if the underlying ecosystem was just as fragmented.
[+] [-] ars|16 years ago|reply
Why can't they make just one "car" and stop this fragmentation of the transportation market.
[+] [-] Mazer23|16 years ago|reply
Both these marketing strategies work, the question is in android vs iPhone which strategies there are working. I see the droid brand being handled much better by verizon than the android brand is being handled by google. In the end the mind share may be droid vs iphone, but then it's not a software or hardware company that owns the brand, its a network.
[+] [-] fs111|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hyyypr|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rythie|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ZeroGravitas|16 years ago|reply