So… Becky and I are almost certainly going to imminently upgrade, finally, to smartphones. Indeed, the tentative plan has been to pre-order two iPhone 4s on Tuesday, the first day it’s possible to do so. But we’re not under contract with anyone right now, so all options are available to us. And I’m concerned about the AT&T network issues that everyone complains about, and also about the prospect of being locked into a 2GB data limit, when I have the alternative of buying an HTC EVO — which, by at least some accounts I’ve read, is basically the iPhone’s equal — on a fully functional (and 4G!) network with far less crowded bandwidth, and with unlimited data, for basically the same price.
Apple fanboy that I am, I really, really want to buy an iPhone, not an EVO or some other Android phone (the “???” in the post’s title), because I think iPhones are way cooler than other smartphones. (I mean, just look at it!! It’s so pretty!!) But I’m concerned that it might be an unwise decision, given the aforementioned issues, if the EVO, or some other alternative, really is just as good of a phone, objectively.
So: what say you, blog readers? Can anyone ease my mind by giving me tangible reasons why the iPhone 4 is better, so as to outweigh the AT&T factor? Alternatively, does anyone want to make the case for the EVO, or some other smartphone? Anyone have links to useful reviews, compare-and-contrast articles, etc.?
(And don’t say “wait until Apple introduces the Verizon iPhone.” I have no idea when that will happen, if ever, and unless you’re Steve Jobs’s close personal friend, neither do you. And Becky and I are both sick and tired of our 2006-era flip phones, which are pretty much busted anyway. I want a smartphone now, not at some indefinite date in the future when Apple possibly maybe perhaps switches providers. So it’s now or never for the iPhone for me.)
I say get an iPhone. It’s just so much cooler.
I mean, look at all those lame buttons on the bottom of the EVO. I just hate when techy devices have all these dumb buttons on them that you never use.
You work hard all day. Do you really want to support some lousy freeloading buttons?
I’ll respond later with a more detailed breakdown later (helping a friend move right now) but I’m going to recommend the iPhone. I think it will be a better fit for you.
I think you’ll be happiest with the iPhone. First off, check with Denver AT&T friends about the local area’s reception. Remember that the majority of the AT&T complaints come from New Yorkers and Silicon Valley types, where AT&T has always had issues with its users. In the DC suburbs, it isn’t an issue – I have never run into anyone having issues in suburban Maryland – in fact, in the more rural county I now live in, AT&T actually has better coverage and reception.
Here’s a thought as well: check into the Palm Pre. Verizon may still be offering a KILLER deal on the phone for 49.99. PLUS, they might also throw in the 3G hotspot tech up to 5 GB per month for free, so you can then “tether” any device to it. This is how I’ve been using my iPad, and why I didn’t get an iPhone this time around.
Ok, the more detailed breakdown between the two phones.
As far as data goes, I’d be impressed if you managed to push past 2 gigs, especially if you use it on wireless when you are at home. I’ve never gone beyond 500 MB in a given month, and usually its less than that. Unless you are planning on shelling out the extra $20 a month for tethering (which is highway robbery btw). I think you’ll need less of the laptop with the iPhone.
When it comes to being an equal? No, it may be a good phone, but its not yet equal to the iPhone over all. It has some strengths, namely extreme configurability and unlimited apps, but as for as polish and useability the iPhone exceeds it.
The battery on the iPhone up to this point has been pretty good, reports on the EVO say that the battery is not its strong point.
Size may also be a factor, the EVO 4G is definitely bigger, though it might not be big enough.
The HTC’s Sense UI is also an issue, there is this article to consider:
http://whalesalad.com/blog/incredible-vs-nexus-one/
Another issue with Android phones in general is the roulette wheel that is upgrades. When Google releases their next OS with nifty new features will you be able to upgrade? Maybe? Phones are still being sold today with a version of the Android OS that is 2-3 versions behind and many of them can’t upgrade. The iPhone 4 will come with the very latest of the iOS and based on history it will get all of iOS 5 and probably most of the features (hardware specific withstanding) of iOS 6 too.
Moving to another strength for the iPhone. Apps. Good, well written apps abound on the iPhone platform, less so on Android. They may be functional but review after review i’ve read have been overall dissapointed with the quality of Android apps. For the most part it seems the attention to detail is not there, and the UI queues Apple provides and most developers follow don’t have quite the same equivalence on Android. Google’s own apps aren’t always consistent from one to the next. Chances are you will find the apps you want on the iPhone and there will be good ones. Wellll there is the catch of Apple’s limitations, if there is an app you REALLLLY want that Apple doesn’t ok, then you’re either having to jailbreak or go with Android.
I don’t think you want to deal with the hassles that an Android phone adds, because I don’t think you’ll really run into too many situations where you NEED something it offers that the iPhone doesn’t, especially since you’ve gone this long without a smart phone, probably doubly true for Becky since she’s a tad less nerdy than you 🙂
Oh and supposedly the new antenna design improves reception.
Also reports of issues with the EVO’s screen: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/13/htc-evo-suffering-from-glass-separation-issues/
Thanks, David. I was also just reading an article about EVO’s miserable battery life. Your point about app quality is also critical, so thanks especially for that. I already know, as an iPod touch owner, how great many many apps for iPhone are.
I think this will go down as a classic case of “pre-buyer’s remorse” (or “buyer’s pre-remorse”?), sort of like when I freaked out a few weeks before we bought our house about whether we should do a new build in the same neighborhood instead, and we spent two days going through the whole process of looking at what that would entail, cost, etc., before eventually realizing, nope, we found the perfect house already.
In other words, T minus 24 hours till I can pre-order our iPhones 🙂
Here’s a great Robert Scoble post comparing the two, and concluding that the iPhone wins, in spite of the AT&T factor. He cites, among other things, the superiority of the camera, especially for video. That’s a big deal to me.
More links… (I’m compiling mostly for my own benefit)
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/05/31/htc-evo-4g-sprint-review/
http://blog.louisgray.com/2010/06/my-personal-iphone-apocalypse-week-with.html
Go with the iPhone – I’m very happy with my 3G, despite being on AT&T in NYC. I think that says a lot. I’ll be upgrading to 4 as soon as I can.
I was going to point to the Scoble post as well, plus there is a good video if you have 35 minutes to listen to Scoble compare and contrast. I will be following this article closely since my wife and I are both eligible this year for upgrades. I have been trying to decide between the EVO and iPhone 4 as well.
I have a 3G and my wife, due to some maneuvering by our son, has the 3GS. She has gotten better signal coverage than me for about the last year. I have not been thrilled with the service in NW Indiana and I think it is a great point to research AT & T’s coverage in the Denver area. I can tell you we visited Denver/Boulder for a couple days last summer and had no issues anywhere.
For me it is boiling down to the refinement of the iPhone 4 and Apple’s ability to deliver excellent service. I am on my 3rd iPhone 3G due to various technical issues and the Genius bar has ALWAYS been great. For these reasons and the maturity of the App Store, I am probably sticking with Apple. I don’t love AT&T, but I do love the iPhone.
I like the idea of better coverage and lower data volumes leading to more reliability on the Sprint network. I do believe Scoble when he talks about better call quality on Sprint. I also like the idea of my own “Wi-Fi” hot spot with the EVO. My family could all use wireless with just one EVO in the car. With two teen age sons, this is appealing. But the poor battery life and the “geekier” UI are enough to scare me away.
You experienced my problems with AT&T first hand last fall. I was supposed to be live blogging from inside ND Stadium for the Nevada game on opening weekend back to this very blog, and I COULD NOT GET ANY DATA OR CELL SERVICE! Very frustrating when in large groups of people. I can report, I NEVER have service inside ND Stadium. It is hilarious, because I will drive away after the game and a bunch of texts and voice mails will instantly start dropping into my phone. I am betting my friends think I am just ignoring them, thanks AT&T. That does stink, but it is a small trade off for using such an elegant piece of hardware.
Also, David is right about data usage, if you use wireless at home and can log on to a wireless signal at work or other times you use the data, you won’t come close to the 2GB limit. My whole family (4 of us) are on iPhones and we just barely pass the 2GB cap. My sons are terrible about using the wireless and they download tons of YouTube vids, and the most either of them uses is about 1.5GB in a month.
I vote iPhone 4! You won’t regret that decision.
I vote HTC, only because I trust Google more than I trust Apple. Apple has been going the Sony proprietary route for everything, so I say f**k ’em.
The Apple iOS and the Google based Android phones, including the HTC EVO, represent different philosophies on how to build a phone.
The places where Android beats iOS tend to be on things that Apple doesn’t really care about. And the reverse is also true, though perhaps not quite to the same extent.
The shortest explanation is that the iOS is a curated platform and Android is not. This is a very different philosophy and leads to very different decisions and priorities.
If you are going to go with a curated platform like the iOS you must ask yourself if, in general, you agree with the decisions of the curator. If you don’t then clearly you shouldn’t go with that platform. (There is no point in visiting a museum having a Picasso exhibit if you hate modern art. Or going to a wine shop to pick up a pack of pampers for that matter.) This notion is explored more fully here http://counternotions.com/2010/05/17/curation/ And as always John Gruber of Daring Fireball Talks about this stuff often and in great detail, or in snarky quips… or both.
My opinion is that the iOS is superior for most users. Neither OS is perfect for all users or any user for that matter. The main feature of the iOS is that it lets you do the stuff you want to do, and you don’t need to worry about all the other stuff.
As for AT&T and reception issues. Well… I will admit I’ve been having some trouble with them the last few days here in North Arlington, VA… Lots of dropped calls and shoddy performance. But overall they actually have been pretty decent. And it’s true, I’ve never really had much trouble in areas of lower density (It has also been extremely hot here very early in the season too… If AT&T has added capacity but not all the cooling needed for a DC summer yet I could see them running into a lot of problems. It’s not a very good excuse, but it is an explanation for the problem.)
Here’s another article about potential problems, this time with touch screen responsiveness for the EVO 4G:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/14/htc-evo-4g-and-droid-incredible-suffering-from-unresponsive-scre/
I continue to be amused by your trust of Google AML.
Consider the following:
Who is Google’s primary loyalty to? The people from whom it gets the money, and who are those people? The advertisers who account for 97% of Googles revenue.
Google is tracking you and KEEPING THAT DATA. Your searches correlated with your IP address, browser type, date and time of the request, even cookies, etc. for atleast nine months. Perhaps they keep it for innocous purposes and would gaurd your privacy diligentally you might think, but then you should consider what they did with Buzz where they unilateraly decided to make peoples contact info available, including this women who suddenly had her information exposed to her abusive ex-husband. That wasn’t an unintentional bug (like the recent AT&T problem that exposed information on iPad 3G users) but the by design behavior of the product. A design decision that apparently NO ONE in the company took the time to think of the real world consequences.
Google tends to play fast and loose with the law (something people hated about Microsoft back in the monopoly case days) such as its book scanning where they were blatantly violating copy-right laws. When challanged on it, their solution was “If you ask us specifically we won’t violate YOUR rights (but screw everyone who doesn’t know to ask!)”.
Or there is the recent Street View WiFi sniffing. Sure it is stupid for people to set up non-portected WiFi networks but that doesn’t excuse Google from collecting the data as it drove up and down the streets. Google claims it was an ‘accident’. I find it hard to believe that you can ACCIDENTALLY add code to a system to scan for wireless data, intentionally throw away the encrypted stuff and keep whats left. Our government and others are apparently not satisfied with Google’s explanation either.
Google also likes to re-write history, like their claim that they decided to pursue Android because of the Evil Apple iPhone policies. This ignores the fact that they purchased Android before the iPhone was announced.
As for proprietary, um, really? Apple is eschweing Flash in favor of HTML 5 open web standards. WebKit, the browser that Safari is based on is also open source and so good that Google built THEIR browser on top of it too (others have done the same, such as Palm). Apple opted for USB, a standard created by Intel before anyone else was commiting to it on a serious level. FireWire was an industry standard. h.264 is an open standard for video that Apple opted for. AAC which Apple uses for their iTunes music is an industry standard not created by Apple, and Apple was the first major store to have DRM free music and led the charge in getting DRM dropped from music altogether. iTunes generates an XML library file so 3rd party utilities (such as those for RIM’s Blackberry) can easily sync music and playlists people create and manage in iTunes. Apple’s mini Display Port is a royalty free standard as well. In its OS Apple supports such open standards as OpenGL and OpenCL.
Now you may be confusing proprietary with curated, and yes the iPhone is a largely curated device for native applications. The App store has limits and sometimes thsoe limits are applied haphazardly or mistakenly, and some prorams will never make the cut. However for an unabashed capitalist like yourself I fail to see how that is a demonstration of evilness. Wal*Mart certainly refuses to carry items of certain types and has a history of removing items that enough people find objectionable. There is no inherent law that says Apple HAS to let anyone play on their field when there are other reasonable options available (Android, WinMo, Palm, Symbian, etc.).
Nothing wrong with disliking the iPhone because it doesn’t suit your needs or you don’t like Apple’s approach, but Apple has shown that most people actually WANT less crap to get in their way and are perfectly fine with a curated approach for the most part. Certainly they find Apple’s well maintained park to be a superior alternative to the barely contained wilderness that is Android. But hey maybe you like the wilderness because you can let your dog off its leash and go pee behind any tree you want. No harm there, just don’t bemoan the park so much for being different.
Damnit…hey Brendan, can you fix the tags in that comment for me? Thanks.
David, when it comes to technology, I’m a fairly simple man. I want applications to run on whatever hardware platform or OS that I want. I want cables to be universal and work whether you’re charging your Mac or your Dell. I want to be able to easily and freely transfer MP3s recorded on whatever platform to be played and sorted on other platforms.
I don’t care whether Apple developers are using HTML5 or HTML-5, if I buy an iPhone, I want to be able to load and play back music files in whatever file format I want, and load whatever apps are out there, whether they are Apple-sanctioned or not.
This has nothing to do with economic or political philosophies, and it has nothing to do with anyone’s notion of privacy and which company is more likely to be snooping and gathering data for money-making purposes. This has to do with my desire to have freedom to do whatever I want with the device after the point of purchase, and not feel constrained to have to go back to the OEM for parts, software, licenses, etc. This is the same philosophy the government is increasingly taking when it comes to purchasing software: they want everything to be open source and they want full rights to the source code, to prevent them from being hostage to Lockheed Martin IT, or Oracle, or anyone else. Admittedly this is not always possible, but for example, as a taxpayer, do you want your government’s IT solution for networking navy ships to be held hostage to an Oracle licensing structure and proprietary middleware developed by a systems integrator like Northrop Grumman?
To the extent this sort of freedom after the point of purchase is more possible with Android, I’m inclined to support that platform more. Admittedly, every major IT company plays these games, but when it comes to consumer electronics, well, that more or less points back to why I’ve always been a PC guy and not a Mac guy. And that’s why I lean Google over Apple (and Google over Microsoft).
Its fine to support whatever platform and if format flexibility is your key factor then sure Android is a fine choice, but your criticism of Apple was not accurate.
Really? You don’t consider Apple’s lockdown of iTunes and their proprietary MP3 format, along with their non-standard charging / connecting cords for Apple products, going down the same proprietary path as what Sony was famous for? Please explain your logic, as it completely escapes me.
What proprietary mp3 format would that be, I’m curious? As for the doc connector, it does more than just charge the device, and as a ting, nothing existed before to do what it does. Originally iPods used a standard FireWire connector, but that wasn’t sufficiently flexible for user needs, so the doc connector was invented, it’s part of what makes the ios family of devices capable of manny of the things they can do.
Lots of devices use proprietary connectors, especially when the non-proprietary versions don’t offer whats needed. For example, USB is useful but it doesn’t offer all the power and other control options that the iPod connector uses. What is the compelling case for making a non-proprietary connector? Sony made proprietary techfor the sake of making propreitary tech, Apple usually does it for practical reasons. The plethora of devices that support the iPod type connector show that its not a hinderance either.
As Dane said , what proprietary MP3 format? AAC (which is the format Apple sells its music in) is not proprietary, its not even by Apple. Its an MPEG standard if I recall correctly. The Zune can play AAC files too. So can other players and software. Apple just picked the successor format to Mp3 so they could get the same sound quality with smaller files.
Also, just about every laptop i’ve ever seen uses a proprietary connector, and Apple’s connector is actually USEFUL. Should they be using a standard plug instead? The Mag-safe adapter is brilliant, why NOT use it.
Again i’m surprised a capitalist like yourself seems to have such a problem with a company choosing an option that it finds profitable and flexible and succesful. If Apple can succeed selling its products with non “standard” connectors whats the deal? The iPod connectors work with PC’s and Mac’s so its not like they are using them to shut out the competition. Since all MP3 players pretty much come with their own cord anyway, whats the downside of allready having an iPod cord. It’s not like they are putting a block in the way of switching to some other player.
As for the App store, its no different than what Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo do with their game systems. The iPhone/iPad/iPod touch are not like traditional computers. They aren’t designed around the geek/power user and maximum flexbility. They intentionally eschew that in favor of simplicity, useability and stability, a trade off most people are not only ok with, but actually prefer. Thats not to say Apple’s approach is perfect, there have beens ome definite missteps. But still, its better for MOST people AND there are alternatives to buying an iPhone. Android, WebOS, etc.
dcl (and David), I misspoke: It’s not so much the proprietary MP3 format, it’s the fact that you can’t load on MP3s from other devices and formats — they have to be burned through iTunes.
As for the connectors, a few thoughts:
1) I actually do like the magnetic connector, that’s definitely an innovation whose time has come, and I would like others to adopt that innovation for their products (just like I’d like to see compasses standard in rear-view mirrors).
2) I have a problem with all companies and products that require special connections and cables when more universal standards are available. I never said Apple is solely guilty of this, merely that they engage heavily in it.
3) Developing a cord / connector that is more utilitarian than what is available and non-proprietary makes sense, but I’m probably a bit Luddistic in that I lean towards universal standards over utilitarian purpose, and would prefer the two quickly merge (i.e. if what Apple did is so great, it should become a non-proprietary standard for many devices, and if it could’ve been done within existing protocol ports and connectors vs. inventing new connectors and shapes, then that would have been ideal — for example, like upgrading to USB 2.0, or MicroSD cards). I fail to see why Apple could not have adopted one of the standard ports / connections and advanced it to solve their utilitarian needs.
4) The problem I have with the App store is that, once I buy the Apple product, I should not have to go through Apple and get their permission to load Apps on it. And Apple should not have veto / censorship rights over app developers. I want my phone to be a “free agent” product. Tethering to a phone company hurts but makes some sense based on the way the market is set up (due to some very poor legislation and regulation, IMO). However, being forced to go through iTunes and Apple for songs and apps is unforgivable for me.
5) Get off the capitalist angle already, it’s a moronic line or reasoning suitable only for the likes of yourself. This has nothing to do with economic philosophy. If my wife and I prefer local, grass-fed beef, does that mean we are socialists because we prefer to avoid that aspect of the ag-industry? Nonsense. The founder of Whole Foods is a libertarian. And my consumer electronic product preferences cannot be reasonably explained by political beliefs, one way or the other.
Nope, you can load MP3’s from elsewhere. I’ve bought MP3’s using Amazon.com for example and my iPhone plays them.
#3 – Because none of the existing ports/connectors would sufficiently do what they needed? I dunno. As it is using USB 2.0 cords for the iPads, charging is only supported if your USB port supports a non-standard high-powered mode. Otherwise the USB port can’t provide enough juice for the device to recharge when in use.
#4 – Tethering is supported by the iPhone OS, ATT doesnt (until recently) support it on their network, so thats not an Apple issue per se. As for doing what you want, you CAN do what you want with it, jailbreaking is out there. But Apple isn’t going to help you do it or support you if you have problems. Apple produces a device based on the philosophy that most people would prefer a curated device. So far this has worked out incredibly well, Androids app market on the other hand remains limited for a number of reasons. The absolute (or near absolute) freedom an Android device offers is simply not compelling enough to be worth it for most people.
Again, I have no problem fi you prefer an Android device, if it suits your needs thats what you should use. Same with Mac vs PC or Ford vs Chevy.
As for the capitalist thing, I have no problem if you are arguing from a standpoint that you would rather buy a product that does x y or z. But your arguments came across to me atleast, that Apple shouldn’t be at all doing things the way they are and that surprised me coming from you. I think that some people think that Apple is obligated to offer them choice at a lower level than is reasonable to expect. Unless/until Apple gains a stranglehold marketshare in smart phones, the level of choice is at the device/OS level. If you don’t like what one phone offers then move to another one. But Apple isn’t going to simply open up its store because some person doesn’t like it (unless its a metric ton of people) especialy when they are succeeding by leaps and bounds in their approach.
hmm, let me see, let’s quote apple…. the iPod supports:
Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
It doesn’t directly support FLAC, but there are a number of FLAC Apple Lossless transcoders. (the two formats are reasonably similar, for those scorning at home.)
You can pretty much play whatever you want. I’m not sure why people seem to think that all the music on their iPod needs to come from the iTunes store. Just because that’s built into iTunes the program doesn’t mean you ever have to use it. In fact if I recall correctly you can turn it off entirely. Just like the videos you play on it don’t need to come from iTunes, you can download whatever you want and if need be transcode to a format that will play on an idevice and you are done.
None of the DRM formats are cross compatible, but that doesn’t stop you from doing whatever the hell you want with non DRM content.
But at the end of the day, if you don’t like the curator don’t buy from them. If you don’t like what Jacks Fish Shack sells don’t shop at Jacks Fish Shack… Just don’t tell other people they shouldn’t shop there if they happen to like Jack’s bad grammar.
Which is the point I was endeavoring to make at the beginning. Apple’s iOS devices are curated. You either like that or you don’t. If you don’t then they are not for you. If you like, in general, the choices Apple has made and the trade offs that entails than the iOS device is probably going to suit your needs better because the overall design and interface technology are massively superior. It’s like trying to argue that the install process for Ubuntu and overall UI is just as nice as Mac OS X 10.6. It isn’t. Not even close, but that doesn’t make it a bad choice for certain people. Just a different choice. Which is, I think, why David keeps getting caught up on the socialism thing.
And when I say DRM formats are not cross compatible I mean none of the competing brands are compatible with any other brand. Hell, Microsoft has released two incompatible DRM formats so far.
In fact, when it comes to eReaders the most compatible is the iPad, as it can read DRMed files from all the major competitors, all be it through their individual eReader programs…
David, I could easily flip this on its head and ask you why you support Apple when it enjoys a oligopolist position in the marketplace. That surely must be crony capitalist or fascist (in the corporatist sense) to support a near monopoly over its smaller competitors.
As a parallel example, Airbus won a lot of orders for its proposed A350XWB for the simple fact that airlines didn’t want Boeing to have a monopoly with the 787, and they were willing to buy a plane with a clearly inferior design to keep that from happening. But even in that situation, enough airlines clamored that Airbus went back to the drawing board and redesigned its A350 to be more competitive, and more customers signed on — again though, many of those didn’t want to be buying planes in that size class if Boeing had domination of the market.
On a similar line, I fully support Apple’s right to do what it’s doing, and if I could rewind the clock about 5-10 years, I’d buy a shitload of Apple stock (I think it’s overpriced right now). But just because a company is profitable doesn’t mean it isn’t being usurious with its customers or harming the market overall, and recognizing that fact doesn’t make one pro- or anti-capitalist. I frankly don’t want Apple to be dominant; I want Google and Apple and maybe Microsoft or some other major player(s) all slugging it out for the same customer base with competitive product offerings. And even Apple fans should be happy for that, as it will drive more innovation on Apple’s part and (hopefully) better pricing and customer service. As an example, even if you still want to buy a new Prius, aren’t you happy now that the Insight and Leaf are coming onto the market? Don’t you think it makes Toyota step up its game and offer a more competitive package to its customer at a better price?
The bottom line is consumers can make decisions and have preferences that have zero basis in their political or economic philosophies, and trying to read capitalist or socialist motives into or out of someone’s product preferences is simply retarded.
Going back to my original comment at #11, you simply can’t deny that Apple does things that are exploitative of its market position, and that is why I trust Google more when it comes to being the smaller player in the market. Is Google exploitative of its customers when it comes to its search platform and advertising? Perhaps so, but since using Google is free, why should I care? Google is more hands-off when it comes to the phone stuff, so that’s why I feel less concerned there.
The other factor is, Brendan and I are different kinds of consumers. Most of you guys are like Brendan as well — you’re technology trend-setters, you want the latest cool gadgets and gizmos, and you’ll pay a premium for them.
Myself, I prefer to wait for the technology to be established and ubiquitous, with lots of competition and reliable options. Hence, I never had any interest in a Prius — I thought it drived like crap and was overly expensive. But give me a hybrid in a more conventional style at a better price (measured by yes this makes more financial sense than getting a turbodiesel or a smaller engine that uses regular gas, which is why I won’t buy a Accord or Escape hybrid, for example) and better handling / performance/ utility, and I’ll be there, and I’m willing to wait a few years for that to happen. Similarly, I was happy to sit out the HDTV market until LEDs became competitively priced, and promptly rushed out and got my Vizio.
So when it comes to tablet-style gadgets like the iPhone, iPad, and whatnot, I’d rather wait for the competitive landscape to even out — I simply don’t feel the need for one. And if for whatever reason I did feel the need (e.g., I had a business use for it or whatever), then I’d get the HTC or whatever is cheaper and helps advance the competitive landscape, even if the product is somewhat inferior from an overall fit and finish aspect.