The Fundamental Problem with Non-iPhones (opens in new tab)

The iPhone 4S's weight has certainly put me off having one. Despite liking near everything else about it, walking around with it in my pocket, it's a noticeable, heavy, lump.

This reads like a parody of all these types of blog posts.

I mean: "The iPhone plainly put is the perfect phone size. It feels right, this is not something Steve Jobs would have gotten wrong."

Totally made me chuckle. Upvoted for the brilliant parody value alone.

I’m not a fan of Apple BUT iPhone is perfect :)

The issues he touched on have been discussed ad nauseum. However, the sad thing is that after 4 years Android is still suffering from the mistakes of the carriers and handset makers. Bloatware continues to be an issue for many supposed flagship devices. Sure, this can be remedied by rooting, but the average consumer isn't going to root their phone. Not everybody is a geek and can use the term ROM in a casual conversation. Also, the slowness of software updates really is maddening. It's silly for a 6 month old phone to not receive the latest software or have to wait a very long time to get it. I understand the fact that new versions of Android often require certain hardware specs that older devices don't offer. I just think it's a tough pill to swallow that the phone you walk out of the mobile store with might become an after though to the OEM and Google within a few months. The clear solution is to get a Nexus phone. At least then you know you have Google looking out for your best interests. Hopefully the Motorola acquisition helps Google solve some of these issues. It's in everybody's best interest to have strong competition in the mobile space.

Size is a matter of preference, not a fundamental problem. I have an HTC Sensation. It’s bigger than the iPhone and fits my hand perfectly. the iPhone feels like a little kids toy by comparison. I like the bigger screen, but I’m a bigger guy so it’s obviously not for everyone.

Names? Please. If you are choosing your phone based on its name you’re a lost cause.

Resale value: a fair point, depending on the model. It’s also fair to say that you’ll generally pay more for the iPhone up front. There are far too many Android models to make the blanket statement that iPhones have more resale value than all Android phones.

Carriers: Bloatware is an annoyance, but at least with Android phones you can do something about it. You have options: Switch carriers. Root and self-install the latest OS (or one of several mods).

None of these points constitute fundamental problems with non iPhones. It’s all a matter of preference. If you’re the sort of user who doesn’t care about being locked-in then sure iPhone is great. If you’re a tweaker, if you like having control over your devices, if you like to self manage your OS then Android is for you.

"You mean forced updates and taken up memory to keep these applications on my phone that I have no desire to have? Great." This happens with the iPhone, too. Stocks? Compass? Newsstand? Does anyone actually use those?

It sounds similar to me. I had android phone, it was one of the first and it was slowly. Every day I wanted to break it several times, then I bought iphone. Now there are no touch cell phones in the world, except iphone, for me.

I realize this can be changed, since Steve died.

"Out of a lineup, I couldn’t tell you the name of the most recent compared to the name of the oldest"

This is going to sound silly later this year when Apple starts calling all their iPhones "the new iPhone".

We have a Facebook group for the posting of First World Problems. I invite the author to join us there.