Interesting Links for 14-9-2011

[andrewducker]

• Windows 8 "Metro" apps to only be installable through the App store? Fuck. That.
  (tags: windows microsoft business EpicFail)
• Android support for x86 is coming
  (tags: android intel)
• And the winner of the feminist game of the year so far is...Space Marine?
  (tags: games computer_games warhammer feminism)
• An amazing gaming table
  (tags: gaming)
• A casting spoiler for next year's True Blood. I was unshocked, and excited
  (tags: trueblood)
• 66% of current iPhone 4 users plan to upgrade to an iPhone 5, despite not knowing any specifics about the new handset
  (tags: iphone apple headdesk technology marketing)
• Possibly the finest customer service ever.
  (tags: customerservice MarksAndSpencer business dinosaurs)

Comments

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

Why do you say that all iPhone customers (not just the 66% percent that have Faith in Apple's next product) are irrational?

I have non-technical friends who think their iPhone is marvellous. And it is a very useful and usable device for the general public.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Because there are better products, for cheaper, from less annoying companies.

Basically.

The iPhone does nothing[1] that other smartphones don't do, better.

[1]: assuming, of course, that "give money to Apple" is not a goal of the end-user in and of itself. If it is, then yes, the iPhone does that better.

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

Hm, If I'd ever used an iPhone, I'd be able to confirm or deny that. I'm still kind of assuming that Android phones are for geeks, iPhones are for hairdressers.

Heaven knows who Win7 phones are for. Maybe hipsters who want to push the boat quite far out with that "cool underdog nerd irony" thing?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

iPhones are for people who don't know anything about computers, or phones, and thus don't mind that they paid extra for something that does less than the competition and what it does do, it doesn't do as well.

Android phones are for people who want something like an iPhone, but that actually works as expected. And is cheaper. And more powerful.

(Win7 Phones are for people who use Bing instead of Google by preference.)

[danmilburn.livejournal.com]

You know, I work for Nokia, in an office full of software engineers. Guess what? Some of them have iPhones. You can dismiss anyone who buys one as stupid, ignorant or irrational if that makes you feel better, but it doesn't actually make it true.

I have an Android phone, I've never bought an Apple product and dislike the way they do business, but I can think of a couple of sensible reasons why a person might buy one:

They got an iPhone before there was any reasonable competition, they like it, and they have made an investment, in knowing how it works, in libraries of purchased apps and, yes, in brand loyalty. So it might make sense to get the latest one if they want an upgrade.

There is one way in which iDevices are indisputably miles ahead of the competition, and that's the number of apps and particularly games available. You can also be sure that a given app will actually run properly on your device.

[danmilburn.livejournal.com]

Oh, and something else I've just discovered: Android has quite astonishingly poor proxy options.