I have been thinking lately why I choose the iPhone over an Android Phone. I mean these Android phones are every bit advanced as the iPhone and in the end complete the task originally assigned, accept and receive calls. So I decided to make one of those lists that compared iOS to Android.
The Lists
The easiest was the applications, but as I began to dig I come with a list of 10 of my most used 3rd party applications:
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Twitter for iPhone
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Facebook for iPhone
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The Weather Channel App
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Reeder for iPhone
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Camera+
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Flixster
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FCC Test
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Sol Free
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Stitcher Radio
Now there are a few more applications, but the 10 above are the most used that I would miss. Of the 10, only 2 were not available in the Android Market Place, but that didn’t seem to be a compelling reason for why I chose the iPhone.
I then looked at items such as cases, Android Phones offered, cellular network and so forth. I still concluded that neither was more important than the next. Granted I learned the T-Mobile data speeds were much faster than that of AT&T on 3G, but again concluded that it was just a matter of time before that was no longer an issue.
The Revelation
Then after reading the 37 Signals article, Ten Apps is All I Need, a great point was made by the author Niall Larkin regarding iPhone.
“It’s my favorite piece of technology and has been for years. Do you know why? Because Apple nailed the basics. Safari, Camera, iPod, Clock, Weather, Photos, Messages, Mail, and Maps are the apps that I use 95% of the time. Those are the ones that made me buy the phone and stick with it.”
I had to agree with this comment, but what separates the iPhone from Android for me is the iPod function. Sure Safari, Mail, Maps, and etc are great, but they don’t function any better than their Android counter parts. The iPod is what makes the iPhone stand out from Android.
It’s an iPod, a Phone and Internet Communicator
Before the iPhone, the iPod was Apple’s dominate product. Let’s face it without iPod the iPhone may never have come to be. I use my iPod App each and every day. I use it when I come to work, I use it at work and I use it coming home from work. On the weekends I have it connected to my iLuv or my stereo.
Though only 8GB in capacity I am able to enjoy my full collection of iTunes while at home via iTunes Home Share and on the 3G network with applications such as the PogoPlug App. The icing on the cake is that it provides me cell phone and access to the Internet.
But Android Can Play Music Too
Android may have a music player, but in my world without access to iTunes it simply is not worth the headache just as having a typical MP3 player is not worth the headache. When I connect my iPhone to my iMac all my music is synced, my pictures can be imported to iPhoto, a backup is made and I am on my way. No mounting of device, no dragging & dropping, and no lost data like with Android. In the immortal words of Steve Jobs “It just works.”
The experience will become even better once iCloud and iOS 5 are launched this fall. With Music Match I will have all my music in the cloud and will be able to retrieve it at any moment, without having to go through the trouble of uploading it to services like Amazon Cloud and Google Music Beta.
In the end the reason I wanted the iPhone in the first place is the same reason I will continue with the device, it is my iPhone, the one device for music, Internet and apps
