“About a month and a half ago, I walked into an AT&T Store, handed over my iPhone 4S, and asked to be switched from my unlimited iPhone data plan to a new LTE data plan,” Andy Ihnatko writes for TechHive.
“I wouldn’t have given up unlimited data unless I could swap it for something I wanted even more than the ability to stream Netflix 24/7… something that hadn’t existed during my previous five years as an iPhone owner,” Ihnatko writes. “A great Android phone.”
Ihnatko writes, “In this three-part epic, I’m going to walk you my decision. It’s the story of why Android 4.1 and the S3 got me to switch. No way is it an argument about why anybody else should drop their iPhones and switch to a flagship Android phone. This isn’t the story about how Apple has lost its way and no longer innovates. It hasn’t and it still does. This is merely the story of one dude who got a new phone. Nonetheless, my tale presents a picture of the strengths of modern Android.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Andy’s lack of patriotism and morality aside (really, Andy, rewarding blatant thieves?), this sort of thing should be a wakeup call to Apple that iOS 7 and future iOS hardware should be not just a step, but a leap forward.
(Congrats on joining the Hee Haw demographic, Andy.)
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Sarah” and “psydocdennis” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
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Korea JoongAng Daily: Samsung must stop slavishly copying Apple – September 3, 2012
South Korea reassesses its great imitator, Samsung – September 2, 2012
Convicted patent infringer Samsung acuses Apple of trying to limit consumer choice – September 1, 2012
Is Samsung copying Apple’s patented earphones? It sure looks like it – September 8, 2012
Samsung mimics Apple product videos in Galaxy S III promo (with video) – August 24, 2012
Now slavish copycat Samsung attempts to knockoff Apple’s retail stores (with video) – August 23, 2012
Samsung: Shameless slavish copiers – August 13, 2012
Apple attorney: Instead of innovating, Samsung chose to copy iPhone and iPad – July 31, 2012
Apple: Google warned Samsung against slavishly copying our products – July 25, 2012
Now Samsung slavishly copies Apple’s Mac mini – June 1, 2012
Samsung Mobile chief ‘designer’ denies that Samsung’s instinct is to slavishly copy Apple – March 23, 2012
Slavish copier Samsung shamelessly steals Apple’s iPhone 3G design – again – January 3, 2012
Slavish copier Samsung uses girl actress from iPhone 4S ad for Galaxy Tab 8.9 spot (with video) – January 2, 2012
Now Samsung’s slavishly copying Apple’s iPad television ads (with videos) – December 30, 2011
Judge: Can you tell me which is iPad and which is yours? Samsung lawyer: ‘Not at this distance your honor’ – October 14, 2011
Why are Apple’s icons on the wall of Samsung’s store? – September 24, 2011
Apple to Samsung: ‘Blatant copying is wrong’ – April 18, 2011
Apple sues Samsung for attempting to copy look and feel of iPhone, iPad – April 18, 2011
Samsung’s ‘Instinct’ is obviously to make Apple iPhone knockoffs – April 1, 2008
I find it so weird when samsung and android are mentioned as competitors. Its like saying stolen cars are leading in marketshare. Honda and the rest are not innovating fast enough. They need to step it up or the stolen / reselling market will eat them away.
Everything posted on this story from here on will be expressions of denial. Apple’s gadgets have fallen WAY BEHIND the competition thanks to a hapless, clueless CEO who must be replaced before Apple will regain (if it’s not too late) its once preeminent place in the gadget world. You will recall that all that occurred BEFORE Tim Cook became the CEO. Since then – pretty much nothing.
Really?
Do you think that Apple created a new, game changing device every year while Steve Jobs ran the company? Was Steve hapless and clueless during each year that Apple did not create a great new device? What do you mean by “pretty much” when you say “pretty much nothing”? Are you admitting that maybe the iPad mini might actually be an important product? Do you actually know your butt from a hole in the ground?
Just asking.
PeePee is a troll. Don’t feed it please.
I know, but sometimes I just feel the need to express myself. I’ll try to restrain myself next time.
PeePeeBoy, dear pet troll of ours, you make us laugh. 😆
1 There’s Android phone but no such thing as “great Android phone”.
2 He will come back to iPhone in less than a year.
Andy, let us know whenever you write your ‘Why I switched back to iPhone’.
I bet Apple could smooth this over by sending him a palette of Crispy Creme donuts…just saying
You speak my mind bpondo. Me thinks Ihnatko has other priorities than technical quality. His stomach speaks loudly of other desires. 😉
Andy is a junkie. He needs a new fix constantly, even if it’s inferior or sucks compared to the last one. And “The Mouth That Opens- Wide ” now insists on making every (for him) mouth-watering account a three-parter. Even his thoughts on the great Roger Ebert was a three-parter. Say it right, not necessarily serial-style. Truthfully, I’ve always had great respect for his writing and vrious interests- but I feel he let me down on this one. Mainly because he’s so Wrong!
Well it’s sad that nowadays MDN has to mention patriotism, morality and the desire to be in a certain demographic as reasons to stay with the iPhone.
Its largely because Andy is a moron.. How long will it be before we see an article from him that he switched back because he couldn’t take the fragmentation and lame apps anymore
It’s for hits. And he’ll get more hits when he switches back later this year 🙂
I know. It’s like “look at me, look at me”.
awwwwwww…big andy hurt da widdle fwanbwoi feewings
“It’s for hits”…not that there’s anything wrong with that…only Socrates would dare to argue otherwise…
Andy “The Green Hungarian” Ihnatko lost his marbles around six years ago and has been training in the anti-Apple parkours ever since. Hits are everything to him. Hits are down so he writes this garbage. @Wrong Again is spot on with his observation.
Warning: ad hominem attack ahead: In his latest avatar Andy looks like that doofus cartoon character you see on those “Good Sam” decals plastered on those huge-ass RVs that you (and 20 other cars) get stuck behind on county roads going 20mph tops. http://tinyurl.com/aj6jnfb
Andy is the type of person that halfway through his explanation he forgets what he was talking about. I’ve seen it over and over. He couldn’t keep a coherent thought in his head if his life depended on it.
In other words Macinfo, yes, Andy is a moron.
Less that Andy is a moron, and more that Andy is so fat that his fingers resemble elephant legs and he cannot type accurate on small screens. He did have a point about application data sharing, but that is something easily remedied in iOS 7.
But what I really took away from his article is that he never used the iPod functions of his iPhone and had a limitless budget for replacing apps.
Whatever area they specialise in, some commentators end up believing their own propaganda, and thinking they are bigger than whatever they talk about. People like Ihnatko think that Apple should hang on their every word, so they pull stunts like this. Except they invariably find themselves shunned by their “new friends” and have nowhere to go except oblivion. No point putting the boot in when they are so self-destructive.
Andy Ihnatko was there from the beginning.
For such a man, you’d think there’d be a lingering, ghostly sense of entitlement beckoning in a looming, Shakespearean sense; that to deny it would be to somehow diminish yourself, to surrender to the mindless jabber of the moment, and to embrace it would expose you to the callow indifference of the masses.
An existential dilemma for some, but not for Andy, who never laid claim to ideological purity in the first place. He’s fundamentally just a fun, wisecracking guy, trying to make a living. And now a word from our sponsors.
I didn’t know Andy posted on these boards.
This goof makes two points I agree with…
* UI, including how the screen area is used, keyboard layout and options, etc…
* Application collaboration. This makes no sense and now has moved to OSX sandboxing that has crippled many apps.
I’m way too invested in the iOS eco-system to make a radical change. But Apple will eventually force my hand if they don’t make some significant advancements in their very long in the tooth iOS.
Sandboxing makes a lot of sense, it’s better to to have good APIs instead of “complete freedom” and no security at all. I still don’t see why people need animated home screens, as a developer I’m more interested in accessing Siri or Maps functionality or using WebGL in Safari.
Apple NEEDS a 4.8″ or 5″ screen device of the same quality build as the current iPhone 5. Many, many people choose android for the large screen, and only for that. Apple, fill that hole and sew up the market!
Count me in that camp. I love my Galaxy S3. But I could just as easily love a jailbroken 4.8″ iPhone if it existed, and the hardware of an iPhone would last a lot longer than an Android.
Absolutely. I don’t want an Android phone and it’s ecosystem. I just want a larger iPhone. And so do millions of other consumers. Apple, you have really dropped the ball on this one. Big, big mistake. And it’s costing you. And your investors. Remember them? They’re the people that own the company. Without them there would be no Apple. The two Steve’s would be working at Best Buy. Tim, kick some ass up there in Cupertino.! I’m losing faith in you day by day. I think the fanboys and the AAPL investors who are still holding are about to storm the castle with pitchforks and torches! And hey MDM, quit sounding like a fanboy with the patriotism and morality comments. That’s rather childish.
Goddammit. I’ve been bitching about screen size for years while being criticized on this forum because Steve Jobs didn’t like larger screens. Well Tim Cook, my next phone WILL have a larger screen. I hope it’s another iPhone.
I’m lucky in that I have a phone and a tablet, so I don’t need a larger phone. My 4S does all I need it to, and its still the size needed for a phone; but I also realize I’m not everyone and what works for me doesn’t always work for others.
I like Apple, I am happy with the IPhone, and personally don’t trust Google or Samsung further than I could throw one of their phones. I’m sure they make great phones, I’m just too deep into the Apple ecosystem, and frankly have 0 problems or issues with them.
Just my 2 cents on that.
Agree with all you say! I have a 5 and my wife has my old 4!
The 5 screen is so bright. My retina IPad is awesome!
We have lots of other Mac stuff…… 27″iMac, MBA, etc and love them all.
SS seem to have the Korean trend of copying everything! I have a Honda Si and Hyundai have blatantly copied that too!
How about stop knocking Apple and Tim and have a bit more faith in BOTH!!
Ronald Begg, Ocean Grove, Australia!
how big of a screen does one need to place phone calls? most iPhone owners like the fact that it fits into a typical pocket.
Carry a laptop if you intend to do real work or an iPad if you need superior display for media/mail. For Apple to fragment its product line further in an effort to chase Samsung would be essentially admitting that Samsung won.
Quite frankly, I hardly use my iPhone 5 to make phone calls. I think there are a few articles here and there that talk about that changing dynamic in the smartphone market. Most people just don’t seem to use their smartphones primarily as phones.
While I mostly agree with your first statement, I disagree with the second. It would only be admitting that Samsung moved into a part of the smartphone market first (the phablets), but that wouldn’t have to keep Apple out of that part of the market, if it got in there and was successful with a better product (which would be an Apple ‘win’).
The numbers show pretty good sales in the phablet market. More than I would have expected, but you can always find some people that want bigger phone displays than they need (for some, that replaces the small tablet for gaming, looking at Facebook pictures, etc.).
While I wouldn’t want one, I think Apple does have a hole in its lineup between the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini, and think filling it with a phablet would be smart. They missed that calculation in their research, because if they had started with one there at the time of the iPhone 4, it would have closed a chink that Samsung has been able to exploit.
Who are those numbers from Samdung?
Duh?
just make “IPad mini” with telephone capabilities
one big ass perfect portable cellphone
Mac user since ’84.
iOS 7 better be a MAJOR update or the tides could change.
What would qualify as a major update?
AqBoy4ever doesn’t say what qualifies as “MAJOR”, so I’ll answer for him. He wants stuff and things and other stuff.
So Andy has a Galaxy S3 that doesn’t even have the latest version of Android and AqBoy4ever thinks that iOS 7 needs to be a major update? It must suck in the Android world to not be able to run the latest version.
In the past you would have been correct. But since Android 4.0 it has been very good. 4.1 and 4.2 do contain some enhancements, but not enough to lose sleep over if you don’t have them.
Yeah, because Android is “winning” based on iOS 6’s failings. Does MDN need a refresher on its own headlines regarding why iOS is killing Android in the US?
If you listen to Andy on MacBreak Weekly, you would not be surprised by his decision. In order to sound neutral, Andy has consistently played up Android to make it seem like Apple has to respond to Android on screen size. I think the market has been showing that Apple is making the right decisions on iOS in the US and China.
Get a Android device and be done with it, and while you are at it get a Microsoft PC and see how far your tech life goes.
my comment is who cares about what he did and also, android does suck, so whatever……….
When bloggers want to talk about their switching or use of “Android” they should all be required to state it thus: the Android Advertising Network – where I am the product being sold.
he basically switched to try something different but does not want to come out and say that because he needs to get some press coverage, he is a tech guy interested in well, tech. so after a few years wants to try a different phone, big deal, nothing to see here and i don’t want an experiment like android, i want a well designed and cohesive hardware-software phone that is purpose built to deliver what I need: iPhone. Period.
The story of Android could be read as a story of ethically agnostic tech narcissism (Android = Andy Rubin, and now Andy Ihnakto).
It could be read in other ways, too, like tea leaves or casting yarrow stalks, but they too seem to tell a sinister story—the tea leaves resemble a snake, and the hexagrams always turn up as the ones on the Korean flag.
Andy Inhatko is so 15 minutes ago. If you watch him on TWIT TV, you get the impression he’s been drinking the Leo Laporte Kool Aid too long. On a show ostensibly about Apple, he’s spent the last year in the Greek Chorus of Laporte et. al. telling us why Apple is doing wrong.
here’s the scoop. The Galaxy S III is an ok phone with a contrasty over saturated image. Android is inferior to iOS except for allowing widgets to control certain functions on the phone without drilling down to the Settings center.
I have an iPhone 5. I wear bifocals. I can see the screen and whatever is on it just fine. The phone is secure. It is built better than any of the 3 Android phones I was using before my iphone. There are several folks in my office with Samsung phones. Everyone (and I mean everyone) says, “Why’s you get that instead of an iPhone?).
Omg… to your last sentence. Is that serious?
Do you mean they asked why you didn’t get Android? Sorry, I’m confused.
Clarification-
Coworkers asked why anyone would take the samsung over the Apple product, indicating that the Apple product was superior in every way.
I work for a news gathering organization in an area where the best phone service is from US Cellular (no iphone, great service and support). Every one of the senior people in our building started out on an Android phone. Now, all but 1 use iPhone.
No one says they miss Android, which by the way, is just fine. but, I don’t want just fine. And I certainly don’t want anything from a South Korean mfg. propped up by the US government so the guy to the North with the bad haircut is more and more isolated every day.
The guy with the bad haircut’s isolation is almost complete, now that his newest friend is Dennis Rodman.
Andy Ihnatko has the right to do whatever he want, however we don’t have to agree with him. If he is happy about the switch to the dark side, let it be…
I just can’t wait for a year from now when his phone doesn’t have an update so he’ll just take the new one given to him for free and not mention it’s why he had to get a new phone. But your right. Who cares.
Who is this guy and why do we give a sh** .nough said !!!!
He used to be relevant as an Apple Evangelist/Devil’s Advocate, paid to poke fun at the seriousness and zeal of Apple and its fans, as a kind of Fox-like proof of fairness and balance. He was a blend of Andy Rooney and Steven Colbert.
He was more famous for standup comedy than for tech savvy, and he clearly misses the spotlight. I don’t really blame him for writing the story, as it brightens his flame for a moment, but he has stretched it into three installments, an advanced hit-whore technique. Tune in next time for the ultimate revelation—is Apple really doomed this time? Puh-leez.
Andy is right about the possibility of innovation at the margins by Android-based devices. There are iOS elements that are just painful, like not being able to deleted some pictures from my iPad without connecting it to my MBP, which I use to sync. If Apple wants this magical, integrated ecosystem, they have to work the edges, not just the “ooh, wow” stuff in the middle. Read his series. He’s pretty legit in his reasoning, IMHO. Not that I would ever give up the beautiful Apple hardware to get the marginal differences in the UI. And, don’t forget, Apple showed everyone how it needed to be done, a really good touch screen without a bunch of clappety trap buttons and flaps.
He will be back.
I spent 3 years with Android and had enough of widgets, gadgets, shortcuts, battery drain. Six system restores and OS updates that crashed my Slingbox and banking apps.
Good luck.
All these years of people wanting smaller phones that fit in you pocket – now they want giant freaking things that look like you are talking into a brick.. No thanks..
Also what the hell is he doing to keep hitting the microphone button? I have never hit that by accident.
Very good point! I remember around 2005, you could not find a good ‘bar’ phone anywhere. everyone wanted the ‘clamshell’ RAZR type. finally Motorola came out with the SLVR which was good, however Verizon ruined the OS with an interface overlay that hobbled the device tranforming it ino a crappy verizon experience. Verizon initally didn’t get the iPhone cause they required Apple to install the overlay crap and Jobs would not agree to it. I tried to hack my SLVR to remove the Vzone stuff and bricked my bar phone. 3 months later AT&T came out with the iPhone 3G in my region.
seriously all the reviewers and tech writers love android because they make more money off them.
this includes ‘apple fans’ like Pogue and mossberg.
They all write fawning android reviews (Gruber calls it grading on a curve). If I remember correctly someone worked out Mossberg’s review of iPad ( a better device) had one third of it criticisms, the Xoom tablet had 10%.
It is to reviewers SELF INTEREST to keep android alive and well. They review a LOT MORE android phones than iPhones therefore make more $$$$$.
if iPhone gets iPod power they would be nothing left for them to write except a yearly iPhone update…
(and if they wrote the TRUTH about android phones: no OS updates, malware, buggy, passing the buck between OEM and google for problems etc they would GET NO pre release android phones to review , thus out of $$$$ again, so they ‘exaggerate the positives’. lol )
Absolutely 100% god damn correct. Could not have said it better.
Textbook. System Exploitation 101.
‘Leo & Andy’, yesterdays irrelevancy.
You said it! Used to listen to about 30 hours of podcasts per week, including the Laporte stuff. Then went cold turkey about 4 years ago. Haven’t listened to one at all since then and haven’ty missed any of it a bit. Laporte & company must really be bored (he admits to AADD) since their “arguments” against Apple range from the trivial to the nonsensical, driven mostly by their egos and the perception that their opinions are really, really important.
Leo has a radio show that airs here on Saturdays. It’s like 3 friggin’ hours of people calling in with Windows problems… “Hi, Leo, I just got this printer and my Dell won’t recognize it I tried wiping the disk and re-installing the OS and oh gee what do I do…?” Jeezus, I never understood why anybody would voluntarily listen to that crap.
It’s called “involuntary masochism”
Is he an idiot? You can get LTE by buying an iPhone 5, and you can keep your unlimited data plan too. I did.
ever notice how its a “big deal” for someone to switch to android, yet someone switching fro android to iphone, …its more like its something that expected….because it really is the better way to do it, the better eco-system.
And as for the one guy complaining that he can’t delete photos from his ipad without having to connect to his mac, well you dont need to connect or sync up to a computer to remove any photos. SOunds like a troll…
In previous iOS versions it was not possible to delete synced photo albums on the device directly, have not tested with ios6 yet.
yes, you have to connect the iPad to the Mac to delete synced photos. This is still the case with iOS6.
It sounds trollish unbelievable that Apple has gotten this so wrong…
Andy must have fat fingers or be a horrible typer. I’ve been using my iPhone 5 for 3 months and have never accidentally pressed the microphone button. This seems to be his biggest complaint with the iPhone.
He’s insured himself against rebuttals with his line of “it’s just me, your mileage may vary” but it rings a little hollow when you realize this is a grizzled veteran writing these pieces, one who knows his influence, and cares less about a slanted viewpoint influencing novice readers than his desire to continue earning a living telling stories.
Medieval court jesters soon learned the correlation between who starred as heroes in their tales, and their longevity.
I Hope Andy recovers from this massive brain fart soon
i think he was bit by the Wol on a visit .
switching sim cards around must have done something to his mind
Yep go ahead and support those up thieves and slavish copiers. Now the same company your supporting is plotting in limiting, hindering Apple access to parts or allow them inside infor on new Apple designs. Nice job Andy.
In my humble view as a long time Mac OS X user (and every generation of iPhone since the first – except the 3Gs), I think the iPhone 5 and iOS is quite good. I have been evaluating a Windows 8 phone (HTC) for a client, and while it is relatively good, it reminded me of the little details that differentiate the iPhone and iOS. I developed renewed appreciation for my iPhone.
That said, I think there is generally less buzz about Apple products than in the past. I’m not sure if the answer is marketing. But something is not quite as it used to be.
Wow that guy is a dumbass! He doesn’t deserve to use the name Andy! =)
Hey I just want my iTunes to work again .. Apple’s great match feature has duplicated an empty playlist over 30000 times that its made iTunes and sharing unusable. These are the little things Apple used to pay attention too, when all things Apple just worked!