> Personally, having used both iPad and Android tablets fairly extensively,
> and had to support them both, I wouldn't buy an iPad on a bet. You are
> utterly and totally locked into the Apple ecosystem with the iPad, and that
> lock-in has been getting tighter with each new iteration of the device.
> There are too many ways to easily make a tablet more useful that Apple
> simply won't allow--such as all the restrictions they place on bluetooth,
> just to cite a prominent example.
I pretty much avoided Apple products before this iPad and will pretty
much avoid them after it. The locked-in ecosystem is certainly a
problem--especially as it relates to everything from connectors to
obsoleted systems. Add to this is the fact that the speed/performance
of the existing product is notably slowed down when a new version is
released. And I'm NOT referring to the product-envy thing either.
Apple literally slows down the old stuff to entice you into buying the
new stuff. (If it was just my experience, I'd figure it was just my
one unit, but when the Apple support forums are chock full of the same
exact observation...).
> All that said, having had both "vendor-custom-version" Android tablets and
> phones and now an "unmodified android" phone (Nexus 4), I'd personally hold
> out for the next iteration of Google's Nexus 10...
The one complaint about the Nexus units is a noted slowing down over
time. A full unit reset/reinstallation clears that up and even a two
year old unit starts to run like an ADHD three-year old. In all
honesty, this is true with all Android and iOS devices, but the Nexus
products are especially so. There are theories...
> Other considerations include things like whether the device uses a standard
> micro USB charger (many don't, unfortunately including the current Nexus
> 10, for example, and all Apple iPads) and whether the device has NFC
> (handy, especially if you have a phone with that capability), whether the
> tablet will auto-backup (Android tablets back up at least the OS and most
> customizations to your Google account), whether you can remote wipe and
> remote locate the device at no extra charge (Android, again, can do this
> via your Google account), and the level of integration between the device
> and your account (Android is far ahead of Apple in this regard).
You hit on the critical reason why I am an Android geek: Google. It's
a very well adapted ecosystem and everything is almost totally
integrated between my computer and my phone. There are a few missing
pieces of the puzzle, but nothing to cry about. Apple, on the other
hand, makes me feel like it's 1987 again before Microsoft Office came
out and allowed us to link between applications. Apple's iTunes
software is the sorriest excuse out there. It is almost criminally
deficient. iCloud? Please. The only thing that is truly integrated in
iOS are the Google apps.
But Apple products sure are pretty.
YMMV
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|