Galaxy S vs i Phone 4S

[RationalBiker]

All our bickering aside, I will have the opportunity soon to examine a device with some semblance of the Android platform; I"m getting the Kindle Fire when it comes out. This won't provide an apples to apples comparison by a long shot, but I will have the opportunity to see and use some of the Android apps and such. I may end up with the best of both worlds so to speak.

[Prometheus98876]

I did laim it was a moot point if you use your phone intelligently, at least as far as I can tell. Maybe it is a weakness of the platform, I never denied the possibility that this is so. I simply said that if so, not necceasirly for the reasons you think. But even if so, it is not a weakness which should necceasirly be an issue. Unless perhaps one is not very sure how to go about avoiding malware or it is much less obvious than I seem to think. I mean maybe *shrug*.

Though I do agree that basing a purchasing decision just off a drop test is not a good idea. I mean, not unless all you plan to do is try bounce your phone down the road. Though for some people this is an important issue to consider. For like clumsy / careless people or people that for some other reason are likely to drop their phone? Hehe...I know I have dropped a lot of phones over the years. Though they have all come through pretty much unscathed. The video does not mention what sort of warranty the iPhone has, or if this sort of thing is covered and in what way. Without this kind of info, the drop test seems to lose some of its usefullness.

We do seem to be talking past each other, yeah. I do wish to make it clear ( not sure that I really need to ) that none of this stuff is meant to be an attack on Apples phones per say or to say that Androids phones are better for everyone. That is silly, obviously Apple phones are better suited to what some people want. For reasons I probably do not fully appreciate. It is pretty cool that you seem so passionate about iPhones, even if I do not seem to appreciate why exactly.

Heard some good things about the Fire. Seems like a pretty decent little device, certainly when you consider the price, which as I recall is pretty low. Given what I have heard about other Kindles and what Amazon seem to be saying, I guess we casn be sure the Kindle Fire will have good battery life. MIght even beat your iPhone in that respect

Edited November 2, 2011 by Prometheus98876

[RationalBiker]

Heard some good things about the Fire. Seems like a pretty decent little device, certainly when you consider the price, which as I recall is pretty low. Given what I have heard about other Kindles and what Amazon seem to be saying, I guess we casn be sure the Kindle Fire will have good battery life. MIght even beat your iPhone in that respect

The claimed battery life is 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video viewing with a disclaimer that internet use may decrease those times. No real world testing of that to my knowledge as Amazon has been very guarded about giving hands on access to the device. One thing I'm interested in seeing is screen responsiveness.

Alternatively, a Kindle Touch (the e-ink reader) has a 2 month battery life for reading (up to 1/2 hour a day without wireless on). While impressive, I think most "regular" readers read more than 1/2 hour a day on average. This is clearly the better choice of the two if one's interest is strictly reading, at least for most forms of reading content. The Fire is somewhat closer to an iPad, but is primarily an Amazon products consumption device. Incidentally, the iPad 2's real life battery testing runs in right about the claimed time at 10 hours. I'm hoping that Amazon has under-claimed the Fire's battery life, but if not, 7-8 hours really isn't that bad.

Regarding the iPhone's fragility issue, if it were more of a concern to me based on my uses, I'd simply buy an Otterbox Defender case and that would essentially end that concern. The Defender case is a little bit of a beast in size, but it protects the phone really, really well, and not just from drops but from moisture as well. I had one on my 3GS for a while before retiring from the PD and it really worked.

[Chris.S]

I would also like to point out the awesomeness of Otterbox Defender cases.  I tend to drop my phone quite a bit more than average, and the case takes all the beating.  The phone is in nearly mint condition aside from a bit of scratching on the back from dirt that somehow managed to get inside around this time last year.  But even working on a dusty construction site this summer, there's no wear and tear on the phone, and even the Otterbox case is in fairly good condition.  I even drop it on purpose to show people how good the thing is.  It's probably the best form of technology insurance I've ever gotten, and well worth the ~$80 cost.  Now if only I didn't have a stoooopid iPhone 3G and instead had a 4 or 4S

I'll stay out of the "which is better" arguments.  I get enough of that in everyday life comparing iPhone to Blackberry, and I'm quite sick of it.

Edited November 3, 2011 by Chris.S

[freestyle]

My experience with SIRI thus far is that this is unequivocally untrue. There are quite a few things that are MUCH easier to perform with SIRI. Setting reminders, alarms, timers, notes, meetings, basic web searches, texting, searches for the type of data on wolfram alpha, searching for nearby locations .... ALL easier with SIRI. SIRI has changed the way I use my iPhone in a very practical sense and I expect it will only improve.

I agree.

Setting and scheduling meetings in an instant while I'm driving has been great. I can also ask, "What am I doing on Dec. 20th?" In the past, I have never been able to keep a calendar up to date. With Siri on the 4S, it is as easy as talking to myself to get things entered into my calendar now. I have been surprised at the measurable increases in my organization and productivity -- I didn't expect that. The location based reminders are great too... Being able to say, "Remind me to stop at the store when I leave work" has saved me a few times from forgetting. I had an app that did this, but didn't end up using it very often. It probably sounds trivial, but sometimes just opening up the phone, navigating to the app and launching it kept me from using it.

I've always found it amusing the way people treat their technology like it is their favorite sports team (complete with hated rivals). People's preferences vary and it is as simple as that. Use whatever tool you feel most comfortable with. But to dismiss the iPhone as a status symbol is absurd... Each person makes their own choice for their own reasons.

[RationalBiker]

I don't use it very often, but one of the cool things I liked about setting meetings is that when you add contacts to the meeting it automatically emails them a notification of the meeting. Plus, culling facts or calculations from Wolfram Alpha at a moments notice is just awesome. Lots of people where I work usually want me to ask it the funny questions, where it's hit or miss with amusing responses. However, when you get into the realm of asking for factual information it performs much better. It's fun that it has a person of sorts, but I'm glad they don't over do it.

[RationalBiker]

The downside of SIRI is the need for persistent connection to the SIRI servers. Yesterday they were down for approximately 6 hours and SIRI was useless. However, I do expect over time such outages will be very infrequent and probably shorter (if needed for maintenance and such). The good thing is that according to one article I read, the average information exchange for a SIRI query is around 53K so frequent queries should not really impact data plans significantly.