Are you talking about zune software, because it is amazing.
Oh god, not this again.
Look, I used the Zune software, and it was good, to be sure. But really, from a functionality perspective, there was really nothing extraordinary about it. It was mostly just flash and eye-candy. That kind of stuff is important, of course, but at its core it was really nothing more than iTunes by another name. That’s not a particularly significant ‘thing’ in and of itself; they just organise your media, and they both do it quite well, but there’s nothing particularly extraordinary about the Zune player.
It’s a version of itunes that actually makes sense. It’s simpler and better organized than itunes. You might not think it’s any better because you’re already used to the counter intuitive itunes, btu when someone who isn’t used to it tries to use it they have to figure things out. You sit down and look at zune and you know what to do. Also, you were going on about how samsung was inferior because you’d have to use different media players and that’s just wrong.
As with the last discussion, I just don’t understand what features of iTunes you would see as ‘counter intuitive’. I’ve never had any trouble it working anything out, and nor do I think the solution to anything is the opposite of what I logically think it would be (see: definition of counter intuitive). I didn’t ‘sit down with Zune’ and see any features that were more self explanatory than with iTunes; it was exactly the same.
cue endless streams of back-and-forth quotes picking away at various minutae of iTunes’ features
But again, what you hate about iTunes, I like. What you like about Zune, I’m apathetic about. What matters here is what the OP thinks; I doubt its a major issue, given music didn’t seem like an overwhelmingly motivational factor, but trying both iTunes and Zune Media Player would allow him to form his opinion about it, which is more valuable to him than either mine or yours.
I was under the impression that the OP currently used iTunes. So, for the OP, he would have to use a different media player than what he currently used.
Yeah let’s not really get into an argument about this. For my music, I’m not real picky about how it works, since I usually just set it on shuffle all, but I am kind of anal about making sure everything is named properly and has album artwork. This is one area iTunes kind of irks me, in that it seems to drop some of my album artwork from time to time, I think usually when I update. I wish it wouldn’t do that, but I have a feeling it’s because I have a lot of custom artwork. I have a lot of songs from albums iTunes doesn’t have indexed (like indie remix stuff, foreign language songs, video games, etc), so I have to download the artwork myself and tell iTunes to use it. And then I have a lot of relatively mainstream but strangely acquired music (read: taken from limewire, given to me on mix CDs, downloaded free on the internet) that I haven’t taken the time to organize and name properly so I have to get custom artwork for too since iTunes can’t find it. Hopefully I will finally get around to it when I reinstall Windows here soon.
But that was just a long and pointless explanation of nothing really. What I really meant to say was that my media player doesn’t matter much since I only need basic functionality from it. Play my music and sync it to my phone, that’s pretty much it.
Anyhoo, as loony said, from a “stick with what you know” perspective, I like the iPhone since it’s just an upgraded version of what I currently have. The Focus however is alluring since it is a new, different experience that looks well put together. And it has a bigger screen. But of course there’s no real clear cut winner which is why I have such a big dilemma. If only the real world followed video game upgrade schemes. You have a Level 1 Phone. Purchase Level 2 Phone?
I’m also trying to decide between the iPhone 4 and a Windows Phone, so I’ve been watching this thread. It would be my first smartphone, (Razor V3) so I’m not used to any OS over another.
In that case you ought to go try some phones out at the AT&T store and see what you like best. As you can probably tell already, there’s no clear winner between iPhone and WP7, so most of it’s gonna come down to your personal preference. iOS has matured and proven its worth, the device is glass and steel, it has the best, most responsive touchscreen out there, and has a lot of support and accessories already. WP7 is new and has yet to iron out all the kinks, but initially it is already very good and will gain support over the long run. Live Tiles is the advertised feature of WP7 - apps that are also widgets that display information, so you can see some information an app can tell you without having to launch the app. The device (Focus*) also has a very good screen, lower res than the iPhone but also larger, and the response is also very good, neck and neck with the iPhone, the construction is glass and plastic. It also supports expanding the onboard 8GB of memory with microSD cards up to 32 GB in size. Also, if you haven’t tried out iTunes or Zune yet I’d suggest you do so, so you can see if you have any preference to the software you’ll have to use to sync your phone.
- I’m using the Focus as a basis of comparison because, of the WP7 devices, the Focus seems to be the overall best, based on my research and my own personal experience. If you go WP7 the Focus is your best bet.
I’ve done some research on the WP7 devices, so I know the general positives and negatives about them. I would want an iPhone because of all of the support already out there, and while WP7 is picking up steam, it might end up failing in the long run, where Apple has already succeeded.
I should go into an AT&T store so I can try them both out to help me make up my mind. Android isn’t an option, because I’m not switching to Verizon, AT&T has worked well for me for years, and I see no reason to change just because of the devices available.
I would just like to remind people that no matter how much they hate on the iPhone, you still have to acknowledge that the iPhone, is the phone that started it all.
^
First ever phone made by apple.
Not the first phone, or even the first wifi enabled touchscreen phone.
If apple pioneered anything, the first ever phone without a removable battery pack.
I don’t think apple really generally invents anything new and radical, they simply take new and radical inventions and make them mainstream. Like the ipad. Tablets have been around for a while and no one has given two shits about them, then Steve Jobs comes along and slaps a big shiny apple on the back of a tablet and everyone’s obsessed with them. There’s a reason tablets were never popular; they’re a disgusting love child combining the disadvantages of two products.
Fact: Apple designed the iPad before the iTouch and the iPhone.
I can say bad things about apple all day but they are truly gods among men in terms of marketing strategies.
It’s more than branding products to make them mainstream, they make the user interface smooth, streamlined, simple and easy to use, and then put it in a shiny package. And you see how well it works. Even though I don’t like Macs (too expensive, not enough games or software) or the iPad (a giant iPhone that can’t make calls?), I gotta say I have really enjoyed my iPhone. It was just existing tech put together in a good way.
refer to my previous post, the iphone/itouch is a modified ipad, hence the super smooth interface
I think iphone/ipod touch is the only true example of this. They really haven’t made brilliant strides in the computer market, especially not with desktops. Their os is pretty far from anything special. The dock is very limited in use and 90% of the functions in the top bar can simply be used with right click. And the 10% is found in the windows start bar.
I think you’re confusing his general statement with your own personal hangups with Mac OS X. The point of Sersoft’s post was that the iPhone, the iPad and Mac aren’t extraordinary at all; all three of those things (smartphones, tablets and, you know, computers) have been around for ages, but Mac are adept at dressing things up in shiny, easy-to-use packages and marketing the crap out of them to the public to make them sell.
And see? I stayed completely out of your points about OS X. No need to have that thread again.
Would you really want to hold one up to your ear? It’s too big for that.
I tried out both the Focus and an iPhone 3 yesterday (wasn’t too bothered about them not having an iPhone 4 on display because it’s the same OS) and neither really stood out as being “the one” so I’m at an impasse again.
Do I want to go with the proven tech that already has a ton of third party support, or do I want to go with the new tech that could end up being better, or may be unsupported in 2-5 years? (I don’t plan on getting another new phone any time soon, whatever I get I’ll stick with for a long time) I really don’t know. I need to go deeper.
headset?
Yeah just put on a headset and keep the iPad in your pocke- oh wait.
Kinda what happened when I got my netbook, except I always carry it in my huge-ass leather coat.