The Wisdom of LiveJournal and Smartphones

[marcusmarcusrc]

I figure it is about time for me to join the world of the smartphone enabled, and before leaping into it, I thought I'd check the collective wisdom:

Given that I am a mac-user and a Verizon customer, are there any good reasons not to go with the default of an iPhone5 and a verizon plan?

Comments

Different plan option:

[chenoameg]

A cheaper way to do the iphone thing:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/10/11/our-new-10-00-per-month-iphone-plans/

Not that I've investigated it for me yet.

[firstfrost]

I have an Android phone and an iTouch/iPad for games. iPhone is definitely better for games. :) Android is more flaky - my previous phone got into a state of downloading an update and then not installing it, over and over, and I run into things like "Okay, this app downloaded something. I wonder where it *put* it" that you don't get on iPhone because there's no "there" to put things that apps have access too

[marcusmarcusrc]

Tasker sounds like a really neat tool... I guess it is a question of just how much I get into my phone. In one possible future, I'll be moving to Boston in the fall and taking some time off, at which point I'd be buying a new laptop, learning R, and otherwise trying to improve my computer & life-hacking abilities, so I could see tinkering with Android flexibility fitting in well there. But... if I don't move to Boston, I'd probably poke at Tasker the way I poked at Papers as a way of keeping all the scientific literature I read organized... which would push me towards the cleaner iOs.

Also, you didn't mention that the Android supports Facebook Home! (ok, that might be a minus, not a plus...)

[fanw]

Mmmm???! Moving to Boston in the fall!

We all convene back in Bean Town!

And for what it's worth, I enjoy my Android. For the way I use it, it probably wouldn't make any difference. As I recently read, all truly hard decisions are unimportant because there are good points on both sides. But I do find that Androids play better with Googlemaps than the iPhone. Then again, if you have a fondness for Apple products, the iPhone will do just fine.

[katestine]

I had an Incredible and now I have an iPhone and I'd never go back. I found with my Droid phone, there were all sorts of settings I didn't know about that could change the phone: I prefer the iPhone's simplicity, bc when I'm fiddling with my phone, I want to be playing a game, not futzing with the settings

[jadia]

Sprint still offers unlimited data...it's part of why I decided to stick with them. Also, they are cheaper than the other carriers. But...less service, less 4G.

[marcusmarcusrc]

Thanks for the advice. I won't be streaming Pandora, but I might have an occasional week where I'm traveling and will want to be using GPS and yelp and stuff a lot... Also, I hear you on settings-futzing. I'm usually good within a given piece of software, and even have reasonable programming chops for someone who isn't actually a computer scientist, but my ability to handle systems is mediocre - I spent hours trying to figure out how to install NetCDF on my macbook, and failed, and had a lot of trouble with the R graphical interface too.

I'd heard that getting a case is a no-brainer - I'll have to look at screen protectors and apple care.

Oh, and library e-books would be a win. I couldn't get my first-gen Kindle to download the two e-books I've borrowed (though maybe part of the problem is that I didn't have wireless back then... I'll be getting a wireless router to support my new smartphone, so maybe that would fix that).

[arcanology]

You can use a LOT of text and maps on a few gig a month, some music, or not very much video.

R is actually on my list to learn more about, but then I don't.

[arcanology]

In my experience, book reading on the phone is only when I'm really desperately bored. But it is nice to have then. I don't play many phone games, touch plus tiny screen to me is irritating. Probably the one I played the most was King of Dragon Pass.

For provider, coverage is the most important thing to me, AT&T and Sprint both had notable holes out in Hull where I am when I help Mom. Definitely an ask around thing.

Apple maps just doesn't have good enough data, but you can now again get Google maps for the new iOS.

But mostly what I do with it is have email all the time, podcasts for commuting, and web for things I need to know right now, and both platforms could do that fine.

[marcusmarcusrc]

King of Dragon Pass? I remember playing that a bunch on my laptop like... five years ago or more? And I think Verizon gets the best coverage most places I go, which is probably a factor to consider.

[jadia]

If I were a mac user I'd probably have jumped on the iPhone too. But they tend to be more expensive (or you get better hardware with Android for the same price), and I hate iTunes (since I use Windows), so I went with Android. Two other things to consider

[katestine]

I've never had to replace an iPhone battery, although mine's only 2 years old.

**

I didn't know you're playing Cut the Rope! (I'm halfway through the Buzz Box, although I already beat Season 3.)

I've also kinda gotten addicted to quick mode in Slice It, thanks to you.