If you think the posts about me quitting the iPhone are just a stunt, think again. I’ve been using the TMobile myTouch for a couple of weeks now and haven’t looked back at the iPhone at all (background apps + full Google Voice Integration is awesome). But resident Apple fanboi and general iPhone enthusiast MG Siegler refuses to agree that Android > iPhone. We spend hours debating it internally on Yammer, although mostly we devolve into personal attacks. Comments like the one to the left are about as deep as MG is able to dive.
A thread from earlier today is below. Read from the bottom up – the post I refer to, which basically describes MG perfectly, is here:
You see what us normal people within TC’s editorial team need to put up with every day? rescue me!
I think it is a little unfair to MG that Mike does a post to enforce a “checkmate” on something which is mainly his personal subjective decision done after Apple screwed up the Google Voice thing. What if Google Voice suddenly is approved to App Store? Mike will be back to the iPhone camp in a second.
i agree, but it’s a defensive move. mike wants back in on the iPhone action I’m hearing from sources close to the situation.
I guess only Microsoft can end this debate. Just wait for WinMo7 and there will be peace…
Your twitter name says it all…..
And he doesn’t even follow you on yammer, harsh!
hah
Mike. The real question is which phone do you find more effective for Nazi hunting?
Stop it both of you..Get a landline!
Exactly.. still iPhone users haven’t switched away. If App Store approves Google Voice, then I bet iPhones will gain popularity again!
Meanwhile, the world’s Blackberry users were out doing shit and making paper.
+1
like this
Comments should have been disabled after this point.
LOL
Android Woops a$$$$$
Iphone is a closed platform, always will be
Andriod will engulf the masses and people will eat it up – all with a simple google account
unless you make it not a closed platform…
That makes no sense?
And parts of the Android SDK are proprietary and closed source. There are problems with both these platforms.
The Android Software Development Kit License Agreement states:
3.2 You agree that Google or third parties own all legal right, title and interest in and to the SDK, including any Intellectual Property Rights that subsist in the SDK. “Intellectual Property Rights” means any and all rights under patent law, copyright law, trade secret law, trademark law, and any and all other proprietary rights. Google reserves all rights not expressly granted to you.
3.3 Except to the extent required by applicable third party licenses, you may not copy (except for backup purposes), modify, adapt, redistribute, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or create derivative works of the SDK or any part of the SDK. Except to the extent required by applicable third party licenses, you may not load any part of the SDK onto a mobile handset or any other hardware device except a personal computer, combine any part of the SDK with other software, or distribute any software or device incorporating a part of the SDK.
I see now… What a couple of children. It’s like watching Step Brothers all over again.
While the iPhone may have some issues, trying to use the HTC Hero which is dog-ass slow as the competitor to replace it is a bit sad.
And it has poor signal reception over a nokia phone. Could not get any reception at my office…in London !!
So when can I buy an HTC hero razr mtouch 3G H?
i heard mike is selling it for $6. SIM card included.
You mean someone’s actually making a decently priced phone these days?
It was meant to be a joke!
I really hope that was a joke also . . .
If not, and you didn’t get it, well, he was making a joke. n00b.
Mike just swings in a little different direction than the sexy-silky-smoooth iPhone – he prefers and Android.
Michael,
Can’t you just fire MG?
- Andriod Fanboi
that would be the ultimate defensive move.
lol…
I enjoy readin Michaels and MG’s articles..
You’re both acting like little girls though. Grow up.
Is this Techcrunch desperate housewives edition. Tech news and high school drama in the same blog!
yep
Mike I think you replied on the wrong comment. I think you meant this reply up on Kumar’s comment
I like to think of it as TechCrunch Arrested Development edition
i miss that show so much.
Mike after switching to the myTouch:
“I’ve made a huge mistake.”
uh, no.
Ditto. Had to dump android completely, it just sucked too hard.
Maybe Obama can help…
http://www.flic...ics/3812645821/
lol SRSLY??? Obama wouldn’t do anything if North Korea had missiles flying in his direction. He’s such a robot.
Did you hear, /film reports that the filming of the movie version has ’stalled’
Did Mike miss my blatant Arrested Development reference?
Tsk Tsk Tsk
Oh God No! (slaps forehead)
i thought you were referring to
http://twitter....atus/3248671375
which was followed up by
http://twitter....atus/3248676969
The questions remains…..
Who cares? Personally I love my iPhone, but the Android OS has me intrigued as well.
Just like the stupid Windows vs OSX vs Linux debate….
HERE IS A CRAZY IDEA…. You the hardware / software that best fits YOUR needs.
Crazy concept I know…
Sorry… “You” above should have said “Use”. Damn you TC and your non-editing comment system.
Sources close to the situation informed me TechCrunch even has a non-editing blog system.
Good thing that your wife is there to tell you what to say. You guys are so cute.
shoot i just bought the iPhone 3GS. Make up your mind TC!!!!
don’t listen to mike, he’s blinded by hatred of awesome.
just installed the iFart app. take that Mike
You spent $300 on a whoopie cushion?
Man, do I have a bridge to sell you…
But my whoopie cushion haz 31 flavours of nasty sounds.
Trump that!
Comically, this is about how most of my staff meetings god.
And I really meant “go.”
God as verb. I think there’s something funny there.
interesting post
I have the Mytouch 3g. Its a great phone. At first I thought the smaller screen (compared to iphone) would be a problem. BUT, what I discovered is that the size is ideal. Its really a great phone to talk on. It fits perfectly in my hand. A nice departure from my blackberry curve brick.
MA, do you find that the battery life sucks? I have to charge the phone 3 times a day. While I don’t use the phone much, I do use a few internet connected apps that I use often. What’s your experience?
Overall, congrats to HTC for making a great phone!
I love how you’re the only guys who actually use Yammer.
Not true, we use it internally too, and so do a number of other companies that I know of.
Fortunately our conversations are a bit more productive that TC’s, only slightly though.
Oh, IMO, iPhone’s better right now despite its limitations and restrictions, but Android will be better by the end of next year.
Nerd wars are fun, but I’d prefer if we had one or two girls and a British implied.
Can we hope for Sarah and Paul to join this battle soon ?
Michael Arrington,
More power to you. Apple is soon to derail with a march of AT&T users going to other carriers.
earlwallace
I vote you give MG a raise – he’s just jealous because he can’t afford the early termination fee.
This post made me laugh so much!
I agree with MG on this (and many other) ones. Wile the Android platform has it’s merits and is an intriguing base for future versions of Android, the iPhone still trumps it over all.
And from what I can see, I think in the future they will be going in different directions.
PS: Mike, don’t even bother with “Yeah, the iPhone will go in the direction of the bin”
I have both an Android Dev Phone (G1) and an iPhone 3GS and have been leaning towards the iPhone lately…
I like the OS/functionality of the Android better, but the iPhone just seems a lot more polished and responsive.
That said, I think once my next upgrade cycle comes up I will be going with an Android phone unless Apple becomes a little more open with the App Store and includes background apps and a nicer notification system like the G1.
G2 is better than G1.
yeah, you can’t compare the G1 to the iPhone 3GS.
^ really?
The G1 hardware is garbage. It looks like an engineer from Google designed it.
The G2 is much sleeker. My wife actually called it “cute”.
It does, but the interface also feels a little too google engineer/linuxy too me. I value that and the pros the iPhone has over Android slightly more than background processes and nicer notifications (my favorite things about the Android).
Plus, just about all of the apps I use frequently are nicer on the iPhone:
SMS, TweetDeck, TapTap, iPod, YouTube(better interface and for some reason on Android it completely reloads when i go back to a previous spot in the video).
Most of the apps in Android that are better than their counterparts on the iPhone are the ones that use background processes (Mail e.g.)
If I were interested in Google Voice it may be a different story, but for now I think the iPhone is a tad better than the Android for my uses. I do think in the future the Android will be much better than the iPhone though (solid foundation+open source
)
True, I’m looking more at the operating system though. I would have been much more in favor of the iPhone 3GS if I were taking into account the hardware itself haha.
Jailbreak, people. That is all.
Slooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww news day I guess or YC dont have anything to launch
i have always been a fan of you MG man. Now im a bigger fan…
lovely. mike’s plan is backfiring.
MG,
can you make like a facebook fan page? I will be first to join.
I second that, best writer at TC.
MG, you have to stop making dummy accounts to raise your self-esteem. We talked about this!
+1
What can I say, I’m loved.
As soon as you say ‘Checkmate’ on you’re own comment, you’ve lost.
Unless it really is a checkmate.
my htc kicked a** ! Background apps is all it took to beat out iphone.
We’ve coined a phrase for every time one of us has a dropped call on ATT’s network – “You got iphoned!”
MG is still saying his Macintosh Portable with lead acid batteries is better.
,Michael Martin
GoogleAndBlog
Boy, Yammer sure looks a lot like twitter in those screenshots. But you don’t like twitter…
LOL This is why I read TechCrunch. The latest, greatest tech news, and hilariously pointless blather. I laughed out loud at MG’s toy phone!
This war is going on with one side not knowing what the fuss is all about.
U c, the Android battalions can’t sign up to Google Voice or buy HTC HERO. We’re stuck day dreaming about it while only the Air Force, led by Captain Arrington, is reporting back from his chopper to the mentally-ready troops on how wonderful life looks like on this new territory, now that At&Fail show signs of retreat. Only when Chief of Staff Schmidt will allow us infantry to take part in this could we say we won. After all, it is a known fact you can’t win wars without boots on the ground…
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.”
—Thomas Jefferson
Ha. BTW, I’ve been carrying both iphone and G2 recently. I win.
Oh yeah, I’ve gotta cast my vote for the Palm Pre. Get one Mike, when they release a Google Talk app.
or any app for that matter. The Pre is up to what..30 now? Doesn’t matter as your hardware won’t last long anyway and its an open question of palm will.
The mytouch is pretty awesome. I’ve dumped the iPhone as well…
My vote goes to MG.
Does anyone know when the HTC Hero is coming out and if it will work on AT&T
Michael,
Under what carrier are you using the HTC Hero? I thought it wasn’t in the US yet.
i just stuck a tmobile sim in it.
I thought the same. So how/where can I get my hands on the HTC Hero?
So, what do you want? A medal for switching. Good, you win the golden turd award. Like Apple needs your sorry butt. The moment you jumped ship like a rat about 10,000 people bought an iPhone. You just just traded the latest Queen Elizabeth luxury liner for the Titanic.
So, what’s your next cellphone gonna be when something on the Android platform doesn’t please you? Palm or maybe WinMo? Good, because they desperately need the likes of you. Those people that run from device to device even if you gain one thing and give up a half-dozen other things.
I hope you signed a no-return to Apple contract, because nobody wants you sneaking back with an iPhone when Apple decides to allow all the functions or apps that you’re griping about missing.
Anger management issues…
HAHAHA
As soon as Apple starts being transparent and open about their selection process of apps and AT&T gets a network that can support Ustream and Sling Box and MMS and tethering (legally) and cell phone calls, by golly you’ll be back Mr. Arrington. Until then, until then, ah, fuck it, the world will be over in 2012 anyway.
agree completely.
MG… do you seriously think that the iphone is better, or are you simply stating such a thing for the sake of discussion, just like I sometimes discuss as if windows is better just because anybody knows that windows is nothing in comparison to linux and the iphone os is nothing in comparison to android (even though they both beat windows mobile infinitly)???
of course i think it’s better. at&t on the other hand….
So for how long have you actually used the HTC Hero?
I mean you wouldn’t spout off like this without actually doing a side by side comparison, would you?
Only an idiot thinks linux is better than anything. Linux is just Windows on welfare.
In defense of MG, the iPhone is a really great toy. It’s just some people actually need to get work done.
real interest for me here is TC ed staff using Yammer for water cooler talk – pretty cool. My actually activate our Yammer account now. I’m all for android so i can use gVoice / Skype with ease – holding out as long as I can for number portability and HTC Touch Pro2 or similar.
I speak from experience here, I’ve tried to switch from an iPhone 3 times this year but every time I came back. This of course has put a major hole in my wallet. Michael will be back shortly.
-1
Cydia + GV Mobile = the reason you’ll come back. Do it while you can.
Lame. The Mytouch is the perfect alternative. Soft keyboard, great google integration, nice collection of apps, 3g. The phone portion also kills the iphone. The only thing its missing is the black mock turtleneck.
Jailbroken iPhone with GV Mobile and backgrounder. Game set match point.
But most consumers do not want to jailbreak their devices.
I believe the point is that the Android platform offers more freedom (run any app you want) and much-desired features (background applications) out of the box.
The iPhone beats down anything that even tries to walk in front of it. Just look at the number sold. Nuff said.
^^
how the tough side of me feels :p
but deep down I think its really up to the person to decide for themselves and each person is suited for their own phone.
No love for the pre in techcrunch-land?
how about:
iphone is for consumption,
android is for communication
Perhaps the greatest mistake was before the introduction of the iPhone when the rumor mill was a buzz with possibilities of a joint development between Apple & Google.
Certainly, Apple’s recent decision to block Google Voice from the App Store — presumably on pressure from the carriers says more about the forthcoming nature of the battle than any other tell tale signs. Think of it this way, had Apple & Google collaborated from the start the consumer would have the best user interface, the greatest wealth of apps, and the free services of Google Talk & Google Voice.
That Apple has continued to permit the Skype app in the App Store raises questions on how the carriers view the competition from Skype vs. Google Voice. Next year when Apple’s exclusive agreements expire it will be interesting to see if Google apps are reintroduced into the App Store.
If the Google Apps aren’t made available for the iPhone I would agree there will be a mass migration.
When Apple’s agreements have expired and Google’s apps have matured, it will be interesting to see how the mobile carrier’s respond and implement a new billing paradigm.
What’s the argument against free?
Perhaps in the discussion above, owners in the US of a MyTouch could comment on T*Mobile’s plans relative to the integration of Google Voice and Google Talk.
The My Touch is cheap crappy hardware and the on screen keyboard is unusable. Android is slow and the apps suck and are fragmented between versions.
I don’t think Arrington is disclosing his conflict of interest here with the crunched but I do believe the whole iPhone foolishness is tagged.
I have a Mytouch. Do you?
The keyboard works fine when in landscape orientation. I still am getting used to the soft keyboard (ex blackberry user), but the tactile feedback rocks. I haven’t experienced any problems with apps.
So, you’re argument sucks.
I guess only Microsoft can end this debate. Just wait for WinMo7 and there will be peace…
So when do we get a phone that has all the goodness of what the N97 hardware *should* have been (e.g., N97 with adjustable angle, capacitive touchscreen, better processor), running Android??
I love my iPhone 3G, but I’d love to switch to something open source, if something truly competitive (hardware & software) was on the market.
Bonus points for the phone that lets me switch from CDMA to TDMA networks by swapping out modular radios or using FPGA
Get a life. its a phone.
Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnhhhh
+1
Just wanted to voice my opinion here:
Android >= iPhone
people still use iphones?
must be just the smart people who moved on to good devices.
I have to side MG in general. Michael Martin can attest to that. But I will give Android props for trying to catch up in multi touch. Also, the overall problem I see is that with these great new Android devices from SonyEricsson, Moto, etc coming out, they will each have custom Android OS, with different hardware. Will that then disable some apps? Make some apps under perform? With iPhone, that is not an issue for each new gen that comes out.
Wait a second…
If all it takes is the ability to run apps in the background and use Google Voice, then a JAILBROKEN iPhone > Android HTC Hero > iPhone.
Although an iPhone enthusiast, I agree backgrounding has its advantages. Here is a concrete example:
Just last week, I needed to have an app running in the background that allowed a timer to play a sheep’s “BAHHHH” noise every 15 mins, so that two children, aged 3 and 5, who share an old original iPhone to play games and stuff, could swap turns.
Apple’s built-in timer lacks the ability to “loop” countdowns (that is, repeat when the time has come), but there is a good app in the app store that does exactly this: Francis Bonnin’s “Timer.”
So, on a jailbroken iPhone with Backgrounder installed, I bought the app, held the home button to background it, and the problem was solved. The kids hear a “BAHHH!” every 15 mins and reluctantly swap turns.
Now, I could have switched platforms to Android (where there is simply not the choice of thousands of apps suitable for 3 and 5 year olds), waited two years until the device became a hand-me-down, then hoped there was a looping timer available in Android’s marketplace.
Or I could have simply explored one of very many iPhone options…
I think I speak for everyone without children when I say:
Worst concrete example ever.
Yep. How about browsing web and listening to Internet radio?
So, the iPhone is best for children and the Android, most likely for adults? That makes sense though. I’ve been thinking of upgrading my smart phone and thought that I would just join the lemmings over the cliff and hit the Apple store. When I found our that it’s best for music and video (and fart apps) and not real work – corp. email, doc editing, phone calling – I’m still in search mode. Interesting girld fight going on here…
waste. of. space. posting.
i have a funny thread too! it’s me talking about tuna fish salad – will you post it?