Sandman
In article <c6jsfnF6rniU1@mid.individual.net>, Lloyd Parsons wrote:

I'm "locked in" to your claims, still quoted above. taste differ, and I've yet to hear of anyone that would choose a Windows phone purely based on the appearance of the UI.

Lloyd Parsons
Probably lots of other things you've yet to hear.

Sandman
I just assumed that a person posting about the switch to a different platform in an advocacy group would naturally list the most pertinent reasons for doing so in the initial post, instead of just shallow irrelevant ones.

Lloyd Parsons
Shallow and irrelevant ones to you, of course.

Sandman
Of course. And to most computer/mobile users, it would seem.

Lloyd Parsons
My tech needs are much more simple than when I worked and that gives me huge flexibility in what platform I might choose.

Sandman
Not sure why "tech needs" is a parameter here? The only reasons you've stated for switching is that you don't think iOS is "pretty" enough. That you don't have any tech needs whatsoever is rather obvious from that.

Lloyd Parsons
Look and feel have more weight these days for the very reason that both Windows and OSX will run the only software that is in any way related to any kind of work.

Sandman
But "look and feel" rarely means "pretty". Look and feel related to a lot of things that are UI-related, and appearance is but a small part of it. For instance, iOS has a way to halt UI execution just to keep your interactions as buttery smooth as possible when scrolling and things like that. That's a huge part of "feel", and thus far, all I've heard you comment on is the "look" part.

Lloyd Parsons
The look and feel of the smartphones is part and parcel of the decision as to which one you decide to get. It is why you have Android, iOS and Windows Phone among others. All of them do essentially the same thing in reality.

Sandman
I wholeheartedly disagree, of course. I don't use an iPhone because it looks "pretty". I couldn't care less. I use an iPhone because of the functions, of the application, of the connectivity it provides. I use an iPhone for a lot of reasons, and none have anything to do with how it looks.

Lloyd Parsons
I don't use a smartphone for much of anything at all. Phone calls, Golf GPS app and a weather app pretty much cover most things I'll do on a given day.

Sandman
That makes it even more funnier when you let "prettiness" be the sole parameter for your mobile platform of choice. You don't use it much at all, yet it's still super important that for the very few times you do use it, it has to be super pretty.

Lloyd Parsons
I might use the driving directions at some point too.

Sandman
Waze is "pretty", by the way. Small cute symbols and all! :-D

Lloyd Parsons
All well covered by pretty much every smart phone out there. The differences are all about the look and feel. Nothing else.

Sandman
Well, obviously that's not true at all, but for someone that doesn't use their smart phone, maybe that's how it appears.

Lloyd Parsons
Well, there's battery life to consider, which is one of the reasons Android was never on the table.

Sandman
There are Androids out there that gets a lot longer battery life than any iPhone or Windows phone.

Again, that only confirms what I initially said. As far as accessability goes - your problem can be solved, but for whatever reason, the end result is not "pretty enough" for you.

Lloyd Parsons
Yep, you've got it. Doesn't look good enough to suit me.

Sandman
It's just weird to hear it from a grown man.

Lloyd Parsons
Then Apple decided OSX needs to look nearly the same and that's when I started looking.

Sandman
It's just odd to see a grown man put so much value into such a shallow part of their computing needs.

Lloyd Parsons
Go back and read what my 'computing needs' are, it should be clear.

Sandman
No, it's even more unclear. You claim to not use your smart phone that much, yet still think prettiness is the most important factor of the few times you do use it. It's just very weird.

Maybe I just found it hard to believe that anyone would pick one phone overt the other based soley on whether or not the UI looks "pretty". I mean, apart from perhaps some 14 year old girls, that is.

Lloyd Parsons
We're at different points of our life I suppose.

Sandman
Are you at your 14 year old girl part of your life? :-D

Lloyd Parsons
I'm well past the 'needs' part of mine. Now it is just wants, and that probably is the difference.

Sandman
No, I see no difference at all. I mean, if you had posted about you getting a Windows phone because hey, you want one, whatever. Then we wouldn't be having this discussion. But you posted that the sole reason you're switching from iOS to Windows Phone is because iOS isn't pretty enough for you.

I just hope I never get to that part of my life, where the sole arbiter of mobile choice is prettiness.

Lloyd Parsons
While it is possible that you find it hard to believe, most people make choices about things they use because of how they look as well as how they work.

Sandman
Yes, but as I said - the majority of people that have "pretty" hihg on their list leans towards the lower teens... and girls :)

Lloyd Parsons
But when all else that has value to me is equal, the difference is in how it all looks.

Sandman
I haven't commented on any of those claims, yet, but I am questioning that as well. Regardless of whether or not you realize that, prettiness is *NOT* the only difference between platforms. There are tons of things to consider:

1. Battery time (you've mentioned this) 2. Weight 3. Screen size 4. Speaker volume 5. Cell reception 6. GPS reception (for those golfy days) 7. Price (esp. over time) 8. Maintenance/service availability 9. Durability 10. Ergonomics

Those are ten basic parameters that are important about any mobile device, and directly relates to your usage. I'm not saying that an iPhone beats any other phone on these points, far from it - I am challenging your claim that "prettiness" is the only thing important to you.

-- Sandman[.net]