The Day of the Androids

The green creature is at large - Courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Last weekend, I did a bold and daring thing, Apple fan that I am -- I bought an LG Optimus V Android phone at Target. The phone is a $200 "no contract" pay-as-you-go phone. People who are familiar with my Apple zealotry will think I've surely lost it. Let me explain in a little more detail...

I'm what is sometimes termed a "value shopper". Others might say "cheap bastard" but that's so unseemly. I use coupons, look at sale racks and always, always look for a good deal on whatever I buy. Along the same lines, I don't secure services that I don't need, eg: premium cable, ultra-fast fiber optic line, etc. I'm never uncomfortable and never without nice things but rest assured that I'm not paying a big surplus for what I don't need. When it comes to cell phones, I'm single and not extremely talkative. Where a lady might call and say (open-endedly), "Whatcha thinkin about?" my calls are more purpose-driven. I'll confirm appointments, check on movie times and make dates but I won't do rambling gab sessions that run for an hour or more. This mildly autistic character trait on my part indicates that I don't need a lot of "anytime" minutes. If you talk to me for longer than 15 minutes I might pretend there's somebody at the door. How does this relate to cell phones? Here’s how …

When I looked at the latest iPhone (iOS4) I was indeed smitten by its sturdy form and sleek interface. It's the "Cadillac" of phones in some (actually several) senses of the word. If you throw in basic services and smallest minute allotments, my monthly iPhone bill (with taxes and fees) would be about $90/month. This would be in tandem with a 24 month contract -- my worship of Apple would run me @ $2,160.00 plus the cost of the phone. I was surprised when Verizon's iPhone came out and they offered very much the same (possibly higher) monthly rates. For people like me who have high data usage and low talk time, there's not much to soften the financial impact.

My jail broken 2007 iPhone is T-Mobile pay-as-you-go but it's lagging in many ways now -- I can't update the OS without "bricking" it, can't buy new apps, can't do Outlook Exchange, etc. What's a technophile to do in this sad situation? This technophile found something that's previously not existed ...a smart, no-contract (VirginMobile) Android phone. The LG Optimus V is not as super-slick as an iPhone but it bears a strong resemblance to one and does almost everything an iPhone does. Have found very few apps that aren't available in both the Android Market and the Apple App store.

The Android VirginMobile “no contract” plan gives me:

• $25/month 300 anytime minutes
• Unlimited web surfing
• Unlimited messaging
• Unlimited email

This is all music to my ears (literally, when I listen to the Android DoubleTwist app on my Optimus). It would be a shame for Apple to ultimately lose its market lead based on the poor plan options offered by its telephone partners. Does Apple read my blog? Probably not but here are a couple of suggestions for the next iPhone hardware release anyway ….

The iPhone 3G will be two releases old by Summer of 2011 – a complete dinosaur as smart phones go… Why not keep this one available as a “Go” (No Contract) phone? Some people don’t need the latest bells & whistles. My second option is one I’ve read about on Apple sites but have no verification …. Come out with a smaller, less capable iPhone expressly to sell to people with a smaller budget. Of course, make it available as “No contract”.

There have been other battles of technical virtuosity that were decided on purely practical and monetary grounds … nothing to do with ivory tower engineering arguments. (Consider blu-ray versus HD DVD or Betamax versus VHS). For all I know Studebaker and Packard were good cars – I wasn’t old enough to witness the various marketing angles at the time they went extinct. All I know is that people operating under a budget in tough economic times will probably be more pragmatic and less idealistic. Android phones are practical in the extreme.

© 2011 blogSpotter