Are you an "Android" type of person?

by William Maher | Friday 21 January 2011

This tongue in cheek video creates the impression of the Android user as a downtrodden everyman who manages to impress everyone around them.

What is the appeal of Android? Is it the open nature of the operating system? The choice of phones? Customisation? The appeal of not following the iPhone herd?

This tongue in cheek video attempts to pinpoint the OS's allure, while creating the impression of Android users as beacons of practicality, who manage to impress and educate everyone around them with their technical prowess, without you know, being a a$#%^&* about it.

Watch parts 2, 3, 4, 5.

As marketers attempt to distill the appeal of Android into a slick, marketable message, the popular thread seems to be that Android is smarter, practical, and does simply a million things the iPhone doesn't.

Take this (now outdated) Motorola advertisement:

Or take this Droid advertisement, which attempts to pass off the iPhone as the digital equivalent of a bouffant hairdo.

Tech companies have mixed success with clichés like this. There's Apple's "I'm a Mac" campaign, Microsoft's odd effort involving Jerry Seinfeld and a shoe store, or this effort to popularise an Ubuntu Linux training course with the slogan "Learn as if you were to live forever"

We've already pointed out many key practical advantages of Android (and the iPhone) in our comparison tests, from integrated social networking, choice of handsets, ability to view Flash content, built-in free automatic turn by turn GPS routing, not to mention Android's fundamentally different approach to the phone interface.

For all the practicalities, well-worn stereotypes persist. Roy Morgan even published the results of a survey that claimed, among other things, that iPhone users hate gardening.

For Android, it seems the persistent stereotype is "smarter than the average punter".

Are you an Android user? What is the appeal for you? Add your comment below.

See more about: android | phones

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smadge1 21 January 2011	to be honest, it's really the only choice if you want to buy from your favourite vendor, and/or you don't need the corporate experience of Windows Mobile 7. Comment made about the PC & Tech Authority article: Are you an "Android" type of person?? This tongue in cheek video creates the impression of the Android user as a downtrodden everyman who manages to impress everyone around them. What do you think? Join the discussion.
rubaiyat 21 January 2011	"…it's really the only choice…"? Your favorite vendor could be Apple. But wait, don't be silly. It's not that "ever so you" Kmart, Kogans or hole in the wall that consistently rates right up the top in customer satisfaction.
claudioparoli 21 January 2011	I'm an iPhone4 user who'll get an android phone as soon as they are: 1 - a bit more developed, and 2 - not tied to a single service provider For the moment I love my iPhone even though it has two major flaws: 1 - its closed system (I'm NOT a Mac!), and 2 - its poor performance as a phone especially with Optus as the provider.
MaverickAus 21 January 2011	claudioparoli you have no idea what you are talking about. All the providers have android phones. The ifasion has so many flaws if it was a car it would be recalled.
hedgemeister 22 January 2011	Hey Motorolla, Please release the DROID Pro in Australia asap
Madaz 23 January 2011	lol and Claud when iphail first came out it was tied to optarse
Madaz 23 January 2011	rubaiyat you are very pretty i would like to meet you one day :D
Zutarano 24 January 2011	Well claudioparoli, you can buy iPhone outright. Yes it may be expensive but I did that and using something to a cheaper extent. I am using TPG as my provider. No contract so I am not tied to a provider. I have better performance on my iPhone 4 than the Telstra ones. I love iPhone much more. They are so clean and crisp and the design is so awesome. Also, I can't see you walking into a Android shop asking for help... Telstra can't help you people! But you know, Apple have many retail shop that you walk into so they can help you fix your problem...
rubaiyat 2 February 2011	The best thing about Android is it is the consumer version of bulimia: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20030211-37.html?tag=cnetRiver
gone4good 2 February 2011	rubaiyat wrote: The best thing about Android is it is the consumer version of bulimia: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20030211-37.html?tag=cnetRiver Yes, Samsung is the ONLY manufacturer of Android devices. Let's just paint them all with the same brush, shall we?
rubaiyat 3 February 2011	Show me the BETTER alternatives then. Edited by rubaiyat: 3/2/2011 11:13:26 AM
gone4good 3 February 2011	Hang on, you've had a go at Android as the fault, yet the returned product was made by Samsung and now you expect me to find you BETTER alternatives? What is BETTER? How do you measure that? You might find the iPad as the ideal solution for what you need. Or you might think that an Android-based tablet is the way to go. What's better comes down to the individual user. For me personally, Android based would be the way to go as it doesn't come with Apple's need to control everything. As a development device, an open source platform has tremendous potential, not to mention Google's methods of involving the development community in every step of the process. There are some amazing developments involving Android that will change the way we operate, such as the Serval Batphone... http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2991021.htm Something like that would never be possible on the iPad/iPhone due to Apple's iron-fist approach to development. Having said that though, I have little need for a tablet so therefore do not have one. I will look at the options should that change. However for me to consider anything but an Android based device, the others will need to open up their development platforms. We all know that neither Microsoft or Apple will do that.
rubaiyat 3 February 2011	The Samsung was merely an example. You still need to show a real product, not "potential" as an alternative. The Samsung shows how a large number of purchasers, who were duped into buying it, were so fed up with it they returned it. The reality of the product trumps the hype for many people. I have neither an iPhone, iPad nor an Android smartphone or tablet, because none do what I think is worth paying for. All of the above seem to have consumers however who are willing to ignore their shortcomings. Just as there are consumers who buy just because it is Apple, there are a large number of people who buy just because it isn't Apple. Neither make sense. We'll see how many Serval Batphones get sold to shiny clean 4WD owners, just so they can fantasise they are "outback" whilst sitting in traffic jams. Not that the same fantasy couldn't be met on an iPhone or Windows 7 Mobile.
gone4good 3 February 2011	rubaiyat wrote: We'll see how many Serval Batphones get sold to shiny clean 4WD owners, just so they can fantasise they are "outback" whilst sitting in traffic jams. Not that the same fantasy couldn't be met on an iPhone or Windows 7 Mobile. Wow, talk about ignorant and insulting to a couple of Aussie developers with a real innovative idea. Did you actually look at the link? It's a product designed to solve communicative problems during the worst of scenarios. Something that could be useful to people during a time of crisis. No, it couldn't be developed on the iPhone as Apple won't allow developers to get to the level of programing required to make it happen.
rubaiyat 3 February 2011	You are enormously obtuse. I was not insulting to the Aussie developers, just their market, which will be tiny except for the wankers. Fantasy is an easy commodity and needs little to back it up. You have difficulty following the bouncing ball. Prove your last statement. Prove any of your bald statements here.
gone4good 3 February 2011	rubaiyat wrote: I was not insulting to the Aussie developers, just their market, which will be tiny except for the wankers. You obviously didn't read or follow the link I sent as you'd realise that the Batphone isn't for the average consumer. Instead you threw out an insult. Rather childish I must add. rubaiyat wrote: Prove your last statement. Prove any of your bald statements here. Although I don't like to promote a rival publication on a forum, The January edition on APC has an article on Android which includes discussion with Paul Gardner-Stephen (one of the developers behind the project). Read that article. He clearly states that it's the freedom of Android that makes the project possible. Anything else, or are we done here?
rubaiyat 3 February 2011	I read the link. Just because I am a fast reader don't make assumptions. You have clearly not read what I wrote, without adding in your own presumptions. I clearly understood it was not for the average consumer, which is why I compared it with the 4WDs that infest our urban streets. Give me the link to the APC article and I'll happily read it. Without making my own presumptions I am also aware of many statements made by many promoters of varying technology that aren't necessarily so. I withhold my concurrence, until there is something to back it up. Each technology has its own benefits, for example the iPhone's ubiquity makes it possible to track Melbourne trams, not because the trams are trackable, but the iPhones riding on the trams are. Something of more immediate and practical use than the Batphone. Edited by rubaiyat: 3/2/2011 03:08:07 PM
gone4good 3 February 2011	@rubaiyat There isn't a link to the APC article as they don't publish all their articles online. How about you just go and spend some hard earned and buy a copy? I'm looking at the mag right now, it's on page 73. Feel free to catch up. It clearly states that the openness of the Android platform is what makes it possible. Ummmm.. there's a Melbourne Tram tracker application for Android. Been out for a while. Works the same way that the iPhone application does. So you can't see the game-changer that is giving your mobile device PABX capabilities? For someone who apparently likes to choose open source software, you've got a real grudge against Android. Must be those Apple coloured glasses you're wearing?
rubaiyat 3 February 2011	I'm not going to bother buying a magazine I'm not interested in just to read an extended article you are interested in. I'm happy for the inventors but will wait to see if it actually changes any game, ever. The Tram tracker on Android is a copy of the iOS one, just as much in Android is just copies and not necessarily good ones. I have no grudge against Android but love pointing out to the starry eyed, whether Apple fans or Apple haters, that it aint necessarily so. I will make just one observation on Android, having played with it, that it lacks simple design clarity and UI functionality, just as Windows does. Something Windows users never get.
gone4good 3 February 2011	rubaiyat wrote: I'm not going to bother buying a magazine I'm not interested in just to read an extended article you are interested in. You asked for proof. rubaiyat wrote: The Tram tracker on Android is a copy of the iOS one, just as much in Android is just copies and not necessarily good ones. Hang on, you spoke about the iOS application as though it wasn't available for Android. To quote... "Each technology has its own benefits, for example the iPhone's ubiquity makes it possible to track Melbourne trams, not because the trams are trackable, but the iPhones riding on the trams are. Something of more immediate and practical use than the Batphone." So once again you're changing your point of view. rubaiyat wrote: I have no grudge against Android but love pointing out to the starry eyed, whether Apple fans or Apple haters, that it aint necessarily so. I haven't mentioned features, design, anything except that Android developers have an advantage because the platform is Open Source. So how does that relate to the above statement? Do you believe it to be a disadvantage over the closed iOS system? rubaiyat wrote: I will make just one observation on Android, having played with it, that it lacks simple design clarity and UI functionality, just as Windows does. Something Windows users never get. That is pure opinion. In YOUR opinion you BELIEVE iOS has better UI functionality. But that's all it is, an opinion. Everyone will have their own opinion on how they want to operate. It also varies as to how important that is to each user. Some people won't like how Android-based devices operate. Then they can choose an alternative. Some people won't really care as the devices are similar. Perhaps another feature is more important to them? On a final note, what does the dig at Windows users have to do with this thread? There's no need to cheap shots.
rubaiyat 3 February 2011	A quote from someone spruiking their own product is not "proof". I pointed out the Tram tracker as an example of something more useful. Bully if there is an Android copy. When Android developers come up with something useful, I'm sure iOS developers can copy that. No change of point of view. There are advantages to both closed and open systems. Closed provides more certainty and security, open allows more variability but also uncertainty and insecurity. You are convinced that one trumps the other. I am quite happy with my opinion on many things. But it is not pure opinion, as it is based on usability testing and methodology. I'm used to battling with clueless users, Windows or otherwise (even some Mac users). I'm a designer by profession. We're used to it.
gone4good 3 February 2011	Proof? It's a real working product. I don't know what more proof you need? No, you pointed out the tram tracker as a unique feature to the iPhone. I pointed out that it wasn't. Read yourself again.... "Each technology has its own benefits, for example the iPhone's ubiquity makes it possible to track Melbourne trams, not because the trams are trackable, but the iPhones riding on the trams are. Something of more immediate and practical use than the Batphone." Android won't come up with anything useful. The open source community that develops for it will. Case in point, the Serval Batphone as just one example. Unfortunately iOS developers won't be able to copy it due to the closed nature of the system. Oh ok, Android being backed by some of the largest companies in the world makes has nothing to do with stability? So you're stating that Linux is insecure? Hang on... I just think you're clutching at straws... I got a mate that just bought a new Falcon. He was trying to decide between it and a Commodore. I asked him why he chose the Falcon. "It just felt better when I drove it..." I'll chalk that up as "usability testing and methodology". Battling? Is that what this is for? I thought it was a discussion forum?
rubaiyat 3 February 2011	I never used the term unique and exactly how many Batphones are there, or ever will be? Have you actually tested the product? Or do you take everything at face value (except for the bits you don't like? Not to say it doesn't do what he claims, but how would you know? He says so? I don't believe any products do what they claim until I've actually tried them, been stung too many times. Android as a combination of hardware and software from a smorgasbord of vendors, using different versions modified in various ways is at a disadvantage to a closed ecosystem as far as consistency and security goes. Already the Apps for Android are being hacked and pirated almost as fast as they are created. Is this the model you are promoting? Falcon vs Commodore is like Samsung vs Dell, hardly the point I am making. I notice you attack individual words and think you are making points if you fabricate some "inconsistency", or manufacture outrage. Go for it. If it keeps you amused.