INQ CEO: The cool kids in town have an iPhone or BlackBerry, Android is for geeks

That's ok. The good-looking woman in the club with the Android - attracts the right type of man - that wants her for her brain. not 'cause she's trendy.
I'll gladly be that girl - and my husband rather enjoys it, too.

 

Oh come on and be serious. Come here and I'll introduce you my female Ph.D students and profs. At MIT and Harvard that totally enjoy and appreciate the technology and innovation behind their iPhones. And they are attractive too.

 

how hot are we talkin? u got some pics? :browani:

 

So the cell phone makes the person, interesting.

 

In my little circle of friends, co workers. and relatives across 3 continents; it is cool to be a geek so I am all set.

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This INQ CEO is full of . To judge someone by the phone they use is as superficial as relying solely on a person's looks. There are a lot of "beautiful" people in this world with insides more toxic than the "ugliest" looking person. Whatever one constitutes what's beautiful or ugly (which is in the eye of the beholder).

All this attention to vanity is getting old, nauseating and tiresome. No wonder this world is falling apart...

 

I'm surprised that you would even be interested in someone carrying an iPhone :biggrin:

 

I agree. The concept that there are certain classes of people that are to be judge by their type of phone is tiresome.

 

Mike, you are absolutely right and I agree with you 100%.

As to the original post, speaking on behalf of budney I would say that the post was meant to be funny and I took it as such. Most of us are used to statements (like when he says an Android is too complicated for our little female brains :lmao from Frank Meehan.

 

You're taking his wording too literally. He's talking about marketing, pure and simple. Android phones aren't being marketed towards the young, hip crowd. Like it or not, there's a whole segment of the population where image matters and Android isn't tapping it.

 

+1 on that. It is a serious comment. I hear from young students that they ' don't get Android' meaning that from their media ads they don't understand what Android's brand is meaning 'why buy one'

That is a very serious negative comment to hear to a PR firm if the goal is to sell the product. Selling is the main point. And I'm not talking selling OS here. But the phones hardware.


Sent from my iPhone 4

 

I got the original gist of what he was trying to say. Still, and it's just my opinion, he generalizes too much. Yes, there is some truth to what he's saying, but it's not completely true. And this is my point. It's very easy these days to make blanket statements about phones, OS's, carriers, and the like, when there is so much more going on. Maybe attentions spans aren't what they used to be, but not all 7 billion people on this planet have the attention span of a fruit fly...

Apple's iPhone works, and works well. It's a huge hit. Android works well, it too is a huge hit. Each has strengths and weaknesses. Both have had a profound effect on the market. Just ask Nokia/Symbian, RIM/Blackberry, and Microsoft/Windows Mobile...

IMO, some marketing these days has gotten so wrapped up in what's "cool and hip", they only skim the surface. They forget everyone else that doesn't fit into their "desired" demographic. Look at all those stupid Super Bowl commercials trying so hard to be funny. Some were, most were stupid, IMO. They are 5 minutes away from being 5 minutes ago...

Not everyone on this planet is vacuous and completely self-centered. There are many of us with brains. I guess it all gets lost in all the insanity the media stirs up. If they say jump, you can bet quite a few people will.

Oh well...

 

Well, no kidding. Just about anything associated with the concept of being "open source" appeals to the geek community more so than a closed system like iOS or the BBOS.

And even if the generalization is fairly accurate, there are reasons it is so...how many "geeks" spend their time bouncing from club to club on a Friday night?

 

The open source thing is what really led me to Android. iOS is completely closed, we all know that. I hate the tactics Apple uses (now they even want to take a 30% cut of subscription fees!?!?!??) and I won't support that nonsense.
As for blackberry, I might have stayed with them if their app store didn't suck and overcharge. Why should a blackberry app be $29.99, while the same app (with additional features) on Android is $2.99?

 

What I highlight above is blue is true...but I don't think it is what the OP article is talking about. iPhone is a hardware device (+ OS), Android is an operating system, only.

I think the complaint is that all the handset's mgfr's are making the hardware (using Android OS) without consideration about how the hardware presentation has any sex appeal: form vs function - the cool integration of software and hardware.

Apple gets them both...and it is appealing to a lot of people. He is just saying that the other mgfr could learn a thing or two from that play book...if they want to make a phone that has as much hit sales as the iPhone...not the accumulation of Android OS phones.

 

Here is a followup to his comment:

"After the Mashable post went live, Meehan went on to say via Twitter that what he meant was, "most people not interested in tech don't get Android yet." Still digging a hole, or a valid argument? While it seems that Android has always been marketed toward men, I have a number of lady friends who have an Android device and find it preferable over the alternatives. I myself have an iPhone, but that doesn't mean that I think the Android platform is "too complicated." Without using this post as a channel to vent my frustrations about gender bias in the tech world, I'll just say that I'm hoping this "boys club" mentality I find so prevalent comes to an end soon. However, on the other hand, statements like the one coming from Meehan only propel me to work harder, bring down the barriers, and break stereotypes.


Frank Meehan Quote About Women and Android


PS: Sure sounds to me like he made a pure and unadulterated chauvanistic statement (nothing more and nothing less) and is now trying to get his foot out of his mouth.

 

Of course the OP Article was talking about iPhones and Blackberries. It wasn't an Android vs iPhone, geek vs whatever, open vs closed. The iPhone OS is just as open as any Android...if you are tech savvy smart enough to know how to program it...as the many men and women that write OS appls do everyday. Or those that Jailbreak their phones to load third party appls on it, or buy the OS development kit (SDK) to write software/applications for your iPhone.

I really find the Android 'open' comments in the media really ridiculous...as if you can't program an iPhone.

Apple as a corporation is loaded with very talented men, women, geeks (as google is) that are very tech savvy. Some of the top of the class.

 

If he was implying that women can't understand Android simply because they are women, I agree, it is chauvinistic. If his implication was that Android mainly appeals to techie-types (more so than iPhones and BlackBerry), and therefore less women will use Android...well then I sorta agree with his conclusion even if the premise is seriously flawed.

Look at the demographics here or at HoFo or XDA....men outnumber women probably 15 to 1 or even more. Even at other forums (such as one for Florida Gators fans that I frequent) you will find WAAAAY more women talking football than you will find women talking rooting at an Android site. That doesn't make men smarter than women...just means they may tend to be dorkier. :lmao:

 

I believe that has to do with more the perception of what "open" means. Apple is open to the degree you mention, and they are highly protective of what they allow... Versus Android, which came from open-source Linux beginnings. In some ways, this is why Android is fragmented in its iterations from phone to phone. Such as phones operating on 1.5, others still on 2.1, 2.2 being the most recent version, with 2.3 just being released. It gets head-achy after awhile to keep up.

The other "open" part is that there are many manufacturers of Android-based phones. Apple releases the iPhone, with no Samsung (God forbid) or Motorola iPhone version anywhere to be found, unlike Android. Apple's "un-openness" gets hit here, though this is NOT a negative, IMO.

Then again, Apple produces the iPhone along with its OS. Android itself is merely the OS available to phones by any manufacturer.

So the definition of "open" in this case requires a little more explanation for the average consumer, who might not get (or care about) the technicalities as much as we do...

 

Well he did say that the Android was too complicated to a women.

I know the Android satisfies the geek in me, I discover a new mod almost every day. I don't do these to correct anything but basically just because I can. Lol.

I could somewhat do the same with Win Mo but not to the same extent and never with my BB.

Btw, I do agree about demographics.

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Hey Charylee, what mods have you done to your android phone? Curious minds would like to know.

 

You can do pretty much anything you want on the iPhone...only if you want it approved by the Apple app store to 'sell' do they have some issues. You can post it on the Jailbreak forums/stores.

There is a limit that to what Android allows too, officially, in terms of messing with the really deep Android OS, or capturing private data, and place in the Android official stores. They are certainly not letting anyone rescript Android OS 2.x.x or whatever and call it official...

 

There really is not much of an approval process for apps in the android store, at least that I know of. If something is seriously malicious, it will probably be taken down by Google.
On your second note, that is not true at all. The Android operating system is 100% open source, you can do whatever you want to it. The API and codes are publicly available and are frequently altered. You can flash whatever ROM you want onto a phone (as long as your manufacturer does not lock it down, but you can root it to do so).
Cyanogen mod firmware is exactly what I am talking about. It is an altered android OS from whatever your manufacturer gives you. The only thing restricted by Google are their private apps, like Gmail and Youtube. http://www.cyanogenmod.com/
Heck, HTC puts sense UI on top of Android and the user almost never sees the nreal Android OS.

 

yes, there are limits. Google is getting frustrated with some of the stuff out there, the lack of control is taking its toll.

So what have you done to your phone? What cool things have you changed?

 

I'm not sure what you mean by google getting frustrated. The OS is open source, there is absolutely nothing they can do about it, not a thing. If I wanted to, I could take the source code for android, limit it so that it only boots up and plays a hanson song, and shut back off.
As for the market, which is NOT open source and is trademarked by Google, I agree, work needs to be done. Sometimes it is hard even just to find google's own software in there.

As for my phone, the Droid2, i've overclocked it (1.1ghz), added battery percentage to the status bar, loaded an alternate launcher (launcher pro plus), loaded some alternate keyboards on to meet my liking), etc.

As for my Nook Color, which is android based, i've completely replaced the stock android ROM and loaded a custom, full out Froyo 2.2 ROM to make it a full tablet.

 

Just some random stuff like rooting, de branding, one major upgrade, two minor ones etc.

My last one was the JIT Enabler and the Jury is still out on that.

Interestingly I started doing this when I found out that at&t does not allow side loading. I wanted to be one of the beta testers for RR's Cellumap, as I was one of the ones for the BB app. Then there was a custom keyboard I wanted and the fact that the rest of the world (literally) got the upgrade that at&t still doesn't.

Also removed all bloatware from at&t initially and then Sony's after debranding.

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Thanks, I was curious. I'm not seeing anything here that can not be done to a 'rooted' (Jailbroken) iPhone though. The iPhone is not carrier branded (no logo even) and has no bloatware. On the web you can learn how to side load, add custom keyboards (like a 4th keyboard row) and over clocked the CPU. The battery % stat bar is already there, and ATT does not restrict OS upgrades.

I'm sure RadioRaiders could write a celluarmap program (official or Cydia), if he wanted to have fun 'hacking' and maybe make $$ on the side. Hey, maybe I'll do it myself and make a few bucks!

Hacking is fun for some, and many do this on the iOS as well. With the Hacker, the more the challenge, the more the fun...but this stuff above is not challenging to do...it's all on the web.

So what is the official policy with Motorola, LG, Sony. If my phone has a functional problem, and I shipped it back for repair, does one have to unrooted it first for warranty service?

Well, have fun doing these things. This stuff doesn't interest my anymore...I have enough problems coding the equipment in my work lab here...just not enough time in the day. Though I've had an old 3G hanging around here that I've been saving for retirement, to fool around with...

 

Here is a tech savvy female app developer that made her own very original iPhone App for measuring RF signal strength, bars, and the Apple RF code scale

Hats off to Erica Sadun. in the video, she demonstrates the death grip. I love the simple graphics!

Who says women are not capable? only idiots. And the iPhone is for women 'geeks' too. And I use that term respectfully.

see her helpful book on writing code for iOS iPhone here

[video=youtube;GCfyKfIwSDQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCfyKfIwSDQ&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

Nice try, but I'm not buying. You're saying something like "Why do you vacation in Southern France, when there's beaches and sun in Cambodia?" It's partly true, but there's a wider range of variables being ignored. I'm sure you can do almost the same things with a iPhone as with Android, but I have to imagine it's alot easier and more choices available with Android (I have a stock, un-branded, un-locked phone, personally I'm not into rooting or hacking my phone ) Of course some of it is reality, and some is perception as well, but it's the whole "package" people are buying as well, right? A hippie will buy a VW van, because that's what they dig. A buisnessman will buy a BMW because it's smart, fine-tuned, etc. They're both still cars that will ultimately get them from point A to point B. Same with smart-phones.

...oh, and if you need help planning your next vacation, let me know, I know some nice places that have sun and beaches

PS- Cellumap is 100% free (but it's not in the Apple Store, so I guess you had no way of knowing ) The $$ I make on ads isn't enough to pay the server, so it's really a labor of love Oh, and nothing is "hacked" it's all streight-up on the level, no "rooting" or anything required.