Android’s Weakness is its Power

So, with Verizon’s announcement of the iPhone, we’ll finally get to see just how competitive Android is against iOS, now that the devices have a level playing field. My prediction is that Google is going to have to get used to being the underdog in the world of smartphones. A successful underdog at that, but I think Google is going to be surprised in a few weeks.

This might sound odd coming from me - after all, I offered quite a bit of praise for the OS some time ago. I still stand by that - Android, for me, is a great phone OS. The problem is that it’s great for all the reasons that ruin the experience for the rest of the public. Android phones give you lots of power to tweak the user experience and the capabilities at your disposal.

This power is easily abused if you don’t know what you’re doing. Unless the user is a nerd who knows exactly what consequences each application and setting change will have on their battery life and performance and user interface, an Android user stands a good chance of turning a phone with a lot of potential into a shiny brick of pain. I know what not to run to keep my phone running awesomely, but this knowledge is gained through experience and tinkering, not something you can find in the never-read-anyway owner’s manual. The end result of an Android phone sale is typically either a satisfied geek, or a dissatisfied customer.

iOS strikes a very good balance of what to make available and what to take away. Android’s entire sales pitch right now is that everything is available. Theoretically, this is a good thing. In reality, this is a bad thing. So many experiences are compromised by the freedom and power that Android provides. It’s better than a dumbphone or a Blackberry, certainly, but I’d point the not-geeky folks towards an iPhone or Windows Phone before suggesting Android.

So, the real question is: what’ll boost the Verizon iPhone more? Will it be the AT&T users, fed up with their locally broken network? Or will it be the non-tech-savvy Verizon Android users, who conclude that their phone is terrible because they don’t realize that their oh-so-cool live wallpaper is halving their battery life?