From iPhone to Pixel 2: an Early Report
I guess that I am among several thousand people who have recently switched from iPhones to other devices for reasons related to the launch of the new iPhones and the company’s failure to disclose that holders of older phones would see a sharp decline in performance if they downloaded iOS 11, the new operating system.
I was not quite ready to buy a new phone. My iPhone 6+ was not yet two-years old, which is when I start slowly thinking about a new phone. But iOS 11, left me no choice. The new operating system dramatically crippled my phones productivity, causing performance delays that were just unacceptable, for any user.
I decided that it was time to break my 20-years of monogamy with Apple that started back when Microsoft started bullying customers and partners. Apple certainly has not turned into that sort of bully but seems t me t be headed in the sort of trajectory.
So I went to a Verizon store and looked at the Apple 8, then a Pixel 2 and a Samsung Note 8. I would have also considered the Huawei Mate 10, but my carrier and the Chinese device maker seem t not be on speaking terms.
I found all three phones were terrific. I liked the iPhone 8 the most, because it worked the way my old 6+ worked. I could transfer data and be all set and that is always tempting. Also, when you are paying by the month for two years as most people now do, the cost between them is no longer significant.
But I decided not to do so because deep in my heart I was very pissed off at Apple the company, along with the arrogant little twits who represent them in the Corte Madera Apple store.
I was very impressed with the Samsung Note 8 and I had been equally — perhaps more — impressed with the Mate 10 when I played a little with it in the UK a couple of months back.
But I really liked the look, feel and apparent speed of the Pixel 2. Besides Fred Davis, who I first met thirty or more years ago when he was editor of the influential MacUser magazine, was evangelizing the phone with great passion and he is more technical than I am by orders of magnitude.
So, with Fred as my influencer, I took home my new phone late Monday afternoon. As I write now on Saturday morning, I am just now getting comfortable with my new phone and thought I would share a few thoughts in case you are contemplating a similar move for the same or different reasons.
The executive summary that I have learned is that in switching from an iPhone to an Android phone gives you about as many new advantages as you lose. If you are not as pissed off at Apple as I was, you may be wise to stick with what you have.
The transition is more difficult than I had thought it would be, but it is not sufficient to make me consider returning the phone before my warranty runs out.
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It has taken me three days to become comfortable with the OS navigation in the Pixel and I think that in this light Apple remains superior,
The second biggest downside I have experience is that advertising is far more intrusive and pervasive in the pixel than on an iPhone. This may end up being the one annoyance of my new phone that may not go away over time.
I should have been surprised by this. When you think about it, Apple’s core business is making digital devices. It became the world’s most valuable company by selling phones.
Conversely, Google makes its money primarily by selling ads. Someday this may change, but I doubt that will happen during the life of my new phone.
Once I get past these two hurdles, I find lots of little ways that make me love my Pixel. You have probably already heard about how great the camera is as I had heard. But I was surprised by some neat additional features, such as the waterfall that shows water gushing down in a still photo I took.
Even better, is a feature that I also didn’t know about called Google Lens, which provides you with Curative information on landmarks that you take pictures of, and recognizes untagged people in your photo library if you have tagged that person once in any photo.
But what impresses me the most remains the speed. This may be impressing me because of the painful latency I was experiencing in my old 6+, but I remain dazzled at hw fast it moves and pulls up new apps.
I also really like the way it fits into my hand and converts my locked screen into a digital clock, but those are not real life changers.
For me, the reason, I will not go back to an iPhone is the Google Now feature and how I access it. This is the voice interactive app that competes with Siri and eventually Alexis from Amazon.
On my new Pixel, I access it by giving my phone a little hand-squeeze. The phone uses haptic technology to bring it up. On the first try, Google Now, recognized what I said perfectly and provided me with the right answers most of the time. The only one it had trouble with was: “Describe blue.”
After just four day of using Google Now, I find myself addicted. I use it for all my google Searches because it is faster, easier and in a lot of situations, safer.
I think the good news is that phones just keep getting better and better. So long as there are three-or-four companies competing fiercely for our business, we users will benefit from newer better technologies.
Of course, I see the day, when headsets will replace handsets as te center of our digital lives. That is when people and business transform into the world of immersive technologies such as AR and VR.
