Oh I see that newer (Android only in my case) phones "can" replace a tablet because they are simply tablets with cell radios but my point was an aging (arbitrary model) 4.3" HTC makes a fine phone and by only conerning myself with the phone part I am free put that new phone money into a better tablets at mostly lower prices than cell radio models + no carrier baggage.
I agree it should not be the case that there are manufacturer abandoned models but that is also the OSS beauty because some models do get 3rd party updates when firmware developers graft on code from models that are supported. I'd rather the ability to do that than make do with one size fits all "just works" stability at the cost of choice & personalization. On Wed, Oct 8, 2014 at 9:42 PM, Greg Sevart <ad...@xfury.net> wrote: > My device is currently running 4.4.2. I agree that it has gotten better, no > doubt due to both faster gear and OS tweaks, but it's nowhere in the same > league as IOS or WP even on lesser hardware. It's probably a minor thing to a > lot of people, but it just irritates the crap out of me. > > I had an Android (Honeycomb, later upgraded to ICS) tablet at the same time > that I had an Android 2.x phone (the S1). Once I upgraded to the S3, I > essentially stopped using the tablet. I later bought a very nice Thinkpad > Win8.1 tablet. I don't use it much either, but that's largely because scaling > in a lot of Win32 apps blows. Phones have reached a point in speed and > display size that I just don't have much need personally for a tablet > anymore, and if I end up getting a phablet, that will be even more true. A > friend of mine (an iSheeple in denial) has purchased every iPad (and iPhone) > Apple has released, and recently admitted that his iPhone 6 Plus has largely > supplanted the tablet--a statement I made over 2 years ago after getting the > S3. (Welcome to 2012, indeed.) > > Yes, carriers are a non-trivial part of the problem, but the carriers can > only work with what the device manufacturers provide. Just recently, Sony > announced that they would no longer be providing updates for a number of > their Android phones, including some models that were still being sold > earlier this year. I guess I consider that pretty inexcusable. It's a problem > Google could and should address, but they seem too afraid to leverage the > Play store (since Android is OSS, it's about the only thing they could do) to > beat device manufacturers and carriers into submission. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Hardware [mailto:hardware-boun...@lists.hardwaregroup.com] On Behalf Of > Joshua MacCraw > Sent: Wednesday, October 8, 2014 5:26 PM > To: hardw...@lists.hardwaregroup.com > Subject: [H] Phones, OSes, etc... was Re: Windows 8.1 problem > > What version of Android Greg? Known issues with past versions as > Google tweaks what threads handle what in an attempt to deal with GUI > responsiveness complaints. Kitkat on the Nexus 7 FHD is very > responsive vs. any 2.x versions I run on my HTC DesireHD which lags > bad. Though I'd lay the blame of (most of) my phone lag on idiot > assumption we all have cell data serivces vs. WIFI only (I have data > block & no forced data plan 4+ years now), so at wake up it's a bums > rush of data consuming processes vying to suck network pipe. > > My answer is simple for cell: tablet is better device for computing > freeing me from the phone wars to simply buy a good cell phone for > PHONE CALLS, gasp!. Not wanting to deal with anything but official > Android updates and lack there of is certainly limiting but blame the > *carriers* for that one because they sit on updates. For those of us > willing to try or tweak our own it's much more rewarding & flexible. > > There is ALWAYS room for more HARDWARE choices IMHO, hardware that can > run various OS' available. OS wise moving away from Windows & iOS is > priority (and Android as Google moves to emulating MS/Apple) in favor > of a total OSS OS. That's why I mentioned the Ubuntu phone as a great > idea same for moving the PC world away from OSX/Windows. > > > On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 8:07 AM, Greg Sevart <ad...@xfury.net> wrote: >> My primary phone is an Android, and in a general sense I do like the device. >> Having established that, there are major problems with Android. First, its >> interface isn't responsive. Even with the fastest quad core processors, >> Android just isn't nearly as responsive as either IOS or WP. The device >> isn't slow, as pure benchmarks prove, but interacting with the system and >> apps is nowhere near as fluid. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to >> interact with a UI element only to have it change a faction of a second >> before my finger touches the screen, resulting in it doing something I >> didn't want. My experience with IOS and WP, even on far less capable >> devices, has been far superior in this regard. >> >> Updates for any device not running pure Android are a disaster. I'm forced >> to choose to either run a custom/3rd party image (which I don't want to mess >> with), or wait months, or longer, for updates to functional and security >> issues--if I get them at all. Is it the fault of Android? Yes and no. >> Ultimately it is the manufacturers at fault, but Google could and should >> have done more to prevent it from occurring. >> >> As I said, my main device is an Android. My next device will almost >> certainly be one as well, but it's more a lack of options. I dislike Apple's >> offerings for reason I won't enumerate here, and I have a small set of >> indispensable apps that aren't available on WP. Until that changes, I feel >> like I'm stuck. >> >> More generally, I think there's a place for all of them. None of them are >> perfect, a condition that will likely never exist, so I'm glad that there >> are choices to allow people to select the best device for their needs as >> well as continue to push the envelope with each generation. >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Hardware [mailto:hardware-boun...@lists.hardwaregroup.com] On Behalf >> Of Thane Sherrington >> Sent: Monday, October 6, 2014 9:18 AM >> To: hardw...@lists.hardwaregroup.com >> Subject: Re: [H] Windows 8.1 problem >> >> At 01:00 AM 06/10/2014, Joshua MacCraw wrote: >>>Boo hoo so Android isn't iOS or Windows simple & polished but it's a >>>hell of a lot more open & customizable with stock (or branded) >>>interface replaceable so you have options. Hell I'd jump to an Ubuntu >>>phone before I do a windows phone. >> >> Actually, I've heard the Windows Phone interface is pretty good, and I'd be >> willing to try it. The big mistake was to put a phone interface on a >> desktop. >> >> T >> >> >> >> >> > >
