RattyUK
10:33 am on September 3, 2010 624 days agoReply
I was talking about this on various other sites over the last couple of days.
The question is, or rather seems to be, if Google are activating as many phones as they claim why are so few people using it for browsing?
Could it be if you sell a smartphone at normal phone prices (2 fer ones and Amazon’s 1 cent giveaways) then people won’t bother with the data plan and just use it as a phone?
Senator Gronk
11:38 am on September 3, 2010 624 days agoReply
I would say that Android allows people to use the net while iOS makes the internet useful.
Recent observations:
66-year-old father in law got an Android phone so he could check weather and bus schedules while living near the loop in Chicago. I would say his usage vs my iPhone usage on a recent visit was 1/25. He wasn’t ever checking email, looking for restaurants, reading NYT or NPR…
Friend of mine is an IT consultant and still a Windows guy. He posted on FB that he was looking for a smartphone on ATT. I mentioned the iPhone and he complained that he didn’t like the tethering pricing (which I didn’t know was available). So clearly, if he’s thinking of bypassing the phone’s OS so he can be mobile with his laptop, his Android usage numbers would be lower than if he just used an iPhone without his laptop. PS-I’ve been a messenger bag IT warrior too and I can tell you that if I were one today I’d just get an iPad. These days you can’t get on client networks with your laptop anyway, so carry an external hard drive and an iPad and give your back a longer life.
Clearly there’s a usage gap between iOS and Android. And clearly there’s a headline gap between the sales numbers that everyone pounced on a month ago and these usage statistics… Maybe these will get more press as the days roll by but I doubt it.
conshmillo
1:32 pm on September 3, 2010 624 days agoReply
@Senator Gronk
Long time no see Senator. Good to have you back.
sworoc
11:05 am on September 3, 2010 624 days agoReply
Only a technical detail here, but Android is a Linux platform, so if you combine the browsing usage Linux is still higher.
Also, interesting point RattyUK, why doesn’t there appear to be browsing traffic coming from Android?
In my office right now, we are 80% Android phones, 10% iPhone, 10% other. Obviously that’s not accurate on a global scale, but it’s not like it’s rare to see an Android device in use.
Nicu
11:18 am on September 3, 2010 624 days agoReply
@sworoc
technically, iOS is a variant on Mac OS X but … in a completely different device category :p
rastard
2:57 pm on September 4, 2010 623 days agoReply
Okay, I can’t figure this out. These numbers released yesterday from Quantcast seems to show a conflicting trend, with Android seemingly showing greater usage numbers than the other chart from the earlier macrumors link up above (which the appleinsider article refers to without much explanation), and Apple’s usage losing ground to Android.
Is the difference because the earlier link included all iOS devices (i.e. iPad) and the Quantcast numbers don’t?
RattyUK 10:33 am on September 3, 2010 624 days ago Reply
I was talking about this on various other sites over the last couple of days.
The question is, or rather seems to be, if Google are activating as many phones as they claim why are so few people using it for browsing?
Could it be if you sell a smartphone at normal phone prices (2 fer ones and Amazon’s 1 cent giveaways) then people won’t bother with the data plan and just use it as a phone?
Senator Gronk 11:38 am on September 3, 2010 624 days ago Reply
@rattyuk
Exactly. Or something similar…
I would say that Android allows people to use the net while iOS makes the internet useful.
Recent observations:
66-year-old father in law got an Android phone so he could check weather and bus schedules while living near the loop in Chicago. I would say his usage vs my iPhone usage on a recent visit was 1/25. He wasn’t ever checking email, looking for restaurants, reading NYT or NPR…
Friend of mine is an IT consultant and still a Windows guy. He posted on FB that he was looking for a smartphone on ATT. I mentioned the iPhone and he complained that he didn’t like the tethering pricing (which I didn’t know was available). So clearly, if he’s thinking of bypassing the phone’s OS so he can be mobile with his laptop, his Android usage numbers would be lower than if he just used an iPhone without his laptop. PS-I’ve been a messenger bag IT warrior too and I can tell you that if I were one today I’d just get an iPad. These days you can’t get on client networks with your laptop anyway, so carry an external hard drive and an iPad and give your back a longer life.
Clearly there’s a usage gap between iOS and Android. And clearly there’s a headline gap between the sales numbers that everyone pounced on a month ago and these usage statistics… Maybe these will get more press as the days roll by but I doubt it.
conshmillo 1:32 pm on September 3, 2010 624 days ago Reply
@Senator Gronk
Long time no see Senator. Good to have you back.
sworoc 11:05 am on September 3, 2010 624 days ago Reply
Only a technical detail here, but Android is a Linux platform, so if you combine the browsing usage Linux is still higher.
Also, interesting point RattyUK, why doesn’t there appear to be browsing traffic coming from Android?
In my office right now, we are 80% Android phones, 10% iPhone, 10% other. Obviously that’s not accurate on a global scale, but it’s not like it’s rare to see an Android device in use.
Nicu 11:18 am on September 3, 2010 624 days ago Reply
@sworoc
technically, iOS is a variant on Mac OS X but … in a completely different device category :p
rastard 2:57 pm on September 4, 2010 623 days ago Reply
“Android gaining on Apple iOS in mobile web market share”
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/09/04/android_gaining_on_apple_ios_in_mobile_web_market_share.html
Okay, I can’t figure this out. These numbers released yesterday from Quantcast seems to show a conflicting trend, with Android seemingly showing greater usage numbers than the other chart from the earlier macrumors link up above (which the appleinsider article refers to without much explanation), and Apple’s usage losing ground to Android.
Is the difference because the earlier link included all iOS devices (i.e. iPad) and the Quantcast numbers don’t?