TGarza

DOJ social stigma of the Android green bubble vs the iPhone blue bubble is referenced in the anti trust lawsuit stigmatizing certain demographics.

DOJ even mentions the difficulty of switching from iPhone to Android. I found the process straightforward and simple using a cable or wireless transfer of the data.

KRSW

The DOJ seems to be operating more for political gain in recent years than anything. Al Gore was on the board of Apple until January this year, which makes me wonder what the back-story is on all of this.

As far as "stigmatizing certain demographics", it seems that the lower socioeconomic levels of society still manage to scrape together enough coin to buy an iPhone. They may be in government-assisted housing, have EBT, but manage to have an iPhone.

Going from Apple to Android is easy, while going from Android to Apple is a bit more difficult. Samsung's built-in SmartSwitch app does everything for you. I don't recall seeing such a thing from Apple. I personally use a Samsung S10+ (primary), S7+ (backup), and an Amazon Kindle Fire (w/Google Play). My electronic flight bag (EFB) with all of my aviation charts and related programs is an iPad Mini, not by choice, but because that's what only what Boeing/Foreflight support.

TGarza

It is easy to move from Android to iOS or iOS to Android. I have done both several times for my work cell and my personal cell.

Several MVNO’s offer iPhone models for less than $200 for the “socially stigmatized”. There are legitimate concerns about Apple’s business practices with the lockdown of the iPhones and App Store only app restrictions. That should be the focus of tbe DOJ antitrust case not the green vs blue message bubble.

Visconti

I'm old enough to recall Android when it launched. Those were the early smart phone wars and I had tried both. Ultimately, the iPhone was just an overall better experience and had a much higher quality build, in my view. At the time, the iPhone was a little more expensive? The Samsung with Android was $500 and the iPhone $600?

I had recall reading some articles suggesting Apple users had more or made more money, but I just assumed they puff pieces not to be taken seriously. Generally speaking, I think Apple users are less techy, while Android users generally are more tech savvy. We make our choices respectively, and I don't see why the DOJ should get involved here. Want to buy a Windows phone, go for it. Buy Android, cool. Buy and iPhone, fantastic. Use a dumb burner phone, knock yourself out.

TGarza

The DOJ is claiming significant barriers for Android users switching to iOS which I have done for work and personal use. The DOJ disagrees with your observation about Android users.

My anecdotal observations are the exact opposite with Android users being less technical than iOS users. I have several relatives who have asked for help to move their data from an old Android phone to a new Android phone. I have switched between Android and iOS several times.

Visconti

Ah, when it comes to the DOJ, I suppose we'd have to agree to disagree on a litany of issues, at least when it comes to me. On this particular issue, I disagree vehemently with their interference. Of course, being an Apple cult member and AAPL stock owner, I'm incredibly biased.

Ah, I evaluated Android over 15 years ago? I recall the appeal of Android was open source, which seemed to be an advantage on the surface, not unlike Firefox. However, because of the free for all system for developers what I found was more onus on the user to evaluate potential apps for malware and/or security risks, often by comparing notes with the community. This lead to so many apps, it seemed 99% of them were of low quality, of no interest to me personally, and I wasn't about to compare notes with any community. So, this struck me as similar to the Widows vs Mac OS, where the former was often more sophisticated and required some user effort to maximize the experience.

Also, to each his/her own, but I'm old enough to be there when all these things were being created. I knew enough about Google, to invest in it but never use the product, like Facebook. Google's main business is to monetize user data, Apple's isn't. Personally, I make every effort to avoid any product where their business model is to monetize my personal data. While I understand Apple surely is guilty of data sharing to some extent, it isn't their main business and because of their closed system less prone to potential data leaks. Again, reducing the data leak strikes me as something more for advanced users.

Finally, I don't like the green Android--looks like some kind of green nerdy roach. Just not cool and wouldn't be caught dead with it. So, again, to nerdy sophisticated tech users, the "cool factor" is often unimportant, or at least takes a back seat to the ability to root the OS (or whatever they call it), price vs performance, open source/system, and being able to choose from multiple brands.

So, I just chose the iPhone and never looked back. Right now, I think I may know one person with an Android? It's the wife of my friend who just hates Apple.

jsnydcsa

Granted I'm not antitrust expert. But I thought Android phones were supposed to be superior (and thus many APPL users might switch to them regardless of the ease/difficulty of switching) b/c of a broader ranger of phones, lower cost handset options (that do more/better than comparably priced APPL handsets), more features on Androids (better cameras, onboard software and features to make work, photos, etc. better than APPL), and more options to customize (or even "root") Android software-OS-hardware options. It would seem to me that it would be a very atrractive switch options for an AAPL user and, given the ease of switching, why wouldn't they? It doesn't seem that AAPL is making it difficult for them to switch.

Or maybe I'm just an antitrust idiot.

Visconti

Ah, except for the DOJ, for whatever reason, and few geeky nerdy types sprinkled here and there, I don't think anyone cares.

jsnydcsa

I betcha APPL cares. A lot.

serpens

APPL, whoever it is, might or might not care. AAPL will need to respond.

Honestly, and I don't mean to pick on you, people should proofread more and abbreviate less.

DYKWIA

Yes - this is a bugbear of mine at the moment... people trying to look "cool" by using stock market abbreviations rather than just typing the name.

TGarza

The DOJ doesn’t look favorably on Android superior to iOS arguments. Their claim of being difficult to switch from iOS to Android is false. The DOJ is trying to make an economic and racial injustice argument against Android users. The focus should be on the App Store restrictions and associated fees.

jsnydcsa

See ya.

nerd

And, maybe you just thought wrong..

Jimmie76

I have both android phones and an ipad, which I’m typing this on. There are things that I don’t like on both systems and deficiencies on both. I wouldn’t suggest that IOS is better than Android, in fact there are things missing from the ipad that I really would like. I don’t use SMS much anymore so I can’t comment on different colours of SMS messages. There are some things that for me Android has the upper hand and some that IOS does better.