How can an OS be boring?

[Paradocks]

Boring is based on the eye of the beholder. It's a subjective classification that can't be easily explained. I'm a dual platform user (Android and iOS), and it is my belief that some people think iOS is boring because all they see is row upon row of static icons, a design element that really hasn't changed much at all since the first iPhone. What they don't see is how fluid and stable iOS is compared to other platforms. Being a dual platform user, I see the difference every day. iOS is much more stable than Android, but that stability comes with inflexibility and lack of customization. Android is like Burger King where you can "have it your way." iOS is fancy dining where making substitutions is frowned upon or not even allowed (third party keyboards, for example). I like using both platforms, Android phone for its flexibility and customization aspects, and an iPad 3 for leisurely downtime and simple, stable operation.


Sent from my iPad

 

[leathernuts#WP]

Exactly. Like I said in my post earlier. It took one week with Android to realize how great the ios really is. Kinda like you don't know what you got until its gone. Luckily I still had my iPhone 5 .

 

[mfldmike]

I used to think iOS was boring, I guess lacking is a better term. I switched OS's because I did think the grass was greener. I purchased an S4 and came running back to my iPhone 5 because although Android has file managers, easy settings, and 'some' customizations; it seriously lacks in smoothness, quality, and Apps! I've now had the iPhone since the 3GS and always find myself coming back.

To be honest, I think iOS steals some design elements from Android, WebOS, and Windows Phone 8. It's nice to see it refreshed a little bit, though there are things that still bug me. Even in BETA form, iOS ran smoother than any version of Android that I came across...even devices running ASOP/AKOP ROMs.

 

[leathernuts#WP]

I was just truly bored as in I needed a new toy only to realize I was sacrificing functionality for temporary entertainment. I promise, after I had my s4 set up within a couple days of tweaking it here and there, I'd look at the device and say meh, it's just a device to provide me email, phone calls, etc and my iPhone does it better (for me). It's [the s4] going back. Lol

 

[Nolander07]

My buddy said something the other day that made a lot of sense. He has the S4 and we were comparing phones. He isn't into Apple vs. Samsung, and he said that the smart phones have matured enough that they are just appliances. No more are the days of tweaking and rooting and whatever. Smartphones are here to function. If you hit the weather icon, the weather should come up, if you want to check mail, that should open, etc., etc. There is no more awe factor and they all essentially do the same thing and almost everyone has one, just like a microwave or coffee maker.

 

[mfldmike]

It's true to a certain extent, but there are $20 coffee makers and then there are $200 coffee makers. Even though they are appliances, every appliance is not created equal.

 

[PreJamison]

Boring OS? I think of it in terms of what is the opposite of fun to use. For an OS to be fun to use it must work flawlessly (smooth, fast, lag free) and have all the features you need. If an OS lacks features or is buggy, it won't be fun to use. It must be visually appealing (colors, design, etc). Beyond that, how you interact with the interface must be fun. I think gestures make things more fun. Take flipboard for example. The news is the news, but there is something more fun about flipping and swiping through the news.

WebOS had a lot of fun gestures. It was fun to swipe up to bring up the wave dock of apps and toss apps off the screen, etc. But, webOS lacked features and was laggy, so it wasn't all that fun to use.

I can't wait for iOS 7. We can expect it to work smooth, fast, and pretty much bug free. It's adding features like control center and in camera. It looks fun with all the transparency and real depth (not just pictures and text on a screen--there is more going on). Finally, Apple added lots of gestures (swipe up for control centers, swipe in the middle for spotlight search, swipe to go back in email and messages instead of hitting a button, tossing apps off the screen to close instead of hitting tiny red buttons, flow scrolling through tabs in safari, etc). It's going to be more fun IMO.

 

[leathernuts#WP]

Your post just got e excited for iOS 7 lol

 

[linsiris]

PreJamison I like what you said and what I've seen, I'm also waiting for iOS7 to come and still there's people that says iOS7 is boring.

I don't really understand why but I respect their opinion, at the end it's a matter of taste :-/

 

[Eric Ton]

I've read complaints about iOS7 being boring, and even more for previous versions of iOS.

I've never understood this. I use my phone to do stuff. like check my email, or do facebook, or play some music. I like it when new features come that add usefulness or make the phone easier to use. So basically I want to do stuff with the phone, not play with an OS. I only care about the OS for what it does to make the phone more useful and easy to use. I generally see OS as just that thing working in the background. I don't think about it. I just think "I want to see my emails" and then touch the email icon.


Now if folks complain about some feature on another OS they wish iOS would adopt, that makes sense to me. (I wish apple could steal the blackberry Z10's keyboard)
but saying the OS is boring? what does that even mean? I'm not trying to put anybody down, I'm really asking, because I don't know.

thanks!

People don't realize that when you become familiar with something, you'll get bore with it and want to try something new. After a while they get bore with the new stuff then they'll want to something different again. It's just a human tendency. People have to remember this, change for the sake of change is not good!

 

[taz323]

People don't realize that when you become familiar with something, you'll get bore with it and want to try something new. After a while they get bore with the new stuff then they'll want to something different again. It's just a human tendency. People have to remember this, change for the sake of change is not good!

You know that's a thought, but for me, I like being familiar with the something's , to me it makes them more efficient. Picking up my phone and doing what I need without having to figure out how to something, doesn't really make it boring, just more useful.

 

[Ben_Trovato]

I can understand how someone says it's boring. It hasn't changed enough in all these years and when you are paying $600 bucks for a premium device, people expect more ooomph. I don't have any solutions per se, but the costs of owning these devices don't really correlate to the user experience associated with the price tag. However, if you want to make the argument that they are great, and they just work, you can absolutely say that. Then again, an iPhone 4 should suffice, but it's painfully slow - and paying $600 for an iPhone 5 just so Camera loads 10 seconds more quickly seems a bit unfair.

 

[Fausty82]

I can understand how someone says it's boring. It hasn't changed enough in all these years and when you are paying $600 bucks for a premium device, people expect more ooomph. I don't have any solutions per se, but the costs of owning these devices don't really correlate to the user experience associated with the price tag. However, if you want to make the argument that they are great, and they just work, you can absolutely say that. Then again, an iPhone 4 should suffice, but it's painfully slow - and paying $600 for an iPhone 5 just so Camera loads 10 seconds more quickly seems a bit unfair.

You ARE paying for the experience. The hardware continues to evolve, and with iOS 7, so does the OS... Just because something has not changed (significantly) over a specific time period does not make it "boring"... and even if it did, the major changes in iOS 7 should offset that sentiment.

 

[Bazza1]

...Just because something has not changed (significantly) over a specific time period does not make it "boring"... and even if it did, the major changes in iOS 7 should offset that sentiment.

...but just don't expect Mail to yet offer the ability to add attachments, even if via the iCloud.

"Boring" may, as suggested elsewhere on this thread, be the result of a company that repeats the same mistakes over and over, preferring to disguise these with features users don't really need.

 

[finn5975]

Then again, an iPhone 4 should suffice, but it's painfully slow - and paying $600 for an iPhone 5 just so Camera loads 10 seconds more quickly seems a bit unfair.

Yes....becasue with the iphone 5, all you are getting is a camera that loads 10 seconds faster. You are not getting a larger screen, lighter and thinner design, premium build quality, LTE, much faster processor, improved graphics, increased ram efficiency, improved low light camera optics, improved charging port, etc. Good point.

 

[John Yester]

Some people don't like things repetitive? Dunno can really honestly answer, as I am not the one who is bored...

 

[finn5975]

...but just don't expect Mail to yet offer the ability to add attachments, even if via the iCloud.

Are there 3rd party apps that offer this? I ask because I don't use email much so I haven't run into that.

 

[John Flud]

There are. you can email pages docs right from pages, numbers, keynotes and others. plus I have google drive which i can easily drag stuff into from my computer. then access from the iphone and email the files.

this is admittedly clunky though. I don't know why on earth apple hasn't made it easier to attach any kind of file to an email.

 

[dannejanne]

I think there's an app "Documents To Go" that lets you attach files and send them as email. Some app even allows multiple attachments if I remember correctly. Don't remember the name though.

 

[Fausty82]

...but just don't expect Mail to yet offer the ability to add attachments, even if via the iCloud.

"Boring" may, as suggested elsewhere on this thread, be the result of a company that repeats the same mistakes over and over, preferring to disguise these with features users don't really need.

Again, you are confusing missing features with boring. Not being able to perform a specific function doesn’t make an OS "boring"... in your example, I might call it "lacking".