[AB Lambert]

I hate Pirates! Pirates are overrated! Pirates are so 1700's Being a Smuggler is where it's at ...

You just don't know how much better Pirates are than others. You are just so clueless. If you cant afford being a Pirate just stick with your crab. Have you ever even tried being a Pirate. I now some people who have tried both and liked it. We call them bi-Pirates.

A.B.

[Not Quite Right]

You just don't know how much better Pirates are than others. You are just so clueless. If you cant afford being a Pirate just stick with your crab. Have you ever even tried being a Pirate. I now some people who have tried both and liked it. We call them bi-Pirates.

A.B.

All my friends at work used to be Pirates, now that they've seen how cool it is to be a Smuggler, they're all Smugglers now and would never go back to being a Pirate!!!
PS- You & Johnny Depp have SMALL swords !!!

[AB Lambert]

All my friends at work used to be Pirates, now that they've seen how cool it is to be a Smuggler, they're all Smugglers now and would never go back to being a Pirate!!!
PS- You & Johnny Depp have SMALL swords !!!

That's not what you (wife, mother, sister, girlfriend, boyfriend [please circle appropriate word]) said!!!.

Besides I have more loot in my Treasure Store than you do. My loot is better quality with less ratware than yours.

A.B.

[Coachbulldog]

I hate Pirates! Pirates are overrated! Pirates are so 1700's Being a Smuggler is where it's at ...

The Pittsburgh Smugglers just doesn't sound right.

[BBFunGuy]

Same here. BB users are the worst in my opinion. It's as if they own the company.

Zing!

[jburke82]

All my friends at work used to be Pirates, now that they've seen how cool it is to be a Smuggler, they're all Smugglers now and would never go back to being a Pirate!!!
PS- You & Johnny Depp have SMALL swords !!!

And now that you have bigger swords, ours are still sharper! Like 2014-sharp! Yours are still 2012-sharp! And the engraving on your sword...? Smugglers started that years ago! And the oceans the smugglers sail on are better too. Just because.

[pantlesspenguin]

In my circle of friends, I know 3 who are over the top "I don't know how anyone can live without iPhone" "iPhone is so much more professional than anything out there" "iPhone oozes sophistication and style." But that's out of dozens of people I know who use them and like them and don't think too much about it. But those three, man...they're out there. I don't think a lot of people necessarily hate iDevices, but it's people like that who stick out in their friends' minds and perhaps they snub iDevices subconsciously because of the association with those people.

[qbnkelt]

In my circle of friends, I know 3 who are over the top "I don't know how anyone can live without iPhone" "iPhone is so much more professional than anything out there" "iPhone oozes sophistication and style." But that's out of dozens of people I know who use them and like them and don't think too much about it. But those three, man...they're out there. I don't think a lot of people necessarily hate iDevices, but it's people like that who stick out in their friends' minds and perhaps they snub iDevices subconsciously because of the association with those people.

Stop talking about me....

[Les74]

OK, this frustrates me immensely. I have had a windows device and 2 Android devices before I decided to go for a change with the iPhone. I personally was not that interested in iPhone, I didn't realise how great they were. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and perhaps everyone is looking for something different in a smart phone.
My boyfriend is giving me SUCH a hard time as I have decided I will go for the iPhone 6 as my new phone and not the Android device he wants me to go for. He says I have been poisoned, and I have fallen into the Apple trap. I will say what I told him. I love that apple design their software as well as the device, they fit hand in hand. Android fit onto so many devices, that its not created solely for that hardware. I will not disagree and say Android is terrible, because it is not. iOS is simple to use, and logical. If I don't know how to do something, I use my initiative and BOOM -0 there it is. I love that if something goes wrong I can pop into a shop (with an appointment) and not have to send it off or have painful conversations online. This is my testimonial to Apple, and I don't understand why we are called iSheep for liking something which is great. I will agree it is over priced, but thats a downside to so many bonus'. I could go on and on and on - but I am sure I will bore you all!

You could always get a new boyfriend. Just saying...

[Evilguppy]

OK, this frustrates me immensely. I have had a windows device and 2 Android devices before I decided to go for a change with the iPhone. I personally was not that interested in iPhone, I didn't realise how great they were. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and perhaps everyone is looking for something different in a smart phone.
My boyfriend is giving me SUCH a hard time as I have decided I will go for the iPhone 6 as my new phone and not the Android device he wants me to go for. He says I have been poisoned, and I have fallen into the Apple trap. I will say what I told him. I love that apple design their software as well as the device, they fit hand in hand. Android fit onto so many devices, that its not created solely for that hardware. I will not disagree and say Android is terrible, because it is not. iOS is simple to use, and logical. If I don't know how to do something, I use my initiative and BOOM -0 there it is. I love that if something goes wrong I can pop into a shop (with an appointment) and not have to send it off or have painful conversations online. This is my testimonial to Apple, and I don't understand why we are called iSheep for liking something which is great. I will agree it is over priced, but thats a downside to so many bonus'. I could go on and on and on - but I am sure I will bore you all!

When a guy gets this controlling and demeaning because of his girlfriend's phone, ask yourself how he would behave over a more personal issue. I'd plant an Android down his pants, wish him well and dump him where he stood. Then I'd find myself a man who doesn't equate his manhood with a cell phone, for Pete's sake.

[hilyfe]

I recently pre ordered my iphone6 plus 64gb
And when my friend found out
His giving me lecture on note 4
Wtf
I cut him off
And tell him straight up
Im tired of using samsung
I want a different cp this time
Currently using gs5 by the way
I have no complaints about my gs5
But I want to try this new iphone since its bigger screen now
Honestly I didnt like iphone because of the midget size
Im glad they have a bigger screen now

[iN8ter]

Oh my gosh, I never heard so many people pissed that other people didnt get the mobile they bought. Who cares!!! It is just a mobile.

They talk about people being isheep, but they have no problem buying Android and everything Android. Even my friend had a moment when he found out I got an iPhone 6 and not a GS5. I told him to get a grip and he is older than I.

I did not know there was such an issue before, and how bad it was. My kid would get in troubled at school for being a bully with the behavior I am seeing.

It's like I cant decide how to spend my money.

Has anyone had a friend have a cow because they found out you got an iPhone?

A.B.

It isn't just about Hating on a phone because it's different than their own. There are usability hurdles when trying to interop with devices outside of your device's native Services ecosystem, and which has different capabilities or the same capabilities implemented completely differently and in a non-standard/platform-limited fashion.

S Beam (WiFi [Direct] Sharing) on a Samsung device vs. AirDrop on an iPhone are two obvious examples.

Most of my social circle uses iPhones. When I had a 5S, I could just AirDrop them the 100MB video I recorded for them on my phone on the spot, or throw it in a Shared Photo Stream and they'd all get it. Can't do that from Android. If someone has an Android they can barely even participate in them.

Lots of people who switch platforms completely switch ecosystems because they don't want to keep unnecessary accounts open. It's what I do. It can cause issues. I guess "issue" is a strong word to use, but it gets the point across. Maybe "challenges" is better fitting?

This is part of the reason why people tend to push their choice platform onto their friends, and why social circles tend to be dominated by one platform or another.

iPhone users will push the iPhone so that they can avoid installing unnecessary apps for things like Messaging, Photo Sharing, etc. and get more value out of their device by putting its core features and services to better use.

Android users do the same.

Windows Phone users do it.

Blackberry users do it.

Yes, there are a lot of people who take it a bit too far. It's totally understandable that an Android user will push Android to his friends - as well as users of other platforms.

Technology doens't have to be a religion.

Every platform has haters. The bigger a deal it is, the more hate it tends to attract.

Ignore them.

No platform is a white knight, either. They're all full of these types of users. The user does not define the platform, so we all should try to avoid generalizing user bases as a whole based on the bahavior of the loud minority of users within it.

Oh, and welcome to the internet!

[terreos]

I've been on that side of the fence before. But, once I was able to actually try the Iphone, I've found no matter how many times I always come back. So when anyone wants to talk trash on my choice I just ignore them. I like the Iphone for it's Itunes integration. Phone customizations mean nothing to me. Just so long as I can give my boss a load and scary ringtone so I know I better pick up I don't need anything else. My phone is a media device for my movies and music. Plus it's a tool I'm required to have for work. Until android has something half as easy to use as itunes I'm staying with apple.

[qbnkelt]

It isn't just about Hating on a phone because it's different than their own. There are usability hurdles when trying to interop with devices outside of your device's native Services ecosystem, and which has different capabilities or the same capabilities implemented completely differently and in a non-standard/platform-limited fashion.

S Beam (WiFi [Direct] Sharing) on a Samsung device vs. AirDrop on an iPhone are two obvious examples.

Most of my social circle uses iPhones. When I had a 5S, I could just AirDrop them the 100MB video I recorded for them on my phone on the spot, or throw it in a Shared Photo Stream and they'd all get it. Can't do that from Android. If someone has an Android they can barely even participate in them.

Lots of people who switch platforms completely switch ecosystems because they don't want to keep unnecessary accounts open. It's what I do. It can cause issues. I guess "issue" is a strong word to use, but it gets the point across. Maybe "challenges" is better fitting?

This is part of the reason why people tend to push their choice platform onto their friends, and why social circles tend to be dominated by one platform or another.

iPhone users will push the iPhone so that they can avoid installing unnecessary apps for things like Messaging, Photo Sharing, etc. and get more value out of their device by putting its core features and services to better use.

Android users do the same.

Windows Phone users do it.

Blackberry users do it.

Yes, there are a lot of people who take it a bit too far. It's totally understandable that an Android user will push Android to his friends - as well as users of other platforms.

Technology doens't have to be a religion.

Every platform has haters. The bigger a deal it is, the more hate it tends to attract.

Ignore them.

No platform is a white knight, either. They're all full of these types of users. The user does not define the platform, so we all should try to avoid generalizing user bases as a whole based on the bahavior of the loud minority of users within it.

Oh, and welcome to the internet!

Have to disagree here. I don't push my friends into anything and they don't push me. Up until June I used a Q10. Not one person said anything.

Sure I offered info about BBM but when they said no, I dropped it.


Sent from my AWESOME 64G gold iPhone 5s until my iPhone 6 128G Gold arrives

[FFR]

Well To be completely honest, apple and the iPhone seem to be killing off the competition, such as palm, Nokia, motorola, htc, blackberry, etc.

[PatriciaAnderson]

There will be always be trolls and haters. They are just a waste of time...just ignore them

[Derrick4Real]

You just don't know how much better Pirates are than others. You are just so clueless. If you cant afford being a Pirate just stick with your crab. Have you ever even tried being a Pirate. I now some people who have tried both and liked it. We call them bi-Pirates.

A.B.

Smuggler.

[WDavis4692]

Most haters are just jealous. Myself, well I don't *hate* iPhones (I do dabble them in on occasion!) but one thing that does annoy me about iPhones is the... how do I put it? Cult status? So in a way, I am a bit jealous, yes.

I'm very fond of diversity, and yet whenever I go into town it 4/5ths of the devices I see in people's hands are iPhones. More than anything I find it disappointing and rather lame that there's this wonderful, wide market out there and yet the visual representation you see in day-to-day life is so skewered. If I see someone using ANYTHING other than an iPhone I find myself respecting their decision, and this lack of diversity drives the whole 'iSheep' perception.

You then begin to wonder how many of those iPhone owners simply copied the mates rather than identifying their needs and playing around with other devices first.

Far be it for me to state what devices people should be using - they can use what they want - but I cannot shake the feeling a lot of people didn't explore their market options; just bought the iPhone on principle (media exposure/buying what their friends have/to fit in, etc) and had they indeed bought something else they may or may not have enjoyed it more. Don't get me wrong, I'm not SAYING people should be using other devices, I'm simply saying I doubt many give other brands much consideration. This is fine, but nonetheless disappointing.

I have no idea why I'm so concerned with what other people do with their lives. I should really just be glad of my own choices in live and carry on living. I suppose in a way just seeing a well-represented market makes things more interesting.

Another sore point is how iPhones are almost synonymous with the word 'smartphone' in my area. Product placement, advertising, and in particular music docks (type speaker dock on Amazon and I bet you the overwhelming majority of the results you see are designed elusively for apple products) kind of irks me. Even if I specifically type in 'USB' or 'android speaker dock' the majority of the results are still iPhone docks. It's just a shame that so much is thrown at one particular brand, when the market is so big and diverse!

Another expansion on the 'jealousy' point is the fact a certain contrivance or feature can exist on other phones, garnering little attention, but when Apple does it, it's treated as a major thing. Their status is cult. Another platform could come up with a great innovation to modest acclaim, whereas Apple might introduce minor improvements and it's suddenly headline news.

So no, I'm not a hater, but I certainly don't like the image Apple products have. I don't like the lack of diversity in the market; in particular many products like speaker docks or spare batteries which could easily be universal are otherwise exclusive to Apple. Then again, rest assured I dislike Android for many reasons; and I dislike WP for many reasons also, so don't get me wrong, I'm no fanboy. No matter where you go, there'll be both pros and cons. But by damn, I'd love to see more variance in what phones people walk around town with!

[pr1nce]

People are going to use what works for them. It's not a matter of diversity.

[qbnkelt]

Well To be completely honest, apple and the iPhone seem to be killing off the competition, such as palm, Nokia, motorola, htc, blackberry, etc.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/09/18/etymugy8.jpg

No!!!! That's not a good thing. The more competition the better. Competition drives development which is good for us consumers.

[michikade]

WDavis4692 - If the issue is that other platforms come up with something to little notice while when Apple does it a couple years later it is noteworthy, well -

Microsoft had tablet computers in 2002. Apple released the iPad in 2010. They didn't do it first, but they DID bring tablets into the average person's consciousness. And I would wager a guess that without the iPad, tablets like the Surface wouldn't have much more than a small niche market (if Microsoft even continued perusing tablets at all).

Think 2007 - back then the smartphones were blackberry and windows mobile. Maybe a palm pilot here or there. Apps were non-existent, other than maybe a couple games here or there (I had bejeweled on my flip phone back then). Smart phones were thought of as phones that CEOs married to their jobs had and were unrealistic for "normal people".

Apple changed the game. 7 years later and the vast majority of people with mobile phones have some kind of smart phone.

Apple introduced the App Store in 2008. Again, the game changed. 6 years later the vast majority of people with smartphones have at least one downloaded app.

Fast forward to 2014. Let's talk about Apple Pay / Google Wallet. Yeah, Google was first by quite a bit but I have a feeling that those people with Android devices will start to see more and more places to use it in real world applications now that Apple has it too. I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing.

So maybe Apple isn't first on the ball, but when they do toss out something the world notices, implements and improves on it, and things keep coming. So the next time you see some great innovation (that isn't a camera, cuz let's face it, I doubt Apple will start duct taping a dslr to their phones), maybe note that if Apple adds it in a year or two later it could be a completely global thing. Yeah, you'll probably have moved on by then but still, there has to be a sweet spot between cutting edge and the ability for the world to keep up and Apple has found that Goldilocks zone.


Sent from my gracefully aging iPad 2 with iOS 8.0 using Tapatalk

[iN8ter]

Have to disagree here. I don't push my friends into anything and they don't push me. Up until June I used a Q10. Not one person said anything.

Sure I offered info about BBM but when they said no, I dropped it.


Sent from my AWESOME 64G gold iPhone 5s until my iPhone 6 128G Gold arrives

Maybe I should have modified that with "generally," because it certainly is true. It's human nature, and it happens for more than just phones.

People generally will urge others to get something they have, if they are happy with it. Not only because they prefer it, but because with the way these devices are designed (Software and Hardware) the value of the device goes up, and it becomes more usable the more people in your social circles use the same type of device.

This is not exclusive to Apple, because Samsung designs their devices similarly.

The whole point of ecosystem lock-in is to exploit those tendencies, because when people don't want to leave themselves, they are more likely to attempt to recruit those they care about to join them in their comfortable place.

Blackberry was in a bad place because they didn't really have a lock-in mechanism once BBM went cross platform (and even before then, it ceased to be a selling point for the platform) so at the risk of sounding like I'm talking around your response... There really was no point in urging anyone to get a Blackberry.

The reason why people push these platforms this way, is because it enriches their own user experience and gives their device and the services it uses more value.

Most Blackberry users bash iOS/Android out of spite, not because they actually think the platform seriously offers more value than iOS or Android (other than the dimishingly few talking points they've been repeating since 2010).

[iN8ter]

I meant "the value they get out of the device goes up."

A lot of the components of iOS depend on proliferation to give decent value.

iMessage isn't that useful if all your friends have Android and Windows Phones. iCloud Photo Sharing, iWork Collaborative Editing, etc. Those all depend on other users having an iPhone to give you any value. In the case of iCloud Photo Sharing and iMessage, if you have no friends with an iPhone you get virtually no value out of them (I'm trying to keep it to phones, I know they're usable from other form factors). No one wants to own a device where half of the features are worthless (even if they would be good if you used them) because all their friends own a different type of phone. This is an issue Samsung ran into with its proprietary services/apps on Android due to Android users being spread across so many OEMs' devices.

I personally don't push platforms, because I am fairly agnostic and tend to jump between platforms too much to be a reliable source of "what should I buy" information. I give them some technical information and my opinion, but I don't point them in any specific direction.

If they get an iPhone so they can iMessage me, for example, there's a high chance that in 6 months that won't even be possible :-)

[AB Lambert]

I meant "the value they get out of the device goes up."

A lot of the components of iOS depend on proliferation to give decent value.

iMessage isn't that useful if all your friends have Android and Windows Phones. iCloud Photo Sharing, iWork Collaborative Editing, etc. Those all depend on other users having an iPhone to give you any value. In the case of iCloud Photo Sharing and iMessage, if you have no friends with an iPhone you get virtually no value out of them (I'm trying to keep it to phones, I know they're usable from other form factors). No one wants to own a device where half of the features are worthless (even if they would be good if you used them) because all their friends own a different type of phone. This is an issue Samsung ran into with its proprietary services/apps on Android due to Android users being spread across so many OEMs' devices.

I personally don't push platforms, because I am fairly agnostic and tend to jump between platforms too much to be a reliable source of "what should I buy" information. I give them some technical information and my opinion, but I don't point them in any specific direction.

If they get an iPhone so they can iMessage me, for example, there's a high chance that in 6 months that won't even be possible :-)

The same goes for using google apps. Some people don't trust Google and don't want to interface with it, but get comments from there friend.

A.B.

[jdhooghe]

Most haters are just jealous. Myself, well I don't *hate* iPhones (I do dabble them in on occasion!) but one thing that does annoy me about iPhones is the... how do I put it? Cult status? So in a way, I am a bit jealous, yes.

I'm very fond of diversity, and yet whenever I go into town it 4/5ths of the devices I see in people's hands are iPhones. More than anything I find it disappointing and rather lame that there's this wonderful, wide market out there and yet the visual representation you see in day-to-day life is so skewered. If I see someone using ANYTHING other than an iPhone I find myself respecting their decision, and this lack of diversity drives the whole 'iSheep' perception.

You then begin to wonder how many of those iPhone owners simply copied the mates rather than identifying their needs and playing around with other devices first.

Far be it for me to state what devices people should be using - they can use what they want - but I cannot shake the feeling a lot of people didn't explore their market options; just bought the iPhone on principle (media exposure/buying what their friends have/to fit in, etc) and had they indeed bought something else they may or may not have enjoyed it more. Don't get me wrong, I'm not SAYING people should be using other devices, I'm simply saying I doubt many give other brands much consideration. This is fine, but nonetheless disappointing.

I have no idea why I'm so concerned with what other people do with their lives. I should really just be glad of my own choices in live and carry on living. I suppose in a way just seeing a well-represented market makes things more interesting.

Another sore point is how iPhones are almost synonymous with the word 'smartphone' in my area. Product placement, advertising, and in particular music docks (type speaker dock on Amazon and I bet you the overwhelming majority of the results you see are designed elusively for apple products) kind of irks me. Even if I specifically type in 'USB' or 'android speaker dock' the majority of the results are still iPhone docks. It's just a shame that so much is thrown at one particular brand, when the market is so big and diverse!

Another expansion on the 'jealousy' point is the fact a certain contrivance or feature can exist on other phones, garnering little attention, but when Apple does it, it's treated as a major thing. Their status is cult. Another platform could come up with a great innovation to modest acclaim, whereas Apple might introduce minor improvements and it's suddenly headline news.

So no, I'm not a hater, but I certainly don't like the image Apple products have. I don't like the lack of diversity in the market; in particular many products like speaker docks or spare batteries which could easily be universal are otherwise exclusive to Apple. Then again, rest assured I dislike Android for many reasons; and I dislike WP for many reasons also, so don't get me wrong, I'm no fanboy. No matter where you go, there'll be both pros and cons. But by damn, I'd love to see more variance in what phones people walk around town with!

For the first couple of paragraphs, you can just as easily switch Apple for Android and it would be true. You're assuming many people haven't tried any other brands and that is not necessarily true. Every apple user has someone that has Android and vica versa. Most have probably been assaulted by someone with another platform and had that platform shoved under their nose :P Most have probably started out with an Android phone. Everyone is exposed to every other platform. Everyone plays with other phones in the phone store. Now as for media clout, would what you said still be true if Android controlled the media? Or would you have no problem with it? Would it still bug you then? When I was with WP or Blackberry, I saw Apple or Android commercials and I didn't care. It's not Apple's fault that the Android market has crappy advertisers. It's not Apple's fault that BlackBerry had Alicia Keys as a spokesperson and that failed when she saw how limited BlackBerrys were and tweeted with her iPhone. As for your point of diversity, Android holds the majority marketshare so is your diversity point still valid or is it just toward everyone who DOESN'T use Android? The majority of people need functionality which only is brought forth by two platforms: Android and iOS. Everyone else is behind in apps. Of those two primary platforms, you either have a choice of: Latest technology and unreliableness/instability OR not so latest technology and reliableness/stability. Most people probably want the latest technology which is why Android has a larger marketshare and that is fine. Let me have my Apple product though. Don't call me iSheep. If anyone is a sheep, it is the group with the larger marketshare. People who worship the Android is just as much of a problem as people who worship the Apple. Except there are probably more Church of the Android because of the larger marketshare.

I am not sure where you live but in my Best Buy, we have the Windows section, we have the Samsung section and we have an Apple section. On my TV, I see Apple commercials. I see Samsung Commercials and occasionally a Windows/HTC commercial. Android has more followers, and with those more followers come demand. Make it happen instead of using obstructionism/blaming/harassment. Be respectful and if people don't want to use Android, don't call them an iSheep. If people want to use the Hub, that is absolutely ok. Let them have their BlackBerry. If people like their Tiles, let them have their WP. It is personal preference and no one should make fun of another, let alone get jealous of someone using something else. When the Note 4 comes out, watch the television and see how many commercials Samsung shows. That is perfectly ok, they are getting their product out there. Google should have been better at promoting NFC payments but they weren't and that is not Apple's fault. I don't think I have ever seen an NFC commercial by any of the Android manufacturers. Ever. So maybe Android needs to focus on creating commercials which actually inform consumers about features instead of Apple bashing commercials. Those are my thoughts but then again, I am biased now but most of this is gone off of memory when I had my 920/Z10 or Android phones.