Ecosystem

[anon(153966)]

I'm curious, are you part of one ecosystem, i.e. BlackBerry OS, iOS or Android, or are you part of multiple?

I'm seriously considering diving deep into ONE ecosystem, and thus consolidate all my music, films etc. but at the same time having them available no matter the device or TV I'm using.

There are simply too many systems to be a part of, no? And it can be costly, too...

What say you?

 

[anon(153966)]

...any opinions?

 

[Trees]

Multiple.

Mac for stability, quality, longevity, relative security. iPad for media consumption (music, movies, news, blogs, tech sites, iBooks), Apple TV for more media. For us, it's Android for mobile, which via iSyncr, Android File Transfer, and cloud services enables desired content synch among the two ecosystems. The kids are Apple.

We're primarily invested in the Apple ecosystem, and don't see that trend changing, although platform agnostic services are making it somewhat easier to get the content we want regardless of OS X, Windows, iOS or Android. If Apple brings a larger screen iPhone, enables intents and a user space file system, and a greater degree of "safe" customization, then I'll consider Apple again for mobile.

 

[applejosh]

It depends on the media. For music, I'm pretty much exclusive to iTunes, although I will buy from Amazon mp3 on occasion. But all iTunes music for a while has been DRM free, so I could conceivably get an Android and still be able to play my music. Since iTunes went DRM free, I've stepped up my purchase of music because I don't have to worry about obsolescence much. For books and such, I pretty much just buy from Amazon. They have apps for most platforms (desktop and mobile) as well as dedicated e-ink readers, and I don't see them going away anytime soon. Still prefer reading my Kindle over reading on the iPad (sorry iBooks). For movies, I have dabbled in iTunes (mainly just for really good sales), but I still buy BluRay discs and DVDs. My movie watching is still mainly tied to my TV, and as long as that's the case, I'd rather not have to worry about one company staying in business to be able to view them. I really wish that the MPAA would get their heads on straight and just realize that if they were to make buying these things convenient across all platforms (without streaming - I'm looking at you Ultraviolet) without the Draconian restrictions of limiting to one device or the like, we might buy lots more movies. Instead, I may rent one on occasion instead of buying it, or I just fire up Netflix and watch old movies. Very few new movies have captured my attention, and so I don't impulse buy them because of all the restrictions, etc., that always accompany them.

 

[anon(153966)]

Brilliant feedback Josh.

I've been debating the 'one device' for everything for a while now. Even last night I thought about it more and realized that I should keep music separate and films separate.

Tracks seem to be cheaper from Amazon or Google Music and are in MP3 format, thus I can add them to iTunes quite easily.

I really wish films was done the same way. Currently I, or should I say my missus buys me Blu-Ray discs and they typically have a digital copy. I like those with the actual disc and NOT UltraViolet or Flixster. I want to own and keep the film.

Honestly these companies make this so difficult...


Sent from my iPad using iMore Forums mobile app

 

[rdiddy_25]

ATM, I'm part of iOS and Blackberry. I have a BB 9900 and iPad 4for work and iPhone for personal use. But I do agree that having everything under one ecosystem would make the most sense and be the most cost efficient too. Can't believe your considering leaving BB after all this time. Remember u from my Crackberry days

 

[anon(153966)]

After all my research into this, it seems harder and harder to have one global ecosystem. I suppose I could, but it would cost time and effort in converting items, etc.

I need to think on this more...

ATM, I'm part of iOS and Blackberry. I have a BB 9900 and iPad 4for work and iPhone for personal use. But I do agree that having everything under one ecosystem would make the most sense and be the most cost efficient too. Can't believe your considering leaving BB after all this time. Remember u from my Crackberry days

 

[anon(4698833)]

I try to stay within the Apple ecosystem for simplicities sake...so I'm more of a single system person.

That said, unfortunately, I have to deal with other ecosystems in gaming (Microsoft and Xbox...which this go around, with the Xbox One, is proving to be frustrating and annoying, because I despise their tile system). Nintendo's offerings are so much more in line with what Apple brings to the table, and it makes that experience more pleasurable when it comes to recreational activities like playing video games.

 

[ame]

Primarily Apple. I am a designer, so my work is all Apple-ecosystem based. I used to use Palm devices though and loved them, but switched around a little before settling on iPhone and have been with iPhone since. I am pretty happy with Apple's system and how easily all my workflow goes within it. My husband is mixed, he's a gamer, so he's PC and console friendly, but uses an iPad and iPhone for his other stuff. Mostly because I make him do so

 

[BlackBerry Guy]

I dip into three ecosystems, iOS/Mac, Android, and BlackBerry. I don't mind paying twice for good apps that I use frequently, considering their relatively inexpensive cost. Books are bought either through Amazon or Kobo since they are available on all platforms. Music and movies through iTunes - movies can be a pain to put onto my Android or BlackBerry devices, but music is easy since they're DRM free. I use cross platform apps like WhatsApp, Dropbox, Evernote and Wunderlist to keep their specific services consistent across devices, and iCloud to manage contacts and calendar (sync'ed via carddav and caldav to non-Apple devices). Works well enough for me to manage multiple ecosystems and devices.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Laura Knotek]

I'm almost exclusively Windows (~80%--desktop, smartphone, PC gaming, Office, SkyDrive). I do also use desktop Linux sometimes and have Evernote in addition to OneNote. My music is exclusively from Amazon.com, and I don't use iTunes or Xbox Music at all. I use Netflix for movies/TV, but I'm probably going to add an Amazon Prime subscription.