CDB Web Design

Well, lots to ponder here. Who am I to judge? Lets see..

- Android phone user
- Mac user (for work – I’m a designer)
- Ubuntu user (on a netbook)
- Grudging Windows user

So actually quite a fair judge (except for Microsoft – who make a rather lovely mobile operating system that they won’t put on a tablet right now – not impressing me). Lets compare stuff. Not very scientific but worth a go:

1. Apps: we absolutely have to talk about this. Google took two years to get enough apps to compete with iOS. That’s a long time to wait unless you make your own (you can on Android for free – only if you know Java).

+1 for Apple (sort of)

2. Quality: iPad 2 scores low. Poor screen res and build, poor cameras. Not good. Aluminium = pretty, but also slippy. Most Honeycomb tablets have good cameras and higher-res screens, and are easier to grip (well, less slippy).

+1 for Android (where was the Retina display? Milking the iterations much Apple?)

3. iOS: simply the smoothest thing available. Lots of reviews about stutter on Honeycomb makes me worry. iOS and OS X are simply very well polished systems.

+1 for Apple

4. iTunes: bad categorisation searching for iPad apps before you buy an iPad (65,000 apps – that’s nice, can’t sift through them), and you’re tied into it. It’s not even a very well featured media player – even compared to (*throws up*) Windows Media Player. Android gets it right out of the box in app download freedom and music player choice (well, on phones at least. Hmm…)

+1 for Android (only because of freedom to file share and download)

5. Memory: yes, 16GB is a lot for a portable. Who needs to carry a whole library on an iPad? But no expansion is bad news. Some Android tabs have full USB slots, but not all, and no guarantee of USB stick working as app storage. Unless I’m wrong.

+-0 for neither. Not all Androids have expandable memory.

6. Widgets: with no need to invalidate a warranty. Android has widgets. They’re very useful. You can also have apps placed wherever. Imagine that! Organised how you like it. iOS? Rows of apps or folders. iPad2: jailbreak for widgets = zero warranty so not a good move.

+1 to Android for freedom – again

Scores:

Apple = 2

Android = 3

In summary, the iPad has lots of apps and is smooth and intuitive, brilliant for many people.

Honeycomb tablets are varied, customisable and generally better quality (unless you really like slippy aluminium – why does aluminium make something better? Baked potatoes?).

It’s Android for me (for now), probably Apple for many others. Meh.