Things I’ve learned as an Android user.
You can talk about freedom, or openness all you want, but it doesn’t really matter.
Innovation for the user isn’t happening on Android devices.
Moving from iOS to Android was an experiment to teach me something about other interfaces, to make me more well rounded as a strategist, and to challenge some of my assumptions about the ‘right’ or in some cases ‘only’ way of doing things.
All of that has happened.
But the primary feeling of owning an Android device is the feeling of being 6 months behind.
I bought a top of the line Galaxy SII in August. I’ve been using it as my primary phone since then, so for about 5 months total. In that time frame, I’ve waited for updates (none of which have ever come), waited for new and old apps to be ported to the platform (I’m still living sans-Instagram and Pinterest), and putting up with features of great apps that don’t work (I can’t record video on Path, or edit posts on Tumblr).
This isn’t really a complaint about Android. It’s a complaint about systems that are fragmented, both by OS and by hardware. And it’s a hint of ‘broken window’ theory, as well - if Google doesn’t care about this platform working well, why should developers.
I can completely understand the appeal of control, that Android devices promise. I was thrilled by it, for the first month or so I owned the phone. But that thrill of control fades, when you realize it can just as accurately be called management or maintenance, and it’s far from optional.
Assuming standard use, with minimal ‘management’ or ‘maintenance’, my experience on Android has been one of terrible battery life, intermittent crashing, software conflicts, and frustrating hardware issues (such as the infuriatingly loud buzzing noise the phone makes when vibrating, akin to a subwoofer rattling in a trunk).
At this point, people will point out that 1) I’m not running Ice Cream Sandwich, 2) I should get a Nexus branded phone, rather than something running Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, and 3) I should root the phone, and just run Cyanogen, or something similar.
1) I can’t run ICS, Samsung hasn’t updated the phone.
2) That’s not an argument, it’s a suggestion that Android is a failed experiment, and that ‘open’ means failure unless you leave it unedited.
3) I don’t WANT to root my phone. I shouldn’t have to. If I need to make an unstable phone LESS STABLE to make it usable, it is a poorly designed and manufactured phone.
I’m not writing this as an Apple fanboy. I’m not writing this as someone who has no idea what he’s talking about, and hasn’t devoted time to trying to understand this platform.
I’m a reasonably experienced user, of a recent flagship device, of the most successful manufacturer of Android smartphones.
And I’m telling you, it’s not good enough.
There’s a reason a single manufacturer, with a line that has never exceeded the 3 phones it currently sells, makes the majority of profits in the smartphone industry (as of Q3 2011 numbers). \
It’s because, at core, they don’t really have any competition.
3 requests for the digital strategist in your life.
If the universe wanted to make me truly happy (in a professional sense) three things would happen within the next year:
Facebook would launch an ecommerce element within the FB platform, or integrate an existing ecomm service into FB.
Near Field Communication (NFC) would become a standard inclusion in every smartphone.
Someone would develop a battery-friendly solution for constant location awareness in mobile devices, rather than check-in based solutions.
If I were to pick the three biggest missing pieces when I think about the next steps in digital experience design (hat tip to @ianbarnett for getting me to think about it in this way) it would be the above.
It’s too complex and nebulous to demonstrate moving from facebook engagement to conversions. We can do more with that level of scale.
There are too many authentication barriers to digital engagement in the physical world. NFC and smartphones could shift this heavily.
Location-awareness is different than check-ins. True awareness can create true serendipity. Any check-in process becomes arduous if used too often.
Hopefully, this lets you know what I want for Xmas.
The Panoptic Dilemma: 1 (of 4)
Panopticism: Foucault’s expansion of Bentham’s ultimate prison, as an explanation of the mental effects of a surveillance culture. Technological determinism comes into play as, at the time, the idea of total observation was only possible within the confines of a massive power structure. Panopticism was a reaction to government domination, at least in part.
Democratization: The ongoing levelling of the playing field. Originally in relation to the internet’s ability to provide equal voice and access to information regardless of traditional influence, but now becoming a wider aspect of the shift of technology. What once took a tv studio now takes a laptop. What once took a laptop now takes a smartphone. Individuals can create, curate and communicate on a level once limited to organizations.
Social Media: Social interaction, moved online. This shift makes it more durable, free of time and space bias, asymmetrical, and scalable. A more detailed explanation is possible, but hopefully unnecessary.
Prisoner’s Dilemma: A collective action problem, based on the premise that the best possible outcome for all involved is only possible with complete trust - whereas the result of trusting and being betrayed is the perceived or real worst possible result, and the result of betraying others is the best option for each individual stakeholder. This leads to situations in which people settle for a negative result for everyone, rather than risk letting another entity come out ahead at the expense of others.
The preceding four concepts are the basis for my current theory of post-millennial online social communication.
