Post by mooms on Feb 20, 2013 20:13:49 GMT
Right, here is the story of my brand switch.
I'm sure it's not secret that the smartphone market is currently dominated by two main operating systems: lets call one A1 and the other A2 (no brand names, right?). The first is also a manufacturer of phones themselves, while the latter is used by many different manufacturers.
I was using a fairly content user of A1 for a few years. I was aware of its limitations but the integration was so smooth and everything looks so nice. Then, in 2010, my contract ran out and it was time to upgrade to a newer model (back then I craved the newest gadgets, nowadays I'm more laid-back about it). By that time the A2's hardware choices caught up with A1. The integration of A1 was still better, and in a way I was locked into its software ecosystem. And their new model looked so smooth. And I was a content user after all. I went for A1's newest model.
But it was intertia. By then the "walled garden" approach of A1 has started to irk me. The integration within the wall was amazing, but integration with anything outside the ecosystem required workarounds, sometimes unofficial ones. Through word of mouth I learned about the flexibility of A2, my friends were quite happy with it, even at the slight cost of less polish. Still, intertia. It was cozy and familiar.
But looks like A1 chose for me. I lived in Stockholm back then, a capital city with many networks and suddenly... there were spots where I didn't have any bars on my phone! Even worse, one of those spots was my own flat! I called the network provider and the support couldn't figure out the call. My A1-using friends in Stockholm assured me that their coverage, on different networks, was flawless. But it didn't work for me. And considering I didn't have a landline at home, the phone was essentially useless. Fortunately the provider was understanding enough to accept me waiving the contract. I returned the A1.
A2 wasnt the automatic choice. I still could have opted for A1 on another network. But by then I was already curious about A2. Performance-wise the difference was neglible but I just went through a frustrating experience with A1. So A2 it was. I never looked back and am still using it today.
I guess in this time A1's fault is not clear cut. There were many anectodal evidence about A1's network reception problems, but many users reported no problems at all. The design was great and I was a content user. The reception might have been the combo of A1 and this particular network provider. What tipped the scale was my growing irritation of the "walled garden" approach. Other factors was in perspective negligible. You might call it a philosphical brand switch. I didn't want to contribute to to that approach anymore and I wanted to support flexible systems. On the other hand, full credit to A2. They could have pushed me away if their design wasn't on par. But it was!
If only I could muster the same courage when it comes to banking....
I'm sure it's not secret that the smartphone market is currently dominated by two main operating systems: lets call one A1 and the other A2 (no brand names, right?). The first is also a manufacturer of phones themselves, while the latter is used by many different manufacturers.
I was using a fairly content user of A1 for a few years. I was aware of its limitations but the integration was so smooth and everything looks so nice. Then, in 2010, my contract ran out and it was time to upgrade to a newer model (back then I craved the newest gadgets, nowadays I'm more laid-back about it). By that time the A2's hardware choices caught up with A1. The integration of A1 was still better, and in a way I was locked into its software ecosystem. And their new model looked so smooth. And I was a content user after all. I went for A1's newest model.
But it was intertia. By then the "walled garden" approach of A1 has started to irk me. The integration within the wall was amazing, but integration with anything outside the ecosystem required workarounds, sometimes unofficial ones. Through word of mouth I learned about the flexibility of A2, my friends were quite happy with it, even at the slight cost of less polish. Still, intertia. It was cozy and familiar.
But looks like A1 chose for me. I lived in Stockholm back then, a capital city with many networks and suddenly... there were spots where I didn't have any bars on my phone! Even worse, one of those spots was my own flat! I called the network provider and the support couldn't figure out the call. My A1-using friends in Stockholm assured me that their coverage, on different networks, was flawless. But it didn't work for me. And considering I didn't have a landline at home, the phone was essentially useless. Fortunately the provider was understanding enough to accept me waiving the contract. I returned the A1.
A2 wasnt the automatic choice. I still could have opted for A1 on another network. But by then I was already curious about A2. Performance-wise the difference was neglible but I just went through a frustrating experience with A1. So A2 it was. I never looked back and am still using it today.
I guess in this time A1's fault is not clear cut. There were many anectodal evidence about A1's network reception problems, but many users reported no problems at all. The design was great and I was a content user. The reception might have been the combo of A1 and this particular network provider. What tipped the scale was my growing irritation of the "walled garden" approach. Other factors was in perspective negligible. You might call it a philosphical brand switch. I didn't want to contribute to to that approach anymore and I wanted to support flexible systems. On the other hand, full credit to A2. They could have pushed me away if their design wasn't on par. But it was!
If only I could muster the same courage when it comes to banking....