On The Verge, Episode 001: Matias Duarte

Highly entertaining with great production value. I think Joshua Topolsky goes at Matias Duarte (UX lead for Android) with the perfect blend of edge and humor. He never comes across as confrontational while still making Duarte respond to some tough criticisms.

I thought Duarte was also a great sport and was never rattled though clearly a couple of Topolsky’s sugar coated zings stunned him.

Good stuff.

Four months with Android: reflections, grievances and some tenuous metaphors bundled up into a weighty tome

Nice insight from an iOS refugee on an Android device (Nexus S, I believe).

dinnerwithandroid:

OR, The longest, most awkward dinner of my life

tl;dr version: I’m really glad to have an iPhone 4S.

(Note: this was written over multiple days, spaced weeks apart.)

I approached this experiment with a lot of questions, the primary of which was quite simple: why do people use Android? I had my own preconceived answers — they dislike Apple or couldn’t get an iPhone for one reason or another — but I dove in with an open mind regardless. After over four months of Android 2.3 on a Nexus S, I’m left mostly answerless.

That’s not to say I didn’t learn a lot. I have a solid grasp of what makes Android Android, the ins-and-outs of the OS, and, yes, there are even a few really great features I will miss as I transition back to iOS.

But at the end of the day I’m left with mostly a bad taste in my mouth. What follows is a summation of four months exclusively using Android. They’re my opinions. I’m not trying to sway anyone away from the platform, and I’m not looking to troll Android fanboys. I am but one man who likes stupid gadgets and decided to conduct a dumb experiment. Let’s go.

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