When we first arrived in Paris last month, my friend and I realized that neither of us had brought a camera, assuming that the other one would. This left us reliant entirely on the cameras in our smartphones - one a Motorola Android, the other an iPhone.
I was interested to see, when we compared pictures afterwards, that we had often taken pictures of the same thing - and that I could easily tell which phone took which version.
Here is just a sampling of our dueling pictures. After the jump, which phone is which (and some further musings on the Great War of Smartphones).
I was interested to see, when we compared pictures afterwards, that we had often taken pictures of the same thing - and that I could easily tell which phone took which version.
Here is just a sampling of our dueling pictures. After the jump, which phone is which (and some further musings on the Great War of Smartphones).
Smartphone A | Smartphone B |
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Neither does well in low light, clearly. And they both have about the same resolution. All the same, I slightly prefer the Smartphone B pictures for the brighter colors. Jeff points out, however, that this is largely the result of the default filter used by the iPhone's camera program (and might also have something to do with Sarah's superior picture-taking abilities).
Even so, this just adds to my growing hypothesis about smartphones. I am willing to accept that the Android phones are the better tools, capable of doing much more - if only you know how to use those capabilities. It's the old 80/20 rule: the iPhone gives you the best 80% of the universe of possible capabilities, while asking for very little investment of your time or thought in return. To get to 80% on an Android, you have to be into it, but you are rewarded with the opportunity to max out the remaining 20%.
I for one have not the time, inclination, or (frankly) ability to learn how to use an Android to its full extent. I have already reached a Certain Age where I have accepted that I will always be technologically deficient and lagging behind all those young whippersnappers (i.e., Jeff) who actually understand this stuff.
In sum, if I invested the time, I would probably find that my Android's camera can take equally good if not better pictures than an iPhone, even accounting for any difference in photography talent. But I am almost assuredly not going to invest that time. In conclusion, I may yet return to the comfortable coddling of the iPhone universe.
You should read our technology support contract closely before "returning to the comfortable coddling of the iPhone". Your lifetime, no questions asked 24/7, Gold-Level Support contract with me will be voided. Good luck getting the same SLAs with the Genius bar! ;^)
ReplyDeleteFunny, Anne and I finally got iPhones this weekend and for similar reasons. I went back and forth for months on the Android/iPhone issue, reading reviews, checking out Fran's phone (Android) while in Portland, etc. Annie can tell you she finally said - just buy the d*** phone! So I did and it turned out she wanted one too! Easy to use right away, does what I want and very little learning curve. What's not to like?
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