Do US Teens Hate Android Phones? (msn.com) 218
America's teens hate Android phones, according to a new article from the Wall Street Journal:
Melissa Jones, a former teacher in Lebanon, Ind., observes that, among students, it's considered most important to own a new, up-to-date phone. And judging by the copious TikTok content that pits users of the two operating systems against each other — with Android most frequently the butt of the joke — many teens associate Androids with older technology, and older people, no matter how new the phone actually is.
"You're telling me in 2023, you still have a 'Droid?" says 20-year-old online creator Abdoul Chamberlain during a video posted in April. "You gotta be at least 50 years old." The video goes on to say that only parents have Androids, and despite the persistent claims from Android users that features like the cameras or battery life are better on the Android than the iPhone, Chamberlain refuses to get one. Other videos more somberly describe the experience of showing up to high school with an Android phone and being called "broke" or "medieval" by the poster's peers. Still more describe the feeling of being the lone Android user in a group chat of iPhone owners, shamed by texts which, when rendered in Apple's proprietary iMessage platform, appear in a revelatory bright green rather than the cool blue of messages sent between Apple devices.
Apple holds 57% of the phones market versus Android's 42% in the U.S., according to web traffic analysis site Statcounter. The data skews worse for Android when narrowed down to teenagers. According to a survey of 7,100 American teens last year conducted by investment bank Piper Sandler, 87% of teens currently have an iPhone, and 87% plan on sticking with the brand for their next phone.
But the stigma regarding Android phones is mostly an American phenomenon, at least to the degree to which it affects purchase habits. Worldwide, per the same Statcounter report, Androids represent the significant majority of all smartphones, holding a 71% share of sales compared with Apple's 28%.
Two years ago someone asked Reddit's "Ask Teens" forum, do teenagers really hate Android phones? But the responses were a lot more balanced.
"No," replied one (presumably teenaged) Reddit user. "Apple fanboys are just obnoxious, probably because they're knowingly getting scammed."
"You're telling me in 2023, you still have a 'Droid?" says 20-year-old online creator Abdoul Chamberlain during a video posted in April. "You gotta be at least 50 years old." The video goes on to say that only parents have Androids, and despite the persistent claims from Android users that features like the cameras or battery life are better on the Android than the iPhone, Chamberlain refuses to get one. Other videos more somberly describe the experience of showing up to high school with an Android phone and being called "broke" or "medieval" by the poster's peers. Still more describe the feeling of being the lone Android user in a group chat of iPhone owners, shamed by texts which, when rendered in Apple's proprietary iMessage platform, appear in a revelatory bright green rather than the cool blue of messages sent between Apple devices.
Apple holds 57% of the phones market versus Android's 42% in the U.S., according to web traffic analysis site Statcounter. The data skews worse for Android when narrowed down to teenagers. According to a survey of 7,100 American teens last year conducted by investment bank Piper Sandler, 87% of teens currently have an iPhone, and 87% plan on sticking with the brand for their next phone.
But the stigma regarding Android phones is mostly an American phenomenon, at least to the degree to which it affects purchase habits. Worldwide, per the same Statcounter report, Androids represent the significant majority of all smartphones, holding a 71% share of sales compared with Apple's 28%.
Two years ago someone asked Reddit's "Ask Teens" forum, do teenagers really hate Android phones? But the responses were a lot more balanced.
"No," replied one (presumably teenaged) Reddit user. "Apple fanboys are just obnoxious, probably because they're knowingly getting scammed."
Suddenly I really like Android (Score:5, Funny)
TikTok content that pits users of the two operating systems against each other
So to summarize, Android isn't popular among TikTok users. That alone confirms Android as a mobile OS for people with more than 2 working neurons.
Re:Suddenly I really like Android (Score:5, Funny)
I think Android is associated with people who can develop software which seems to be skewing older. Android -> Linux -> Greybeards [github.com].
Re: (Score:2)
I thought iPhones were associated with older people. It's the phone you get your parents. The walled garden keeps them from doing anything too silly, and if they have a problem you can direct them to the Genius Bar.
I understand it's different in the US. For some reason US teens seem to like iPhones much more than European teens. Is it a cultural thing?
Re: (Score:2)
The promise of something New and Shiny.
The promise of low monthly payments for that Bright and Shiny Thing.
The promise of being able to shoot movies with the Bright and Shiny Thing.
The promise of an integrated audio and video post production with the bytes from the Shiny Thing.
Re: Suddenly I really like Android (Score:2)
That's why I got an android when I finally ditched my flip phone. I figured I was gonna be all 1337 n shit writing my own apps and Android seemed like less hassle to get there.
I wrote one hello world app and then I got bored. So yeah.
Re: (Score:2)
amazing marketing (Score:5, Interesting)
I can only dream of my products gaining that sort of a cult following. Personally I never use anything from Apple or MS, so I am on Android not because I like it so much but because I don't have other options (I don't consider Blackberries). I really really don't like Apple computers, their way of doing things and I really really don't trust Microsoft software so I only use Linux/BSD and Android. My choices are minimal.
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I used to LOVE Apple.. then Woz left/was bypassed/whatever and things went to blazes.
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Does that make you this guy? https://tenor.com/view/revenge... [tenor.com]
Remember, Lamda Lamda Lamda won. xD
Dumb elitists (Score:5, Insightful)
Not a week went by without her asking me super basic shit about how to do various things on her phone. She turned off notifications once and couldn't figure out how to turn them back on. She didn't know how to hook up her email. She couldn't make the screen brighter/dimmer. She wanted to change the ringtone. She wanted to install an app. Etc...
I have *never* touched an iPhone. I've occasionally supported them for elitist morons, and I find them to be absolutely terrible.
So I bought my mom an Android phone.
She still had the same damn questions...but I was able to easily support her remotely. In fact, everyone in my immediate family (wife and kids) have an Android phone and knows how to support them. And they constantly help my mom with various issues like installing apps, finding the contact app and then finding a specific contact and clicking the correct button to send a text message, etc...
Queue my liberal, elitist sister who spend the next 3 months bitching in our family chat channel that our mother can't figure out how to do anything with Android, how Android doesn't even remotely have the same apps and stuff that an iPhone does, and how the iPhone is a million times better.
So I bought an iPhone and shipped it to my mom. I sent my sister a message saying "I'm done being phone support. I got her an iPhone. Since you're the expert on how *great* iPhones are, you are now 100% in charge of supporting her."
Apparently this makes me some sort of selfish asshole because my sister now spends at least an hour on the phone every day trying to talk our mother through trying to do iPhone shit..
Fucking elitist morons.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyone who associates an operating system with politics is a true moron. You're whole yammering post sounds more elitist than your sister-in-law who is just frankly sounding like a spoiled baby more than an elitist. I blame the manufacturer and the add-ons (you and your siblings). /shrug
Re: Dumb elitists (Score:2)
That or iPhones really aren't that intuitive. Take renaming your hotspot SSID. On Android, that's exactly where you'd expect it to be: Under the Wi-Fi settings. On an iPhone, it's not at all where you'd expect it to be. Oh, and the settings search feature won't help you there either because the actual setting offers NO hints.
At least, that's one example. It's a pretty common thing on iPhones in general that nothing is where you'd expect it to be. But that's just the overall personality of the phone and iPho
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Welcome to 3 versions ago of iOS. If you are going to talk trash, know your subject. Otherwise, ya just look like an out-of-touch boomer.
For Android, 3 versions ago of OS is new ... (Score:2)
Welcome to 3 versions ago of iOS.
In the Android world 3 versions ago of the operating system is something most users haven't gotten to yet. :-)
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No matter what, even the apps you rarely use MUST be on your home screen, and they can be hard to find when you need them because there's no concept of sorting.
No you can remove apps from home screen and they are still working. Yes, you can see a sorted view of your apps.
I see no difference in home screen management between the two platforms.
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly the quality of post I've come to expect from you, ArmoredDragon.
Take renaming your hotspot SSID. On Android, that's exactly where you'd expect it to be: Under the Wi-Fi settings. On an iPhone, it's not at all where you'd expect it to be.
On iPhones the hotspot SSID is always based on the name of the device. And you can find it under Settings...Hotspot. And if you're sharing with people who are also your contacts, if they try to associate with your hotspot (or join a wifi network with you), it pops up a notification and you can allow them on or share the password. Super straightforward. Your own devices can just automatically associate with your hotspot, and hotspots are
Re: Dumb elitists (Score:4, Insightful)
Exactly the quality of post I've come to expect from you, ArmoredDragon.
So you also like being schooled? Very well...
On iPhones the hotspot SSID is always based on the name of the device.
That's exactly what I mean by unintuitive. You literally have to know that in advance. It's not something you can just open settings and know exactly where to go without doing a google search or reading a manual.
And you can find it under Settings...Hotspot.
No, that's not where it is.
https://support.apple.com/guid... [apple.com]
This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. In fact, it's even worse than what I described. You're supposed to know that it's under "about", which hints at being informational only, NOT somewhere you go to change settings. And it's certainly not under any menus that have anything to do with wifi.
And speaking as somebody who does occasional pen testing, you really have to like how, by default, Apple actually announces whose device it is you're looking at. Makes it so much easier to know that you've got the right person in your crosshairs.
And if you're sharing with people who are also your contacts, if they try to associate with your hotspot (or join a wifi network with you), it pops up a notification and you can allow them on or share the password. Super straightforward. Your own devices can just automatically associate with your hotspot, and hotspots are specially identified in the wifi list on iOS and macOS. I cannot imagine how hotspots could be any simpler than the iOS method.
Not surprising.
Hundreds of millions of iPhone users, and you're the one struggling to figure it out?
No, they all do. You're thinking they don't because, as you've very plainly admitted, you've already forgotten about how you had to fight that battle.
Yes, dragging and dropping is just completely unintuitive and difficult to master. It's not a great system, but it's braindead simple. You just drag your app, your widgets, your folders, etc. It's all the same.
Or better yet, when you've got a fair number of apps, and you don't recall exactly where that particular one was, rather than having to dig around for it in your folders or keep swiping left until you find it, they could all just be nicely laid out in alphabetical order somewhere. Kind of like how the android app drawer works. And no, it's not quite a drag and drop. You have to long tap, wait for everything to jiggle, then start moving shit around. The android way is a lot easier: Want it on your home screen? Put it there. Don't think you'll use it that often? Don't put it there. Either way, easy as hell to find, even when you're using somebody else's phone. Any time I've had to find a particular app on somebody's iphone it's always a royal PITA because I have to literally guess where they put shit, and folders made that particular problem worse. On Android, even if you put it in a folder, that's just an anchor, it's always in the app drawer regardless.
Folders have been around in iOS as long as I can remember. I don't remember if they were in the earliest releases (I first used a 3gs), but they've been around about as long as iOS.
So in addition to being unable to imagine anything outside of your own experience, your memory is shorter than 13 years. It also therefore doesn't extend to your oldest memories of using ios.
False. Apps do NOT have to be on your home screen (see App Library). Search, and your most used apps, are a down swipe away at any time.
Ok so they added a feature, which also unsurprisingly doesn't solve the problem of the OS being consistently inconsistent.
In legal circles there is a Latin expression "Ignorant
Nothing more than preferring what you already know (Score:2)
... unless you manually move them around, and even then there are strict limits on placement.
Really? What are those? I haven't had any problems reorganizing screens or the dock.
Fortunately after several long years they finally copied the folder feature from Android
Uh, no, its had folders forever. I think you are confusing folders with the automatic groups on the App Library screen.
In short, you are sort of showing what I always assume. People tend to love what they are most familiar with. Android vs iOS is really nothing more than that.
even the apps you rarely use MUST be on your home screen
Not seeing that, what app are you having issues with?
Re: Nothing more than preferring what you already (Score:2)
Uh, no, its had folders forever. I think you are confusing folders with the automatic groups on the App Library screen.
Definitely not. You guys really don't even know your own OS.
Re: Nothing more than preferring what you already (Score:2)
Folders have been there since iOS 4. Maybe "finally" means something different in your language.
Re: (Score:2)
How do you install brew for FOSS software on MacOS? How do you setup WSL2 and which Linux distro do you use? Don't know how to use a shell. Well, you must be old, feeble and just not understand tech. /s
Re: (Score:2)
How do you install brew for FOSS software on MacOS?
https://code2care.org/howto/in... [code2care.org]
How do you setup WSL2 and which Linux distro do you use?
Well macOS comes preinstalled with Unix. WSL2 is the Microsoft product from running a Linux distro on the desktop. The macOS product is the Apple Virtualization Framework.
https://developer.apple.com/do... [apple.com]
Don't know how to use a shell.
Must not have seen Apple documentation for macOS users. Remember that built-in Unix. Here's its terminal.
https://support.apple.com/guid... [apple.com]
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Is this really the case?
No, it is not the case. App icons do NOT have to be on your home screen. It's just ArmoredDragon rabidly frothing about Apple again.
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not being able to freely put/remove/position whatever/wherever you want on your home page seems almost unbelievably constraining.
I am not seeing that to be the case. I can move apps freely to or from any screen, the dock. What app are you having issues with?
Re: Dumb elitists (Score:2)
Luckily it's not true.
Kids being kids, i.e. impressionable by shiny (Score:5, Insightful)
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All the brand-followers have always been shallow idiots trying to embellish their hollow personalities with store-bought glamour.
Most people remain so for a very long time in their lives. "Helping people embellish their hollow personalities with store-bought glamour", is exactly Apple's core competence. If we look around ourselves, an entire industry is built on that.
"Hate"? (Score:5, Insightful)
...It's not about 'hate'.
It's about the same thing it always has been: being a part of a group. If the popular kids have iPhone 14 Pro's, 'green bubble texts' from a hand-me-down Galaxy S9 are going to be exclusionary.
Earlier this year, my cousin's ten-year-old daughter (who is 'popular' by ten-year-old standards) and I were talking at the dinner table, and we discussed Fortnite. Now, I've been playing Unreal Tournament 2004 for almost twice as long as she's been alive, but being an actual grown-up means not spending a whole lot of time playing Fortnite...but I've dabbled in it once or twice, and I said that I've never bought any skins or emotes because I've preferred playing video games on a gaming laptop instead. When I said I didn't mind playing with default skins, her response was "...so you're broke?"
I wasn't going to argue with a ten-year-old about the fact that I own my car, multiple gaming laptops, pay rent and utilities and save money for retirement rather than buying cosmetics in a game I rarely play, but the fact that there was that sort of sentiment is telling. I'm sure if she texted me with my "green bubble texts" (y'know...from my Nothing Phone 2), she'd still think I was "broke" because I couldn't confetti-react to her.
Now, I have nothing to prove to her, so I'm not going to spin up AirMessage or BlueBubbles to be a part of the in-crowd, but if I were an adolescent and had an Android phone...I could very much see feeling like I *needed* blue-bubble texts to increase my social standing.
Adolescent culture might change its outer wrapping from time to time. I hail from a time when having a cell phone *at all* was how popularity was shown; expensive hair cuts and highlights and makeup were also used. Generic brand school supplies landed you in a lower strata, Jansport backpacks brought you higher, and coming back from winter break with a tan received from a Florida vacation was helpful, too. Now it's iPhones and Macbooks and expensive Fortnight skins and Roblox add-ins for the younger kids...but peel it back and it's all the same: everyone wants to be popular. That can come from being particularly pretty or being affluent (and expressing it with the clothes or the phones or the cars) or skilled at something that's desirable in the group, but it's all essentially the same source that's deeply rooted in the human condition.
At the end of the day, blue bubble texts implement a technological means of expressing affluence in a context that is visible to others. If the popular kids all communicate with Signal or Discord, then in that group, the problem will be the inability to participate in Signal or Discord.
I don't know who's surprised that human nature hasn't changed.
Re:"Hate"? (Score:5, Insightful)
The strangest part about this is that this exists among adults as well. The whole "oh my god, neighbours bought a new car, we gotta get a better one" is very real. Status seeking is among the most powerful drivers all living beings have. As in this is not limited to homo sapiens. Pretty much any complex animal seeks status among its peers, usually as a part of mating at the very least, but often also for things like prime feeding territory.
The main difference in modern western humans is that we're so affluent and decadent, that demonstrating natural signs of not suffering hunger hasn't been a status marker in at least a century. Instead we have artificial markers of status, based on primarily on spending ability. This is why a lot of kids go deep into credit card debt after they get out of the parents' care and enter the world of adults.
The saying "daddy pays" probably exists in every language for such kids. Like here in Finland, "Pappa betalar", Swedish for "daddy pays" is specifically formulated in Swedish because Finnish Swedes tended to be from more wealthy and aristocratic families, so they have better spending ability and stronger status seeking behaviours than Finns do on average. For those not in the know, people most motivated by status retention are upper class and upper middle class people. Middle class is significantly less invested in status retention.
Re:"Hate"? (Score:5, Insightful)
You missed a teaching opportunity. It's not about showing the ten year old that you are better or richer. It's about showing the ten year old that what they are presented as important are just superficial concepts to part them of their money. It's a scam that has very little to do with anyone's importance. The color of the bubble doesn't say anything about a person. The importance they give to the color of the bubble tells us how shallow they are and if they are mature enough to deal with the real world.
Re: "Hate"? (Score:2)
I have a ten year old and you are exactly right.
Re: (Score:2)
> blue bubble texts implement a technological means
> of expressing affluence
No. What the blue bubbles mean is that the additional features of iMessage... which are lacking in vanilla SMS and even that RCS thing that Google keeps whinging at Apple to abandon iMessage and switch to... are available to be used in that conversation. That's it. Reading any additional meaning to them is merely a social, not technological, trend that originated completely external to Apple.
And guess what? If not the blue
Re:"Hate"? (Score:5, Funny)
Thank you for the perfect illustration of the summary's final quote...
"No," replied one (presumably teenaged) Reddit user. "Apple fanboys are just obnoxious, probably because they're knowingly getting scammed."
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Is any of those "additional features" something that is not available in "WhatsApp"
Re: "Hate"? (Score:2)
Hehehe, I was thinking the same. If a text message app can receive, display and send text, then it is pretty much complete, for me.
Fish in a barrel (Score:2)
When I said I didn't mind playing with default skins, her response was "...so you're broke?"
Yes. But I still have more money than you.
They were asking on Reddit? (Score:5, Funny)
Don’t ask nerds. We would say the best OS is freeBSD (it is, btw) or something ridiculous like that.
Re: (Score:2)
Year of linux on desktop is going to be year of linux on phones (in before idiots trying to sell everyone on the idea that android is totally linux, trust me bro).
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I don't know why you said "or something ridiculous like that." It's not ridiculous at all. It is.
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Don’t ask nerds. We would say the best OS is freeBSD (it is, btw) or something ridiculous like that.
Weirdly enough iOS, just like MacOS, is built on a CMU Mach and BSD foundation.
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I thought that Netcraft confirmed that FreeBSD was dead about 15 years ago?
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Still waiting for it to be the year of BeOS. Any year now.
Hmm... (Score:2)
I have an Android phone, but my kids (in their 20s) have iPhones. On the other hand, they didn't buy new iPhones... they bought 'em used because they don't care about having the shiniest newest things.
I'm sure a fairly large fraction of teens really care about what their peers thing, but I'm also pretty sure a sizeable fraction don't give a f**k and go for whatever they think is the best value.
Do Android phones... (Score:2)
Apple Phones (Score:2)
Teens have always liked high price stuff (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"Never really cared for what an underemployed 18 year old had to say, unless I was dating her and it was time to go home from the party to screw our brains out." In other words 18 dont hold assets anyone cares about except future potential.
In 2023,
If your credit rating isnt 650 and your net tax income rate exceeds 20%, I really dont want you to vote.
In other words 18 don't hold assets anyone cares about, they live hand to mouth.
Generations evolve, the
As stupid as "brand clothing" in the 1980s (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
I remember the times when a sizable dumb group of school children thought they (or their parents) needed to spend $$$ on stupid "brand" clothing.
Oh, thank goodness everyone is past that!
Re: (Score:3)
Meh ... (Score:2)
... "You're telling me in 2023, you still have a 'Droid?" says 20-year-old online creator Abdoul Chamberlain during a video posted in April. "You gotta be at least 50 years old." ... "No," replied one (presumably teenaged) Reddit user. "Apple fanboys are just obnoxious, probably because they're knowingly getting scammed."
Android (In my TV and a Tablet), Mac (Laptop), iOS (Phone), Windows (Games), Linux (Mostly embedded development), I use what works for me for whatever I'm doing at the moment and to hell with the fanatical fanboys. My life is too short for me to spend any of it on fighting in the computer operating system holy wars. I generally prefer to use Unix based, or Unix like systems but refusing to use Windows for gaming, for example, is like trying to drive down nails with a wrench because you think hammers are fo
Other than bean-counters... (Score:4, Funny)
Who the fuck cares what teenagers think? I don't trust them to make any decisions well. Who does?bI don't like android. I've got five devices based on it languishing in drawers. But the fact that American teens agree with me isn't validating. That fact has no value. Teens are not discerning. Silly premise for an article.
Re: (Score:3)
>Who the fuck cares what teenagers think? I don't trust them to make any decisions well.
Well, we really ought to care what they think even if we're not marketing to them, because they get to be the next generation of adults we have to deal with.
But no, they're generally lousy at making decisions with their incompletely developed brains and swirling hormones vastly reducing their ability to make risk assessments and generally increasing their desire to fit in. Add in their lack of life experience and it'
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The new platform wars? (Score:2)
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A bit silly to waste braincells on this argument.
I agree; but when you've got a company like Apple that has total fanbois and absolute haters, it's unfortunately gonna keep happening (and it's likely seen as "good for engagement" by the editors).
Android as a byword for crappy.. (Score:3)
I was surprised to note that one of my younger coworkers described an inferior product as "a bit android" clearly using it as a derogatory term for something considered tacky or kludgy.
Teens will prefer IPhone until (Score:5, Insightful)
Teens will prefer IPhone until they grow up and have to pay for it themselves. Then all of a sudden the choice is probably no longer so clear cut...
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14 year-olds aren't allowed to work anymore, so 'protecting' teenagers from the real world allows them to think that what their friends think, is the only answer.
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Teens will prefer IPhone until they grow up and have to pay for it themselves. Then all of a sudden the choice is probably no longer so clear cut...
What makes you say that? A substantial number of GenZs that I know don't even have laptops--or they only have laptops that they used to use in college but now they don't really use anymore and it's like an old Windows or Mac or something whatever that means but mostly I just use my phone because what else would you need to do?
But, they all have fucking nice cellphones. Whether Android or iPhone, the top sales are NOT the cheap models.
Many thoughts...sigh (Score:4, Interesting)
First, android can be seen as "old" tech because old generation phones are sold for several years after their launch, whereas apple does remove them from the sales cycle a bit faster. Additionally, android has many many many many cheap POS models which are either the aforementioned old models or cheap low end crap. iPhone overall has a higher minimum bar than android hardware (which is a race to the bottom despite high-end android devices being quite lovely).
Second, the only people who care which phone you pick are folks writing these articles to generate clicks from other idiots wanting to spew how their tech is better than someone elses (modern penis length contest i guess) and you're a moron for being a sheeple or fanboy. It's a stupid phone, if youre self worth is tied to which phone you buy or belittling others tech choices seek some professional help..
Lastly, both OSes have their pros and cons. Android is a lot more flexible, and thats fantastic for those who need it and for others the more structured and consistent environment of iOS meets their needs better..
I guess this is just human nature. .
WSJ is so famous for being in touch with teens (Score:5, Funny)
I know when I'm interested in the opinions of teenagers, I turn to the Wall Street Journal and read the insightful articles penned by aging old farts using TikTok as a research source as they desperate try to cling to the tattered remains of their careers in print journalism.
Re: (Score:2)
I was thinking something similar -- The WSJ is my go-to source for tech news. /s :-)
eeHaha that last bit was funny (Score:4, Funny)
Two years ago someone asked Reddit's "Ask Teens" forum, do teenagers really hate Android phones? But the responses were a lot more balanced.
"No," replied one (presumably teenaged) Reddit user. "Apple fanboys are just obnoxious, probably because they're knowingly getting scammed."
Yes, given Redditors legendary adherence to rules and decorum - I'm sure the people responding in the "Ask Teens" forum are teenagers.
'online creator' of what exactly? (Score:2)
Nothing says immature like (Score:5, Insightful)
This reminds me of the people who purchase knock off designer brands. If the only reason you like something is because the name of the brand it just tells me that you need to grow up and get a life. If the reason you prefer a brand is to fit in I would say you are rather shallow and you need to get some help. It just shows the immaturity of the generation.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that there is something wrong with an iPhone. What I'm saying is that if you judge people on such superficial material the problem is you not them.
Re: (Score:2)
What I'm saying is that if you judge people on such superficial material the problem is you not them.
^^^^^THIS.
Mod parent up.
Their choice (Score:2)
Why should techies care about this drivel? (Score:2)
Humans are a tool-using species. Non-techies are indifferent to tools thus inferior humans. Why should a tech site give a shit what they think so long as they stay out of our way?
If trifles amuse them, sell them trifles and they'll happily give you their money. Forget trying to reach them though because they will never be mentally equipped to understand non-trifles. Like trying to teach the proverbial pig to sing, it doesn't work and annoys the pig.
android is just fine (Score:3)
Re: android is just fine (Score:2)
Which distro do you use? openSuse with Plasma Mobile looks quite nice.
How is this news? (Score:5, Insightful)
I hope Apple's public relations team gets a huge bonus for this one. Money well spent.
You should see what studies of teenagers in the 90s said comparing Jnco and Levis jeans. Or pretty much anything the vast majority of teenagers do not have to pay for themselves. The more expensive brand is perceived of as better nearly 100% of the time, and teenagers are typically quite petty when it comes to status symbols. By the time they are 25, most of them will have a much different opinion on the budgetary importance of each status symbol.The reality is that pretty much all smartphones do pretty much all the same things at varying levels of quality. There are different features, of course, but 95% of what most people use is pretty much universal, and has been for a while. Apple has the top status, but if that's not important to you, then Android lets you make a wider selection on the quality you can select. You can get a phone for $50 if you don't care, $1200+ if you might care a bit too much, and everywhere in between. Apple has nothing under $430, so of course all the cheap phones are Android, but many expensive phones are also Android. To an adult this is clear, but to the teenage mind it's either not so obvious, or willingly ignored to prove one's superiority.
Which phone ... (Score:2)
Smart parents are going to get together and convince their children that all the "cool" kids have that model. And make the kid think it was their own idea.
Once children get a bit older and wiser, they'll figure out that they were set up with the optimal leash [blogspot.com] and switch brands. It may help if this new brand is cheaper, so that they won't have to include parents in the purchase (and tracking setup).
Unfortunately (Score:2)
This doesn't say much for US educational standards or basic numeracy.
Yes, the rest of us come across stupid people who think that "paying more means better". We also have our uninformables that think that Apple invented everything and everything else is a cheap copy. We just don't have as many as you and they are not so influential.
Kids are cretins (Score:2)
Not all of them, but most mirror the adults in that, but without the filters and without the experience.
Young, stupid, greedy, group-thinkers (Score:3)
They like the expensive phones that [1] THEY don't have to pay for, [2] all the popular kids have, and [3] they see the most propaganda in favor of.
Same reason most kids think various forms of Marxism (like socialism, which even Marx said was not a thing, but a transition state leading to communism) are cool. As children, their parents worked as hard as they could often sacrificing their own needs and desires, while they themselves (the kids) consumed according to their needs. As long as they remain stupid greedy and infantile they will cling to the Marxist model, which is the only economic system most kids experience; when they grow up, they'll start to see some value in ignoring propaganda, not following groupthink, and see that they cannot always assume they can have the most expensive stuff because "somebody else will pay for it".
An iPhone is the better choice. (Score:2)
The Android ecosystem has a lot of junk devices mixed in. Even the good devices typically come locked down and full of bloatware from the carrier and manufacturer. Buying an iPhone, even one a couple generations old, infers a certain degree of quality.
I used Android devices for a decade. The Motorola stuff I had was delightful. At the end, I switched to a Google Pixel. The camera was amazing, but the battery life was awful.
At some point in 2019, I grew frustrated with having to charge the phone so freq
I tell my daughter that she's Steve Jobs's bitch (Score:2)
She's his bitch even though he's dead.
Like adults, teens are stupid.
It's the price that gets me (Score:2)
The thing I like about Android phones is the wide varierty you can pick from - the competition between Android vendors means we have a whole set of price tiers and features to pick from. Nowadays, I can get a "good enough" new Android phone for under £200 - something you've never been able to do in the entire history of iPhones.
Once I have the phone, I can keep it on the original OS until it stops getting updates (typically 2 years, though some brands now offer 3 or 4 years) then I can either buy anot
Ah yes, ageism (Score:2)
Amazing how in this age of woke wonders, ageism is even more prevalent than ever before and anything old definitely only equals bad, so consume more so you never get old!
hypnotoad, or How I Learned to Love Consumerism (Score:2)
I think a close examination of iPhones will reveal that they have a hidden hypnosis feature. It turns users into blind sheep using flashy lights and spinning icons cleverly disguised as messaging apps. Periodically the screen flashes subliminal messages to Drink Coke, You Really Need the Terabyte Data Plan, and Buy the New iPhone 3000.
in my youth ... (Score:2)
... it had to be Adidas sports shoes (with 3 stripes). If you didn't have them, you were not part of the IN group. I survived anyway, wearing my 2 stripe cheap shoes, what else could I do? My parents simply could not afford to buy expensive brand clothes. (That was in the 1970s in Germany, as some might have already guessed.)
Today I live in a rented apartment - I could afford a house, if I wanted to - have no car at all - I could afford one, if I wanted to - and use a cheap (200 Euro) Motorola Android phone
Re:Google did it to themselves (Score:5, Interesting)
But iMessage /isn't/ the gold standard.
It's not even a standard (in the sense that many people use it.)
It's mostly a US-only-fad, thus very limited. In the actual world hardly anyone is present or can be reached on this old, proprietary system, so hardly anyone uses it.
Re: Google did it to themselves (Score:2)
WhatsApp wasn't made by Facebook just bought by them. It isn't any more secure than iMessage as Apple copied their security one to one when making iMessage
Re: (Score:2)
There is no messaging standard. Messaging is such a mess that it's becoming useless as a medium especially if you have equipment from various vendors. The only 3 that seem to be reliable enough are email, telephone and snail mail. They also have their problems.
Re: Google did it to themselves (Score:3)
RCS and SMS are both standards for messaging.
Re: Google did it to themselves (Score:2)
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Teens Remain Obsessed With Social Perception
Well, teens being overly-concerned with what people think of them is certainly an unusual phenomenon that's never been observed before.
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The news here is not that teens are status conscious (duh), but that iPhones have more prestige than equally-priced Androids.
My son is in college and says the same thing is true for laptops: The guys with MacBooks get all the chicks, while any guy with a Windows laptop is destined to be an incel.
My son runs Linux on his laptop, so I'm not sure where this leaves him, but he doesn't have a GF yet.
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Maybe he's a distro hopper kind of guy?
I'll leave you to fill in the blank. xD
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Aren't those the guys who don't get the chicks but are still happy?
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The news here is not that teens are status conscious (duh), but that iPhones have more prestige than equally-priced Androids.
The general perception is that iPhones are more prestigious or upscale. Yet, Android phone still have 42% of the US market. Since, the teenage market skews markedly toward iPhones, that means that the older Americans either skew toward Android or at least are immune to this notion of prestige.
The correlation of iPhone adoption with age is clear and important. However, how that predicts the future market is unclear. My teenagers tell me that songs, dances, games, programs, etc. that were popular 2-3 year
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I'm an older non-US Android user but can say like me other Android users I know spend very little money on Android software and even less on Android related hardware, that's a significant difference with those using Apple products.
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Re: subject (Score:2)
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I have a high schooler ...who insists that "nobody uses email anymore".
I mean, I use email, and obviously billions of people still do, but... on a different level, is your kid wrong? I have an 8th grader and I bet he has sent like 2 emails ever. He can text his family a few trusted friends. He can message his teachers on Canvas. No social media apps allowed, but I know plenty of other kids who do and none of them use email. Email is for business, that's it.
My own personal usage of email has basically cratered as well. I got my first email address in the early 90s, dialing up t
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In Juche Korea, email uses YOU!!
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