How and Why Wireless Carriers Ruin Android Smartphones - PC makers like Dell and HP have a long history of bundling "crapware" with their computers: Useless apps that are hard to uninstall, and are usually trial versions or otherwise try to get money from you. Meanwhile, except for a 60-day trial of Microsoft Office, Apple's Mac computers are mercifully free of such garbage, and only come with apps (like the iLife suite) that you'd actually want to use.
Likewise, Apple's iPhone comes with a basic set of polished apps, plus an App Store that lets you find more -- no crapware in sight. Android smartphones like the Droid have their own store, called the Android Market, but are usually loaded down with tons of garbage apps, too. These may be "free trials," carrier-specific apps that have expensive subscription fees, or even the full-length movie Avatar, and you can't uninstall them no matter what -- after you're done watching the movie, for instance.
Why is that?
The profit motive
First off, crapware is big business. Dell and HP get a kickback from the crapware makers for each PC they sell, and Android crapware is often designed to lock you into an expensive subscription service.
Some pre-installed apps, like the Swype keyboard or the HTC Sense interface, are actually popular and desirable. The vast majority of them, however, are designed to make money for the wireless carrier, not to improve the user experience.
Making it up in volume
It seems that, for whatever reason, most Android smartphone companies either can't or don't want to compete with Apple on user experience. So instead of creating a single, near-perfect smartphone like the iPhone, they take the shotgun approach, blasting out phone after phone with nearly identical specs and hoping that one of them sticks.
Apple makes hundreds of dollars for each iPhone it sells, while Motorola's per-unit profits are closer to five bucks and change. Other manufacturers, like Samsung, aren't much better off. This approach does make them money, but because none of their phones is an event like the iPhone, they don't have any leverage over the wireless carriers. So in order to get their phones on the carriers' networks to begin with, they have to put carrier logos and carrier-branded crapware on their phones.
Designed for the dump
As Annie Leonard explains in The Story of Electronics, most electronic gadgets are "designed for the dump;" they're meant to quickly go out of style and out of date.
Apple gets people to buy the next iPhone by making each new iPhone better. But it continues to support old iPhones with feature-adding iOS software updates, because that's part of the iPhone's value proposition: You're buying something that is polished, durable, and made to last.
Some Android smartphones get such software updates, but they're often a hassle to install. In my HTC Aria's case, I had to blow away everything on it to apply the "Froyo" update, and afterwards I found that an annoying new anti-feature had been added. Other Android phones never get updates at all -- why should they, when the carriers want you to just buy a new phone?
The Upshot
So it's not in the carriers' interests (or at least they think it's not in their interests) to provide an exceptional user experience on their Android phones, and even classy Android handset makers like HTC don't have the clout to tell them otherwise. But they keep selling crapware-loaded, carrier-branded phones, because it works and it makes them money.
Perhaps the best way to put a stop to it is to make a different choice. ( yahoo.com )
Likewise, Apple's iPhone comes with a basic set of polished apps, plus an App Store that lets you find more -- no crapware in sight. Android smartphones like the Droid have their own store, called the Android Market, but are usually loaded down with tons of garbage apps, too. These may be "free trials," carrier-specific apps that have expensive subscription fees, or even the full-length movie Avatar, and you can't uninstall them no matter what -- after you're done watching the movie, for instance.
Why is that?
The profit motive
First off, crapware is big business. Dell and HP get a kickback from the crapware makers for each PC they sell, and Android crapware is often designed to lock you into an expensive subscription service.
Some pre-installed apps, like the Swype keyboard or the HTC Sense interface, are actually popular and desirable. The vast majority of them, however, are designed to make money for the wireless carrier, not to improve the user experience.
Making it up in volume
It seems that, for whatever reason, most Android smartphone companies either can't or don't want to compete with Apple on user experience. So instead of creating a single, near-perfect smartphone like the iPhone, they take the shotgun approach, blasting out phone after phone with nearly identical specs and hoping that one of them sticks.
Apple makes hundreds of dollars for each iPhone it sells, while Motorola's per-unit profits are closer to five bucks and change. Other manufacturers, like Samsung, aren't much better off. This approach does make them money, but because none of their phones is an event like the iPhone, they don't have any leverage over the wireless carriers. So in order to get their phones on the carriers' networks to begin with, they have to put carrier logos and carrier-branded crapware on their phones.
Designed for the dump
As Annie Leonard explains in The Story of Electronics, most electronic gadgets are "designed for the dump;" they're meant to quickly go out of style and out of date.
Apple gets people to buy the next iPhone by making each new iPhone better. But it continues to support old iPhones with feature-adding iOS software updates, because that's part of the iPhone's value proposition: You're buying something that is polished, durable, and made to last.
Some Android smartphones get such software updates, but they're often a hassle to install. In my HTC Aria's case, I had to blow away everything on it to apply the "Froyo" update, and afterwards I found that an annoying new anti-feature had been added. Other Android phones never get updates at all -- why should they, when the carriers want you to just buy a new phone?
The Upshot
So it's not in the carriers' interests (or at least they think it's not in their interests) to provide an exceptional user experience on their Android phones, and even classy Android handset makers like HTC don't have the clout to tell them otherwise. But they keep selling crapware-loaded, carrier-branded phones, because it works and it makes them money.
Perhaps the best way to put a stop to it is to make a different choice. ( yahoo.com )
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