Action at a Distance

Daniel Jakult on tech elitism

Joshua Topolsky’s take-no-prisoners post “Horseshit”, about perceived elitism and class warfare in the ever-present Android-vs-iOS debate, is probably going to set off a wave of response posts. Here’s some quotes from one of the first, by Daniel Jakult of Red Sweater software:

And yet John and MG are totally right. You either see it or you don’t. This is egalitarian, relating to all facets of life, in every nuanced area of preference or priority. For whatever details a given person appreciates and values, far more people will be disinterested and be unlikely to even distinguish differences. How about those Android aficionados? They’ll point to the flexibility afforded by true multitasking, freedom to install unapproved apps, etc. They shake their heads at silly iPhone lovers, hold their phones up high and take pride in these qualities. To them, these are the finer points. This is the “polish.” The rest of us just don’t see it.

I agree with this bit. When comparing iOS and Android, “superior” is a subjective matter because it depends on what features matter to you. Apparently, if you value smooth scrolling, you’re more likely to find iOS to your tastes ¹. If you value user customisation and the ability to run arbitrary background tasks and sideload apps, Android is more likely to be your thing. Similarly if you cannot afford to spend more than $100 on a pay-as-you-go handset, you literally have no choice to make because Apple are lightyears away from that price point. ²

If you’ve got a taste for something, a nose for something, an eye for something, an ear for something, a feel for something, and you find a product that soothes that sense, then you have a special gift: the ability to cast judgement on inferior efforts. Other folks? They’ll either sense it too, or they won’t.

Jakult is right. Other folks will either get how important sideloading apps to skirt the control of an app store approval process hegemony is, or they won’t. If they don’t, well, screw them; your “special gift” gives you the “ability to cast judgement” on the “inferior efforts” of their iPhones.

That’s what you meant, right, Daniel?

Update: Daniel responded on Twitter:

@actionaad (Yes, Android lovers get to lord their superior, customizable phones over our silly little toys :) )

True confessions time: I’ve only spent limited time with other people’s Android handsets, and in that time I didn’t notice any laggy scrolling. I guess I’m just a bad person or I have bad taste or something. Sorry! ↩
Here in the UK, Walmart-owned supermarket Asda were recently selling a contract-free T-Mobile Rapport for £57, including sales tax — that’s $88. It came with six months of free 3G data and a £20 app store gift voucher. Meanwhile, the iPhone 3GS costs £319. ↩