People often say this. It seems defensive. Basically if the iPhone has higher sales or market share, you can say "Ha, this one phone is beating everything!" And if it's losing in either of those areas, you can say "But it's only one phone!" Also can't you get an iPhone 4 for $99 and a 3GS for $0?
Keep in mind the iPhone is the only phone with iOS, so if you want to get an iOS phone, the iPhone is your only choice. You're not necessarily supposed to be impressed with these Android numbers - but if you aren't, you probably shouldn't be impressed when tides temporarily turn and iPhones are winning in these numbers, either. It's not just one device vs many, it's one OS vs one other OS.
My point was if we're supposed to root for a winner (which is stupid), it hardly seems impressive to use an article like this as your argument.
The reason so many care about these numbers is they want to use them to say their OS is better than the other when it isn't relevant at all. And, the masses make a lot of dumb decisions: just watch the elections coming up!
That doesn't make my remark any less true. Walk in to a cellular store and there is one or two iPhone models on the display. The entire rest of the store is Android phones made by dozens of different companies with new models coming out every day. Of course Android should have the bigger numbers, look at what the iPhone is competing against! Not to mention, a lot of Android builders will cut corners on build quality and offer the same mostly software features as the iPhone on much cheaper hardware. Which phone is your mom gonna pick? The expensive iPhone or the plastic Android sitting next to it that claims to do the same thing—but free with a 2 year contract.
If I'm being defensive, it's because I'm annoyed. I come to hacker news to learn new things and peek in to the world of development, something I'm fascinated in as a designer. I just so fucking sick of the flamebait threads.
> I just so fucking sick of the flamebait threads.
If you've got a problem with a flamebaiting editorialized title, say that; don't start the flame. Android and iPhone are both doing well. This is one metric where Android is ahead. Whether or not it's impressive, it's certainly noteworthy.
Keep in mind the iPhone is the only phone with iOS, so if you want to get an iOS phone, the iPhone is your only choice. You're not necessarily supposed to be impressed with these Android numbers - but if you aren't, you probably shouldn't be impressed when tides temporarily turn and iPhones are winning in these numbers, either. It's not just one device vs many, it's one OS vs one other OS.