iPhone ... you either love it or hate it!
Research firm ChangeWave published survey results this week that show the iPhone 4 leading the smartphone pack in consumer satisfaction.
The firm asked 1212 people who purchased smartphones in the past six months to rate their models. The iPhone comes in first place with 77 per cent of those who purchased one saying they are "very satisfied" with their selection.
Motorola comes in a close second: 71 per cent of recent purchasers report being "very satisfied." HTC scores third with 63 per cent; Samsung, fourth with 45 per cent; and RIM, fifth with 44 per cent.
"The results show the continuing threat the iPhone poses to the rest of the industry," writes Paul Carton, ChangeWave vice president of research.
Perhaps most surprising was that one in three non-iPhone buyers surveyed said they would have bought Apple's device if it was available on their network. Around 20 per cent were undecided and 46 per cent said they would have stuck with their choice.
I didn't take the survey or fit the criteria (I purchased my first smartphone about a year ago) but I am definitely one of the people in that 34 per cent group.
I picked up an HTC Hero last December mostly because I could get a cheap monthly plan from Sprint. I would have much rather gotten a Moto Droid on Verizon or an iPhone, but figured the savings would be worth it.
Boy, was I wrong.
I've been dealing with minor bugs, nonresponsive hardware, and fighting to get digital copies of movies I bought on Blu-Ray off of iTunes and onto my phone. If that wasn't enough, I had to find a copy of Angry Birds on my PC and e-mail the app onto my phone. (It doesn't show up in the Android Market because my device isn't supported.)
Rooting and upgrading to Froyo didn't help much. Neither did going back to the stock ROM with updated software patches.
I've learned to deal with what I have.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Android fan and my Hero isn't unusable. I just can't help but wonder what things would have been like if I would have sucked it up and gone with AT&T and an iPhone.
Things probably would have been so much easier.
Then again, maybe that's just me.
What do you think?
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