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0 pointskuschku8y ago0 comments

Which is easy to say, if you’re on silicon valley wages.

But a student trying to develop for Android can’t afford devices that start (!) at 908.35 USD. (Price of the Pixel 5" with 32GB storage, in Germany, right now).

And Google just dropped support for my phone, the Nexus 5X (which I bought for 324 USD, on sale, just before they stopped selling it)

0 comments

chii8y ago

How is it any worse for iOS? You even have to fork out $2k for a Mac as a dev machine!

taspeotis8y ago

This hardware [1] is a bit long in the tooth but you do not have to pony up $2K to get started.

[1] https://www.apple.com/us/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini

imkieren8y ago

With iPhone's they get around 4-5 years of updates compared to the 2 years promised with Google's devices.[1]

Buying into iPhone development might be more expensive upfront, but you get a longer update period (which is obviously important for developers).

I paid around $725 USD for a 2012 Macbook Pro which can develop for iOS and it has 16GB of ram, an SSD and a hard drive for time machine.

[2]https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705#nexus_device...

sosborn8y ago

https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/

kuschkuOP8y ago

I never developed for iOS, because a platform that has in my home market (the EU) a marketshare similar to what Windows Phone 7 had in the US (below 15%) is useless. Especially when development starts upwards of $3000.

I’m comparing between developing on Google devices, and non-Google devices.

lorenzhs8y ago

Your numbers are incorrect, iOS market share is around 22% in the EU5 (GB, DE, FR, IT, ES) according to https://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/iOS-and-Android.... And according to https://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/smartphone-os-market... Windows Phone's market share (as opposed to device sales) in the US peaked at 5.6% in 2013. That's a factor of 4. You may not like iOS, and there's nothing wrong with not considering a platform for ideological reasons, but it's not irrelevant.

Also, a used Mac Mini isn't $3000.

kuschkuOP8y ago

My numbers are those the EU Antitrust committee recently published. Below 15% was the number they used as argument for why Android is a monopoly.

> Also, a used Mac Mini isn't $3000.

A Mac Mini that’s still under warranty, and an iPhone, and some years of Apple Developer fees, are.

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chii8y ago

How is it any worse for iOS? You even have to fork out $2k for a Mac as a dev machine!

taspeotis8y ago

This hardware [1] is a bit long in the tooth but you do not have to pony up $2K to get started.

[1] https://www.apple.com/us/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini

imkieren8y ago

With iPhone's they get around 4-5 years of updates compared to the 2 years promised with Google's devices.[1]

Buying into iPhone development might be more expensive upfront, but you get a longer update period (which is obviously important for developers).

I paid around $725 USD for a 2012 Macbook Pro which can develop for iOS and it has 16GB of ram, an SSD and a hard drive for time machine.

[2]https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705#nexus_device...

sosborn8y ago

https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/

kuschkuOP8y ago

I’m comparing between developing on Google devices, and non-Google devices.

lorenzhs8y ago

Also, a used Mac Mini isn't $3000.

kuschkuOP8y ago

My numbers are those the EU Antitrust committee recently published. Below 15% was the number they used as argument for why Android is a monopoly.

> Also, a used Mac Mini isn't $3000.

A Mac Mini that’s still under warranty, and an iPhone, and some years of Apple Developer fees, are.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse