Sigh...
You do not need to install iTunes to charge iDevices. Also you don't need a computer to activate an iPhone and haven't for years (Since the iPhone 4 in 2010 i believe). Those 2 things are simply not true. This integration also works from iPhone to iPad and there are 200 million of those out there.
Interesting, since I have a few friends with iPhones, and when they come to my place, they always ask me to charge their phones from my laptop. Their phones were NEVER recognized and they never even started charging unless I grabbed iTunes and installed it. So your statement pretty much fails there.
I don't know about the activation, but I do remember a friend of mine getting a 5c just a few weeks back. I went with him to the store, the first thing that damned phone demanded was to get connected to iTunes (by the way, fresh out of the box, first time turned on device we're speaking about).
And again, this integration can go s*ck d*ck as long as you only have one iDevice. Apple took a 180 degree turn on their way of doing things, the platform is not simple any more, and I can assure you there will be more and more clutter on the way.
Why is it so hard to accept that Apple was late to the game, finally realized that they need to do what others been doing for years, and as soon as they tout it as "their" innovation, people would die to protect this lie?
Android was never about integration. It works well in the Google ecosystem, but can import your information from various other platforms too (Facebook, Firefox Account, Microsoft, and if I recall right there was even an iAccount adapter too). It goes low-level (MTP was only generalized with the spread of the unified internal storage), and supports any OS it's connected to, to an extent. The nice thing is that it can be easily expanded so it works with a companion app. Crude method, but works.
Windows Phone integrates into Windows a lot better. Using a custom MTP driver, you can easily access your storage, but MS would prefer if you used the cloud (can't blame them for that tho). Its syncing might not give the same level comfort as continuity, but it is rid of any of that systems stupidity (e.g. you get off from your computer to take a call, and bam it opens the document you were editing, while you did not need that). Both systems have their pros and cons, and sincerely, I am more used to MS's way, and I think it is more comfortable than continuity. And this comes from a guy who did the Metro transition easily (so I'm open to changes that MAKE SENSE).
I don't understand why you guys are so against Apple for doing something that makes peoples lives easier just because it may not make your life any easier. I love WP too but I'm not going to sit here and act like MS has the better implementation when they have NOTHING at the system level that competes with Apple's "continuity" in it's current form. Everyone keeps throwing around comparisions that are not even the same thing. WP+W8.1 does not have the same integration as OSX+iOS. It's a fact so let it go and hope MS copies it in the next release.
I'm not against them because they make people's lives easier. I'm against them because they tout their "innovation" which is 90% copy of other platforms already existing features, 5% slapping the i to the beginning, and 5% work on making it fit.
It is indeed not the same, and I have to disagree, MS does it better. As I said before, while almost all WP users day-to-day computer runs Windows (hence, almost all WP user can enjoy the syncing, etcetera), only a minority of the iDevice users have another iDevice (let it be a computer, tablet, phone, whatever.). And you have to accept this. Just by being here on the forums, you represent the minority of the Apple users who know more than 5% of their phones' features, and use it. I'm happy that you can use continuity, be happy with it - but stop praising it as it was the first and best solution ever, for all. It might be the best for you, but again, the MAJORITY of the iDevice users will NEVER use it. Or use it once or twice, just like Siri.
There was a time when Apple was innovative, spitting newer and better products at the market. But that time is long gone, and now they're trying to lessen the gap of features between iOS and other mobile platforms. Yes, iOS8 is a big change from 7, I agree on that. It brings great features that the platform missed for some time. But comparing it to e.g. Android, you'll see that almost all the features have been at the core of Android for the past few years.
It also does not help on the image that the first thing they did during WWDC was to bash on Android. It's basically saying "my neighbour has such ****ty taste with all the garden decorations, they suck. But hey, I just bought and set up lots of the almost same decoration!".
The problem here is that Apple is contradicting itself on multiple levels. Once their motto was "keep it simple, stupid". Now it's not true any more, because they brought in the features that make other platforms complex. Also, their unofficial motto has been for some time "Be different" (or "Think different", can't remember exactly). How is it being different if you're copying 90% of your new features from others?
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