Dan Lyons claims “Even Woz Thinks the Android Bests the iPhone”

…and then goes on to write: 

…Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with Jobs in 1976, says he’s a big fan of Android phones. Woz says he still thinks Apple’s iPhone is the best overall smartphone, but he says there are ways in which Android has leapt ahead of Apple.

“My primary phone is the iPhone,” Woz says. “I love the beauty of it. But I wish it did all the things my Android does, I really do.”

Okay, so forget Steve Wozniak is clearly endorsing the iPhone over Android handsets, despite what the headline says.

Forget that Dan Lyon’s headline is a lie at best. At its worst, the headline is link bait — which succeeded because Techmeme ran it.

And let’s even forget that Dan Lyons, who misrepresents Apple at every turn because that’s how he gets his traffic — as well as has an ax to grind — you can go ahead and think the worst.

Let’s remember: Woz is a hacker. Of course Woz likes Android, even if it isn’t his primary phone. Remember that geek friend in college who made you feel dumb because you couldn’t build your own computer? Woz is that guy (though much kinder and nicer, from all appearances).

Woz likes to mix it up with code and gadgets. Woz’s vision for personal computing has been and always will be counter to the vision of Jobs and Apple — Woz wants it wide open, a paradise for geeks who like to tinker with stuff. Apple wants to control it, to ensure technology is accessible and delivers an experience that satisfies and delights users.

In the marketplace, Apple’s vision trumps Woz’s. Woz is a technologist that embraces “open” computing, but recognizes most people don’t or can’t embrace what that means:

“The people I recommend the iPhone 4S for are the ones who are already in the Mac world, because it’s so compatible, and people who are just scared of computers altogether and don’t want to use them. The iPhone is the least frightening thing. For that kind of person who is scared of complexity, well, here’s a phone that is simple to use and does what you need it to do,” he says. 

Wozniak leaves out perhaps the biggest segment of iPhone users, but probably not intentionally: People who want things to just work, work well, and be delightful to work with. 

Of course Woz should be using Android devices: He doesn’t worry about being bested by viruses. He doesn’t care that user interfaces aren’t up to par. He can look past scrolling that stutters and applications that crash. His interests lie beneath what the eye can see.

Not me. Not most people. We already lived through the Age of Windows, when you had to know someone with an interest in code and motherboards and whatnot to help you whenever something broke or malware fucked up your system. Never again.

P.S. — about that headline, Dan: “The Android”? What the hell is “The Android”?