I want a tablet but I'm weary of Apple and Google

Note: This thread would probably be better suited in the off-topic forum but for some reason I'm unable to post there. Feel free to move it! Thank you.

I currently own a MBA but am looking into possibly getting a tablet. I believe tablets are the future of computing and think it'd be a good idea to get accustomed to it. The uses for the tablet would be for web surfing, reading PDF books, photos, and listening to music. But I'm worried about the two available (major) ecosystems: Apple and Google. I don't like the idea of my privacy being eroded by being required to have an Apple ID or a Google account to use the device. I especially don't want a credit card or any banking information tied to an account. How functional are these devices without an account? Is there a way to install software without being forced into an account? I'm especially weary of Google. An internet search company, a developing ISP, and now a hardware and software developer? Am I the only one wondering how good a thing it is for Google to own every last bolt and link of the internet, right down to the device itself?

Thank you for reading my post. I look forward to your replies!

 

The thing about google (and why I own both an android phone and tablet) is that they don't care how you customize your device and such and you can make the OS fit to how you personally like it. Apple on the other hand has a locked down eco system so what you see is what you get. Both of these camps cater to different people so each to their own.

As the internet privacy, I believe it is going to be harder and harder in the years to come to keep information truely private as technology like the cloud and NFC (Near Field Comunication) continue to develop and become more and more popular. You can already pay for stuff using your phone as the credit card basically, so who knows where we will be in the future. hope this helps you in some way.

 

Disproportionate standards / misunderstanding of abuses towards your privacy. The account that you hold with Apple or Google does not contribute to a serious invasion of your privacy in most cases (especially so if you aren't using the account for your personal interactions on the internet, but either way). What you really need to be careful with is web surfing, which presumably you will do regardless.

 

Your "privacy" has probably already been eroded far more than you realize. If you have a savings club card for your favorite supermarket, they've done much more with your information than what Google or Apple will.

If you're that paranoid about the credit card thing, buy a pre-paid Visa from you local pharmacy and top it up as needed. If you went with an iPad, you could link that card to your account to meet Apple's requirement while using iTunes gift cards to pay for music, apps, et al.

 

Companies have already been tracking your internet browsing history for a while now. Have a Gmail account and access google.com? Google is tracking your search history. I think they are supposed to delete the information every few years but they still have it. Apple tracks some things too but the majority of it seems to surround the iTunes Store and App Store monitoring what you purchase so they can make recommendations. You can always opt out of location based services in iOS and I think the same thing can be done with Android.

My main issue with Android doesn't come from Google tracking user information but rather the lack of standards when it comes to apps and the extreme amount of fragmentation. There are many apps in the Play Store (Google's App Store) that require too many permissions for what they are. For example, there is an LED flashlight app that wants to know everything in your phonebook, read through text messages, see call history, and see a whole bunch of other stuff. Why does any app need to be able to do that? Why is Google allowing this to happen especially in an app that has been downloaded over 1 million times? You have to read through the app permissions before installing them. The fragmentation is getting better on tablets but it is terrible for smartphones. Google will come out with an Android update and then manufacturers will normally sit on it for a few months deciding which devices they are going to support with the update. They will then skin Android, test the update, and then send it off to the wireless companies for distribution. All iOS updates come directly from Apple. Android tablets are a little better as they cut out the wireless carrier for distribution. Still, it seems like an unnecessary process simply so a company can add their skin and built-in software to the mix (no, I do not want to play Madden 10!). Not only that but there is a probability that the tablet manufacturer may not support updates for a long period of time. This was evident with my Droid X as it came with Android 2.2.2 and was updated to 2.3.2 a year after I purchased it. That has been it despite the phone being more than powerful enough to run ICS or Jelly Bean. However, the 4G iPod touch (released the same year by Apple) and the iPhone 4 both received iOS 5 (not every feature) and are running iOS 6. Not every feature of each update has been released for the 2 year old hardware but at least they are still receiving updates. I think the Motorola Xoom, one of the first big Android tablets, stopped receiving updates a while back despite not being that old.

Those are my main issues with Android. If Google distributed the updates themselves and if everything was vanilla, I would have supported the mobile OS for a while. Instead everyone has to muck up the update process. I also don't think it is as customizable as some people make it out to be. Sure, you can add live wallpapers (drain battery), live widgets (drain battery and some eat data), widgets (some can be useful), and a few other things but it isn't really that deep and those are only a few features above iOS. Anymore customization and, just like iOS, you have to root your tablet/phone.