Well you're running the same version I am, then, but I can't say I've experienced any of the issues you describe. I came over to Android from iOS with the release of the Nexus 4, and while the Android UI is certainly more complex (which seems to be your chief complaint), it's eminently more useful as well.
Your complaint that "it has a desktop" seems particularly curious, as there's no functional difference between it and the iOS home screen. Sure, your apps "live" elsewhere, and you can make folders and shortcuts, but what's wrong with that? Beyond "it's PC-like", is there some UX disadvantage it entails?
PINs - I use the pattern, which I find much easier. Actually, that's a nice segue into the biggest improvement I find over iOS - the keyboard. I thought it was a gimmick at first, but the pattern-swiping style of typing is bloody brilliant. I'm consistently amazed at how well Android guesses what I'm trying to type. In fairness, though, this is really only useful for touch typers who know where the key they want to hit is on the keyboard. My buddy, who's a hunt-and-pecker, just found it frustrating.
Photo Album is Gallery - and Apple calls Internet Explorer "Safari". The fools.
Poor synching on GMail - actually, I find the mobile GMail app works better than the web version. I'll consistently get notifications of new emails in my inbox on my phone 5-10 minutes before getting them in-browser. Sure, it doesn't tell you when it last updated (and it could), but it's not really a practical problem as it seems to be constantly up to date.
Anyway, I'm sorry you weren't impressed with your Android experience. I've been an iPhone guy for the last 3 years, but recently made the switch to Android and my only complaints are with the N4 itself: glass back and small battery.
1) This post is not about technical skills or competency, it’s about a person-company fit and motivation. If you hire an average developer you expect average results, and if you hire an awesome developer you expect an awesome product. But what if this developer has the skills but not the motivation? What if after he joins your startup he realizes it’s not what he was really looking for? The impact on your team will be huge, if he stays or leaves. Get the cards out on the table before you join forces.
2) Some people on Hacker News are talking about the absurdity of taking a below Market Rate salary. I don’t know where you got that from, but on the post I said startups would pay less than Microsoft. I think some people on HN don’t really know how much Microsoft pays (or Google, Amazon or FB). It’s a lot more than you are thinking. A 10-12 year veteran at Microsoft has a base salary of $140,000-$180,000 and 20% bonus (pretty much guaranteed). That’s between $170K-$220K in comp, excluding Stock Awards, unbeatable health care coverage, and many other perks. Yes, no startup that I know of can afford that.
3) I’m not rejecting “Pete”. I’m asking him to do a self-assessment (a side project) to understand his own interest in building products end-to-end and to “get” what doing code at a startup might be like.
4) For the people attacking me or my startup, you should look yourself in the mirror and try to find the source of so much anger.
5) My post lacks context in the sense of who I am and why do I get so many Microsoft developers that want to talk to me. And just to clarify, I’ve worked at MSFT for 7 years, I left to do a startup, which I did for 4.5 years and I failed and I was very public about it. I set out on a mission to help educate others who were following a similar path, to help them avoid the similar mistakes I’ve made. I founded the Seattle 2.0 organizations to help that mission. Over the last 4 years, I helped approximately 2,000 people who went through some of the events I put together. You can read the full story of my first startup here:
Maybe this is the revolution we need to give a chance to the next generation to have fun programmable robot. I was promised that as a kid and I still don't have it!
Wire transmissions are less likely to error because they have more checksums and other self-correcting mechanisms. A bad bit over the wire will get the entire data package dropped.
