I love Android. Always have done. But over the years since I’ve been using it in parallel to iOS I have generally found iOS superior. iOS lacks the flexibility of Android, but the consistency of use, the higher quality apps and seemless integration of hardware and software has always made iOS such a great experience.
Over the last few years, i’ve been on a journey of trying to become platform agnostic. I’ve invested in cloud services which, by definition, are all platform independent (such as EverNote, numerous Google services and Microsoft Office365.) Locally, I’ve invested in a NAS and running my music library off it, together with Plex (media / server).
I’m also heavily invested in the ‘internet of things’. All my devices from Philips Hue lighting , Sonos, WeMo switches, Canary and most recently my Amazon Echo (full review to follow soon) can all run/be accessed on any platform of choice.
With all that infrastructure in place, I’m now at the point where I’m changing a number of my computing devices.
My first choice, is that I’m finally ditching my iPhone as my primary phone and replacing it with an Android phone – the outstanding OnePlus 3. (I still own the OnePlus 1 – which I loved) Why? Because, I miss Android and it’s flexibility and secondly because, as I blogged recently, I find it difficult to justify iPhone prices anymore. But perhaps, more importantly – I don’t like what Apple has become to its millions of users. It’s a fashion accessory. It’s a must have item. Folk want to be seen with the latest iPhone because, like any designer label it demonstrates wealth, style and prestige. The type of users that now seem to dominate iPhones sales are fashionistas – the original geeks are few and far between. Ironically, they care less about what the iphone is capable of and more about what the latest colour is. In short, it’s crass. I no longer want to be a part of it. I’m going back to my linux roots and intend to move forward with an Android device in hand once more.
I’m also planning to ditch my MB Pro. (I’ve already handed off my MB Air). In short, I only use it now to maintain my server. It’s surplus to requirements. I plan to buy either a ChromeBook or a laptop optimised for running Ubuntu Linux (such as the Dell XPS developers edition).
With these changes in place, by the end of the year, the only Apple device I’ll actually own is my iPad Pro 12.9” . (Which I absolutely love). In fact, it’s now my go to computer of choice. And since my break-through of being able to produce and edit my weekly podcast, www.blackonblues.com , I can see myself sticking with it for a very long time.