Since the beginning of smartphone time there have been avid fans having shouting matches on all sides of the fence over which operating system was better. Android this, Apple that, BlackBerry has this, does Windows Phone have that? Sometimes my womanly feelings get the better of me and as argumentative as I love to be sometimes, I just wonder – why can’t we all just hug and be friends?
I have a story to tell. Once upon a time there were two best friends who talked about anything and everything all the time. They didn’t see each other very much, but they were always texting each other. Both of them had iPhones, and they were always using iMessage. Instant text messages, how about that! Until one day one of the best friends traded in her iPhone for an Android. The texts took longer to send, and sometimes the friend with the Android wouldn’t get the messages because iMessage was still interrupting the flow. The number of times a text message was received by one to the other became more and more rare, and in due time neither one spoke a single word because their worlds were just too different now, and they led completely separate lives and never spoke to each other ever again.
That story was fictional (I might have to make a children’s novel out of that one, that’s got New York Bestseller written all over it), but it almost seems like that might happen, doesn’t it? As pointed out before, all of these phones are meant to be for the same target audience for those in the market for a smartphone, but also a different audience depending on which one you want to go with as each operating system offers something different. Sometimes it’s all in good fun to poke fun at one or the other, or to debate the different features, but then you throw in the hardcore fans who sometimes just suck all the fun out of the whole thing.
I love listening to debates about what entices different people to each phone. This could even include webOS if you’re into that. Those phones have a place in the market today for a reason (except webOS anymore, but some people still prefer it) and that’s because quite a few people in near and far away places prefer that UI over anything else and want to use it on a day-to-day basis. I feel that as a mobile tech fanatic we should respect one another and our choices. It really does seem to lose its luster when somebody else is trying to tell you that your smartphone isn’t good enough, or coming up with unnecessary arguments as to why you should be carrying the same phone as someone else. Some people literally spend hundreds of dollars on these phones and they should be allowed to enjoy them without judgment.
What sparked all of this is last night I was standing in line at the store with my son, and I got out my phone to send a text to my friend. Somebody in the checkout line next to me started telling me all of the reasons I should switch to Android, and how his phone was way better than mine. That’s fine, I’m open for a good discussion, but then he started to throw in the bashing.
“Your phone sucks.”
“Why would you even buy that?”
And my favorite: “Did you even know what you were buying or were you just trying to look cool?” Yes, sir, I just bought this to look cool. In fact, I wasn’t even sending a text just then. Just flitting my fingers across the screen so it lit up and made it look like I had friends. It just flustered me a bit that somebody was trying to put me down by means of what phone I carry as oppose to something that might actually affect somebody else. I let most of it roll off my back, but just the fact that somebody was willing to start an argument in the middle of a grocery store line over nothing was a little irritating.
Obviously I enjoy arguing points, mostly with myself, on different phone features and what I like and don’t like about certain devices. If I didn’t, this wouldn’t be my job. But my job doesn’t mean I just get to post articles about why this phone sucks and why this other phone is way cooler. It’s about discovering new technology (and renewing our love for old technology sometimes) and sharing my opinion with other cell phone loving junkies like yourselves and hearing what you have to say about the same subject.
Have you ever had an encounter like mine? Do you feel like some people take the OS arguments too far? Let me know what you think!
Image via Tech PP
