Monday, January 17, 2011

Rethinking my Opinion of the iPhone

Attending a school in which it seems that everyone and their mother has an iPhone, I'll admit it. I want one. I want one really bad. I want to be able to check my email when I'm away from my computer. I want to be able to find out where I am when I get lost in the streets of Boston. I want to download apps and play DoodleJump. I want to gain a deeper appreciation for damnyouautocorrect.com. I'll admit, I'm jealous of everyone with the hottest phone on the market. It's just so...appealing.

WANT. WANT SO BAD.
In my lust for sleek and sexy technology, I've been unwilling to hear any negative words against the iPhone; it's so easy to complain about something that you already possess. However, I came across this article today:


Hmmm, strange. How can such a perfect piece of technology and wonder possibly have any flaws? According to this article, many of the issues that people currently blame on their AT&T service provider may actually be issues within the iPhone itself. Who else remembers when all iPhone alarm clocks spontaneously turned themselves off on New Year's Day this year? And what about all of those dropped calls, a less-than perfect auto-correct type system, a battery with a completely weaksauce charge life, and a touch keyboard system that makes emailing pretty much impossible? The gilded iPhone contains an element of iFail, no?


Oh hey there...
The article also discusses the popularity of Verizon's Android phones, saying that contrary to popular (or at least my) belief, they actually do pose competition to Apple's little money child. Should I want the Android more than the iPhone? It's another gorgeous hunk of plastic and metal with nearly all of the same features as its Apple counterpart. With a Verizon contract slated to come due this summer, I've been counting the days until I can purchase my very own iPhone without having to leave the comforts of Verizon. But now I'm questioning my very desires. Do I want an iPhone because it's the best product on the market or because everyone else has one and I like shiny things?

Now that the iPhone has faltered on its perch of awesomeness in my mind, I've got some serious thinking to do. How much do I need the supercool brand name, when a generic may work just as well if not better. Am I willing to be a lowly (but still pretty baller) Android in a society of iPhones? What am I talking about? My contract doesn't even expire until the summer. I should probably be a little more focused on making sure that my current phone makes it all the way to its trade in date before I start fantasizing about new technology.

A girl can dream, right?

I'm a crow. Get it? Because I like shiny things! Never mind.

2 comments:

  1. More Android phones than iPhones are now activated each day. If you get an Android phone, get one that's running the basic Android software, because it will be upgraded immediately with each new release, while manufacturers and carriers that modify their software often make their customers wait until they can add bloatware to the new Android build. (Or, to circumvent that, root your phone and void your warranty.) Two examples of phones running "vanilla" Android are the Nexus One and the Nexus S, but unfortunately, neither is on Verizon. I'm not sure if there are any Verizon counterparts, but I'm crossing my fingers for one soon.

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  2. Dude, get an Android phone. Typing is so much easier and you get all of the perks of iPhone without becoming one of the sheeple (sheep people...) who buy something because everyone else has it. I recommend Samsung Galaxy or Droid X, which is what I have. You can just go into the Verizon store and play around with all of the phones and see what feels best for you - what really sold me was the larger screen. Some of the new Android phones have screen which have almost a full inch (diagonally) on the iPhone, which makes reading and writing much easier. Between that, seamless integration with Gmail and all other Google-based services, and better battery life there is a clear advantage to getting an Android phone. Come play with mine if you want to get to know it better!

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