Android vs BlackBerry debate

by unconventionalgeek

Yep, you don’t need to rub your eyes to see if you’ve read this wrongly. You’ve not. And yes, I’ve completely removed the iPhone from this equation.

As much as practically everyone in the world touts the iPhone as THE user interface of the century, I beg to differ. User interface, yes, maybe. User experience, far from it. See, user experience encompasses the entire process of utilising a particular device or tool. As much as I’d hate to admit it, anyone can pick an iPhone up and know exactly what to do to utilise it. It’s that intuitive. In fact, my favourite story goes that a friend’s 1-year old boy upon learning how to crawl, crawled up to their 50″ television and started tapping his fingers and swiping on the screen. Not getting any response (naturally) from the tv, said 1-year-old proceeded to start wailing at the top of his longs. And, ladies and gentlemen, this is how Apple fanbois are bred.

But, if you remember my previous post of how much pain I endured to update the OS for my iPad, you really can’t blame me for wanting to steer clear of any more Apple devices! That will be the big fat failure of Apple in terms of user experience. I always argue that the iPad is by far the most superior tablet out in the market. That’s why I got it. But the Crapbook Air Macbook Air is not and neither is the iPhone. There really are much better devices out there. And, I’m still scarred by my experience in attempting to update the iPad.

Now that my 24-month contract with Vodafail Vodafone is drawing to an end, I’m itching to get a new device. I’ve been extremely happy with my BlackBerry. It’s never failed on me and it’s served me faithfully. Most importantly, it’s just continued working despite the number of times I’ve dropped it. I get the usual battle scars of dents and scratches but the device continues to perform brilliantly. I need a quick restart every now and then but it doesn’t bother me that much. It just does its job quietly without needing much attention from me. That’s what I need from a device! Works when I need it to. The only whinge I have is how limited apps can be. And how crummy the camera can be. (Note both hardware and software limitations)

Which then made me gravitate towards the Android platform. Imagine the endless possibilities! I’ve always been an open source sort of girl at heart. The kumbayah-I-love-you-let’s-share-source-codes sort of feeling warms the cockles of my heart. And yes, I’ve done my research. It’s the Samsung Galaxy SII I’m after. That’s one sexy little piece of hardware. I’m also aware of the next release of Nexus very soon but at almost $300 more than the Galaxy with barely noticeable hardware upgrade, I think I’ll save the $300 for some shoes. How’s that for being practical?

I’ve played with this particular phone in Hellstra Telstra stores and I’ve loved every moment of it. (Speaking of which, am I OCD in cleaning my hands with sanitising gel once I’ve played with these “public” phones? Or a germophobe?) And yes, that’s the other thing that’s making me feel dirty simply at the thought of it. Switching over to Telstra. Ickh. I plead guilty as charged, I simply don’t have a choice because Vodafail is such a humongous epic failure! The running joke of the Regional Headquarters is how this Vodafail user cranes her neck and stretches her arm at the window to get any network connectivity the moment she lands in the Regional HQ. I’d been known to refuse to sit at a particular corner (not because it’s haunted) but it’s a notoriously poor-network corner. If you’re on anything less than Telstra (wince!), you get jack.

Also for security and safety purposes. I do a lot of travelling across regional branches and offices. I know I get no network whatsoever in Daylesford and questionable connection in Bendigo. In Ballarat, it’s weather-dependent. I can’t afford to have no network if I happen to be stranded in some country road!

So, yes, it is very unfortunate that I will be making the switch over to the dark side of Telstra. But, to redeem myself, I’m making the switch to the light(-er) side of Android.

Truth be told, Google isn’t much better than any of these giants. 

PS-If you’re an iPhone user and feel the need to convince me to switch to Apple, thanks, but no thanks. I’ve completely discounted it. At least not the iPhone 4S. The Ice Cream Sandwich just excites me a lot more.