Immediately after getting hired by Macgasm last week, I decided to take a vacation. You know, to celebrate and all that.
I took a 4-day excursion to Chicago, playing tourist and visiting some of the museums and attractions that the city had to offer. I decided early on that my iPhone would be my only device; no DSLR, no laptop, just my phone.
First of all, having spent my entire life in a metro of 100,000 people, I’ve never required a GPS or anything to get around. A simple “hey, how do I get to you?” will suffice. But Chicago? I would’ve been lost within 30 minutes without it. Having that technology available in my pocket at all times was a Godsend. It even interacts flawlessly with the public transportation systems. (Also, 3G in the subways? Blew my mind.)
But the thing that shocked me the most during my entire trip was this: I didn’t see a single Android device, other than the phones that a few members of our group brought with them. Not one. And I was looking hard.
I saw a “homeless guy” take a break to talk to someone on his 3GS. I saw multiple families taking photos with their iPad 2 cameras. The busiest place on the Magnificent Mile was the sales floor of the Apple Store. And everywhere I went, I saw people using their iPhones to talk, text, navigate, snap pictures, check in, jot notes, schedule meetings, browse the web, check email, tweet, and more.
Maybe Apple products are “watered down” or “stupid-proof”. Maybe lacking the most amazing-est technology in the existence of web browsing makes my phone suck. And perhaps I was, in fact, sucked in to this money-sucking ecosystem by a delusional visionary with a temperament that makes Mike Tyson look like Grandma’s best friend.
But you know what? I like that it’s easy to use. I like that it’s not hard to figure stuff out. Flash can go suck it. And I’ll be happy to be sucked in to a company that cares about not only the quality of their products, but the experience a user has when they interact with them.
Apparently, I’m not alone.
