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My experience switching from iPhone to Android... and back again. Pt 4

And so ends our mini-series on stepping out of the boat into the water and seeing if I can stand. Today I sold my Note 2 on Kijiji for $20 less than I purchased it for. (Plus another -30 for the SD Card I had to buy to up the Memory) I've gotten myself a previously enjoyed iPhone 5 with 64 gb of space that's spend it's whole life in a LifeProof case and it cost me a cool $500.

So why the switchback - I just found the Note 2 couldn't hold up enough solid conversations with enough other devices.

1. Home entertainment - I have an Apple T.V. an Onkyo home theatre system, and a Projector. My iPhone controls the Apple T.V. - It streams to it, it plays music through it, it allows me to connect to all the media on my Mac, and it's all quite seamless. The Onkyo has an app that allows me to adjust the woofer, the volume, the dolby surround type, and all kinds of other little bits and bobs. If I've got my phone on my, I can control it all. Heck, even my xbox has an app that lets me scroll through and enjoy content all from that tiny tiny little iPhone Screen. (Yes... I miss the Note 2 screen badly!) Now could the Note have done all of those things. Yes, I believe that it can, if I purchased mostly Samsung gear, I could screen share, and send media and all those things. But the apple t.v. plugs into everything and anything and that means I can get the best t.v. Not just the one that matches my phone. (Until Apple comes out with their t.v. then well whatever.

2. Compatibility - I complained in my last entry that the Note 2 didn't connect to any of the vehicles that I drive for work, which is pretty much a different one daily, through USB. IT would charge, very slowly, but would not stream my music. Which meant that I had to use Bluetooth. Now it didn't happen in every car but I also found that the bluetooth from the Note was a little spotty in some vehicles cutting in and out. I'd never had that problem with my iPhone, cars are all designed with the i-products in mind, and so for anyone that's not using a cassette adapter the iPhone is a better choice as media hub for your car.

3. Accessories and Aftermarket- Find me 10 Note 2 Docks and I will be amazed! Say what you will about lightning connectors and that 30-pin apple proprietary connector, but I did not see a lot of companies that were producing docks or accessories for my Note. The Onkyo I mentioned above came with an iPhone docking station... no mini usb in sight. (even if there were it wouldn't do anything as I plugged it in... and it didn't know what it was) Why is this? Financial Smarts. If you create something that works with the iPhone 5 it will work with the 5c, the 5s, the iPad mini, the iPad Air, the iPad 4, and so on and so forth. Design something for the Note 2 and it will work with.... the note 2, and maybe the note 3. Oh wait they changed it by .4 of an inch. ;) Don't get me wrong, I know that Apple changed their dock, and that's a pain. They did it because the old 30 pin was old tech and couldn't keep up, that happens. But if you were designing a product to be used, wouldn't you want it to be usable by as many products as possible? That's why you design for an Apple product.

4. Hardware/Software integration - I got the update for my Note 2 weeks and weeks after everyone with a Nexus got theirs. Why? Because Samsung makes the hardware, and Google Makes the Software. And the tiny little HuiWei phones and the Galaxies and the Sony's and the Blackberry's (kind of) and the Nexus with all their varied screen sizes, and hardware configurations, and Cameras, and resolutions all have to try and run off of the Android Platform. Now if you know anything about cars you know that you can swap a Corvette engine into pretty much anything. And that makes pretty much anything pretty pimp and pretty cool. But it does not make anything into a vehicle you'd want to drive daily and live with during your commute. I think it's the same with Android, to many variations, to many opinions, and trying to do to many things at once! Apple builds Apple products, writes the Apple software, and controls everything. Does this make them like Skynet? Yes. Does it make everything run very smoothly? Yes . The only time I've seen Apple mess this up is when they made the iPhone 4 upgradeable to iOS7. They shouldn't have done that, they should have left those people in the cold. They might have been sad, but at least they wouldn't now all have iPhone fours that run a bit like molasses due to a very heavy iOS that's trying to run on them. That's why Apple does what it does, it protects you from yourself. ;)

5. I think a lot has to do with who I roll with. Most of the people in my life run iPhone so without iMessage you miss out. I got to share my contact info once with NFC. Was a boss experience, but most Samsung users don't keep it turned on as it kills the battery and it's easier to iMessage someone a picture vs. sending it via NFC. I think if all your friends had Androids and you were the only iPhone guy it would be hard, you'd miss out on things as well. So I think that has to be taken into consideration. Your phone is not an island, it's not about it's hardware or it's capabilities. It's about how well it interacts with the digi-world around it.

So my Opinion? Phone technology is going to go through some crazy changes in the next couple of years. Whether it ends up being Google Glass or this new iWatch Apples apparently got in the works I think that whoever changes the way we look at phones, the way apple did with iPhone, is going to be the company that rules the next little piece of History. But for me, at this point, Apple is still the one who provides the best package. It's not perfect, but it sure works pretty good. ;)

My Experience switching from iPhone to Android PT 3

So a little more time has passed and I feel like I am starting to get the hang of this, I am even writing this post using my s-Pen while the pre-show is playing at the theatre while we wait to see the new Hunger Games.

Frustrations:
I plug it into cars and it does not work. Maybe it is a Subaru and Jaguar but the iPhone plugged in and all my tunes and audio books were available while it charged. This highlights a common issue I see with the Droid. Because there are So many different Android devices accessories are a little rough to find. If I had an iPhone best buy Has 100 cases and chargers for the Note? 2 cases. As a manufacturer of cars if you are compatible with Apple your good with pretty much every Person on iOS 7 whereas again to many devices to count with Android.

Audio Books are Frustrating! I put them in there own file on my expandable disc and plus it in and the audio player loads them in with my tunes and so Random becomes an adventure of skipping past all the audio books on the device.

Positives:
This thing is like a computerl Lots of downloads access to the File system and the Google play store is definitely growing on me. Love the S pen and I am very happy with the camera compared to my iphone 4. Though at an event the other day Comparing my Panorama to a friend with the iPhone 5s hers was way better.

That about wraps it for now. I will continue to try and journal The Journey.

This is the gif that represents most meetings I attend

My experience switching from iPhone to Android Pt 2 - The Plug In

So my switch the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 did not come without some pretty serious research. Checking out as much as I could about the Sugary Food Named operating system and watching a lot of videos about the S Pen to see if it was as good as Samsung says it is and I felt fairly prepared for moving over - but you can never fully prepare.

First thing I've not experienced in a long time, a swappable battery. The whole back of the Note comes off and theres expandable memory, access to the Sim Card, and the Battery which is cool. Thus far I've been glad for the second battery and charger though since I've run the phone out by about 6:00 p.m. both days I've had it so far. I'm probably playing with it to much. But theres also these apps for saving batter that I'm apparently supposed to get... which is weird for someone whose been in the Apple world because it's just supposed to work! Which is a bit of the theme of my first days with an Android.

I plugged it into my computer, nothing happened. A little googling and I determined that I needed Samsung Kies so I downloaded that... and it pulled all the media off of my computer and organized it... sort of and copied it over to the Note... o.k. that's not so bad. Except my audiobooks aren't considered audiobooks, and some of my album art is there and some isn't... This is going to take some organization methinks. What surprised me is that there is no direct 'this is the iTunes of Android' that I've been able to find.

But it's o.k. I found my media and I click on it to play... except it comes up with a choice of what I want to play it on... which is a bit of a theme I'm discovering. With an Apple product you have the music player, the video player, the ibook reader, the texting app and so on. There aren't many apps out there that you would want or need to replace those things and if you have iTunes set up it just works. With this I keep running into situations where there is the Samsung version of a music player and theres the Google version of the player. This happens all over the place, I've got multiple photo apps, multiple calendar apps, Gmails picking up my mail and so is the "Mail" program and if I click on any link I have to choose between Chrome and or "Internet" browser. Talk about overload, and it's illustrating to me why Apple is popular, and why old people like it. It's so straightforward and it makes you feel so organized. I am sure that overtime I will determine which apps I like, and which I don't.

That runs into the customization piece, and yes, like all my Android wielding friends preached "I can do anything" which isn't a Hedley song in this case but the theme of this phone. I can put apps wherever I want, or keep them in the big list, theres widgets which are very cool, and I can even leave blanks where I want them. This is pretty cool, you can have your social media page, your Evernote page, your work stuff place and widgets to fit. I did discover that you have to be much more aware of system resources on an Android because it multitasks and won't stop you from loading a Bjillion apps. So quickly my sleek new device was running like a 50's Stolly. With freedom comes responsibility and so you've got to have some know-how to keep it running perfect. Again learning curve is steep but it's a Google device... and I'll be going there quite often to ask how to work it.

Having a Mixed Household - Everything in my house is an Apple Product... except my Droid. So it meant switching over my calendars and task lists from iCloud to Google... and then making sure that was on my Wifes' iPhone as well so we could still communicate. iMessage, I've run into an issue that's apparently not uncommon, everyone who has an iPhone whose been trying to text me has been getting error messages. Somehow the system doesn't automatically realize that my number is no longer associated with iMessage, so I've had to go back to my other phone and make sure all of that was disabled and coach a few people through changing my contact to Mobile and make sure there phone is enabled to send MMS. I'm not sure which of these steps has fixed the issue but it seems to be fine now. But at the end of the day the Apple devices have had to adjust to the Droid and rely on Google to sharing.

Finally Updating - I'm not there yet, the new Note 3 just came out and from what I can gather I'll be able to get the new OS on my Phone as well. But man they start talking about Rom's and upgrading the Samsung part of the device and the droid part of the device and it goes over my head. There is something to be said about Apple's philosophy of developing hardware and software in tandem.

How am I feeling? Still very good. Loving the big screen, enjoying S Pen and all the fancy features, and getting the hang of everything.

My experience switching from iPhone to Android Pt 1 - The Rationale

Well starting this post off I feel like I've got to get something straight. Before the Android faithful rejoice at another convert I'm not leaving because I hate apple, I quite loved my iPhone. But after 3 and a bit years with my iPhone 4 and this latest upgrade to the new iOS7 the machine was running a little bit slow, and found that finishing my text and then having to wait a few seconds for the phone to catch up was bothersome. In addition I use my phone for business, and so can't have delays or questions about whether or not my apps are going to be shutting down in the middle of a meeting.

How was the experience with the iPhone? It was great. I was the benefactor of one free replacement about 6 months after I'd gotten my machine due to some water damage. Note: Don't put your iPhone in your shirt pocket, drop something behind the toilet, and lean over it to get it. Sight. But in terms of the experience I've got a Mac, and an iPad. My wife has an iPhone as well. So our life was this happy little integrated world where everything copied everywhere with very few issues. Which brings me to the first comparison with the Samsung. But first... why the switch?

As I said it was time for us to get new phones, we were off of our contract with Bell, and wanted to stay off contract due to some new core values that we've been developing. I called them up and asked them what we could do in terms of getting new phones without resigning a contract. Their answer? "Nothing, there is no way that we are going to discount a phone if you don't resign with us."
"Perfect," I said "that makes it easier to switch to Koodo" at which point I was quickly switched off to retention. After about 40 minutes of saying "I'm sorry, I won't go on contract, and I need an unlimited plan for my wife and I with at least 2 gb of data for $105 or less" I was given a plan for $100, 2 phones, unlimited everything, 2 gb of shared data, and NO contract. Which is nice, but could definitely spawn a rant about Cell Plans.

So we have this incredible new phone and we get to stay with the provider that is my namesake, but we still have almost 4 year old phones and are in need of something new. TO THE APPLE STORE. 2 New iPhone 5S 32GB units + applecare and a case $1926.00. Now at this point we strongly had to determine whether the 5S was worth that sort of investment. To which I said no and my wife said maybe. I've got friends with the S, and the slow motion Vid is awesome, and the dual flash is cool, and it's definitely blazing fast. But I will agree with the detractors theres nothing new enough about the interface or the device that would make it feel like getting a new toy. I like new Toy's, but this would feel like a near 2000 dollar investment for a phone that is better in every way than my iPhone but not in ways I'd notice on a daily basis. Therefore it came down to $'s and Features and finding something that would give that new toy experience!

It's now Kijiji Time, and a search for a previously enjoyed iPhone for my wife, and a something for me.  The iPhone was Easy. Found a White 5C 2 weeks old with full applecare, a case, and some accessories $650. Done. She doesn't care about dual flashes and slow mo video or a biometric scan so the 5c is perfect. For me... lets find something about as different from the iPhone as we can that's cool. Enter the Galaxy Note 2 . I feel like Steve Jobs would hate the idea of the Note 2. It has a stylus. It's to big to use all functions with one hand. It requires special pants... actually not really. It has fit very well into my trousers and jackets thus far. But enter the next best part, a Samsung is like a Domestic car - it's full of depreciation. So I was able to pick up a 2 month old Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with 2 cases, an extra battery and charger, all the original gear with a screen protector for $400. So in all $1050 vs. the $2000 for the flagship model. It feels like surfing the other side of the tech wave, but feels nice to know that we've got a lot of cushion there, and because this Note 2 is already half price (partly because the Note 3 just came out) I'm sure I could resell it and get my dough out of it if I decide this whole Android thing is not for me.

So that is how I came to possess this device that is very different than the tech that I've been rolling with  for the past 4+ years. The Note appealed to me from the first time I saw it. I loved the size of it, why not enjoy a big screen, people carry iPads with them everywhere this thing fits in a pocket! I love the S pen concept because I truly enjoy writing! I do a lot of proofing at work as well, and the ability to do that mobile is very appealing. Plus every Android owner I've known has assured me that it is SO much better than an Apple. Which let's be honest, if your comparing your going to compare to the best because that's where the bar is. I do believe the joke is fairly true that how do you know if someone has an Android phone? Don't worry they'll tell you! I promise not to be that guy, because in the first 48 hours of having this phone I've come to realize theres not a 'best' phone. It's really about finding the thing that works best for you, and that is the journey that I'll be on over the next little while so I'll let you know how it goes! Just for a size reference check below!

My iPhone 4 vs. my new Note 2

Awesome

Now usually if it’s something care related then it’s me showing it to my brothers, but this morning my Brother the northern pastor sent me a link that made my day. Literally changed my mood completely!

Final Day of the Cleanse:
It’s been a really hard go this time around with the cleanse, so I’m going to review some highlights here, my feelings on day 15, and my accomplishments.

Highlights:
I started the cleanse sick this time. I had a pretty nasty sore throat and really bad congestion. The cayenne pepper really burned going down because of how raw my throat was and it made it really hard to stick to the cleanse in the first few days. I was also quite tired, but I figured that was the cold more than the cleanse. Was better about 4 or 5 days into the cleanse.

Work was quite rude to me while I was on the cleanse. We normally have donuts brought in once every 3 or 4 weeks at work as a thank you from a customer or if someone’s feeling generous. Since I started the cleanse we have had: Donuts brought it 4 times, a Frito-Lay worker drop off a huge box of chips that we could take home, Parts has offered me slurpee’s multiple times, free lunch provided on two Saturdays, and Pamela baked ‘oven s’mores’ which looked delicious. It’s been hard on Morale.

In a positive light I am feeling quite a bit healthier, the jeans are looser, and according to the scale I’m down 21 pounds! It’s a great feeling to be a little closer to ones goal, and now hopefully between swimming, and the amount of Veggies that Pamela and I have started to ad into our diet I can use this as a kickstart towards my goal weight.

Anyway signing off to go squeeze some lemons for my last 6 glasses of the Lemonade!
Drew~

To buy or not to buy, and what to buy.

So, here I am typing on my Mac desktop with this awesome new software that I received from Macheist. Particularily this MacJournal I’m quite excited about as it will allow me to track my thoughts, and easily blog them when I so desire. ANYWAY this post is about what to purchase.

You see, I’ve been a pretty hardcore Mac fan for a little while now, and I’ve had no end of Joy from my 24Inch Core2Duo Mac. But now I’m married, and so I don’t get sole use of the Mac, and sometimes my lover and I are in a bit of contention about who gets to use it. So we are considering adding a new computer to the house, but what to do! Mac or not?

Well, my thoughts are that it doesn’t make sense for us to have two Mac’s because with our price range of 1500 dollars we’d probably default to doing everything media oriented on the iMac anyway because of it’s screen and more powerful processor. So that means that a macbook would just be a glorified typewriter for us. So I’ve been looking at what a person can get for 1500 dollars in the Windows world. This is what I’ve found, and what were going to be looking at getting in the near future.


The ASUS G51Jx-X1
The Big PRO’S to this computer are an i7 quad core processer, the Nvidia GTS360M Graphics, and the 1920x1080 screen resolution. What does all this mean in laymen terms? It means that it’s got enough grunt to play any video game on the market, enough processor to multi task up the wazoo, and a good enough screen to watch high definition shows on the go. Add to that some neat features like a backlit keyboard, and multi-touch trackpad and I’m having a hard time looking towards the Mac-tops and the 13inch macbook pro that you can get for the same price and... well theres really no comparison.

But what of the Mac. Will I miss ‘mail’ to much, or this new macJournal program? Being able to squeeze my mouse to navigate between windows, or time machine for easy backups. Perhaps most of all I’ll actually have to worry about virus’ and when I get an iphone it just won’t sync quite the same.

Anyway that’s what’s been going through my head in terms of where to spend some $’s these days. Plus this little entry is a great chance to test out macJOURNAL.
Drew~

The end of the Cleanse.

So, I have one day left of the Cleanse, and i have to say that I am absolutely looking forward to it. I’m totally sick of it! The last few times that I’ve done the cleanse, the end has always been exciting, but I was more excited about all the weight I had lost and how much better I was feeling. This time around it seems to me that I’m more concerned about FOOD again. But probably a good part of that was because I was living with someone who was eating regular food, and had to work whereas before we always timed this with vacations. Long story short, I’m a little concerned that I’m going to have a hard time resisting bingeing on all the foods that I was not able to have these last two weeks.

Anyway 7 more drinks to go, and then a day of orange juice, then veggies, and then... steak on Sunday!
Drew~

Best Contest Ever!

http://cliffyourride.autotrader.ca/

Literally win by having the crappiest ride. They'll drive it off a cliff for you, and give you a 30,000 dollar gift certificate to use on the website.

Perhaps the MR2 or the Bronco can win...

Green Screens EVERYWHERE