Having tested the Android 2.1 quite thoroughly, thanks to my new HTC Wildfire, I only thought it fit to share some of the learnings I’ve gleaned from it.  As always, this will not be a review of the device (Wildfire) or the OS (Android 2.1), since there are plenty of those available on the wild wild web.  Instead, this post will try to highlight some of the aspects that you may not have thought about in your feature-to-feature comparisons.

The Android Experience

Form Factor – Android phones are available in a large variety of shapes and sizes from the X1 mini to the XL sized HTC Desire / Samsung Galaxy.  You can also choose from devices that sport merely a touch-screen to those that include a full QWERTY keyboard built-in.  Not to mention, a variety of software keyboards for all kinds of needs, including foreign language support.

Hardware – You can choose to buy models with low or hi resolution displays, right upto the gorgeous Super AMOLED screens of some of the newer models.  You can also choose from various processor speeds and RAM/ROM configurations, depending on your budget.  As of today, phones available in the market will sport various versions of the base Android OS, ranging from 1.5 to 2.2, with various manufacturers having different upgrade cycles (and built-in delays), so choose your device wisely.

UI – Since the Android OS is a great platform to build on, players like Sony and HTC have built their own UI enhancements on top of the OS to offer a richer visual experience to users.  Once again, you can choose from a variety of options like HTC’s Sense UI, Motorola’s MotoBlur, Samsung’s TouchWiz and Sony’s UXP.  Think of these as skins for your complete Android experience, and choose based on what works for you best.

Apps – The Android Market boasts over 50,000 apps that you can download, today.  Many of these are free, and include tools, utilities, games and reference apps.  Of course, for all the usual suspects like Facebook, Twitter, etc., you have multiple apps and variants to choose from.  By the way, unlike the iTunes app store which is very tightly controlled by Apple, the Android Market is an open, free-spirited entity with not too many dos and don’ts.

Integration – The Android OS is meant to live “in the cloud”, and offers very tight integration with Google (surprised?!) and other online services like Facebook and Twitter.  That means, your new phone can sync with your Google account for mail, contacts, calendar, rss feeds, etc. etc. etc.  Facebook contacts can be linked to your phone book (but maintained separately), and multiple calendars keep your FB events, Google events and Office events separately.  All this, of course, happens automagically and with minimum fuss, syncing with the “cloud” as per your specified frequency.  Incidentally, the 2.1 version of the OS also offers Exchange Server sync options.

All you need to do is pick up an Android handset of your choice, insert a SIM card of your favorite service provider, and you’ll start living in the cloud in a matter of minutes!  Oh, and did I mention that features like multi-tasking and folders that have only just been rolled out on the newest iPhone (iOS4) have been standard inclusions on Android for months?!

As an example, let’s take a quick look at the iPhone Experience.

- Very tight integration with Apple computers, software and devices
- Excellent, crisp display and silky-smooth touch-screen technology
- Hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from (many of which are paid)
- Almost no options to change the UI experience (unless you jailbreak it)
- Usually tied to a service provider’s talk plans (unless you unlock it)
- Oh, and it features a built-in iPod!

If you’re familiar with Nokia’s Symbian platform, you will know that it’s an extremely stable and capable platform for smartphones, but has lived its life to the fullest.  Blackberry users swear by their email capabilities, but there’s little else to talk about when it comes to a BB device.  It may also be pointed out that the whole “Android” phenomenon is just over a year old, and the technology is nowhere near its maturity.  Already, users are seeing first-hand how their Android 2.x experience is so significantly superior to some of the early alternatives.  I can’t even imagine how things will be when it reaches version 4.0 !!!

Enough said.

It’s January 2012 and you’ve just gotten your new Android 3.0-based phone. You’re going on a road trip so you start up the newly-released Foursquare. Gone are the checkins of 2010. Now you tell it where you’re going. This time we’re headed to Harrah’s at Stateline, Nevada. But this is no Foursquare you’ve ever seen before. They’ve finally integrated Waze, Tungle.me, and Yelp information into it. So, let’s discover more of what happens on our trip.

As we pull out of my driveway in Half Moon Bay we cross a geofence that sends alerts to the various systems that I’ve connected to Foursquare. Tungle.me knows I’m meeting Mike Arrington for dinner at Harrah’s. He gets an alert on his mobile phone that I’m on my way and Glympse sends him the ability to watch my progress so he’ll know if I’ll be on time. Plancast lets me know that four friends are attending the Black Eyed Peas concert at Harrah’s tonight. I see that Siri is offering to find me tickets, so I ask it to find me some tickets under $400 each…

… When we arrive at Harrah’s, we cross another geofence which lets Arrington know we’re here. It also checks us into Foursquare, and tells us: “there are 29 other people we know about, including three of your friends.” Then Siri (which received a message from our geofence) chimes in with: “are you still having dinner with Mike Arrington at 8 p.m. at Friday’s Station Steak & Seafood Grill?” I answer: “yes.” That goes away, but on screen is a Yelp review about that restaurant and I realize that the attire is dressy and I only have jeans and t-shirts. So, I ask Siri: “are there any other four-star restaurants like Friday’s Station nearby?” It answers with a list from Yelp and then it starts showing places that still have spots left for us this evening by querying OpenTable’s APIs. Siri then tells me it has found two seats for tonight’s show at Harrah’s outdoor arena, and asks if it should buy them from Stubhub?

Read the whole thing.  It’s fascinating.  And, the best part is that most of the technology Scoble talks about is already here!  It’s just not talking to each other, yet.

Reason #5 : CoverFlow
Reason #4 : Music+TVShows+Movies+Photos+Videos
Reason #3 : Immersive Gaming
Reason #2 : Safari/Wifi bundle
Reason #1 : It’s almost an iPhone!!! 

Sure, a number of things have changed for the iPod Touch and the iPhone, since then.  Notably, the 4th generation iPhone is a vastly different device from its early versions, and you’d be hard pressed to find an all-in-one device that comes close.  However, if you’re looking for a low-cost iPhone-like device but don’t really care about the “phone” part of it, the iPod Touch is still the best money can buy. 

The iTunes music and App store (with hundreds of thousands of apps like Facebook, Twitter, Google Earth etc.) gives your iPod Touch an extensibility unlike any other.  So, if you have easy access to WiFi, you can do a whole lot with this portable gaming and browsing device, and not just use it as a music player!   You may want to stay away from the recently launched iOS4 upgrade, however, since many users have reported stability and battery drain issues.

(Yes, I do realize that, if you’re an audiophile and the only thing that truly matters to you is the “sound quality”, there are better devices out there.  But, the iPod touch is not just a music player… it’s a platform, and should be seen as such.)

As of June 2010, the iTunes v. 9.2 is a significantly improved offering. I’ve also had the opportunity to use the ‘Genius‘ feature and found it to be a commendable effort at making a playlist of similar-sounding songs to the ones you like.  However, the fact still remains that some of the features of iTunes can be quite a pain to tackle for newbies, and you may want to consider test-riding it before taking the plunge.

P.S. For me, the best part of it all is that my new iPod Touch works so beautifully with the Mac at home, syncing in my Contacts, Photos, Safari bookmarks, etc. effortlessly, along with my music library!

Original post, here.

Here are just the key points, though you will need to read the entire post if you want to make sense of the world we now live in…

Take the Long View
The Web isn’t the Net
Disruption is a Feature, not a Bug
Think Ecology, not Economics
Complexity is the new Reality
The Network is now the Computer
The Web is changing
Huxley and Orwell are the bookends of our Future
Our IP regime is no longer fit for purpose

As John Naughton writes in his essay, “The internet has quietly infiltrated our lives, and yet we seem to be remarkably unreflective about it.” 

If you’d like to change that, you need to start with this.

For years, I have lamented about the fact that the only “mail” I receive (via snail-mail) any more is bills and receipts.  No letters.  None whatsoever. 

Aunts and uncles who used to send out letters once in a while, have switched to email.  Moms and Dads had to, simply to keep pace with their teenage sons and daughters.  Even the greeting cards you used to send out till just a few years ago, have transformed into free e-cards that do their dance on your computer screen, and die a painless death in 90 days or less.

I know, I know.  Electronic communication is so fast and friendly; so instantaneous in delivery.  Who would want to write letters?! 

Now, I love Technology as much as the next guy.  Maybe, even more.  But any one who’s ever received a well-written missive would agree that email could never replace the charm, the magic, of a handwritten note.  The use of appropriate grammar, the unhurried attention to detail, the choice of good stationery on special occassions… even words that were striken or revised would leave their mark on the note, for every reader to see. 

It was almost as if, every time you put pen to paper, you chose to bare your soul to the reader. 

Makes me think that we’re fast losing touch with an art form that was an important part of our heritage, without even pausing to ponder on it… 

In the decades to come, will our children even understand the antiquated practice of actually writing a letter using pen and paper?  Would Abraham Lincoln’s letters gain the legendary status they have, if he’d shot off some emails from his Mac instead?  Most importantly, in the absence of such cultural cues, how will we know what was really important and worth preserving?  What will History be “written” on?!

Worth a thought, isn’t it?

Now, with Facebook, that’s relatively easy to do.  Sign up for an account, and the system offers you multiple ways to “connect” with friends from all the other services you may be using.  A few clicks later, your Facebook homepage is lush and green – complete with all the status updates of the world showing up in your News Feed, without requiring any effort from your end!  But, Twitter?  That’s a different story altogether…

What is Twitter?

Well, the founders of the service describe it as “a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages.  People write short updates, often called “tweets”  of 140 characters or fewer.  These messages are posted to your profile, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search.”

The easiest way for me to describe it is in relation to Facebook – It’s a lonely world on Twitter when you first begin to tweet.  There is almost nothing on your homepage unless you immediately start “following” a vibrant community of twitterers.  I repeat: Nothing.  My guess is that that may be the single biggest reason why most people never go beyond the first few tweets.

What can you do with Twitter?

Tom Lambert has posted an easy-to-understand explanation of the typical Twitter Modes that emerge from the use of the platform:

1. Broadcast Mode – Basically, a soapbox that matters
2. Network Mode – Reading and replying via Twitter
3. Journal Mode – “Me” mode i.e. write what you want… for yourself
4. Listen Mode – Actively soliciting opinions

You can read the entire post for details of the various modes, but you’re beginning to get the picture, right?

How do I use Twitter?

If you ask me, I basically use Twitter as a combination of Broadcast+Journal. 

It’s a platform for me to connect to a wide audience (without the permission they need to connect via Facebook), on subjects that matter to me.  So, in Broadcast mode, I use it to auto-post blog updates from all my various blogs (5 and counting!) so that any one who wishes to keep track of my writing can do so by “following” me on Twitter.  I also end up tweeting about links I find interesting during the day’s reading, which serves as a my Journal and complements my Broadcasting, since it’s usually about stuff that matters to me.

So yes, my “followers” list is a function of how much I’m connecting with my audience.  But I’m not obliged to follow every one who decides to follow me.  And, there’s no reason you should be obliged to follow anyone reciprocally.

I don’t particularly fancy using a ‘public’ platform like Twitter to have entire conversations with my friends (or followers), so I avoid using @Replies and tend to use Email/Chat/Facebook for that.

How should you use Twitter?

Guy Kawasaki, over at OpenForum, has posted a very readable list of things to avoid when using Twitter.  One of the points he eloquently makes on that post is how you should avoid telling others ‘how to tweet’:

There is no right and wrong with Twitter. There’s only what works for you and what doesn’t, so telling people how to use Twitter is as laughable as telling people what kind of websites were acceptable in 1980. Twitter is a platform – do with it what you want, but don’t tell others what to do.

Sensible advice, there.  So I’ll refrain from prescribing how you should use the platform.  What I’ve attempted to do with this post is to demystify some of the workings of Twitter, and make it a little more comfortable for newbies to work with it.  I only hope it has been of some help to you…

See Also: Facing the Truth (related post on Facebook)

… the world I inhabit, at the intersection of tech and media, is far more obsessed with what Apple’s going to announce about its tablet. People who write about gadgets for a living gotta pay the bills, and I love cool stuff as much as the next guy. What leaves me at a loss, though, is how many otherwise sane and sensible people give their time and energy freely to help support a company like Apple that, despite its elegant designs and generally excellent products (I use many of them), certainly doesn’t need free PR from some of the most talented people on the web…

My goal here isn’t to browbeat anybody, or to lecture. I’m in the same boat as everybody else who loves technology. But my personal reckoning has just shown me that a bunch of libertarian-leaning geeks in Silicon Valley who refuse to engage with government and civic society at all are never going to make an impact on most of the things that actually make a difference in our lives. Everybody in Silicon Valley will tell you they have a gay friend, but they couldn’t stop Prop 8 or get the hate crimes bill passed. Probably everybody at Apple thinks “We should do more to support the arts!” but they weren’t funding the NEA. There will be no iTrain…

I’m gonna try to spend at least as much time advocating for issues I care about as I do for the purchase of new gadgets. I hope that even those who disagree with me on those issues do the same.

Yes, I tweeted about the iPad on the day of its launch.  But I also tweeted about RBus.in.  As a matter of fact, I routinely use all the resources available to me, to advocate for issues that matter to me.  Hell, this entire blog began on that premise!  But, I still think that Anil’s point is worth making.  Even if it only serves as a reminder to some of us.

If you have an idea… or a cause… that warrants advocacy, do every thing you can to make it happen.  Start a blog, post a tweet, shoot a short film… do whatever you can to spread the word. 

You’ll leave the world a better place by doing so.  And, that is way cooler than simply drooling over the latest gizmo, don’t you think?! 

Read Also:
Seth Godin : Rules for Ideas worth Spreading

Step 1 : Googled all my favourite programs and utilities to make sure Mac versions existed for all.  Except one (PhotoScape), all others passed this test.

Step 2 : Chose to get Office for Mac installed to make sure the entire family’s Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents work smoothly.

Step 3 : As a backup, I also chose to install Firefox on the new Mac, to ensure that the Web experience is the same as it was on my PC.  But, Safari is sooo much better and faster!

Step 4 : Copied all my data to a portable hard disk so that I can simply copy it off to the new Mac.  Also burned DVDs of critical folders, just in case.

Step 5 : Bought an Apple Keyboard to ensure that all Mac OS functionality is available at my fingertips.  (And, what a pleasure it is to use!)

With this setup, it was a breeze to get started on the Mac, once all my data files were copied onto respective folders of the new machine. All that was left was to research some essential software add-ons that would achieve most of what I need to get done as a power-user. 

Power Tools for Mac

When you buy a Mac, you already get a lot of useful software utilities pre-installed as apps.  However, there were a few things that I needed to do for which I looked elsewhere.  Here’s a list of my preferred freeware/opensource utilities that have made the beautiful Mac OS X experience even more of a pleasure to use…

Adium – Connect to multiple IM accounts with this one tool
VLC – Plays more video formats than most players (See also: Perian for Quicktime)
iBackup – Hassle-free scheduled backups of your data and system files/settings
Picasa – Google’s easy-to-use image manager for thumbnails, quick edits and more!
Mu Commander – Cross-platform twin-pane File Management
XShelf – If twin-pane file management is too much for you, pause your drag-and-drop!
Handbrake – Easy DVD ripping and MPEG-4 encoding
Burn – Enhanced CD and DVD burner (still can’t burn a multisession DVD though!)
AppCleaner – Drag a program to its Trash Can to uninstall it “completely”

All of these are a joy to use and do exactly what they claim to do.  So, enjoy.

By the way, if there’s a Windows application that you simply cannot do without, and it doesn’t have a Mac version, you can actually install Windows on your Mac using the built-in BootCamp utility.  But, if you’re like me, and don’t want to see a trace of Windoze on your shiny new Mac, all you need to do is head to CrossOver.  It’s not freeware, but runs most Windows apps without a bother, and you don’t even need an official copy of the Windows OS to run your apps via CrossOver!

Read Also:
One Page crash course in Switching to a Mac

This time was different.  I was impressed with Stan’s approach of using a relatively-unique angle, but even more than that, was impressed with his using a Google Spreadsheets link to gather the data from his victims.  As it turned out, it wasn’t much of a form, but the concept is progressive, don’t you think? :

From: Stan Benson
Reply to: stan.benson36@gmail.com

Hi, my name is Stan Benson from Sydney, Australia, I am an E.C. patient, and presently hospitalized, my doctor says I have a few months to live, and I desire to stay within the confinement of my hospital room and live out my last days on earth quietly. I asked that my hospital room be equipped with a laptop so that I can take care of some outstanding issues. One of which is my desire to donate a sizable amount of money to cancer research institutes and other deserving charity organizations, so I decided to go online and find some one remotely afar who can receive the funds and disburse the money to cancer research institutes and other deserving charity organizations. Consider my present predicament which I have just narrated to you and pardon me for contacting you through such means, if you are interested in my offer; just send an email to my email box (stan.benson36@gmail.com) indicating your wiliness to assist me, by doing so I will be able to reply your mail as soon as possible.

By the way the full meaning of (EC) is Esophageal Cancer, and don’t mind the time taken from your busy schedule to work with me on this sole act of charity, because you will surely be compensated. Just get in touch with me as soon you get my mail and I will send you more details.

Kind Regards,
Stan Benson

I’ve invited you to fill out the form From: Stan Benson. To fill it out, visit:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dF8yVW5oTGh4b3pqeXIwSERBMUF4MkE6MA

Needless to add, it’s a scam!  Don’t even think about entering any details in Mr. Benson’s online form…

I resisted from posting on the blog earlier, simply because I wanted to experience it for a while and really see if it would be worth all the hype that surrounds it.  I have no regrets in reporting that it really is.

Apple’s website offers some interesting reasons for why you should get yourself a Mac:

• It’s gorgeous. Inside and out.
• Secure. Powerful. Compatible. Right out of the box.
• The world’s most advanced operating system. And then some.
• It’s a pleasure to buy and own.

Yes, it does offer a stable, virus-free operating system that’s easy to work with.  Yes, Apple’s products are designed with such attention to detail that even the packaging is an art form.  But for me personally, it’s that last factor – a pleasure to buy and own – that really sums it up.  (And yes, even the buying experience was unlike any thing I’d seen in the PC world!)

My choice was to go with a Mac mini and an original Apple keyboard, and hook it up to a standard mouse and a 20 inch Samsung widescreen LCD display.  I also choose to get the OS upgraded to Snow Leopard and have Office for Mac installed on it, before bringing the beauty home.  Oh yes, and I added Altec Lansing 2.1 sound, since the Mini’s built-in sound is quite limiting.

Google it and you’ll find tons of reviews on what it means to switch to a Mac.  Some may complain about the subtle differences (between PCs and Macs) that take some getting used to, while others may point out specialised needs in their line of work (e.g. Blackberry synchronization with Exchange servers) that prevent them from switching over completely.  There are a few things that work differently in a Mac, but the difference is akin to British English and American English, not Swahili.  There are a few “office-related” considerations like extensively sharing resources on a Windows network that will invite a few inconveniences, but that’s a non-issue for home users.  (Read this for an objective view of what it’s really like to move)

To be perfectly honest, when I first started researching it, I couldn’t easily get all the dope on the list of LCD displays that would be “compatible with Mac” (not an issue if you buy the MacBook or iMac) or whether or not my Reliance (India) broadband connection would work on it.  But, when it came down to it, every single piece of hardware just worked as soon as it was plugged in, and all the software I regularly used had Mac versions that were easily available. 

Now, having made the switch over a week ago, my main complaints are as follows:

1. I cannot believe how good the Apple keyboard feels!  Why can’t all keyboards be that nice?
2. How can “uninstall” just involve dragging the file to the Trash can?  Really?
3. Why can’t all image viewing / slideshow software on Earth work as well as iPhoto does?

You get the picture… The reality is that for over 90% of home users, there really is no reason why a Mac wouldn’t be a better choice.  In fact, almost all of those folks who once switched to a Mac, have never returned to their PCs.

As the old saying goes, “Once you go Mac, you never go back!”

Read More:
Switching 101 (Apple) | Mac User Types | How to Switch | My First Mac