Opening Up

Android is Changing My Computing Habits

I’m now a week into my switch to Android from Blackberry OS and it’s starting to scare me. Not in the ‘people under the stairs’ sense, but in the ‘this is revolutionary’ sense. I was reading a good blog post by Chuck Hollis at EMC aboutWhat iPads Did to [his] Family and it made me realize something. Android and the wonderful Incredible smartphone are doing the same thing to me.

I can be considered a diehard PC fan. I can’t get enough of the standardized component system, constantly tweaking and upgrading my desktop computer (or, more recently, fixing the problems caused by a poor choice of motherboard). What I’m realizing is that it’s now more fun to network (socially), listen to music, and watch videos on my smartphone. My desktop has slowly been giving way to my laptop, and now the laptop is slowly being usurped by the phone.

I am still going to have a bigger, more powerful machine around. But what does it mean that I spent 45 minutes last night playing Nintaii on the couch when I could have jumped into Dragon Age or Tiger Woods Online on my laptop?

I am already pondering buying a larger battery, good screen protection, a case, and a couple of desktop docks for my Android phone. I’m also yearning to see what a larger Android tablet could do for me.

I am pretty vocal in my dislike of Apple’s closed systems but after reading Chuck’s post and the comments following - then reviewing my own recent habits - I’m starting to think that Apple may have hit the nail on the head with the iPad. It just MIGHT be the device of future, displacing the larger computers in a majority of households that don’t need PC games, 3D rendering, or large-scale professional photography tools.

I even used Pandora on my phone to play some classical music to soothe my daughter Jane to sleep this evening!