I only buy two brands of sneakers. Jordan’s. And New Balance. I have a lot of them. But only those two types. My approach to most things in my regular life is pretty simple. Not so much so in my digital life. As I sit here and type this out on a Chuwi Gemibook that shipped with Windows on it but I have since wiped and installed Ubuntu. The phone here within arms reach is a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5. The nearby tablet also a Samsung, the Galaxy Tab S7. But an iPad lies nearby. As well as a Kindle. There are PCs, mp3 players, headphones and all sorts of other gadgetry within this 10′ by 10′ cube. All of multiple makes, brands, and models. Nothing like my approach to sneakers.
But I recently decided that I would get my digital life much more like my clothing one. I’ve decided that I am only going to play games on PC and have since gotten rid of all of my consoles. 3 of 4 are now gone, with only the XBox Series X left to take flight. I’ve settled on using Sennheiser as my brand for wired headphones. And today, I made probably one of the more significant down-selects that were on my list of down-selects.
I made moves in the direction of getting Android out of my life for good. I don’t say this with malice. It’s not like I’ve been thoroughly disappointed with Android. Years ago, while the iPhone was only on AT&T and I was a Verizon customer, I went with the Motorola Droid. And I’ve stuck with Android ever since. Oh, I’ve owned iPhones. Five different models. But that pales in comparison to all of the Android handsets I’ve owned. Mind you, a lot of this came out of the stint I did as a smartphone & tablet reviewer. And then from the years after said stint that I continued living my life as if I was still a smartphone & tablet reviewer.
A lot of this stems from my decision to go PC-only with gaming. I thought “Why stop there?”. And I was originally planning on keeping Android around. I was going to use iPads as my choice of tablet, Android for phones. Then I started haranguing myself for not just picking one of either iOS or Android for both. As I thought more and more about pulling the trigger on a tablet upgrade, and looked only at the Galaxy Tab as it was really the only viable option for high-end, I felt limited. The iPad had more options at better price-points. The increased demand for the iPads over the Samsung Tabs just allows them to get down to a lower price. I felt like it gave me more options. And so I broke. While I am still vacillating over a Mini, Air, or Pro, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on an iPhone Pro Max and an iPhone Pro; one for me, one for the job.
And an Apple Watch Series 10. It’s funny when I think about this being my last weekend with any Android devices for a long time. I was buying Android tablets before Google even made Android support for the tablet form-factor official. I was there for the Xoom. I eyed ChromeOS as the younger brother Momma’s Boy that got all of the doting and attention even though it was the older brother Android that protected the younger one and made sure he got through school. While I look forward to my new life with a simplified set of digital options, I take no pride in bidding Android, XBox, PlayStation, and Nintendo adieu. Or the myriad others that are soon to be shuffled off this mortal coil. It’s been a great ride. And I wish these brands the best of luck in their endeavors.
Rounding Off Infinity 