Why I switched from iPhone to Windows Phone 8
What? Heresy, you may say! Windows? You've turned to the Dark-Side! I've had many comments like this from the very people I have convinced to buy Apple products over the many, MANY years I've been an Apple user (my first Apple product was an Apple IIe). Granted, I'm typing this on a 27" iMac, but I've been doing some thinking over the last couple years about Loyalty, and it's place in the modern economy. My switch to a Nokia Lumia 920 is a reflection of the conclusions I have drawn - allow me to share my reasoning.
First off, there's a lot to like about WP8 as an OS. The GUI is simply gorgeous, very intuitive, and customizable enough. It's also comparatively lightweight and incredibly fast compared to iOS, in spite of the high level of graphic quality, and advanced feature-set. I like the LiveTiles, and the ability to scroll through an alphabetical list of everything on my phone with a simple swipe. Folders/stackable tiles would be a nice addition, but being able to make tiles either fill the screen horizontally, go to the halfway point, or a quarter of the way means I can group them thematically or however I want. Font choice and the way messaging and all the icons have been integrated and finessed is superb - the graphic design of WP8 is untouched - clean simple and brilliant (perhaps that's why Apple has taken so many cues from it for iOS 7). Photography fans will love the way "lenses" are integrated with the phone's camera software, eliminating the need to navigate through the phone's OS in order to track down your HDR app, or Instagram, or whatever your photo app of choice is.
The hardware is another reason. To be honest, the design of the iPhone 5 never really did it for me. The 4 and 4S, in my mind, are some of the most beautiful mobile hardware ever produced, but they have drawbacks that limit my desire to use them, and it extends beyond not having LTE. Size is a major factor. I appreciate the efforts of the Apple Design team to make sure any pat of the frame could be accessed with a single thumb easily with the phone in one hand, the small form factor makes many common tasks more difficult. Typing in portrait mode, for example, especially if in a reclined position, is very uncomfortable. Typing mistakes are routine (so routine in fact that whole websites have been set up to showcase autocorrection and typing mistakes). Not liking what I had isn't enough reason to change though. Inductive charging, an incredible camera, perhaps the best mobile phone display I've ever seen, LTE, NFC (with secure credit card storage too), true Gorilla Glass with a dense polycarbonate case for exceptional durability, and a physical form-factor that has won it numerous awards and critical praise, the Nokia Lumia 920 is a tempting buy even for someone who was so entrenched in iOS as I was, having owned 4 models of iPhone previously.
There are drawbacks, to be sure, as there are with everything. The first thing I'll have to mention is the App selection - it's not as good or as expansive as Apple's App Store and Google's... whatever. That being said, it's growing rapidly (as is the platform itself), and there are a number of excellent apps available. Part of the benefit of being on a new and growing platform is the amount of support and money Microsoft is putting into WP8. They're paying developers to create apps and games for WP8. Nokia has developed a number of their own apps which are all top-notch. Notably absent are Google Apps. Apparently Google sees WP8 as the biggest threat to their market share and is taking every effort to sabotage them. Eventually, I'm sure that they'll cave and create WP versions of their apps, so in the meantime you may find it hard to limit your life's connections with Google. You can sync contacts and email with Google, but Calendar takes a bit of effort. I typically just use a pinned webpage for my google calendars, and although I initially greatly bemoaned the lack of Google Chrome (my favorite browser by far), IE mobile is actually very fast and usable in spite of (because of?) only being able to have 6 tabs open at a time. Hardware drawbacks? Sometimes my hand brushes against the "bing" button when reaching for something with my thumb. ...and the battery life isn't better than my 4S (about the same, really).
There's far more to this than a list of reasons to buy something or not. The key is emotional connection - the real secret to Apple's success. Apple's marketing and devices are carefully crafted to give you an emotional connection with the experience. They want you to think they care. They realize that emotional connection to brands builds loyalty, which means repeat customers. This is strategy to them, and nothing more. Corporations owe us no loyalty, their primary legal obligation is to make their shareholders money. That's it. Your loyalty will not be returned, because ultimately they don't care about you, unless caring about you means you'll buy more of their products and make them more money. Businesses are not people - they are machines that involved people as individual pieces and mechanisms in said machine. I've resolved to reserve loyalty for living beings capable of returning it. That's not to say I'm immune to feeling emotional attachment to my things - I really will only buy things that I love. I bought a Mini Cooper S because I loved it. I bought a Land Rover Discovery because I loved it. I bought my Nokia Lumia 920 because I loved it. Several weeks in, I still do. ...but that doesn't mean I owe it anything.
New Video: Ending Homelessness in San Diego
Been working the past few weeks on a shortform documentary for LeSar Development Consultants and CA State Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins. In 3 days, they housed a hundred homeless people in San Diego - not in shelters, but in permanent housing. This is nothing short of miraculous, and if you don't believe me, take it from the folks who have been housed. I hope you enjoy the video. Please feel free to comment or share!
A World of Beauty, A Maelstrom of Darkness
These are troubling times. The world economy, still shaky, stands on the brink of a second collapse, only four years after the most devastating period since the Great Depression began. Violent attacks on innocents, on twenty young children slain in a vicious murder spree are discussed constantly on the airwaves. The US Government careens at what seems like breakneck speed towards what has been called the “fiscal cliff”, and retailers across the nation are clamoring for our money, while record numbers of homeless people hope for such simple things as a next meal, or a bed for a night.
The Darkness seems pervasive, all encompassing, and oppressive, like bricks stacked upon the chest. Desperately trying to see a light at the end of the tunnel, we look deeper into the darkness. Our eyes strain, and our heats race as the anxiety rises, but the only thing before us is more of the same. Void . Hopelessness.
And yet, the sun shines as brightly, the waves crash upon the shore, the wind whispers through the trees, the animals sing, and the crescent moon peered down upon us tonight through crisp clear skies washed by rain, indifferent to our suffering. Yes, life outside our Human pain continues unabated.
It's no secret that I love to feel small. The sense of awe and wonderment I have at the world and our universe persist no matter how wrapped up I become in the affairs of Humanity, and it is then that I see the light I could never find when staring into the maelstrom of darkness. No matter how hard I looked I could not see it. There was no glimmer of hope in terrible things we do to each other. Yet the moment I looked away, I saw the beauty surrounding me. Parents held children tighter. Mothers' smiles became as pure as the first moment they set eyes upon their own flesh before them. Evening sunlight on a palm tree. Fresh rain on my face late at night. Joyful singing from a nearby party. The world is full of beauty! As full as it ever has been, and we are a part of that beauty.
Like a black hole at the center of a galaxy, the maelstrom of darkness in Humanity will consume anything that gets too close. No light ever escapes. None. But like the galaxy, there are billions of beautiful stars all around it. In times like this, when I begin to feel the tug of that black hole, when the light fades from my periphery, I turn my head to look upon the stars around me in my own life. I love. I am loved. Beauty surrounds me. Beauty surrounds us all. ...and so I escape the maelstrom of darkness again, surrounding it with my light, praying that the others drifting closely will see it.
Thank you to all of you, the light in my life. May you, like the sun, continue to shine as brightly for us all.
Farewell to my Subaru
Yesterday, I finally had enough. The 2003 Subaru Outback, although a capable and practical car in many ways, had finally drawn the final straw. At only 90k miles, I've had to repair far too much, and although I liked the car, I just didn't love it, so away it goes in favor of a new Mini Cooper S in British Racing Green.
My son, though very excited about the new car, got a little sad and nostalgic to see the 'ol Subie, affectionately dubbed "Falcor" go... and of course, the nostalgia rubbed off on me as well, so I penned a farewell poem:
Farewell, Falcor, the silver-dragon Subaru...
Mighty wheels carried myself and brood,
O'er dusty roads and windswept plain,
Cross deserts, mountains, and back again.
I gave you oil – the highest grade,
But oh, my dear, the mess you made.
Rusty rotors, bad electrics,
stumbling motor, poor fuel metrics.
The fluids leaked, the insides creaked,
The gear-oil burned, and my heart yearned...
For turbo-chargers, racing stripes,
A brand new chance, a slate that's wiped.
You see, my Rover takes me everywhere,
To places that you'd never dare.
(you were redundant, then and there)
Though you helped us have some fun,
My heart, the prize, could not be won.
I've found a car that makes me flutter,
That zips and zags and doesn't sputter.
The Mini S, it spoke my name,
In Racing Green, it lit a flame.
Although I found a love for me,
This will not be the end for thee.
(A new home! A new family!)
I admit it's true, I never loved you - we're through.
Farewell... Good luck. Adieu.
Dwarven Lament
From time to time, I've been known to play Dungeons and Dragons, and also to write. I've decided to share some of the things I've created on my blog for others to enjoy and use (please credit me with a link if you do).
Recently, I wrote a lament song for a D&D game wherein I play a Bard, on the subject of a Dwarven city destroyed by Dragons. It's a short one, almost a song-fragment, as it's about the ancient history of a part of an ongoing campaign.
So I give you, A Dwarven Lament Song: