Jaudith Cooper: Android Resolutions: Love the phone you're with

শুক্রবার, ৬ জানুয়ারী, ২০১২

Android Resolutions: Love the phone you're with

Android Resolutions

There's probably absolutely nothing wrong with your phone. No, really. So what if it's a year old? Hell, so what if it's two years old? So long as it's relatively free of dings and scratches and is in reasonably good working order, chances are you've got an above-average Android smartphone. And remember that even a mid-level Android smartphone is better than, well, everything else.

Resolve that if you can't be with the phone you love, honey, love the phone you're with

The Android world moves pretty damn fast. If your phone is the new hotness today, chances are it'll seem old and busted in a month. But it's not. If we seem to forget about your phone, try not to take it personally. We love your month-old phone. Really, we do. And you should still love your phone as well.

Every now and then I charge up my Nexus One to do something or other. And I hold that little guy (remember when a 3.7-inch screen seemed big?) in my hand, feel the smoothness and contrast of the soft-touch paint and metal -- and briefly think about making it my main phone yet again. It happens every time. For me, the Nexus One was the damn near perfect device. Not flawless, but just right.

Maybe for you that phone for you is one of the versions of the Samsung Galaxy S. That was the phone to have in 2010, no doubt. We finally got it here in the U.S. in the latter half of the year, and not too long after that, Android 2.3 Gingerbread and the Samsung Nexus S were announced. Whoops. So much for that Captivate/Vibrant/Fascinate/Epic 4G, which barely got Gingerbread and in all likelihood won't seen an official upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich.

The HTC ThunderBolt was the phone to have in the spring of 2011. The Bionic was hot for, what, a month? Now we've got the promise of quad cores and radios that work and Ice Cream Sandwich. The Samsung Galaxy S II -- which took its sweet time getting here, too -- has already given way to talk of an unannounced Galaxy S III. Same goes for the Droid 2, which was replaced less than a year later by the Droid 3. And the Droid 4 is already waiting in the wings. (Bloggers lazily love, if nothing else, the ideas of sequels.)

You get the point. It's basically like the first 15 minutes of Toy Story around here. What once was shiny and new and played with every day is relegated to the toy box. And it's a shame. There's an assumption that just because an aging Android smartphone isn't getting the latest major upgrade because the Earth turns too damn quickly, it should be put down like Old Yeller. That's ridiculous.

A Galaxy S or ThunderBolt or Nexus One with Gingerbread hardly is a worthless device. Still makes phone calls, right? Still browses the web. Still runs most Android apps. Still handles e-mail better than any device on the planet. Yeah, it might not do it as sexy as an Ice Cream Sandwich device. But it still does it. And it does it better and with more flare than any other smartphone available.

We're not helping matters any, we know. It's our job to stay up with the latest and greatest Android devices. We get to play with them all. It's insane. And we too quickly forget about what are some really great devices that are available within months for a not a whole lot of money.

When you reach into your pocket and pull out that little glass and plastic miracle, don't look at it with disdain, simply because it's gotten a stray gray hair or two. Think of all the e-mails it's handled. All the games it's played. All the pictures it's taken. All the texts it's messaged. And how many more it has to come.

It's OK to look longingly at the next best thing. But if you can't be with the phone you love, honey, love the phone you're with.

Previously: Resolve to spend more in the Android Market