Logic’s End

The Android!

After spending a week with my Google Android powered Motorola Droid smart phone, I have to admit that the remarkable little device has won my praise and support in spades. It is every bit as adept at handling social media as the fabled iPhone–actually excelling in a couple of areas–and makes other competitors appear almost prehistoric by comparison. 

Most importantly, Android has achieved such noteworthy success with a mere fraction of the Apps that Apple has in its marketplace. Android developers are only just getting started. The ingeniously gallery App in the free Android 2.1 update makes the camera more usable and powerful. Photos are automatically grouped and sortable by date, and they’re easier to scroll through by the dozen. Those of you that have used CoolIris have already seen the concept of the Google Gallery App in action. If recent reports from PCWorld are accurate, then Android has only begun to hit its growth spurt. It may soon contend with Apple’s formidable numbers as the greatest purveyor of Apps. 

I digress… Although debating one smart phone’s merits over another is almost as sure to stir up an argument in your favorite pub as saying: “You were raised by squirrels!” It’s beside the point. The smart phone with the most Apps, greatest number of users, or best network coverage doesn’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. Support, regardless, is building in the developer community like wildfire, and Apps are decidedly here to stay. Nonetheless, the very idea of an App driven Internet raises some serious questions about the future of how we interact with our technology. 

Many of my fellow writers, friends and scholars have recently broached the question: how do Apps effect society in general? After some thought, I thoroughly reject the notion that Apps are a regressive step back to the consumerist, TV-driven society of the 1980′s. To uphold that argument, I would have to demonstrate that we have little more than tangential interaction with our smart phones (no more than can be had with a DVR). Those writing blogs would be falling off the face of the Internet, replaced by vague booking narcissists and other unscrupulous hooligans (I don’t get to use that word enough). The very idea that Apps are destroying everything that Web 1.0 and 2.0 content creators inspired is absolutely ridiculous. 

If anything, our smart phones are helping increase our production of thoughtful content, all while making the use of technology more efficient and less frustrating. Feel the need to update your blog while taking a walk in your nearby beautiful park on a pristine sunny day? WordPress has an App for that! Wish you didn’t have to wait to transfer and sort those photos from an exciting night with your friends over to your computer before uploading them to your Facebook profile? Android and iPhone have you more than sufficiently covered with Apps for that too! 

So if the production of content fits so seemlessly into our lives, how then are we to claim that we’re being reduced to the level of incompetent consumers? Using the Wall Street Journal’s Mobile Reader as a justification for the return of consumerism is an indication of a unjustified, fallacious argument.

Assuming Apps slow our thoughts down at all, they thereby help develop them more clearly (more reading, contemplation and research may take place before writing). The fact that we can read our content when it’s convenient for us–not to mention contribute social feedback–is the antithesis of blind consumerism. If practiced regularly, it might even help make us more intelligent, informed, active and aware citizens.

We’re on the verge of yet another revolution in the way we use technology. Apps are the vehicle delivering us to the other side. Those who spent hours reading in front of a computer screen might be able to see the light of day again enjoying an e-book or newspaper outdoors! Whether you own an Kindle, Nook, iPad, iPhone, Motorola Droid or Palm Pre, you’re actively contributing to the most innovative application of technology since perhaps Arpanet. It’s not just consumers who will benefit, businesses can leverage the power of Apps too. Amazon’s Android App, using image and bar-code recognition, is just the tip of the potential iceberg of rewards that Apps can help reap for businesses of all types and sizes.

All told, I guess you could claim that I’m pretty satisfied with my new Google Android phone!

Taken with the Motorola Droid

On Thursday I decided to finally make my foray into the world of smart phones. The reason for such a prolonged hesitation: lack of acceptable alternatives for the AT&T beholden iPhone. Apple’s iPhone is the gold standard of smart phones, much like many of Apple’s innovations in their respective markets. Circumstances, however, dictate that I stay with Verizon. Thus, I have adopted the Google Android driven Motorola Droid. All told, the first few days with the Droid have proven a rather pedestrian experience punctuated with brief moments of excitement.

Droid is not entirely without its own merits in the shadow of the Apple juggernaut. Most appealing is its vast Android Marketplace arsenal and its flawless ability to synchronize with Gmail accounts. The phone is quite adept at handling email in the cloud. Messages are stored temporarily and always available via Google’s web archive unless explicitly deleted. It provides all the functionality of an IMAP account (a form of email that stores messages on your computer and email server simultaneously) without the inherent storage space hassles.

Almost all smart phones and their less sophisticated cousins are suitably capable of email synchronization, but in today’s technological environment social media is king. Juggling emails in the cloud isn’t enough to sweep phones off the shelves. They must tweet, manage Facebook profiles, manipulate complex web pages, aggregate blog data, and track our geographical locations to within feet of where we stand–all on demand. In those areas, the Droid falls short of its competitors.

All future updates aside, I am considering the Droid the way it functions in my hand today. The first sign of trouble occurred when I discovered that the Droid Facebook app was incapable of tagging friend’s names in status updates. Even worse, were the equally substandard photo uploading functions for Facebook: the Android app actually downsized photos, reducing their quality to levels inferior to those uploaded via standard web browsers for years. Adding to that: the inability to tag photos, edit photos online, and clunky notification updates were all nuisances. Despite some of the blame falling on the shoulders of the app programmers, the Droid promises much and fails to effectively deliver in this area.

When it comes time to upload pictures to Facebook, the phone must be held horizontally, or pictures will end up sideways (rotating them before uploading doesn’t appear to make a difference). The Droid is often heralded for it’s remarkable 5 Mega-pixel twin-flash camera. After the first couple of uses, it’s clear that the camera is decidedly no slouch. Picture quality is absolutely stunning for a phone camera. Upon closer examination of several shots, however, the Droid camera introduces a slight but obvious level of pixelation when compared to my five-year-old Kodak digital camera.

Disappointment with Droid’s social media capabilities doesn’t stop with its Facebook app. The device ships without a proper Twitter application. Users are left searching the Android Marketplace for an acceptable app to publish and aggregate tweets. Several decent paid apps do exist, but out-of-the-box Twitter integration should not have been an oversight.

The bulk of my complaints with Droid are aimed squarely at its lack of social media prowess. It remains, nonetheless, a remarkably powerful marvel from the folks at Google and Motorola. The usability the Android interface is impeccable.  Droid’s GPS location technology is near perfect for navigating roads (or at least par with the average TomTom). Thus, it plays well with cutting edge social apps such as Foursquare. When you factor in the slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a battery life that’s nothing short of revolutionary (also note that it’s a user-replaceable battery), you’ve actually got a pretty nice little smart phone.

The potential to easily building my own apps for the Android Marketplace have tempered my initial displeasure with the persistent social media shortcomings of Droid. In the end I’ve come to appreciate the device for what it is: a reasonable alternative to the iPhone on a decidedly better network. With Google’s support behind them, Android powered phones will only get better with time. After all, it is one of the fastest growing market segments in the mobile industry.

So there you have it: a pedestrian experience with the Motorola Droid. Yet, there’s still a lot potential in the Android platform. Perhaps with a little programming help from you and me, Android will come to dominate the market. Until next time, if you have stories about your own mobile smartphone, or tips to share from your own experience with an Android phone, feel free to share them for all the readers here!

Cazmunity Guest Blogger

It’s not often that I overtly discuss who I am or what I do for a living on this blog. Rather, my preference is to ponder broad concepts and let my words, and the words of my readers, do the talking. Lately, I’ve been preoccupied with laying a philosophical foundation for the countless applications of social networking. I do this for both personal edification, as well as to better guide me in my career, where I’m constantly rationalizing technology for our clients. Every remarkable advancement in life requires an anchor in theory and a degree of prudence in execution.

The foremost goal of Logic’s End remains: to inspire readers and encourage healthy debate. However, the prospect of connecting with friends and colleagues with through a blog is always inevitable, intentional, and deeply inspirational. Thus, without further ado, I’d like to announce that my employer has recently bestowed upon me the honor of sharing one of my more popular posts on the company employee blog: Cazmunity.

I am humbled and grateful, to say the very least. As time progresses, Cazmunity will hopefully become a nexus of thought provoking content designed to shine a light over the path to technological success for small businesses everywhere. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled here on Logic’s End, feel free to comment, and stop back for more appetizing content as the days roll by!