Ask Ed: Android anxiety; a turmoil of personal preference

Dear Ed,
A few years ago, my parents gave me a new Motorola for Christmas. I was so excited! Now everyone I know has an iPhone and I feel pressured to get one. What should I do?
Sincerely, Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,
I understand your struggle, I really do. It must be hard to live without the luxury of the Apple OS. There are many ways in which this first world problem can be solved. Number one, get better friends.
You can do this by finding other people who have Android phones. Trust me, you may feel alone, but there are many more just like you who have to suffer with the Android OS. Surprisingly, the majority of people with phones have Android phones. This is due to their affordability compared to Apple’s ludicrous prices. Instead of giving into their peer pressure, you could say how they are classist b—ards that live in their first world ivory towers by extorting the working class and taking all the cheap
Chinese goods to build their slightly better looking phone with computer parts mined
in developing African countries. Tell them that they should be grateful for what they have and should not pressure others into buying overpriced products that aren’t much better than Androids, they just hate seeing the ugly green text color they see when they text you. Do not give in. Do not join the dark side.

Alternatively, you could inform them on the benefits of owning an Android. For example, you have more customizability with Android. You can really make the home screen fit with how you want your phone to look and function. One big difference is the headphone jack. If you don’t have wireless earbuds or have the special lightning cable headphones, you can’t listen to your iPhone whereas the Android is much more accessible for those who do not have these luxuries. Another advantage to having an Android is the variability in phone companies. You could like the design of a Google Pixel or like the size of a Samsung, but it’s all using the same system whereas IOS is just one phone in which you have to buy only apple products to use.

The last piece of advice I will give you anonymously is that if all else fails, join the dark side. Join the Apple machine. Buy the iPhone 14, the Airpod Pro Max, the lightning charging cable, and even get the Apple Watch. It could be convenient and look nice, but you are spending much more money on a product that doesn’t give much more than you need. There are some perks to buying into Apple though. The security is better in a lot of ways, such as encrypting iMessage and the Face ID/ fingerprint ID. Also the fact that connecting with other IOS devices is much easier. Talking to oth-
ers using facetime and iMessage and connect your other IOS devices.

But really you just need to listen to yourself, anonymous. If you like your Android phone, by all means keep using it. If you like they way iPhones look, you are free to get one. The whole Android/Apple debate is a very first world issue that has no real bearing on our society.
Sincerely, Ed

 

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