Any of you that have read my Bio will know that one of the key things I am looking for in new devices, services, or tech in general, is that it makes my life easier/simpler – that could typically (though not exclusively) be defined as saving me time, or to say another way, ‘streamlining my life’:
“…he [Ben] now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already crowded life. It’s his opinion that mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it!”
So it was with great interest I was reading the August 2008 UK edition of printed magazine “Mac FORMAT“. Inside (page 10) is a short column from Brad Gibson, where he makes “a case for a return to the simple life”. He is essentially making the same points as myself – whereas you might start using a “solution” with the best intentions, often you can be dragged in to a process which involves incrementally more and more of your time and money (upgrading and installing software, for example) – thus nullifying any gains you might have hoped to make:
“Simple isn’t simple anymore. It’s mind-numbing. And keeping track of different cables, drives, and versions… Give me a break!”
Given this thinking, my latest consideration is whether in fact Mobile devices are in some cases becoming too advanced for their own good – hence the pic above. Gone are the days when the Nokia 6310 (a voice+text phone) was prevalent (although you’ll see a surprising number of them if you look in the Financial District in London!) – we are now firmly in the days of the iPhone3G – but do the services and apps offered by the device actually make life simpler/easier/streamlined?
Perhaps I would be better off using a ‘simple’ voice+text device, and then consider something a lot more powerful for complex tasks I might wish to perform – maybe even a full-blown Laptop…
So I am keen to get the input from IntoMobile readers – what is your setup, what devices do you use, what services do you employ on each of them – and the $1m question – do they actually make your life better, or are you just forcing yourself to believe they do……?
Ben