In the greater picture, human beings are small, insignificant and perishable creatures. Merely afterthoughts on the celestial agenda. Out there in space, there are rocks that existed for ten times as long as mankind did. The most massive object ever discovered in the universe is a blob. Not a statue to some puny deity, not a landscape, a planet or a star. It's nothing we can understand. It's just a giant gas cloud that has the mass of forty billion suns. That blob is more important than anyone of us. It could kill every living soul on Earth and not even feel it. Both you and me would die, pal, and this blob would keep going like nothing happened. That thing is straight out of a H.P Lovecraft story.
We don't matter and yet, we all think we're the center of the universe, that every living thing revolved around us as if we were the almighty, infinite source of life. Nihilists can argue that this is absolutely right, I say that believing in this is a choice that we make and that human beings become shitty after making that very choice. The epitome of that self-centered blindness has been boiled down to a single debate in the last few years, that can perfectly exemplify what I'm talking about. The iPhone Vs Android debate became so bad that it now represents the new lows of consumerism.
I have met several iPhone owners. They are harder to pigeonhole, because it's the most popular product, but there is a certain type of person that brandishes its Apple product with a special kind of pride. He's a hipster and thinks of himself as a trend setter. He knows all the latest apps and has an account on most of them. You can follow his life through social media and yet he's on his phone whenever you're with him. Everything is mediated through the phone. It's the headquarters of his existence. He has an iPhone 3, an iPhone 4, an iPhone 4s and he will do the seven hours like for the iPhone 5, even if he's disappointed about the improvements. That person also owns an iPad 3 and sold it's iPad and iPad 2 on Craigslist for peanuts. The Applehead is loyal to his brand because it makes him feel special.
I have met several Android owners, also. The less accessible nature of this phone makes them easier to define. The Android owner is angry. He hates iPhone owners, because they are snooty and elitists. He's angry at the people who can't recognize the model of his phone and why it is superior to all other smartphones. He's also very angry at his phone, because he doesn't fully understands how it works. Yet, he knows all the technical specs and throws them at anyone who wants to hear it. He's most likely to be a techie and to not understand why people don't share his passion for gadgets. The Androidhead is fiercely loyal to his brand and loves new technologies in general, because it makes him feel useful and therefore special.
Well, guys, I got news for you. It doesn't matter. Step outside yourself for a second and look at it. It's a phone. Just.a.phone. That's it. Not even ten years ago, it was something that worked for you, not something you worked for. You used it to call people, make plans, get in contact, without a second thought about what your choice of contraption said about you. I moved apartments last January and I had to pick up a cordless at Staples. Took me able eight and a half seconds to decide. Affordable. Looks cool. Handles well. Sold. I have yet to have a single complain about my cordless. Maybe it's a little annoying that the MUTE button is right on top of the TALK button, sometimes I miss the mark with my big, clumsy, fingers, but that's it. Even five years ago, this argument was invalid. People were so happy to have smartphones back then, it didn't really mattered.
Yes, smartphones are awesome, I don't debate that. It's a friggin' pocket computer. You can go on the internet wherever you are, now. I love the technology and the concept of bringing a computer in my jeans pocket, wherever I go. It's not an anti-smartphone, anti-capitalism rant. I'm just begging you to step outside yourself and look at the facts. No matter which one you chose, it's a pricey contraption that comes with a binding contract and monthly fees that can reach deep into your pocket if you use that phone too much. Also, it shoots microwaves into your brain whenever you talk into it and shoots microwaves into your crotch whenever you leave it in your pants. It's a little useful friend that gives you cancer if you get too close. Is it really worth it for you, to brand your soul to one of these things?
I own an iPhone 4. I bought it in 2010 because my cell died on me and that I wanted something sturdier that could both be a phone and a handheld gaming platform. Looking back on my two years experience, I got shafted on my contract, but did the phone held up to my small expectations? Absolutely. Nonetheless, I can't take it out at work without getting shit from an Android owner. Whether it's a condescending "tssss...iPhone" or a detailed argument about why I'm an Apple asshole, I can't escape it. One day, I asked one of them. "Well, what does the Android have that I'm missing out? I'm not a techie and I don't give a shit about hacking into my Os." Guy answered me: "Well...it has a bigger screen." Yes. Humanity arrived at that point.
I have an iPhone, but I am neither an Applehead or an Androidhead. I will not make the line for the iPhone 5. I have an old model and yet I will not change it unless my provider offers me an upgrade. Because in the greater picture, it's just a fucking phone and therefore, it has no telling about who I am as a person. If you get angry at whoever because he chose a brand over another, you're a slave. You live to buy things, so they can make you as a person. Consumerism has succeeded in dragging whatever you had of a soul and personality and convinced you that products could do that for you instead. You have no free will and you're no better than a zombie. No, it's not a fun rivalry and I'm not taking this issue too seriously. If adversarial phone choices make you feel any sort of animosity, you're dead to me.