I made the choice to see what it was like in the Google world, partially as an experiment and partially to test myself and see how well I could adapt to a different environment (so to speak.) I had played with Android devices, but never really committed to using one daily as my personal phone/entertainment device. So I went cold turkey, I sold my iPhone 4, got an HTC Inspire 4g and jumped ship. I chose the Inspire because I love the Sense UI, HTC makes excellent products and I have always been happy with them, and because it supports HSPA and I have an Unlimited data plan and I could use it tether. In that process I did the following:
- I changed my email over to Gmail from Mobile Me (iCloud)
- I ditched files on my Mobile Me space and moved everything to DropBox
- I still use iTunes as my media player, but I added double Twist to that recipe and wifi syncing.
- I'm using Sparrow for email, rather than the Apple Mail app.
- BusyCal is still my Calendar, it's Gmail support is the best.
- Chrome is my main Browser now, not Safari or Firefox.
- 1Password is multi-platform so I stuck with that, I love it and it's a 3rd party as far as this is concerned.
- I also began using Evernote for a lot of my brainstorming and someday/maybe things.
- I uploaded my entire Documents folder to Google Docs, and had to modify a few file types to make the switch from iWork.
That list of changes came with new plug-ins, new tweaks, new hacks and other settings to get things just the way I wanted them. It took me a few weeks to adjust to everything and get the functionality I needed. Gmail Labels took some getting used to, but it's actually easier to find what I'm looking for in the bazillion emails I have saved over the years. Calendar and Contacts did not change much, the Mac address book had synced with Gmail for awhile. Having files online is a minor pain, that is the fault of my lousy DSL connection, I still have local copies though so it's no big deal.
All in all, after a small learning curve, I was able to adapt and maintain what I needed for my day to day needs. After I got used to things sitting at my desk I had to find the equivalent on my new mobile device. I had fun trying out apps and discovering new apps to play with, the newest version of the Android App store has a nice UI and is easy to use. My only complaint is that the search function often brings up more junk then useful or relevant apps. I also decided I wanted to root my Inspire and load a custom ROM with the Sense 3 UI and all the goodies that comes with it. After another learning curve I decided to try some new things and discovered some incredible apps and utilities that I knew nothing about.
In Part 2 I'll share my discoveries and the great things I have come to love about my Android phone as well as what I miss about my iPhone and how my BlackBerry and Play Book figure into all of this will probably evolve into a third part. Every Geek loves a good Trilogy right?
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