Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Carsten Charles Sabathia’s excellent Yankee victory, Lady Gaga’s nipple, or your favorite iPhone 5 case, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
My friend Paul and I were talking about how tech geeks have done a 180 on the number of devices they want to carry. Ten years ago, it was all about finding one device that does everything. The digerati were tired of carrying a mobile phone, a PDA, a gaming system, etc. Fast forward to 2012 and that’s a very mainstream attitude to have. Millions of people are satisfied with their smartphone or tablet as their “one” device. Meanwhile, the geek chic have gone in the other direction.
While they’re in the minority (unless you live in San Francisco), tech nerds help set trends in mobile tech. They’re the tastemakers. These days, many of them travel with a notebook computer, a smartphone, a tablet, and a dedicated e-reader. Some of them even bring dedicated gaming systems, though it’s not as common these days given the rapid advancement in Android and iOS games. They’ve eschewed the “one device” philosophy in favor of multiple devices that excel at different things. Funny how it goes….
As for me, I find myself following the digerati. While I love my iPad 2012 (my usual “one” device) I plan on complementing it with a Kindle Paperwhite. I’m already dual-wielding phones with a Galaxy Nexus and an iPhone 5. If I’m hitting the road for a few days or more, my MacBook Pro has to come with me.
What kind of user are you? Do you prefer to travel with one device to rule them all? Or do you bring multiple devices if you’re going to be away from home/work for a stretch?
So..you have a new Ipad, a nexus, an Iphone 5, and a Macbook pro? Wow.
To answer the question…I just need my GS3. Not so much into the mobile gaming. I don’t really need a dedicated E reader, and I cannot afford a tablet, much less a Macbook pro. I can pretty much do anything i need to do on my phone, except for surf the web quickly.
#sprint
To be fair, I cashed in a bunch of frequent flyer miles for the MacBook Pro. The rest are items I picked up for writing purposes.
I’ve always been of the mindset that multiple items are better than one single item that can do multiple things somewhat well. I’ve tried giving a few different android games a try that were my style, but I just couldn’t play them consistently and that bugs me. The big problem for me is that just when I start getting into a game, my phone rings or I get a text or email. I don’t like leaving those things unchecked, and the entire point of having a mobile phone in the first place is so that I can be reached when needed, so I have to shut the game down and check my messages. This is a huge disruption and is a reason I would want to read, watch a movie, or play a game on a device other than my phone. I’ve pretty much always felt this way, so it’s nice to see that people are starting to think like this once again…although I’m now a little worried that that could, in some way, make me a hipster for liking multiple devices before it was cool a second time. Ha!
For me it’s usually my phone, kindle fire, and DSi that travel with me. If I’m going to my parents house then maybe my laptop and xbox, but I would prefer that one of these days I can just convince them to finally let my brother have an xbox so that I only have to transport games and my profile (and hard drive if we want to watch movies).
It’s nice to have one device be capable of multiple things, but I hate relying on only one device to serve multiple purposes. My DSi provides a better gaming experience for me, my kindle provides a better reading and watching netflix experience, and my laptop provides a better experience for anything I need from creating, reading, writing, web surfing, news, video, etc. That being said my phone has always been my camera and one day I might actually get a standalone camera, but I doubt it because 8mp is good for me and the way I have it set up to automatically back everything up through dropbox is useful.