Recently there's been a lot of talk about the new iPhone, and it's signal troubles. One small thing that got swept under the carpet, was the unfortunate effects of the new iOS4 for users of the iPhone 3G, like me. Apple, as usual, never really gives an "option" on whether to upgrade an OS or not, nor does it ever issue an advisory on whether the new OS can render your phone a relic of the past. But, before we delve any deeper, lets start from the beginning.
I've always been a Windows and Linux guy, ever since I played my first games on MS-DOS. I do have respect for Apple's design, but not as much for the systems they contruct (hardware wise they seem a little behind the times to me). So when I bought the then state-of-the-art iPhone 3G, I surprised myself too. Quite frankly, I hadn't planned on it, but that beautiful phone caught my attention as soon as I saw it, it was love at first sight! Logic failed me, and I ended up shelling out a hefty amount (I'm still a grad student) to get this shiny new plaything. Granted, I never regret having made that decision, I stand by it. But 3 months later, I realised Apple couldn't care less, and rendered me and my shiny new toy obsolete. A couple of months of depression later, I realised it probably wasn't as bad as I first thought, Apple's new plaything was only a minor improvement, and not something that would scar me forever as I initially thought. Yet, that reget of not having waited a few months before taking the leap lingered. Time passed on and we got to the new year with more hope.
As rumors of the new model reached a crescendo, so did little leaks of a new iOS, and of support for multi-threading at last! My brain told me not to increase my expectations, my friends advised me against it, yet the fool that I was, I walked right into it! A few weeks later came the shattering news of the fact that my phone would not support the hallowed feature. Alas, Apple broke my heart again. Add to it the inscrutable thinking that Apple projected, made me wonder about the sanity of their thinktank. The silence and hostile actions against all who dared to doubt its vision confounded me. Yet, with the news that it had overtaken Microsoft as the biggest computer firm by share price, Apple's popularity seemed to have reached a zenith. Not losing hope, I rejected overtures from contenders like the Droid, ah those sluts! How could they ever match the beatific and virginal lure of Apple! They tried to convince me that Apple did not reciprocate my feelings of admiration and love, and that it would never, yet I did not give up.
But alas, the new iOS and iPhone 4 broke the camel's back. They supported something I had long despised, something that made Microsoft one of the most hated Goliaths of the 90s, dictatorial decisions and a lack of openness. They cancelled the long promised support for flash, blocked all development tools other than their own, the new OS took 10 attempts to install, and finally took about 6 hours to install! And even then it has made my phone like an old man's wheelchair on the freeway. Atleast when MS released a new OS, they had the decency of telling you which computers it would make obsolete, so you would not install it on those. Apple has yet to learn that it seems. The new phone has none of the etheral beauty of the versions past, and seems like a botched half attempt to do too many things. Quite frankly, the aura that it once had has diminished, and the other options seem more and more attractive, seemingly not just for me, but for others as well. If all stays the same, Apple might return to it's position of something that has much promise, but never quite knows how to deliver. It's behavior over the past few months reminds me of this line from LOTR, "The door is shut, it was built by those who are dead, and the dead keep it, the door is shut!" (mostly the door is shut part, nothing dead yet)
And so I know I must return to my comfortable world of Windows and Linux, and put this ill-fated experiment behind me. Android seems to be on the rise, and well, Google isn't that evil yet. Every day Microsoft too seems more and more attractive. Yet I shall forever remember my little escapade, before the apple fell....
(Ps: if this seems a little insane to you, you're not reading carefully enough! :) )
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Quarter Life Crisis
Granted, I haven't had one yet, but it seems like everyone's writing about one, and hey! I just turned 25, so I'm the prime candidate to be writing about it. And so let the narcissistic babble begin!
By all means, I concede I'm lucky to be born in a time where 25 isn't the life expectancy, and is pretty much the beginning rather than the end of a lifetime. But then again, the current world needs you to be 25 to start to achieve something, unless you're a crazy prodigy like Nadal or Federer. And doing a PhD doesn't mean that your thesis will be in any way world changing, so it's bleak. So ok, I won't be conquering the world anytime soon like Alexander the Great, but I won't be dying of a weird fever either, so I'll live with it.
I've had a nice childhood, sheltered, though I've been sick quite a bit, so much so that I know how to avoid and cure myself of most non-life-threatening diseases. That, coupled with the fact that my crazy exercise-holic genes are starting to wake up means that I could someday, in fact be close to six-pack abs, instead of the beer-belly I have, which is ironic considering I barely drink, if at all. I've made some very dear friends in my life, ones who I think would turn their lives upside down for me, some interesting foes as well, but what the heck, one great man once said, you can't fool everyone all of the time. I also am blessed with a wonderful family, who are in no small way responsible for who I am, the good parts anyways :) . So apart from the fact that I'm still a mostly broke student, you might think I don't have much to be sad about. Which is true, except that thanks to a nice internship by a very generous company (lets not spoil the fun by naming them :P ) my bank balance has a heart beat too, and is not the flat-lining train wreck it once was.
On the home front, I've had a few heartbreaks, and have probably (and hopefully, I'm not sadistic, but it still feels weirdly good to think this) broken a few myself. If you're thinking about what I might be sad about on this front and haven't figured it out, look at the nearest giggling fool who's reading this with you. My name's been mispronounced about a million times by now (not that I mind, I quite like it!), and I've earned a few interesting nicknames along the way, the newest one all of 3 days old. I'll very happily concede, my idea of what a happy and successful life should be has changed quite a bit. About 10 years ago, I believed a successful life would entail a CS degree from an IIT, an MBA from IIMA, and a well paying job from some company. 5 years ago I was sure I'd still have items 1 & 3 from that list. 3 years ago I became sure that item 3 was untenable at the time, and it's probably a good thing I did, cause it now seems that it's tenable again, after I finish my PhD, after hopefully 3 more years, so there's room for change still. So you never know, I might still become that prof my dad always dreamed I would. I have been told I'm a good talker and teacher, but I've realised that's necessary for any job.
In my life I've been told I'm very mature, as well as extremely immature, and I'm very happy I'm both of those extremes. If there's one thing I've learnt, it's that it's very important to grow up, yet remain that little kid, it helps you maintain perspective, and remain happy overall. I'll need all of that perspective to get through the next few years. You see, that I'm now the next unmarried bachelor in my generation, and my siblings are all happily married. So I'm now under the watchful eyes of "The all seeing Eye", not of Sauron, but of all the aunties and uncles who like to point out that I'm next. Unfortunately, none of them are old enough for the counter quip that they are too.
If it were not for a pesky Olympic shooter from India and a few other idiots, I'd even be close to the top search result on Google. All in all, I've achieved most of the things on my list of things I wanted to achieve, so I'm quite content. But the fact that I'm happiest about, is that the list hasn't shortened one bit, it's only grown longer, and quite likely, always will, and until that keeps happening, I'm unlikely to ever have a crisis, quarter or otherwise.
By all means, I concede I'm lucky to be born in a time where 25 isn't the life expectancy, and is pretty much the beginning rather than the end of a lifetime. But then again, the current world needs you to be 25 to start to achieve something, unless you're a crazy prodigy like Nadal or Federer. And doing a PhD doesn't mean that your thesis will be in any way world changing, so it's bleak. So ok, I won't be conquering the world anytime soon like Alexander the Great, but I won't be dying of a weird fever either, so I'll live with it.
I've had a nice childhood, sheltered, though I've been sick quite a bit, so much so that I know how to avoid and cure myself of most non-life-threatening diseases. That, coupled with the fact that my crazy exercise-holic genes are starting to wake up means that I could someday, in fact be close to six-pack abs, instead of the beer-belly I have, which is ironic considering I barely drink, if at all. I've made some very dear friends in my life, ones who I think would turn their lives upside down for me, some interesting foes as well, but what the heck, one great man once said, you can't fool everyone all of the time. I also am blessed with a wonderful family, who are in no small way responsible for who I am, the good parts anyways :) . So apart from the fact that I'm still a mostly broke student, you might think I don't have much to be sad about. Which is true, except that thanks to a nice internship by a very generous company (lets not spoil the fun by naming them :P ) my bank balance has a heart beat too, and is not the flat-lining train wreck it once was.
On the home front, I've had a few heartbreaks, and have probably (and hopefully, I'm not sadistic, but it still feels weirdly good to think this) broken a few myself. If you're thinking about what I might be sad about on this front and haven't figured it out, look at the nearest giggling fool who's reading this with you. My name's been mispronounced about a million times by now (not that I mind, I quite like it!), and I've earned a few interesting nicknames along the way, the newest one all of 3 days old. I'll very happily concede, my idea of what a happy and successful life should be has changed quite a bit. About 10 years ago, I believed a successful life would entail a CS degree from an IIT, an MBA from IIMA, and a well paying job from some company. 5 years ago I was sure I'd still have items 1 & 3 from that list. 3 years ago I became sure that item 3 was untenable at the time, and it's probably a good thing I did, cause it now seems that it's tenable again, after I finish my PhD, after hopefully 3 more years, so there's room for change still. So you never know, I might still become that prof my dad always dreamed I would. I have been told I'm a good talker and teacher, but I've realised that's necessary for any job.
In my life I've been told I'm very mature, as well as extremely immature, and I'm very happy I'm both of those extremes. If there's one thing I've learnt, it's that it's very important to grow up, yet remain that little kid, it helps you maintain perspective, and remain happy overall. I'll need all of that perspective to get through the next few years. You see, that I'm now the next unmarried bachelor in my generation, and my siblings are all happily married. So I'm now under the watchful eyes of "The all seeing Eye", not of Sauron, but of all the aunties and uncles who like to point out that I'm next. Unfortunately, none of them are old enough for the counter quip that they are too.
If it were not for a pesky Olympic shooter from India and a few other idiots, I'd even be close to the top search result on Google. All in all, I've achieved most of the things on my list of things I wanted to achieve, so I'm quite content. But the fact that I'm happiest about, is that the list hasn't shortened one bit, it's only grown longer, and quite likely, always will, and until that keeps happening, I'm unlikely to ever have a crisis, quarter or otherwise.
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