photo credit: kaneda99

I need a new phone in about 2 month and think about wheter buying the next generation iPhone or an Android phone. Despite being called “Apple Fan” by people who don’t understand that I like to buy the best choice that I can make (and this clearly was the iPhone 3G three years ago), I would like to revisit all options and arguments. Even if I must say that I have made VERY good experiences with the iPhone 3G so far, and I guess this makes me biased.

WWDC is over – nothing new or impressive

So, now the WWDC has passed, and to be true, nothing really new has been revealed. 960×640 pixels resolution is the best the market has so far, but we knew that from the leaked devices. Everything else is not that impressive … like the front cam, that essentially will only make video calls to other iPhone4’s possible – which isn’t too impressive. And sorry, but I just can’t be too happy about that iAd-”feature”. The only real features are the new multitasking, better battery life, and speedier hardware. Here you can see a small and not too informative infographic. We’ll talk more about features later.

The techie-friends talk about phones a lot

First, I got some friends with Androids, none (I see in person) with iPhones. So I often hear them (and everyone using Android) defend theirselves when they talk about their phones (even if noone attacked them). I guess its because I carry an iPhone 3G for two years now and they think I hate non-Apple stuff. Nevermind. Their most advocated decision-help they got from the internet is:

“If you like to tinker around with your phone, pick the Android, if you want something out of the box, pick the iPhone”

This of course doesn’t make sense to me. Jailbreaking the iPhone is very simple, and you have a fully customizable system with it, including Linux command line, Java, Ruby, Python, … and everything that people like the Android for – I did this instantly, and its nice and easy to use. “Rooting”, as Jailbreaking is called on Android phones, couldn’t be easier – while it shouldn’t be necessary anymore with Android 2.2 (as that is open enough so you don’t need to do this). The only problem with Jailbreaking on the iPhone is the hardware. If you install a lot of custom stuff, your phone gets slow – at least my 3G did. That could be better on an android, but well. So far, I favor the possibilities of the Android 2.2.

But I want to USE my smartphone

When asked for a certain feature or App, iPhone users usually tell you which app they prefer for that task or feature – Android users will give you the answer that its possible with their platform, but that they’re not doing it now. To be fair: this is no surprise as the Android is a pretty young system and there wasn’t so much time and competition so far. No matter what, I want usable software now. So I list the usual tasks with a smartphone that I use daily with my 3G:

• calling people, text-messages
• contacts
• listening music
• E-Mail
• Browser
• Camera
• Banking-application
• listening to radio (normal radio, don’t think of pandora and last.fm here)
• Last.fm and Pandora ;-)
• Google Maps (wayfinding)
• Calender
• ToDo-Application
• listening to Podcasts

Some other stuff is not important everyday, but I would miss it if I didn’t have it would include:

• making Videos
• YouTube
• synch/backup
• some other sites that I like apps from like Facebook, EBay, Dict.cc, Twitter, some TV guide
• nice handy apps like video streaming (AirVideo), USB support (AirSharing), TeamViewer and stuff like that

When I asked for the usual software to do the usual tasks, I can sum up the answers I got “its all out there, and it works, even if its not as nice as iPhone software”. This didn’t fit my question, I effectively wanted to know if there are Apps that you would really daily use to do these things – technically doable are all of these points of course. Well, I guess I could find software, but how much time would I need to invest? And what if I don’t like what’s available?

The Interwebs – What does Google tell me?

Okay, it would be stupid to not read what others are saying. I’m starting from the not so good posts and work my way to the better ones.

The first article I found tells us that Android is better than a 3G, and that 3GS is better than a 3G. It tells us something about the hardware, and whines about Flash not on iPhone, which I really never missed. It tells us that Apps on Android suck compared to AppStore quality and that the tight and well done integration of Google services is a big plus for Android.

This one from Lifehacker tells us that the iPhone’s notification overlays suck. And thats true. It also says that (after having switched from iPhone to Android) the multitasking in Android doesn’t matter much. Then I discovered how old this one is, and dismissed it.

This german post by a well know computer magazine compared the Nexus to the iPhone 3GS and finds the speed of the devices to be pretty much the same. It tells us, that its the apps that matter. It also tells me that Android does no flash too … well, I thought they could, but well, in fact, I don’t care – Flash is dying anyways. Here it is also pointed out that the flexible desktop widgets of the android rocks. I’d love those!

This article looks at the numbers and sees interest in Android phones rising. It tells us that Android and iPhone OS will have similar market shares soon, and that we can expect both not to be dead anytime, even if iPhone is still the more appreaciated platform.

This article shows the comparison from a developers standpoint. It outlines, that developing for Android is a breeze using Java and Eclipse, and that Apple’s developer tools suck a lot in comparison. For me, thats a very big point, as developers make the apps. And I want to develop for phones myself soon.

This german article tell us, that the Apple App Store is the main factor, that hinders the iPhone from being truely great. It advocates for the Android to be the platform of the future, even if its not yet the platform of the present time.

This one also says that Android kicks ass and the ass is iPhone OS 4.0 as the new features are already inside Android or not interesting to the writer.

This is a very good post, if you want to read one of the links in here, I’d recommend this one. This post lists alot of small things like that Android has a user-definable spelling correction, or that its just a USB-mass storage device when attached to a computer. I’d love that. MobileMe is expensive – which is a bad point on the iPhone too. But he also lists a lot of Pro iPhone stuff, like a lot of bugs, very graphically unlikable apps and interface elements, hard-buttons and trackballs that just have no real use, menus that often make you using more clicks than on an iPhone and that using Android means the same amount of Google-lock in than an iPhone will make you Apple-locked-in.

This also very good post directly points out the differences between iPhone OS4 and Android 2.2. It tells us that the multitasking of iPhone 4 is better, even if they let Android win this award as it had the feature much earlier. It tells us that the hardware is about equal and that the browsing experience is about equal (as long as you turn flash off in Android). Voice Control works MUCH better in Android while all sorts of media (including games) are better consumed on an iPhone. The interface looks better on iPhone. In the end, the message is not “if you like to play around on your device, pick Android, else iPhone” but this:

“Which device you’ll want to buy is something that will vary from person to person. Do you value the ability to carry around all of your music, movies and games? Then you’ll probably want that new iPhone. Do you want the ability to create a mobile hotspot, to text hands-free and play stuff at addictinggames.com on your phone? Then you’ll want that Android device.”

This one is clearly pro for the newest Sprint Evo hardware, and this is a relateted list of pro and cons list for against both OSses.

The Next iPhone Generation

We pretty much know the features that Android 2.2 will pack. 4 times speed increase due to a changed Java JIT compiler, and opening a WLAN spot which is the best way of doing tethering. We also know most of the stuff, the iPhone will do better. Lets look at the iPhone.

The step from the first iPhone to the 3G was Apple’s breakthrough. The step from 3G to 3GS was a major one too. I believe that the step to the next hardware iPhone and iPhone OS4 will have the same impact. As technologically interested person who uses Twitter and also knows how to use a feedreader, I was of course well informed about the next iPhone generation before this evening. Two models were leaked (most likely on purpose) and a lot of info about the next OS update was already released or found in the existing software of the iPad.

We will have nearly true multitasking. Not true multitasking, which has some differing points:

• We usually don’t have to kill apps on our own on the iPhone. Android users have to use the background process killer, if they want to free up some RAM – and I heard android users do this at least once per day or usually more often.

• We don’t have cool background apps, that can pop up when we swipe down from the top of the screen – as background apps don’t really interact with the user. This is the main point of critique from my side. I want Twitter or a Task Management software  on my command all the time. I’ll have to see how fast the hardware is, so that switching is fast. :-/

• iPhone users will have longer battery time without multitaksing as the processor only works event driven, and not gives out cycles at all running programs all day.

• We will have the cleaner, more user oriented software, while with time, Android Apps will catch up. But so far, the video and ebook software look great.

My Pros and Cons

Putting stuff on lists often just makes things more clearly. There’re even more points than the following ones, but I believe those following points are the main differences and most of the rest should work on both platforms. Or has just been put into the iOS4 even if it was on Android much earlier.

Pro Android 2.2:

• 2.2’s JIT compliler might make Android 4 times faster. THATS a PRO! +++
• real background services ++
• better voice control +
• no-problem WLAN hotspot +
• more open system +
• better development capabilities +
• real filesystem +
• better synching +

Contra Android 2.2:

• buggy software –
• software not made with usability in mind – typical “programmer’’s GUIs” –
• much more time intensive (searching apps , choosing apps, configuring system) —
• fewer apps to choose from -
• need to kill apps myself -
• no system wide search -
• some phones might have hardware / driver problems

Pro iPhone 4:

• more mature software, better concepts, more “hittable” buttons, pretty bug free and fewer “hickups” and crashes ++++
• bigger app choice, better app quality +++
• works out-of-the-box +
• already got my beloved apps +
• better worked out hardware finish (outside phone quality) +

Contra iPhone:

• will need to jailbreak for full potential (but thats not that bad)
• no widgets (after thinking a bit about it this isn’t very bad either)
• more expensive -
• buggy voice control (if nothing was changed there) -
• still needs iTunes –

What didn’t make it on this list: Camera stuff, hardware stuff (should be pretty equal), battery life (nobody knows yet even if I phone might have the advantage here), resolution (in that high ranges noone can see a difference between 960 and 800 pixels), call qualilty (iPhone should now be in the other phone’s quality ranges), games (don’t use them much, but here the iPhone would be ahead again), Flash (I just do not care at all) and Browsers (even if I found my Safari on the 3G to be superiour to the Browser I saw on Android 2.1, and I guess that mobile Safari 5 will add something to this, I don’t feel there’s a big difference at all).

Want a decision?

Yeah, you heard it in the tone. Looking at the list above, I see the important points clearly in the iPhone’s, even if the Android might be the big thing in one or two years. Android for me looks like early adopter stuff, and I learned that its after all just a tool and should do stuff for you. And I have my biases against Android. Seeing some glitches in the 2.1 browser and maps interface didn’t help that much. I want the smartphone of the present time, with grown up software – and not the smartphone that might be big one or two years in the future. I decided for the next iPhone. Even if the new JIT compiler make things hard. Perhaps I’ll just get an additional Droid for development … oh wait no time. Winner from my point of view in this spot of time: iPhone4. Oh, and just in case you’re wondering: no, Nokia’s Systems, Pre, Blackberry, Windows Series 7, Windows Mobile 6.5 all didn’t even come close to the toplist. I bet Windows 7 could be a competitor, but they’re far from a release.

Any comments? Other opinions? Point I clearly missed? Please tell me, I still have about one month before I need to pay the cash :-)

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I recently had a quite heated discussion with a friend who argued about the iPad issues that make him not buy the thing, even if he desperately wants a tablet-computer. He said that he’d gladly pay 1000€ for it, if it just had USB.

His point was that it doesn’t have USB and the disk is too small for (many) movies – the filesystem just won’t cut it at the moment. My response was, that you could stream movies from your PC if you wanted (given they ported the appropriate apps from iPhone to iPad which I heard already happend, but I don’t have an iPad so I have no proof). He responded, that this would need additional apps (costing extra money) and that this wouldn’t be usable for his dad. I was kinda drunk when I responded and said something about that this cumbersome dock was Apples strategy or something, but I really should have said that his dad could just sync via iTunes (which is only a bit more pain than synching via filesystem), and that the iPad won’t cost 1000€ even with all streamingapps in the world. And I should have responded, that apps get new possibilities for working with files in iPhoneOS4, which will come early enough when the next iPhone will be released this summer.

In fact, I think the only way that you could not like the iPad (or the iPhone for that matter), is that you’re an Apple-hater. Don’t misunderstand me, I also think they should do some ways different (especially with their Macs that I would never prefer over Windows 7), but I clearly think they got the best phones and the only working tablet out there. Besides, I don’t feel the need for one. But I guess the iPad is the only computer I would buy my mom. She would have E-Mail and Internet at her fingertips for the first time. Awesome.

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Uuhm. Back to the Point: my wordpress Blog wasn’t updated Forever, As they didn’t have that nice upgrading stuff in there when I First used and installed it on my server some Years ago. I didn’t think it would Be necessary to Ever update, As my Blog wasn’t à Center of reader’s attentions anyways. But Not being able to post directly from an iPhone without using e-Mail ( which is what I’m doing right now) is Kinda sad, as the wordpress app only works with blogs of version 2.7 and higher. Therefore i Hope I can Be doing an update or à Complete reinstallation of my Blog soon, in Case i find some hours during my easter holidays. A new major version of wordpress is ahead anyways. And especially, I Hope that wordpress got à Bit faster since Version 2.5 or whatever I used there. Cause loading Times here on ithoughts are à pain, and I’m Aware of that. Sorry for that. See you Next time. Oh, you can keep all the typos you find here.

In retrospect, the english stuff didn’t make too many errors, right? It took about double the time to write this than on an actual (laptop)-keyboard.

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CON: I don’t want Apple’s iPad for the following reasons:

- I got a laptop, an iPhone and an e-book reader.

- The diplay is not e-ink – reading books on it therefore just doesn’t do it.

- It doesn’t fit in my pocket. Its not a phone nor a MP3-device.

- It uses the iPhone’s OS. But when I use a computer, I want multitasking. And I won’t want to have no mouse.

PRO:

- It has a decent resolution for games. The iPod touch / iPhone is already very sucessful, but it has enough space to make complex input fields possible. The iPad can do that. It will be a game machine, I hereby predict.

- It has the “I could buy it my mother, and she’d use a computer for the first time”-effect. It will be a great gift. This is maybe the most impressive factor.

- The programs Apple delivers with it are touch-optimized. But that won’t mean they’re better.

Summary:

Who needs an iPod touch that won’t fit into your pocket? Who needs a touch laptop without multitasking? Nuff said, lets wait for the iPhone OS 4 and what it brings to the iPad, because after all they’re running a standard iPhone OS without iPad optimizations. I guess there will be more usecases after the update, but at the time being I won’t buy one even if the price was 100$. Well, maybe as a present for my mom. Here are some more interesting links by Zemanta …

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Okay three people forwarding me this article brings it to an end. WTF. Heise always was kinda “professional”, but this officially NOT SPONSORED by Microsoft, Samsung, Nokia & Co. “objective” study really tries to tell us that we iPhone users are CRAZY as we’re taken hostage by our telephone and defend its really bad existence due to some irritational psychological damage?

Well, I’m sure I’m not the only iPhone user getting forwarded all those silly news about “iPhone Worms Ripping Apples Product Apart”, “Security Issues with jailbroken devices (and their stupid users)” or this newest headline. What’s your problem?  I’m sure you’re thinking “Oh again one of those iPhone users held hostage by its smartphone, trying to defend its weak points”. Right. Thats the point. Its not about the malicious joy of people’s envy of a phone that does, what their similarly priced smartphone with much better hardware just doesn’t do: it works, its easy to use and you don’t need days to configure it.

But back to this silly study. There is one smart thing about it: if you critisize it, they seem to be correct. Well. So smart. The following could also be found out by someone without an iPhone. I’m disqualifying 80% of their points made.

Lets look at the points this study proves its view with:

1. “The first iPhone was not a 3G phone: What do you need 3G for? You can easily use the iPhone without using a 3G network and anyway, 3G is not particularly widespread, so this is not a problem.”

Nonexistant problem. When was this study made? Three years ago? Who cares?

2. “The phone cannot send MMS: There is no need to send MMSs, hardly anybody sends MMSs.”

Nonexistant problem now. BTW, I just sent one MMS so far with my iPhone, just to try it out – guess what? The receiving nokia device (XPress 5800, a pretty new device) couldn’t display MMS.

3. “You cannot forward a SMS: This is a function that hardly anybody uses and was therefore not included in the first iPhones.”

Nonexistant problem now. Needed to check that, as the crazy iPhone-users statements seems to be true to the bone.

4. “The phone has a poor camera: The built-in camera is perfectly adequate and the iPhone takes fantastic photos with its camera.”

Nonexistant problem. 3.2 MP is standard nowadays and in each iteration the cam gets an upgrade. Sorry for not using 10MP cams, but storage capacity scarce and the device 100€ more expensive. Oh and today we have the knowledge that MPs don’t translate into picture quality.

5. “It is not a real Smartphone, it cannot multitask: The phone has all the necessary functions and the OS is technically superior compared to other Smartphone OSs currently on the mobile market.”

This is a real limitation, but not as worse as described. The iPhone CAN do multitasking, but only some Apple services (like music, mail, timers, etc.) can do that. But technically, I’ll count this as a real point made. Even if noone ever has defined a smartphone to be a multitasking-monster. Well, Real Problem anyways.

6. “The iPhone cannot multitask, resulting in a great number of applications being unusable: The absence of multitasking is a deliberate design decision resulting in a faster UI.”

Nonexistant problem: Nothing is “unusable” because of missing multitasking. And this is technically the same point as 5.

7. “You can not change battery on the iPhone: How many customers run around with spare batteries? None or very few.”

My battery keeps up 2 days, so if I could change it, I wouldn’t do it. But this is of course a limit. If my battery gets broken, I can’t easily change it. Shame on Apple here! Real problem.

8. “Apple decides which applications you can install on the phone: This is good, because Apple thereby ensures that you do not get inferior programs on your phone.”

This is also a real limitation, but I wouldn’t say nobody mournes about this. This is in fact the most critisized part of the AppStore, and I hardly see iPhone-Fanboys defend that process. Real problem.

9. “The app store is a closed universe: Apple knows what is best for end users, which is good for the many iPhone users.”

Nonexistant problem for end-users. Besides, everyone else is copying the appstore for their own software world. It makes it easier for developers to give out their products. Oh, BTW this is the same as point 8.

10. “The phone does not support Java, so games need to be developed especially for the iPhone: Java is slow and not properly integrated with mobile phones, games for the iPhone are much better because they are directly developed for the iPhone.”

Well and other Phones might not support Fortan, or another favourite language of mine. Totally nonexistant problem.

11. “The app store contains numerous small trivial commercial programs: The app store’s large selection gives users the freedom of choice and the many small programs help make the end users daily lives more fun.”

Nonexistant problem. If you don’t want it, don’t use it. Or go to the Ovi store, hahaha. You won’t find more than a handful of reaaaly bad games in there.

12. “It is difficult to use the touchscreen for fast SMS messaging: The touchscreen makes the phone easier to use and you quickly get used to it.”

Nonexistant problem: since 3.0 you can type emails and SMS in landscape mode, and I’m nearly as fast on that as on a real desktop keyboard. The non-landscape-mode is not that good, but so far I didn’t see a better virtual keyboard.

13. “The iPhone is a low technology phone packaged in a sleek design: Apple has taken the combination of the design and UI to the next level, therefore the technological specifications don’t really matter.”

If you want faster hardware, go for it. As long as the hardware supports a fluently working OS, this is a nonexistant problem. Especially if you have 1Ghz and your windows mobile interface still is unresponsive.

14. “The quality of the phone is poor, calls are often interrupted and network coverage is poor: It is a good phone, these problems are due to the operators’ networks and not the phone.”

Nonexistant problem. At least I’ve never had a problem, and I doubt I got the single super-iPhone they built just for me while every other is broken.

15. “You can only purchase the iPhone from operators chosen by Apple: Apple has spent a great deal of time and energy selecting the best operators for customers.”

Real Problem: This is a real issue of course. But none that customers don’t whine about!

16. “The iPhone is targeted at a niche segment and will not be able to develop further: Apple has succeeded in designing a phone for people that appreciate design and user friendliness.”

“The iPhone is targeted at a niche segment and will not be able to develop further”? Did you read the numbers? Did you read the news? The iPhone IS 50% OF THE SMARTPHONE WORLD because it steadily develops!!111elevenone!

17. “The iPhone does not support memory cards: Iphones already offer the necessary memory people require and end users can choose between two models, one with a little memory and one with a great deal of memory.”

Well, thats Apple’s philosophy. I took the 16 GB version. But where is the difference to the many smartphones out there giving you a 8GB-memory-card and that are extendable up to 16GB? None. Well, okay, acutally if I had bought an 8GB version I couldn’t have upgraded it later on. Well. But its just stupid to count this as a problem of the device, its a problem of the user. And therefore a nonexistant problem.

18. “You can not install your own browser: The browser Apple has designed is so superior that you do not need any other browser on your phone.”

This is a real problem too. Its the same as points 8 and 9, but I’m in a good mood so this could be called another real problem.

19. “You cannot use the iPhone as a modem for your portable PC: People that have an iPhone do not need their portable when on the move.”

Nonexistant problem today. And Hello! There’s the jailbreak! And jailbreaking is easier than sticking a new battery in your phone!

20. “There is no radio in the phone: You do not need a radio in your iPhone because the iPhone supports iTunes that offers almost unlimited music.”

Nonexistant problem. I use Last.fm and there’re a lot more radioservices. Sure, they don’t use century-old technology for this, so you need to stream the stuff. Could be called a problem, but I’m not willing to count it. After all you have an integrated iPod too.

Conculsion: Again, the Apple-haters had food for their selfmade problems, but please keep away with such totally stupid studies. THAT SURELY HAS NOT BEEN SPONSORED BY (put name of big phone company in here) AND WAS MADE BY VERY SCIENTIFIC MEANS. If you see the logic in there, please drop a note. Other comments are appreciated too.

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Its very impressive how our life shapes with all the little things we learn. And its all those little things we change in our lives that makes everything a whole new experience. You think I’m on drugs? Nope, I ain’t!

The most time of my life, I’ve been a logical person who had difficulties in understanding human nature and human behaviour. As a logical person, I advocated that no man should ever lie in no situation, and the world would be a better place. Teachers laughted, schoolmates laughted, some tried to persuade me that this just isn’t true. I only trusted upon my logical view of things and nobody could change my perception. Guess what? The human race would be long eradicated by a nuclear war if no man could lie.

These were the times when I trusted my own beliefs most, even when people told me something else. It was a very long stage of my life, but I finally made the next level: trying to understand, why people have another opinion, “try out” for some time if this opinion works for me and then accepting or rejecting that opinion/position/view.

For example: I have always had long hair and split ends. Guess that I didn’t understand that I need to use conditioner to make that go away. My opinion was: chemical stuff can’t help my health or the health of my hair. And I was wrong. When I began using conditioner, the split ends were getting better.

So many things just seem like utter nonsense when you see how people behave sometimes. Like watching casting shows in TV. Like smoking. Like going drinking and dancing in a discotheque. Like making music. I even thought listening to music was a strange behaviour when I was about 14 years old. But after some time, you try things out, and some work for you while others don’t. I began liking music and going out to parties for example, but I never liked smoking even if I tried. Well and then after some time, you even try to understand women – a hopeless attempt, some men might think – but even there you can make progress if you really try to understand their point of view.

What I changed this year

Its just that I have a little bit of free time for the first time in about one year – therefore I’m writing this post. And I’m reflecting on what I changed this very year. Change is usually something people don’t like, because their instincts tell them that change is dangerous and that they should just keep everything as it is, because it won’t get worse that way – that is good for survival, the instinct implies. This instinct is called fear. A small interlude from Dune:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

If you understand that you can choose what you want to change, if you conquer this instinct, you’ll recognize that every change that you do is a positive change in the end. Otherwise you wouldn’t have accepted it … or you just undo it and change back.

And I changed a lot of little things this year. My dear. I hope you my dear reader can reflect the changes you went through this year too. If you want, you should also make a small blog post about what happend this year in your life, because I’d really like to read that. I came to the point where I can say that I love changes – and hearing about them. So this year:

• I began my diploma thesis on 01.01.2009 and over the course of the year, I needed to unclutter my life to be able to get it done. Some would call this lifehacking. I just stopped playing computer games. Boom. 30% more time. I stopped organizing my week and began organizing my day. Boom. 100% more things got done. I began struturing my online information-digestion through feeds and twitter. Boom. Learning stuff while keeping yourself informed in the shortest time possible. All impressive changes, and needed ones, if you want to use time more effectively.
• I found a job at the local software company Abelssoft. My salary is fine and didn’t need a car to get to work – again a lot of money saved. My colleagues are very nice and I like working with them – and I also like the work itself, which is a very important matter in being happy, I believe. I also just learned a new programming language (C# .NET) and Abelssoft paid a certificate that measures this skill. Thanks again! You can follow @Abelssoft on Twitter, and this is the website (german verison here).
• I bought a flat with my girlfriend. A big one. In the times of economic crisis and a drop in (bank) interests, it seemed the smartest thing from a economic perspective. But if you think about the non-economic perspective, its a way more binding statement towards my girlfriend, than a marriage would be. And I’m very happy about my decision. Believe me, the flat is completely new, big and I feel superb when I’m there.
• I left the church. That means approximately +400€ per year. Nice. I never really believes in god anyways, and if I did, I don’t think Jesus would love me more if I paid the church’s fees.
• Now for some more little things which changed in my information-digestion: Feedly. After learning what feeds are and how to use them via the Firefox-addon Brief, I just switched to Google Reader to be able to synchronize my feeds (and mainly let those that I have already read not show up anymore) with my iPhone feed-reader. Now that I use Google Reader which in my opinion has a cluttered and unintuitive interface, I found the Feedly-firefox plugin, that lets my feeds look like a newspaper. Hooray, the times of dead paper are gone – and with this kind of interface, maybe I can teach my girlfriend to use feeds someday too.
• I began listening to podcasts on the bike. Used music before, but riding bike is pretty boring, and I more like listening to music while I’m cleaning up or doing the dishes or something. Fould the following podcasts (both german) to be very interesting: Z and Bitsundso.
• Another small thing that impact my personal life more than I would have ever imagined: the iPhone. I learned how to use this device as personal organizer (respectively main calendar), ToDo-list, shopping list, feedreader, client for all social networks I use (Twitter, Facebook, Xing, StudiVZ), TV-guide, online-banking-client (damn, I can do bank transfers everywhere with this thing!), (video) camera, instant messenger, radio, podcast-player, music player, navigation-device, pdf-document-reader, voice recorder, gaming device (did you know we have Command and Conquer, Duke Nukem, Need for Speed and many more really good things?), weather information service, eBay-client (which works better and more intuitive than the actual ebay-website), wireless USB-stick, translator, YouTube-client and even TV-reciever (okay, I don’t get too many channels with it). And I can use it as telephone too. You wouldn’t believe it! In one tiny device. All very usable. Thats definitely an upgrade for my personal management.

So I hope your lives got some upgrades too, I’m very pleased with mine this year. For the next year, I’ll have a small list of goals that I want to get done (and that I just entered in my ToDo’s goals section):

• Try getting more professional at my job.
• Buy some stuff, so the new flat isn’t all that empty.
• Write some more blog posts.
• Main point: I’ll try meeting more friends – I kinda lost sight of them this year and definitely have to change that. But from now on, I’ll have at least my weekends free to tackle that.
• Play more pen and paper role-playing-games. I miss that, was always fun.
• Go on vacation with my girl.
• Get a private server-machine running 24/7. Needs to be low-energy-comsuming and not too expensive. And needs to be silent.
• Set up a new blog. This wordpress thingy here is too slow, the design isn’t what I want now, and I plain hate PHP. Whats your pick for another blogging platform?
• Buy a playstation 3 – the Wii has too many bad games, I want more good stuff. And a blueray player too.
• Pay back the money my parents borrowed me.
• Upgrade iPhone when there’s time. If you’ll jailbreak, its more time investment, so you gotta plan wisely.

Feel free to answer with your own changes from this year or your plans for next year. Expect to hear more from me more regularly, like every week. Or something like that. Over and out for this week.

Related Posts:

• A Waste of Time – How (Not) to Reach Your Goals
• The good old times are gone
• Why using ToDo Lists & GTD?
• Increasing Speed: Evolution of Lifetime
• Do you need a Smartphone? Or just want one?

• I sometimes have issues keeping track of what I’m supposed to do, when to do it and in which order.
• Sometimes I heard about GTD on twitter or in blogposts, but when I tried to read into it I thought that I don’t really feel like learning another complicated system for stuff that I can solve with small slips of paper.
• I always wanted to use my iPhone for ToDo-lists, as I use it for everything else in organisation: contacts, calendar … so why not todo-lists?
• I feel that I can be doing things faster if I used some kind of organised approach to my todo-listings, therefore I just thought: why not try out another fancy internet-solution? And synch it with an iPhone-app, so I always have my lists at hand?

Thats exactly what I’ve done. After all, these apps and internet solutions build on the same GTD-principles, and therefore learning GTD seems to be important for programmers of those tools, but not for the end user like me. But of course the solution to my problem wasn’t only to download some software, as you’ll have to think about what software solutions you use and for which set of tasks this works. After all, many things like appointments fall into the realm of calendars; and many “small tasks” should not be set on a todo-list at all, as those tasks are too small (“check todo list”; checking this item is superflous) or too large (“be happy”; falls into the realm of so called goals). Then some software has limitations about what you can do with your todo list (like outlook). So everything need to be planned a bit, so you get a solution you can use.t

And this is the main issue. Usability. I need a system that can remind me what I have to do for the day and that doesn’t take loads of time to configure. So far I can’t make a clear statement, but I see some issues and problems here and there – while other parts of my solution seem to work perfectly. I’ll tell you in my next post if the solution I try is usable or if its utter nonsense to try to use online & mobile applications to get yourself remebered and organised.

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