We live in a world where we depend a lot on our gadgets and electronics to help get us through out day, whether it’s for work or personal life. It isn’t surprising to see somebody carrying around a laptop bag, carrying a tablet under their arm, and have a smartphone in their hand. Although they can all essentially do the same thing, one may be more convenient or better than another in order to get the job done, even if they’re all running under the same platform. It might seem like a silly idea to carry around three different electronics running on the same platform, but in all actuality there are a good number of benefits to carrying around matching gadgets. On the flip side, there are just as many benefits to carrying around mismatching gadgets.
Personally, my gadgets hardly ever match. Every once in a while I get the urge to make everything match. It would be nice to have a Mac, an iPhone, and an iPad. Likewise, a Windows PC, a Surface, and a WP8 device would also be nice. Why? Not only are the interfaces similar to each other, but the services offered also work well tying into each other when using the same platform. Also (and this is especially true for new users) there’s not much of a learning curve between electronics running on the same, or similar, platforms.
It’s also good (or perhaps more convenient) to stay in the same ecosystem if you’ve been using it for a long time, especially when it comes to phones and tablets. If you’re like me, you’ve spent a good amount of money on applications, and it is a real shame that you have to spend the same money on the same applications once you switch platforms, and that’s even if the applications are available on another platform. Switching ecosystems can be a hard task to do once you’ve already invested enough time and money into one, so sometimes it just makes sense to stick with what you’ve already built.
Aside from a lower learning curve and the personal satisfaction of all of your gadgets matching, though, technology has advanced to where even the built-in services that matching gadgets offer doesn’t really stand in the way between differing platforms anymore. I have an Android phone and tablet, but a Windows PC, yet I’m able to seamlessly drop files from one to another by using Dropbox or Google Drive, and there’s a host of other cloud services out there now that are able to do the same thing no matter what platform you’re using. Most services that I use are not tied to working with a certain platform, so it’s easy to move around from one to another for me without much of a hassle.
I don’t prefer to have matching electronics because I like each platform for different reasons, and because of that I like having options between the different platforms at all times. I’ve even considered dropping my Android tablet in favor of an iPad, just so I can have one of each platform on hand at all times. With as many updates as mobile platforms get these days, it seems like a good idea to have one of each on hand. That, and I’ve invested a lot of money in Android, iOS, and Windows Phone app stores over the years, and I’m not one that likes to lose out on what I’ve paid for.
Although I think having my electronics match would be somewhat satisfying, at least in terms of each being relative in some way to another, I don’t think I’ll ever be that person that is able to have a small array of matching electronics. I have always been all over the map, and with each subsequent update (especially in mobile electronics) there always seems to be something that I makes or breaks my reasons for staying (case and point with iOS 7 - it functions well, but I really hate the way it looks). I’m not one of those people who has loyalty to a certain company. In my eyes, each platform has their own merits that make them worth owning and using, and it’s nice to be able to have access to each one.
But enough about me; readers, I want to hear from you. When it comes to your gadgets, are you the type that likes to match, or do you prefer to have a variety of platforms at hand? Let us know what you use and why in the comments below!
Images via Addictive Tips, Hot Hardware
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