Sometimes, when I least expect it, I'll look at whatever device I might have lying around, stare at it for a few moments, and then realize out of the blue that I want to use something else entirely. It doesn't matter what it is, either. Actually, I take that back. My TV is pretty safe from this scrutiny, but just about anything else seems fair game for getting replaced by something else. Worse, this usually means that I'm jumping ship from some platform to another. More often than not, it means leaving iOS to try out Android again, or to really give Windows Phone a shot for the upteenth time. 

It happened to me again late last night. I was sitting there, just minding my own business, when I looked at my iPhone 6 and realized that I wanted to use something else. Not anything else, mind you, because at this point I'm pretty sure there are more phones out there that I don't want to use, compared to the number of devices I would like to pick up as my daily driver. So, while my selection may be a bit smaller these days, that doesn't stop me from wanting to use something else. And so, as I sat there and stared at my iPhone, trying to figure out what, exactly, had brought on this desire to switch, I was also trying to figure out something else to use. 

Which device could replace the iPhone 6? 

I'm sure if I asked a wide assortment of people, I'd get plenty of different answers. Of course, there are people out there that would tell me switching to anything else would just be stupid, and that I'd eventually (probably sooner than later) just switch back to the iPhone anyway, so why even waste the time? And on the other side of the coin, I'd find someone who'd give me a laundry list of other handsets that are "better" than the iPhone 6, and that I'd be better off with any one of them. 

So I went through that mental list. I optioned devices, one after another, and found plenty of positives and negatives. There are a lot of great handsets out there, so it can be hard to choose sometimes. Especially when it's on the fly like that, completely out of the blue. I looked over the new Moto X. I looked at the LG G3 (especially after hearing that Android 5.0 Lollipop is right around the corner). I considered the Galaxy Note 4. I considered the One (M8) for Windows, and even thought about picking up a Lumia 1020 again. 

As I cycled through each handset, discarded it and then went back to it, because this went on for hours, I thought about the features that I want. The features that I want to use. And, perhaps surprisingly, I kept landing on Windows Phone. I kept looking at the One (M8) for Windows and Lumia 1020, and even came close to buying one. Why? Because Cortana. I really enjoyed using Microsoft's digital personal assistant when it first launched, and I'm jonesing to use it again. That could be the driving reason why I'm looking to use something else. Whatever the case, Windows Phone is close to being my daily driver again. 

At least, it was. 

And then I realized that if I do switch to Windows Phone, I'm going to have to make some pretty big changes. More than that, though, I'm going to have to change the way I do things every single day. I'm going to have to switch from headphones to a Bluetooth audio source differently, and, worse, it's going to be infinitely more frustrating on a Windows Phone-based handset. My headphones aren't going to work as perfectly as they do with the Windows Phone handset as they do with the iPhone. Some apps just aren't going to be as good as their iOS counterpart. 

 And that's when I realized that, when it comes to my daily driver, I'm stuck on the iPhone. I'm stuck because of the features that I use every single day, or apps, aren't as good as they are on other platforms (in this specific case, Windows Phone). Sure, switching from headphones to a Bluetooth audio source, and vice versa, is a small issue, but it's something I do every single day, so taking extra steps to get the same job done that now just takes a simple swipe and tap would drive me crazy. 

 So I'm stuck. I genuinely want to switch to Windows Phone and really use Cortana, but I'm thinking the transition won't stick, or even make a dent. I feel like I already know that these features I use every day will be what drive me back to the clutches of iOS, and even going somewhere else or trying something different will indeed be a waste of time. Because I'm stuck. Which is, admittedly, a weird thing, because obviously these features are things I like. This is why it's hard not to have a blind loyalty to a platform or company. Switching is hard.