More than any other aspect of the changing times, I think the personalization of our phones is the one thing that really stands out. No, not from different colors or cases, but from the way that these phones have become so integrated with our lives. I can still remember “way back when” when phones were just another device, and were only really part of a person if they were using it for business. The average person on the street may have had a smartphone, but they certainly didn’t cling to them like we do now.

And thankfully for all of us, there are several different options to choose from. Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry OS, Microsoft’s Windows Phone, and plenty of other names within the mobile arena. While the list is dwindling, especially compared to how it used to be, there are still plenty of strong choices to choose from. Unfortunately, the ugly side of that is the “fanboy” issue that crops up, due to the fact that we take these things so seriously.

I’m not going to sit here and make a case against fanboyism, because there’s no point to. It’s not going anywhere. We are connected to our smartphones, tablets, and other devices so distinctly, that we feel like we need to defend our choices for their usage, especially when someone else feels the same emotion about an entirely different platform or device.

It happens. Sure, it should never get to the extremes it does, but I’m not shocked that it does anymore.

So, I’m going to sit down and talk to you Dear Reader in a different way, and hope that, maybe, we can create a conversation that helps to understand one point of view, one at a time. And we’re going to start with Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS. The platform that is currently running on the iPhone, the iPad, and the iPod Touch. These mass-market devices have changed the landscape of their specific niche over the years, even if the argument could be made that the mobile platform they are based on is starting to become stale.

I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been able to use a wide array of devices over the years, and because of that I’ve been able to make changes to the way that I do things on a day-to-day-basis, and find what works best for me in the moment. Yes, I am aware that what I want now isn’t going to be what I want six months from now, and that’s why I change platforms, devices, and even ecosystems so often. (I’m hoping that is changing, but I’m not holding my breath.)

So I’ve spent plenty of time with iOS. I’ve watched as it evolved over the years, offered up new things, and even worked in features from other platforms. I’ve used the mobile operating system offered by Apple in such a way that I thought I’d never be able to replace it; and I’ve been beaten into boredom by the grid layout more than once.

I’ve gone through all these things, but I can still sit here and say that iOS, even if the outward appearance hasn’t changed much since 2007, is still one of the best options for a wide variety of people, and for a wide variety of reasons. Stability, ease of use, functionality (courtesy of applications), the application choices themselves, and the cloud. All of these things are why I’ve used iOS in the past, and they could very well be the reasons why I go back to the platform at some point in the future.

So here’s what I want to know from all of you: why do you use iOS? Why have you turned to the iPhone for your smartphone needs? Why does the iPad fill the gap in your tablet needs? Why do you use the iPod Touch? And for those of you out there who don’t use iOS, go ahead and tell me why you have chosen to opt out of Apple’s ecosystem, and which platform you have chosen to favor.