Category: Mobile Phone

The tiny shift and a giant revolution

Human history is dotted with numerous incidents that felt like tiny, insignificant nudges at the time but fast forward a few years and these tiny nudges were found to be the tipping points of revolutions that shifted the way us humans move around. 

One such tiny nudge happened a couple of days ago when I got myself a sub-15K, Android Phone.

Now, this sounds like a tiny thing. Even trivial. After all, more than 89% of the country has these sub-15K phones and they seem to be getting by fine. I am definitely not special and thus this big deal that I am making out of a cheap phone is not called for. 

But maybe it is! 

Lemme try and explain. 

Few facts first.

A. I am a heavy user of mobile devices. So much so that I spend about 12 hours a day on a phone. At least since 2013, the device and OS of choice has been Apple (and iOS), barring a few days when I did not have one available. 

B. I am the greatest creature of habit I know. That means that I am used to working in a certain manner and with shortcuts that are now so ingrained in my muscle memory that to change those would be like attempting to climb Mt. Everest. Well… 

C. I have prioritized things that make my life simpler over things that make my life fancier. This means I don’t have a lot of clothes but whatever I have are from brands that I know offer comfort, durability, and yet are affordable to me. 

This affordable bit is important to explain. I can’t afford a Jimmy Choo. But I can afford a Crocs, a Cotton World. A Fabindia. I know these may be premium and expensive for a lot of people. But to me, these are affordable. Just like Jimmy could be affordable to a lot of people. 

And these are affordable because I do not spend on other things that add fanciness to life and most others find important. Things like multiple pairs of shoes, hundreds of dresses for various occasions, those knick-knacks that we try and gather around when we travel. So on and so forth.

So, to me, an Apple device is like that. May be it sells at a premium for a lot of people. I make it affordable for me. And I save for it. I know that it would help me work better, and would last longer. And will not cause frustration by going slow on me! 

D. I am irrational. I like to overpay for things. And especially for those that I know are made with thoughtfulness and offer quality and have been made with love. Just like Apple devices. Or Crocs. Or Nike. Even Kurutoga. Air Vistara. Starbucks. 

So now, here’s the explanation about the new Android device that I got. 

IMHO, in buying this device, I have had to compromise on the ethos that I stand for. Yeah, I am one of those weirdos that like to consume brands that are in sync with personal ethos. I don’t know a lot but I do try to be conscious about brands that I consume. I try to read about them. I try and understand where they stand on things like innovation, originality, design etc. I like to see what goes behind building and delivering what they do. You know, if they have a soul and not just a facade. 

Apple fits into my ethos. But a hardware manufacturer that makes cheap phones, hoping to imitate the brilliance of Apple, is not. Android is ok, except that I am not sure how to make it work for me – way too complicated and too much. If I were 18, I would probably love Android. But at my age, I prefer simplicity and speed and all that. 

And why did I get this device if its a problem? 

I have a one-word answer. Majboori. What majboori? Well, ask my echoChamber.

What’s next?

Of course get back to a iOS as soon as I can! 

Inshallah, soon. 

Curious case of bluetooth headsets

If you read this blog regularly or follow me on twitter (I am @saurabh and @sgSandbox on twitter), you would know that I drive for more than 4 hours and 100 KMs almost everyday. Blame it on the distance between my home and office. And since the drive is such a mundane and boring part of the day, I hate to waste it. Ever since I got onto the productivity drive, I thought if I gathered all the calls that I am supposed make (and return) and made them while driving, I could utilize my time.

But then Delhi Police is super efficient. They have a vision better than the stump vision and the hawk’s eye and they are experts at spotting people who are driving and talking on the phone. And to save on those unnecessary  traffic challans and further waste of time arguing with the cops, I decided to buy a bluetooth headset.

A bluetooth headset is a wonderful device if you ask me. It allows you to speak on the phone and yet let your hands remain free. I could do the same thing if I put my phone on a loudspeaker but then the voice quality is really bad. And then the headset comes for like a thousand bucks.

So using headsets is a no-brainer if you ask me. I bought one and could actually drive and talk and get a lot of thing done. Totally loved it. Till, I realize that these tiny devices need to be charged often. And for the same you need to bring them out of the car. And once they are out of the car, they have the tendency to get lost. As of writing this, I have lost about 5 such devices. The last one, about two hours back when I was out meeting a friend. And it has been bothering me since then. I am the kinds who likes to keep things at their place and I try to be organized. Losing things is something that is just cant tolerate.

And you know the worst part? I would have to buy it once again. I consider it that important a gadget. And I think this time, rather than the bluetooth headset, I would buy a wired headset with a mic. Atleast the wire will stay attached to the phone and hopefully I would not lose it. And since the wired ones are cheaper, I would not lose a lot of money, even if I lost it!

Aug 06: The Art of Dropping Subtle Hints in an Conversation

So todays post is a bit different. Am typing this on the phone. Tough, considering that I can’t format, use html, check spellings (I can but lemme exaggerate), do a word count (all my posts have at least 500 words), type with my fingers (and see my fingers do the jig on keyboard), and worst of all, I would not have the luxury of editing, copy pasting or proof reading this.

But like some things need to be kept sacrosanct, am trying to develop this habbit of penning something each day before I sleep. I have no clue if I would be able to do this in a long run, but I know that I can do it today and here is the post. Am calling it, the mobile revolution (note: changed the title once I started writing). Because, you guessed it, I am using a mobile phone to type this out. And I will write a piece of fiction. Am calling it, The Art of Dropping Subtle Hints in an Conversation.

A: Hi! Ssup? Too late to text? Is it?
B: Nah, not really. Was about to sleep. Have an early flight tomorrow. Wassup with you?
A: nothing much man. Just bored outta my wits.

A: wow! My boredom is infectious. Looks like you’ve slept. Anyways have a good flight. See you around

A: oh ya, get me some fenny while you are there. Heard its really potent.
B: Haha. I will try.

A: Ok. Lemme be blunt here. How does one make a conversation with you?
B: lol. I don’t know. The way you’re doing right now?
A: nopes. Its not helping. Ok, here’s another Q. What’s the weirdest question someone has ever asked you?
B: ummm, tough one.
B: I know. It was “How does one make a conversation with you?” 😀
A: Hehe. Nobbad Ms. Smarty pants! And what’s the weirdest answer you’ve ever given?
B: thank you thank you.

A: so?
B: oops. I don’t remember sorry. But it was to the effect that, dude, get lost. I am younger than your grand daughter.
A: Aha. Some oldie pervert tried hittin on you? Is it?
B: ya. Sorta. Let’s not go there. Anyways. I guess I should sleep. I don’t want to miss that flight.
A: Okies. And where’s your sense of adventure? Dint expect you to be this boring!
B: ya, Mr. Judge o personalities types.
A: How’d you guess? Its actually a specialty!
B: no kidding. Let’s test it. Tell me what am I thinking?
A: Easy! You’re thinking when would this guy come around and actually ask me out for dinner.
B: holy cow! So when?
A: There’s no time than now!
B: 🙂
A: Is that a yes?
B: almost.
A: Define almost.
B: let’s meet at the airport. Am sure they would have some seats left on that plane. Lemme finish the meeting in a couple of hours and then we will talk about dinners and questions and answers.
Oh yes. See you around. Tc

This is day 06 in a series of 31 daily blogposts. Other posts are here.

Cheap Bastard

I am addicted to phone and SMS. Blame it on super cheap tarrif plans that I had access to when I was at MDI and GE Money.

Now that I no longer work for someone else, I have to bear my phone bills myself. And they are killing me. I mean KILLING me. Ever since I left Mumbai, I have paid about 9000 bucks in phone bills. In just about two months. 45 odd days to be precise. And no, I am not exaggerating.

Damn. I dint know working for myself would be this hard 🙁

Sorry for the rant. Anyways, I my blog is read by bots, SEO experts, comment spammers and myself.