A Voice in the Wind

I just saw yet another article on Engadget about how Android sales are overtaking the iPhone (and other smartphone OS). I rarely actually read these any more because I am so tired of the media (yes, I'm referring to Engadget and its tech-blog cronies as media) constructing this Apple vs Android war.


Andrew has owned both an iPhone and an Android phone, and has spend much time perusing the comments sections of all the news about both products, and sometimes shares his findings with me. We have both noticed that the prevailing sentiment is that Android is the underdog good guy and all around a superior phone in every way. There are reasons to choose either phone that I'm not going to go into, but suffice it to say, there is no clear "victor" yet in this war. It depends on what the user wants from the phone.

The thing that's really bugging me about this is that Andrew has on several occasions posted thoughtful, informative comments on these articles--and gotten positive feedback from other commenters--but even though he is able to win small victories for "reasonableness" and "logic," the fact is that these articles continue to surface, months after I thought/hoped they had died down, means that these small tactical moves he's making ultimately have not added up to any big change, meaning that frustration is the overarching feeling both of us have about the Apple/Android war.

Not to draw a direct parallel between people who think Apple is an ok phone and disenfranchised people with a legitimate reason to feel small and powerless to change the big picture, but sheesh! It is so frustrating to work against the grain and against the structure. My future non-thesis is developing in my head based on the idea that small, tactical maneuvers can in fact empower people in meaningful ways, as I've read about in Tactics of Hope and writings on the DUSTY project. I've had reservations about whether or not this is actually helping people "craft an agentive self" since the beginning.

I would love for that to be true. And I do see how it is possible to make small changes that only affect the horizontal workings of a community, at least at first, and hope for structural change to come later. All I'm saying is it is super exhausting to keep seeing these "Android rulez iPhone droolz" articles when I know Andrew has spent so much time and brain power pointing out why that's silly.