iPhone v Android

Within the tech community there is the religious debate over the relative merits of iPhone v Android. As I have grown older (not necessarily wiser) I have become a little more critical in the way that I use technology.

So here is my tuppence worth of what I think about the two platforms.

Firstly, I really don't like the walled garden of the app store and particularly Apples rejection of applications that can potentially disrupt the cozy relationship that Apple build with the telcos', Google Voice springs to mind here. But Apple are not for changing (as Margaret Thatcher once said, but look what happened to her). So we are with the walled garden for the future.

For me, these days, it's more about the usability of the device than the technical capabilities - broadly speaking both platforms are very similar in capabilities so I'm not going to talk about all the silly little technical details that techies get hung up on.

What Apple does really well is integrate to iTunes, not a great shocker that but it's important to me, I want to get all the podcasts from the BBC in a simple way. The amount of messing about on an Android phone trying to find an app that did this was painful. The best one is the Google app, but it's not that great and did not work as I expected.

Photo's are the same, it's easy to take what you have, at least on a Mac and get photo's on the iPhone, yeah you can drag a drop on the Android but you have this horrible issue of having to mount the memory card. This is a small price to pay given that you can at least upgrade the memory on Android phones. As with the walled garden Apple do their utmost to prevent people actually getting below the surface of the iPhone and why does Apple insist on using glass the breaks so easily on their devices? I have never seen an Android phone with a broken screen but I have lost count of the number of iPhones!

Not sure why Android only allows a certain amount of space for applications, this seems nuts to me, this may have changed in the latest version but you notice a considerable slow down in the Android performance the more apps you install. This is wrong, fix it Google!

Will Android be able to loose the geeky overtones is the real question, user interface improvements have come mainly from people like HTC, but with power comes flexibility, the real question is do we need that flexibility? I'm not sure we do.

Never underestimate the power of design, the iPhone 4 looks beautiful, I love the sleek nature, the rounded edges and it's a phone I want to fondle, I can not say that about any Android design I have seen!

I obviously own both Android and iPhone 4 (current phone) but Apple still has the edge as far as I am concerned. It's a fine line but Apple wins.

Is it really that difficult?

Honestly! I phoned son 1 today to make sure that he knew where he was going for his interview for uni (Chatham). Told him what time train he had to catch from New Malden (11:25) to catch the connecting train from Waterloo East so that he would be in good time (40 minutes to spare); even factoring in the fact that he would get lost.

Made him check out google maps so that he could see the name of the road that he had to walk up (Fort Pitt Hill).

What happens? he catches the late train, gets lost and arrives one hour late, this is EXACTLY what I knew would happen even with my careful intervention. Am I surprised, no! Do I dispare, yes!

Service!!

Michel Roux Service has been great, eight unemployed young people taken on a journey to understand and then grow to love service!

The trouble with that word "service" is that even with a very limited education, most people know the difference between being served and to serve and would rather be at the receiving end of the former rather than the actor of the latter.

When I left school at 16 I went to catering college to train as a chef, I took City and Guilds certificates in cookery for the catering industry (706/1 and 2). To be honest I did not really want to be a chef but I did not want to stay on at school either. I was not academic, so staying on at school was not really an option for me.

I went to Thanet Technical College and had one of the best teachers that I have ever had, I learnt to cook and I am very proud of the time that I spent there; and Service has brought back the memory of the what this experience taught me; don't get me wrong, I'm not getting all romantic about the catering industry, it's bloody hard work; you're working whilst others are having fun and the concept of a bank holiday (what's that?) does not exist! You work split shifts, basically the first part of the day, about a three hour break in the middle and then you go back for the evening service and I was lucky if I was in bed by 12am.

BUT the life skills I learnt were really important, how to deal with people, work as a team player, lead when required and how not to take myself too seriously!

Michel Roux aim was to introduce BRITISH people to Service; over 30 years ago, when I was in the industry there were very few British people in the industry and from the restaurants that I visit now from the high street chain to three star, the situation has not changed, it's got worse! So Michel has done a wonderful "service" to the industry and lets hope that British young people can see that this is a real career, with skill, beauty and passion.