In 2001, I purchased my first Apple computer (a G3 iBook) and since then I have never really looked back. At home and at work, I have had the opportunity to use – and to enjoy using – just about most items from Apple's inventory (from Mac minis to Mac Pros, and everything in between). The transition to a Unix based operating system (OS) was what initially attracted me and I have appreciated the layers of polish and functionality that each release of OS X has brought (the days when I was a user of OS X 10.1 'puma' seem a long time ago). Aside from computers, I've owned five different iPods (iPod classic 3rd & 5th gen, iPod shuffle 1st  & 3rd gen, and iPod touch 1st gen). If you add to the mix the Airport Express and Time Capsule, plus paid Apple software (iWork) then I can provide no reasonable defense against accusations that I am an Apple 'fan boy' (though I have not gone as far as these people). So it's only logical that my phone is an iPhone right?

 

Umm. Well no. Don't get me wrong I would really like an iPhone. Actually, I would love to own an iPhone. It would simplify many aspects of my digital life. But I am not yet prepared to make a pact with the devil and sign up with AT&T. It's not just that there a lot of other people who seem unhappy with AT&T. And it's not just that AT&T have made poor progress on promises such as enabling tethering before the end of 2009. And it's not even about the horrendous home Internet service that I received from them which capped the download speed to half the stated maximum (how does that class-action lawsuit feel now?). It's a mixture of all these things, coupled to the fact that I also really enjoy the service that I get from my current cellular provider, T-mobile. 

 

So when our two-year T-mobile contract came to an end last October, I didn't exactly rush out to sign up for an iPhone. Rather than sign up for another two years with T-mobile, I signed up for one of their excellent Even More Plus plans. As I was in the position to pay the full price for a phone, this plan means that there is no annual contract. I am free to walk away at any time I choose. This gives me hope that one day I will be holding the next generation iPhone in my hands (just as soon as Apple partner up with any other carrier).

 

So what did I go for instead? Well there was only ever one choice for me, Google's Nexus One. At the end of last year there were very few Android phones on T-mobile (how times change) and I came close to buying a Samsung Behold II. I'm glad I skipped over this as it is still stuck on version 1.5 of the Android OS and Samsung angered many when it recently announced that it will only ever be upgradeable to 1.6. This fragmentation of the Android ecosystem, along with the myriad add-on user interfaces (Sense, MotoBlur etc.) is the main reason I held off from some of the early models of Android phones. I think that the potential problems of fragmentation is best encapsulated by the fact that someone has actually set up a website androidfragmentation.com to cover this issue (I doubt if there will ever be a iphoneosfragmentation.com). If you are in the market for a new Android phone, then I would be worried about the shelf-life of many Android hand sets that are out there at the moment. Hopefully my Nexus One should be good for at least 2–3 more updates and I look forward to being able to taste the sweet delights of OS 2.2. 'Froyo' on it very soon. Incidentally, even if there was no iPhone and Android was the only player in town, then I still don't think that I would buy an Android device from AT&T.

 

So the point of all of this rambling, dear reader, is that I am in a situation where a) I have a high-performance Android phone and b) I have a Mac. How do these two co-exist, and more to the point, can they co-exist? In an ideal world I would like to use software that can sync between my computer and my phone and to the cloud. I.e.

 

My attempts to do this, will be chronicled in part 2 of this blog series. I will list the software that I've switched to using in order to achieve harmony with my e-life.