Which device has made the largest positive difference to your quality of life?

Question

Which device has made the largest positive difference to your quality of life?

3 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

Without a shadow of doubt, my Iphone. I guess it could be any smart phone.

I used to have a Blackberry and resisted changing to an Iphone as I originally thought that they were a fashion item and didn't see the value in them. Now I use my phone non-stop. So much so, I have an Ipad mini too, just so I don't get eye-strain from looking at the smaller screen.

The normal day to day uses are:

Making 'phone calls
Texting (definitely do this more than speaking on the 'phone)
Using Facebook
Using Twitter-has saved me about £10 a month in magazine costs
Setting alarms
Diarising and arranging meetings
Checking my bank balance
Surfing the internet
Watching You Tube clips

You might think this doesn't make it very special. However the other features that really add to my quality of life are:

The camera - Having a great resolution camera on me 24/7 has meant that I can capture moments that otherwise would have just been an anecdote with no imagery. I've captured sunsets, sunrises, my cat pulling silly poses, people in awful outfits and even a butterfly hatching out of a chrysalis! Often, my friends and I say 'picture or it didn't happen', so the camera-phone is now a part of everyday life and I'm sure most of us take it for granted. I took this one on a spring day out in Norfolk, so it's nice to have this as a permanent reminder of a lovely day.

Google Maps - I definitely need a portable map. My sense of direction is terrible, and on a recent trip to New York, all I did was to get my phone out, input where I needed to go, and off I went. You can even look on street view so you know what the building looks like that you're going to. Imagine the time this has saved me! Other apps such as the London Underground Tube map are awesome for the same reason. I always used to get on one going the wrong way! Google maps also has a great turn-by-turn sat nav and the ability to locate friends, which I've found useful when friends have visited my city and can't describe where they are. I find them on Latitude and get directions to them!

I find the Iphone very easy to use, although a little bit too easy to damage. I haven't tried any other smart phones to give a fair comparison. My cell phone is literally my personal organiser. I would be lost without it!

Answer 2

My trusty iPhone hasn't just had a positive impact on my quality of life, it has effectively become an extension of myself.

Why I love my phone

My lightly-scratched 3GS has been more of a life-companion in the past couple of years, than a mere phone.

I use it to play Words with Friends when I'm going to bed at night, and I check my Facebook with it when my eyes are still half-open first thing in the morning.

I've used it to connect to free WiFi whilst riding the subway in Seoul - and I've used it to navigate the night-buses of London after a night out.

My "camera roll" contains pictures of my daughter's birth, and it also has video footage of people looting the shop underneath our house during the 2011 London Riots.

I use my iPhone to download tickets for events, and I use it to access information about everything I've ever wanted to know.

Losing my iPhone

Nothing crystallizes how you feel about something more than when you come close to losing it.

I've been parted with my iPhone twice (both times on the London transport system).

On the first occasion, my mobile device slipped out of my pocket and a fellow commuter got off the train and chased me down the platform to reunite me with it.

On the second occasion (when exactly the same thing happened on a bus), I was able to retrieve it from a Transport For London bus depot's lost and found box!

This has not only taught me to be more careful with my phone, but it also proves that my phone and I make a lucky partnership!

That's why I haven't had the heart to tell it that it'll be time to upgrade very soon.

Answer 3

I'd have to pick two devices, really - the MacBook Air and iPhone 4S combination. Why? It's got to be for the incredible synchronicity that comes with owning two Apple products.

The MacBook Air

I bought a MacBook after becoming sick of unreliable computers, laptops and netbooks that never seemed to last more than 18 months before dying on me (worst was a netbook that lasted 3 months before giving up the ghost).

The Macbook Air is tiny, lightweight and seems so far to be far more durable than any other computer I've had. I take it absolutely everywhere with me - to work, to class, and even into town, just in case I have a spare half-hour to get some writing done in a coffee-shop somewhere.

I've got the 11" model, and it's so light that I often have to double-check my bag just to make sure I haven't left it at home! It's incredibly fast, innovative, and looks gorgeous. I love the light-up keyboard in particular!

The iPhone

I had a Samsung Galaxy SII for about 18 months, and I loved it. I recommended it to everyone I knew. However, when I dropped and smashed it, I had to quickly decide what to do for a new phone. I'd heard that you could sync things easily between a Mac and an iPhone, and after discussing this with various people in the Apple store and reading up online, I decided to go with the iPhone 4S.

I got it free on contract, and it was stolen 2 weeks later, but this is a testament to how much I loved it - I went out and paid full-price for another handset, just because it was so incredibly useful to have a MacBook and an iPhone that without it, I felt anxious and lost.

My Favourite Things About Owning Both an iPhone and a MacBook Air

Synchronised calendars, without having to do anything. If I put, say, a haircut into my phone calendar while I'm arranging it, I know it'll have popped up on my MacBook calendar by the time I'm home. It's helped me to be so much more organised!
Applications. I use Wunderlist as a to-do list on both my phone and my computer, and again, they sync up. For example, if I write a shopping list on my Mac and then go into town, I can check off each item as I buy it.
Photo-stream and iCloud. These features were great when my phone was stolen, as I managed to get back nearly all the photos I'd taken on vacation - when my phone was connected via WiFi, it uploaded the pictures to my photo-stream, which sent them to my MacBook.
The "Where's My iPhone?" App - Now, if I'd known about this when my phone was stolen, I'd have probably got it back. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! However, I've now got it - it's free, by the way - and I can use it to track the location of both my MacBook and my iPhone. I'll quite often use this just for my own amusement (I don't really know what's amusing about it, but that's not the point!) and I've also used it when I thought I left my phone in Starbucks (it wouldn't be the first time). The app showed me that my phone was in my house somewhere, which stopped me panicking, at least!
The camera on the iPhone is fantastic. I've got a good digital camera, but I don't bother taking it anywhere with me nowadays - my phone's just as good, and I always have it on me. It's one less thing to carry, too!
If I'm only leaving the house for an hour or so, I'll just take my phone - it does almost everything that my MacBook does, but it's just smaller. The internet is extremely fast, and having Spotify on my iPhone means I don't have to fill it up with music, or carry my iPod as well.

I used to hate Apple products on principle - I thought they were overpriced fashion accessories - but I'm a total convert now, and I'd never buy anything else, despite the price! I would recommend getting them insured, though. Gadget cover is indispensable if you're even slightly clumsy, and it's worth it for peace of mind.