Au Revoir, Android (On How Uncool Android Has Become)

‎Having an Android handset has never been a disappointment like this. As more and more people have Android phones on earth, one thing you must know is that you should be ready if your handset turns obsoletely unupgradable within 1-2 years of use. Yes, it costs us cheap as hell but if you don’t want to have a pricey smartphone that will end up too soon in a landfill, or even worse, left unused in the drawer though actually still it can function, you’d better find any other alternatives. Such as Apple’s iPhone. Ahem…

I know BlackBerry sucks when it comes to apps, ecosystem, and so on, but admit it, even if you think it sucks a lot, the security is much better. That’s why Obama doesn’t use Android or iPhone. Because the security of BlackBerry is better! How come? Thanks to the much fewer apps it provides on BlackBerry World! A security expert says the more apps a platform has, the higher the security risk means. Within an app, comes also a bunch of security flaws that are maybe exploited by hackers.

Android is way too unsecure for sure. Look at the uncurated, unfiltered Google Play, which is filled with fake applications for anyone to download. As Nathaniel Mott of Pando Daily puts it some days ago, “Android can sometimes seem like a no-win product for Google, especially where security is concerned.” And I can hardly believe how ignorant Google is to the cyber safety of older Android handsets owners. They pretty much don’t care.

Mott says again:

“The company can either assert more control over the platform and risk the alienation of its manufacturing partners, or it can leave things alone and receive criticism when security vulnerabilities aren’t fixed in a timely manner — if they’re ever fixed at all. This problem is highlighted by Google’sinability to fix several security vulnerabilities in the WebView component included with versions of the platform before the release of Android 4.4 “KitKat” in October 2013. As the company’s engineers told the developer of the Metasploit Project after he emailed them about the newly-discovered vulnerabilities: If the affected version [of WebView] is before 4.4, we generally do not develop the patches ourselves, but welcome patches with the report for consideration. Other than notifying OEMs, we will not be able to take action on any report that is affecting versions before 4.4 that are not accompanied with a patch. It’s not that Google doesn’t want to fix the vulnerability — it’s that Android was designed in such a way that it can’t fix the problem itself. Manufacturers have to develop their own fixes, or decide to send Google’s updates to their devices because they’re responsible for the software installed on their smartphones. (Carriers also have some input.) The only problem? Manufacturers often stop sending updates to older devices after a certain period of time because they’re focused on newer products. That has hurt consumers in the past, like when Google revealed thatpeople using older Android devices will remain vulnerable to the infamous Heartbleed bug until manufacturers release a fix. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that many manufacturers never update older devices to more recent versions of Android. After all, if they can’t be bothered to release security updates, why go through the trouble of working on a much larger Android update? So even though Google is working on this issue, it will be years before consumers benefit. Google is trying to do the right thing, but it made a mistake when it sacrificed control over Android for the sake of market share. Now its customers are paying the price, and because its name is attached to Android despite its lack of say over how manufacturers use the platform, it could face backlash for the perception of it not caring about consumers.‎” (Nathaniel Mott)

I ditched my Samsung Galaxy Nexus 2 months ago. Not that it defuncted or started to fall apart, but I just develop a new interest in iPhone. The Nexus 2 and iPhone 4S don’t differ much but one thing I notice is the fact that you are less likely to find a malware, or crapware on App Store. And I have a BlackBerry for a blogging and writing purpose (this is the thing I am writing this very blog post on). So I don’t quite care about the apps on my BlackBerry Q5. As long as it can work well to blog and draft my news articles on the go, why should I download crappy apps?

On Being More Entrepreneurial without Becoming an Entrepreneur

Writing for an entrepreneurship website for the last 4 years made me in some way think about how overly hyped entrepreneurship has become these days. So overly hyped it resembles a new faith in the modern world, with Silicon Valley hugely successful entrepreneurs and CEOs as its gods and goddesses, seasoned entrepreneurs as priests, saints and prophets, and then new fledgling ones scattered all over the world as followers. And as historians, journalists are standing, observing, criticizing and praising over the time while taking notes on who should be the winners and losers along with the recounts of dynamics.

Awesome. Simply awesome.

Yet, I can’t tell I want to be an entrepreneur after listening and witnessing how they can transform into a profitable business entity in several years.

As Sarah Lacy of Pando.com put it, NOT everyone should be an entrepreneur (my editor deemed the line to be too risky as a title, and chopped it out). Not everyone should be a professional singer, or writer or basket player eventually but definitely anyone can sing or write or play basketball as they desire. I cannot agree more on that. She has a clear point on why transforming everyone into an entrepreneur is ridiculously impossible. And to me it could be a tragic attempt at making a nation more prosperous and developed. Even if you have pots of money saved in a limitless bank account to fund the entrepreneurship programs in a random, sporadic, moody, unplanned kind of fashion, you’ll only tire yourselves because there’ll be hardly tangible, satisfactory results. Ever. But kudos to those who initiated anything like this. I by no means look down on them and their hard work but I advise they go find better strategies.

But of course, apart from that controversy, anyone can still be more entrepreneurial without having to be an entrepreneur him/herself. In fact, s/he can just learn to improve life quality by using some simple but efficacious ‘innovations’ (you don’t know how terribly I’m cringing every time I – with zillions of people out there – abuse this magic word INNOVATION. For God’s sake!)

Someone invented the word “intrapreneur” to refer to employees with a streak of entrepreneurial spirit in them. They’re not the bosses but they think, speak and work like their employers. Under a controlled situation, they can be a huge asset to companies or startups they work for. But once they’re fed up and too brutal for employers to handle, they may launch a startup after leaving the company. Intrapreneurs are like entrepreneurs but in a milder version. Pseudo entrepreneurs, if I might say. They might be the phase an entrepreneur has to go through before hatching as a real one.

There’re other cases where you can see the recurring pattern as follows:
[Insert a word you like] + PRENEUR

Hence, we can discover a plethora of portmanteau words like mompreneurs (mommies + entrepreneurs), writerpreneurs (writers + entrepreneurs), and the list goes on.

How on earth can this be happening? Do they only want to show you how ‘tamed’ and lovely entrepreneurship is so it can be every word’s tandem? My hunch is they just won’t do it (making up these new words) to kill time. These people do want to be entrepreneurs but something holds them back to plunge in as a typical tech entrepreneur you easily find on mainstream media and blogs because it’s too far away and thus scary and intimidating. It’s their dedication, love or adoration of certain disciplines or walks of life that encourage them to be more wealthy or self sufficient or to be able to change the world in THEIR own manners, way different from the typical entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg. Their definition of entrepreneurship is different from the Silicon Valley’s. Like me. I don’t want to be like Zuckerberg, as I know well I’m not playing to my strength by aiming high in tech realm. I naturally won’t do it. Rather, being a writerpreneur seems more reasonable and more friendly a way to approach entrepreneurship because writing is my biggest passion of all. It’s ok if I don’t make as much money as Ms. Rowling or Meyer or Steele, because I only need to earn a living for myself and my future family. If it works, good for me, I can develop. If it fails, no hurt feelings. Start again by consistently perfecting the writing skills and selling the hard-earned skills I’ve built up for years. So, to writerpreneurs their writing passion is the priority. Likewise, mompreneurs would be unwilling to relinquish their motherhood only for a handsome sum of money. It’s their being moms which matters most in their life. Business comes second.

What I’m trying to say is just be what you really are and approach entrepreneurship however you like and find most convenient. It’s ok to be pseudo-entrepreneurs like intrapreneurs or mompreneurs if it really fits your situation. Not an excuse, but a situation.

BlackBerry Still Rocks, so Do iPhone and Android

“Still a huge fan of BlackBerry?”‎he mocked me while I had my handset in hand. I was there, eating my meal and guess what, blogging (now you all know why I blog a little bit too frequently). On my BlackBerry, I find it more convenient to type because the keyboard is still cute and wildly functional to me.

It got me thinking:”Why are people so mean to me just because I’m (and will be) using BlackBerry?”‎ I love it for a strong reason: blogging.

At work, I have a bunch of coworkers who are, let me call them this way, Android maniacs. These folks are those typical fandroid who may be willingly married and having an intercourse with their Android handsets if these gadgets were alive.‎ They sneered as I was found to have a BlackBerry handset at work. “Disappointing… Downgrade,”murmured they.

I don’t get the point of this fanaticism.

On another occasion, when I lashed out on Facebook on how my iPhone failed to receive signals several times a day, ‎I was addressed by a distant friend who happened to think I was a hater of Apple products. He himself is a user of iPhone and would love to voluntarily endorse it to anyone he knows about the huge potential of iPhone in improving our lives. I thanked him for the nice words.

Android fans hate BlackBerry, saying it’s obsolete.
Android fans loathe iPhone, arguing it’s overpriced.
iPhone worshippers mock BlackBerry, claiming it has begun to be part of history.
iPhone worshippers dissed Android, accusing Google Play of having too many crappy and spammy apps to lure us.
BlackBerry owners love the joy of typing so hate the sensation of virtual keyboard use but still long for iPhone or Android to enjoy the web surfing.

This has got to cease. Because it’s ridiculously childish.

Buy anything which suits your needs best! Period.

There I said it.