Android vs iPhone

I recently read an article on CNN.com about Android outperforming iPhones  and Blackeberry in a market research report  by comScore. According to the article, two and a half years from its inception to the U.S market, the google Android is the most popular Smartphone in the U.S. According to the market research by comScore, the android is rising above the iPhone and Blackberry. (Sutter, 2011).

            Being just in the market, the Blackberry seems to be popular, and belonging to Apple,  the iPhone seems to be the coolest phone. However, consumers are more drawn to the Android. The reason according to CNN is the variety of options the Android provides. While there is only one iPhone, there are dozens of android options. While the iPhone is only  with AT&T, Android phones are major U.S wireless networks  as well as smaller carriers . Having oprios makes it attractive to consumers. (Sutter, 2011).

            The Android versus iPhone tug of war has a lot of things said about both phones. The iPhone faithful call Android developers not capable of original thought and their rise is just temporary. This is a war that will be interesting to watch. Whether Android will completely outweigh the iPhone or the iPhone will regain its glory, only time will tell. But for now, more consumers use Androids compared to iPhones.

Charlie Sheen needs a silent treatment

This past week has been full of Charlie Sheen in the News. The Police taking his kids and putting them under the custody of a still-in-rehab mother. His uncanny comments about fame and how his actions are affecting his daughters. His calling himself a rock star in an interview where he is supposed to come clean with his behavior. Many of us expected him to apologize and give a heartfelt performance that Fame and fortune was to be blamed for his bad behavior, yet he defies the odds by putting one bad act after another.

Rebellious celebrities are nothing new. We have seen rebels from Linday Lohan and countless of rock stars. Everyone pitied Lindsay Lohan because they felt she had missed a lot of her childhood and that her parents were fame and fortune seeking. My sentiments for Charlie are with the general public, he is being a bad example to his children and his measures to rectify the situation are not really helping. Yet it makes me wonder, is he doing this for the attention that the media is giving him?

May be there is no such a thing as bad publicity. His bad behavior is talked about more than anything good going on. May be real punishment for superstars isn’t publicity to damage their names; it is shunning them from publicity all together. If Charlie Sheen does something bad, there should be no mention of him in the gossip columns. Then again, good news doesn’t sell as much as bad. Yet my sentiment to this is we are making them celebrities by wanting to know why, or following the next worst thing. The silent treatment works in many situations, may be situations like Charlie Sheen need the same.

No FACEBOOK Week Ritual

Rituals come from routine and they may change over time. When I was younger I used to pray before I slept and when I woke up. With the internet and new behavior, I tend to check my emails, update my last facebook status and turn off the computer. When I wake up, I turn on the computer, Check my emails and my facebook and then may be pray. Many rituals that prevail now relate to technology: Yoga routine on a smart phone, Wake up and check weather updates, or check your inbox and update your status.  Other rituals relate to the obsession with being thin: wake up and run on the treadmill, take your diet pills. Some relate to the pace of life, like wake up and get your morning boost of coffee. Rituals prevail with the society’s cultural influences: technology, fitness or alertness. Some rituals are prevalent in a certain time period only, like during football season or baseball season.

            Rituals do not just happen; they are developed and taught until they become a part of someone’s life. I would like to develop a no Facebook week in my school, and focus on building relationships face to face. There is such a disconnect among people yet we are one big happy family online. We have thoughts, ideas, and insights to post but nothing to say to a group of people. The internet phenomenon has brought amazing things but it is killing out interpersonal connections when we meet. The No Facebook week is to change the LOL into real laughter, and :) into a real smile. To change :( into real sympathy as we relate with other people. Humans are emotional beings but we are slowly becoming disconnected from our emotions and becoming machine like with our virtual relationships and no real relationships.

            Rituals are actions, that can be changed when we want to. Although they help us connect, when we know that there are people like us, and they provide meaning to our lives; they do not start from nothing. They are developed, taught, and redone until they become a part of our normal lives. They explain our beliefs. They are also vital to businesses. McDonalds understands the morning coffee ritual and incorporates it in their advertising. Knowing what people will do, can make you create products to facilitate their ritual. If the Church were up for it, there would be facebook confessions. However, since rituals carry a deeper meaning than the action, it embodies the belief, only a few rituals make the cut and become acceptable by many.

Love on Televison: Genuine, Money or Fame ?

It has become quite a normal thing for people to seek love on television. There are a number of reality shows that are dedicated to someone finding love: What Chilli wants, Ray J, the Bachelor, Frank the Entertainer in the Basement affair, and Flavor of love. It makes you wonder, is it genuine search for love, is it fame, or is it money? Why is everyone running to television to find love, what happened to the normal drill where people meet and fall in love? To actively search for love on national television seems more like a search for fame.

I recently watched What Chilli wants on VH1, and it was amazing how one person can date all these men in hopes to find a husband and a baby in a very short time. Then again, chilli is a singer from TLC, a formerly popular pop group that is no longer as famous as it was. Is it a search for love, or a revival of the fame she once had?

The next issue in these shows is, they go through the finding love process and they say they have found the one.  However, on the next season you will find that they are still looking for love. Is it really love they are looking for or money from displaying their love life on television? Whether genuine or not, money and fame is definitely the issue at hand.

Icons

The first icon in modern times is the iPod, a portable media player that has become part of youth culture. This is an icon that represents technology and innovation in a youthful way. It represents superiority in thinking and style. An iPod is not just an mp3 player;  it represents a new generation of media players. To the owners, they are sacred items. They represent personal taste and revolution in technology that others can only dream of. Not everyone may have an iPod, but everyone knows what it is.  Andy Serwer in an Article in Fortune said, “IT'S HARD TO RECALL ANY BRANDED RECREATIONAL product that ever carried the cultural oomph that the iPod now has” (Serwer, 2005). The iPod is now part of mainstream culture in the United States and in many other countries.

Another contemporary icon is Nelson Mandela. He defines the fight against the South African Apartheid. His imprisonment and triumph over the apartheid system makes him an iconic figure to Africa and to the rest of the world. According to Daniel Lieberfeld, Nelson Mandela had such influence that, although he disappeared from public view for thirty years, he had critical accomplishments that lead to the freedom of South Africa. He symbolized the majority of South Africans that were imprisoned and enslaved. His movement represents rising above any kind of oppression, and standing for your belief. (Lieberfeld, 2004). Nelson Mandela is an icon, for both Africans and the international community. People seek to see him or hear him speak; his legacy is one that will not be easily forgotten. 

The next icon is Google. Google is a search engine that has become the alterative word for search. Google is an icon because it represents a revolution to availability of information. Every information you need is at the tip of your fingers. If you need to find something, all you need is to Google and you will find it or at least find something that will lead you to it. Information is power, and making it available to everyone is empowering. Information access used to be very limited until google. According to The Journal of International Affairs interview with Michael Jones, a technology advocate for google, “Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful” (Vericat, 2010).  Google, by providing information free for all enables societies to educate, learn and become better. They are more than a search engine, they help societies become better. (Vericat, 2010).