You've finally done it; you finally have all the matching electronics from your beloved tech company. You've imagined this perfect world where your phone shares well with your tablet, laptop, and desktop. You think of the beautiful symmetry involved in seamlessly taking a document from your desktop to your phone while you are on the go and then dream of yourself laughing and smiling because nothing ever goes wrong with your technology.
Then you wake up.
Sorry to bring you back to reality, but our technology isn't as friendly as we want it to be, at least not in the right ways and at the right times. If you have bought all of one brand's gear, say all Macs, is it because you thought that you needed all their products in order for them to work together? Is it because it just seemed like the safer bet?
If you have two products from the same tech company, it probably felt easier for you right? Whether it be the operating system, one feature you don't want to live without or you simply like the look, branding plays a huge part in it all.
What if I told you that brands lie to you?
I had a conversation with a friend once where he told me that it was really nice that he could control his Apple TV with his iPhone, and this made his life easier. Sweet deal! How exclusive and customer minded!
Did you know there is an Andriod app that allows you to control your Apple TV on your Andriod phone? What?! Yes, I know, but it's true.
Competing companies (like Apple and Microsoft) don't want you to know that there are ways that you can get both of them to play nice with one another, and they certainly don't want you to know that another company may be strong in an area they are weak. But as we all are using some kind of technology (unless you are that one person who somehow doesn't need to, which means you probably wouldn't be reading this) don't we deserve the best regardless of brand?
There are hundreds of examples where the real answer to getting the most out of your investment is found in taking advantage of the best of each brand. For example, maybe you like your iPhone 6, but want a laptop that can keep up with you and have a variety of different software programs to choose from. In that case, you could get a PC laptop. A few years ago, an iPod was the only smooth mp3 player, today most people just use their phones. In the 80's and 90's Mac's were considered design computers, now they share a lot of the same design software, which makes it all come down to personal preference in the end.
So what I'm saying, don't let yourself become "branded" by a company's sweet and oddly satisfying marketing schemes. All your technology works for you, and the money you fork over should come with assurances that you know what you are getting, not just a wistful hope that one company will magically take care of all of your needs.
So branch out, do some research, be unbranded.
