Apple Watch? Thanks, but no thanks.

Of course, I followed the unveiling event in real time online. And to say I was disappointed would be wrong.

As most already know, I'm an Android proselytiser, preaching to any who lends an ear, the benefits Android carries over other platforms especially over iOS, Android most powerful competitor (were you aware of this my position? If not, you now do).

So naturally, the question will be why would saying the Apple Watch was a disappointment be wrong, in effect? It'd mean I was lying. It's really easy to understand why. Allow me explain. Please indulge the length. It was deemed necessary to create a comprehensible background. Thank you.

Apple won itself international acclaim for the luxuriously finesse quality of their design chops. Until recently, no other device manufacturer came close to an Apple product where design was the criteria. None. Right next to it's renown for design, was it's ability to simplify a process into intuitive steps. Sliding, clicking, dragging and navigation (back and forth) on their devices were so easy, children could pick them up and get busy without much help.

Such was the visionary leadership of Steve Jobs that he could produce use-value in his devices that people never knew they needed and when they got it, wondered how they were able to have been living without it. Each iteration of their products, from the laptops to Personal Computers, from the iPods to the iPads and from one version of the iPhone to the next carried with it that premium feel that left those who saw it at the unveiling utterly speechless. It was Apple's inherent W-factor. The WOW-factor.

Then, Jobs died.

His death, couldn't have come at a most inauspicious time. For at the cusp of his passing, there was a new enemy on the horizon. Android. And the rise and rise of the Android army changed the landscape of tech competition and ineluctably signaled the beginning of the end of the W-factor.

I'd not deny Samsung's copying of Apple's "dress sense" in the design DNA of their initial Android devices, since Apple has won in some court rooms using exhibits Samsung couldn't deny, just as I'd not digress into the series of tech Apple relied on (you could also use "copied" here and not be wrong) but quickly patented in designing their iPhone.

However, forced to differentiate, Samsung went back to the drawing board and returned with a vengeance that has seen them trump the iPhone in every market ever since (save maybe America) and seen them displace Apple as the manufacturer with the most smartphone sales.

This Samsung triumph was heralded by the choices made available to users powered by Android. There was a screen size for all types of hands sizes (to each, his or her own) and tastes followed by the choice of storage expansion using memory cards and removable batteries (especially when you run out of power and need to keep your phone chugging on). It didn't stop there as regards choices on Android tho', Samsung was only the biggest fish in the pond. There was LG, Sony, Motorola and finally, of the big 5, there was HTC.

While Samsung danced around plastics (durable polycarbonate plastics tho') and made people who wanted a premium feel to their devices feel cheated, HTC always had the potential to blow away all competition when it came to design. To HTC then went all who cared a little more about how their phone felt in the hand but didn't want an iPhone. Yet, it wasn't until last year's HTC One (M7) did HTC come into it's own rivalling, nay beating, the iPhone at it's game of thrones for the prize of the most quality-feeling phone design. The top awards it won ahead of the iPhone in the design department only bore testimony to the end of the quality wars in Apple's favour.

HTC wasn't done yet and in 2014 bettered the M7 when they outed the HTC One M8. Though a glance was enough to know that there was no other phone on the planet quite like it, a touch of the device was other-worldly. It merely confirmed HTC as the design Kings. Dazall.

Now, as the loss of the W-factor condemned Apple to a lesser-than device manufacturer in the quality department, the pace of software development in Android, spurred by it's Open Source framework, blazed on. Teething problems like bugs, forced closes, freezing and lags across the Android OS shrank away when the hardware developed enough to match the awesome software. A plethora of devices for every price point (for the poor and rich, and everyone in between) no doubt helped to cement Android's leadership of the market segment.

All too suddenly, Apple found itself in an unfamiliar space. The catch-up space. It's premium-ness was now second to HTC and Android had become not only as intuitive but was gaining in widespread acceptance as the go-to device in markets where Apple used to enjoy exclusivity in smartphone experience and sale. Juxtaposed with some Android devices with larger screens, iPhones could almost pass for toyish copies. And Apple's legal battles with almost every other phone manufacturer was making it appear like a sorry loser, an adolescent unhappy with his more successful younger sibling. Worse, it's toyish devices were deemed luxury items cause they comparatively sold at a premium. Too expensive for what could be bought for less.

These pushed Apple to release two devices last year. A "longer" flagship (iPhone 5S) and a regular 5C which so happened to be the iPhone 4 in plastic. Steve Jobs must have recoiled in horror to see his beloved luxurious product in plastic but they had their backs on the wall and that was the response they could muster. The catching up game was catching up. The 5C was meant to be the cheaper version to challenge cheaper Android phones and the 5S was for the topdogs.

The failure of the C is a story of it's own. It's enough here to say that it was such a flop, even Apple was ashamed to be associated with it. So much so that they didn't renew the plastic this year.

But what do we see this year. More catch up. There's a pic-story I shared on my wall comparing the features of the iPhone 6 to my 2012 Nexus 4. #TrueStory but please don't let this prevent you from independent verification of the claims. The iPhone 6 Plus on the other hand improves on a few of those features and seems to be Apple's answer to the Phablets on Android especially the runaway success that is the Note "category" owned totally by Samsung but with a good number of competitors particularly the awesome LG G3, the first Quad Def screen.

So, finally we come to the Apple Watch. What the history above presented carried over to the smartwatch segment as well. Android Wear watches became an item especially this year with Samsung, LG and Asus leading the fray until the Moto 360 joined in as the first and most beautiful of round watch faces (all the others, apart from the LG R watch, have squarish watch faces). The Moto 360 tried to replicate a  wristwatch that is backed with the smarts of Android OS. And my, was it beautiful. (Don't believe. Google it)

The philosophy behind Android Wear (that is, Android for smartwatches) is so simply genius that you'd have thought it was Apple's idea. That is, the old, Steve Jobs' Apple. The irony! It's designed to render information quickly and briefly and to shorten the number of times the user reaches into their pockets or bags to check their phones for notifications. Just as you glance to check the time, you glance to see who's calling, who just sent a text, what appointment are you supposed to meet... in general, what just caused your phone to vibrate or to ring. That way, it's an accompaniment of the phone but for easy access. IT WAS NOT TO BE A SHRUNK ANDROID PHONE, but an accompanying device that makes using the phone only when necessary for the big stuff. Ain't that genius? So, it had just swipe functions, going up or down and heeded to voice actions. So, you could quickly get back to what you were doing especially if you were driving.

But what have we here with the catch up tech company? They who claimed to not have shrunk the computer to the wrist? A full collection of all, or almost all, apps. FOR A WATCH!!!! Colour me disappointed. There are bubbles of different colours for your apps so small, a myopic person will have issues seeing them, saying nothing of those with sausage-sized fingers. Oh, but the crown knob will help you zoom in for better finger use, yea? Yet the knob designer forgot totally that not all their buyers will be right-handed. How about the app bias of the knob functions? Performing zooming in this app and scrolling in another without the user knowing which one applied until use. Then, wait for the best one, and this isn't about the ugly user interface oo. No, though that one sef dey, the watch has varied counter-intuitive interactions: there's TAP, PRESS (with "taptic" feedback), SCROLL (up, down, right, left). How's that for a device that's that small? A device that's supposed to get you stuff done fast and get you going?

If it were a standalone device, needing no other item to function, and handling it all by itself, especially it's health usage (which is quite stellar), then one could snort at my grouses. However, with all these, it still requires to be used as an accompanying device (I'd try not to say catch up again) with the iPhone. If that is so, why try to make it another iPhone but for the wrist and still needing to be tied to the real iPhone? This is a question that may never have risen had Steve Jobs been involved in the design process. But there's no turning back the hands of time now, yea? Yes, pun intended.

I'd try not to say how unmoved I am by the looks of the watch. It's just there given what I've seen of the Samsung GEAR, the LG R Watch, the Asus ZENWATCH and the beautiful Moto 360 (go check them all out and decide for yourself 'cause these devices are all about personal tastes). It doesn't scream Apple like Apple products usually do. It's funny how the iFans who wanted to crucify Samsung for throwing all types of gadgetry into their devices (with large screens oo) are now dancing round the Apple campfire when their watch (with it's tiny screen) cramps all the apps on it. There's not enough space left for me to shake my head.

None of these will affect Apple too much (it would seem I've wasted my time, yes?) They'd sell the phones in millions because it is Apple. Each phone sold will equal two or three of the price of the competition. They'd sell the watches too, at a premium. People, the iSheep, as they're "fondly" known, will spend days lined up in front of Apple stores to be first to own them. Apple stock will go up in due time and make the company the most valuable. As usual.

The duopoly in mobile between the top shots, Android OS and iOS will rage on. I like the competition. It keeps both platforms on their toes, forcing then to innovate and not rest on their oars. The consumers are the happier for it. In the end, I'd still root for Android even though the concessions remain that Apple got this industry going and still remains a point of reference.

Granted, an iFan will take exceptions to certain things here said. The story will differ on several points if told from the other side. That is understandable especially if the facts remain sacred.

Android Device Preference Today

I'd say the OnePlus One because of its price and specs. However, it's not available now except on an invite-only basis in Europe and America.

For available phones, the Samsung Galaxy S5 will be hard to beat but I'm not very fond of Samsung's devices, and that is just a personal thing not that it has anything to do with the awesome devices they manufacture. A close second (except for it's bad back camera) is the HTC One (2014 model) which is a unibody metal device and is easily the best designed device for this year so far. Not even the current crop of iPhones can beat it.

The upcoming LG G3 promises to astound everyone and blow the competition out of the water. Leaked pictures so far prove that it'll indeed be a device worth owning. It's left to LG's unveiling for us to know what else they've cooked into the sequel of their highly successful and popular G2.

However, personally? I've never stopped admiring the Motorola flagship device of last year, moto X. Since I bought a unit for my aunt last month, I've not only come to utterly appreciate the sleek design language of the device but have only words of praise for Motorola's decision to stick to Android's default software User Interface (UI) rather than add to it as others have done to distinguish the way their phones look on the screen from the others (Samsung has TouchWiz, HTC has Sense, and so on). What this means is that the phone doesn't lag anywhere. Things zip through from the micro-second your finger touches the screen to doing the action you intended. It's blazing fast. In addition to that, because there's no added UI, updates of the OS get to the device faster than others. Motorola's KitKat (Android 4.4.2) update arrived at the moto X way ahead of its arrival at the devices of other manufacturers. It was a thing of pride to be among the very first peeps across the Android ecosystem to enjoy the freshly minted version of Android long before other even more expensive device owners got it.

Also in the X's favour is moto maker, an online platform where a buyer can pick from a coterie of options - colours for the back, a different colour for accents (accents refer to the power and volume buttons and the ring around the camera lens), thereby personalising your phone even externally, making it a phone that's truly yours. My aunt picked a Spearmint back, Black front with Red accents.

This says nothing of the added series of Touchless Controls Motorola baked into the device such that a user will neither have to touch the screen nor unlock it to make it useful as merely speaking to the locked and blank screen of the phone, beginning with the words, "Ok, Google Now" unlocks the phone and opens the phone's microphone app ready to listen to what further instructions you want to give it. You can then proceed to perform a Google search, call a contact, ask a question, play a stored song already on your phone, open one of your phone's apps, all without even touching the phone and get results.

It's not outrageously big but designed with a beautiful curve that fits your palm comfortably and has a great battery management process that ensures a full battery doesn't run out before the day is over. Notifications and time gently appear on the locked screen when you pull it out of your bag or pocket so that you may have no need to unlock your screen every time just to check notifications or time or missed calls or whatever, keeping the time your screen will stay on to the minimum. I could go on and on, but I think the point of my admiration is obvious. To even know that a sequel to this device (rumoured to be known as X+1 is planned soon since the initial X is now about 7 months) is exhilarating. I can't wait to see what that'll bring to the game. Maybe a better camera, which will be a big bonus. Their lower spec'ed cousins, the moto G, and the lowest, the moto E carry some of the X's features but reduced for a bargain cost. The X is flagship level, the G is mid-range and the E is entry level.

There's also the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 devices as well but their atrocious battery makes me refrain from adding them to my small list here.

However, device choices are the most personal decisions people should make and these decisions should not be based on another person's preferences. What each person desires from a device do not always tally with the desires of another. These cover the entire gamut of what makes a device tick, from screen size to operating system, from phone design to camera sharpness, from touchless controls to user interfaces, from range/level to price of a unit, from ease of use to showboating, all these come to play when choice is concerned for individuals who are indeed unique. So, my preferences here aren't binding on anyone, they simply reflect my view of what a device means for me.