We're about to see what Samsung and Motorola have to show us for their annual release of two really nice Android phones — the Galaxy Note 4 and the next version of the Moto X — as well as assorted other products like watches, and maybe even some super-duper secret things that will make us all want to spend money. This means the hype machines will be turned up to 11, and the Internet will be filled with things about them until Apple does the same thing later in the week.
After that, of course comes the obligatory comparisons of all the phones and devices from all the companies and all the tech press, complete with loads of gushing and hyperbole. We'll be part of this, and we want to be part of it all. You'll also be reading all of it, both here at Android Central and across the Internet as a whole. Nothing interests a smartphone fan quite like a device launch, and when they come on the heels of each other we all get some sort of bloodlust-like fervor to both consume all the information available and to jump in and add to the fray ourselves.
It's fun as hell, more interesting than it should be, and makes for good business all around.
Just remember to take it all with a big grain of salt, because opinions aren't universally true and not everything can be awesome.
Nobody, whether they work here at Mobile Nations or elsewhere on the Internet, is lying to you. We're often very excited about what we've just seen, or heard, or held. We're smartphone fans at heart, or we wouldn't have this job. We're also a group of very different people, who like different things. This shows through our writing, and if you pay close attention you can tell when Alex is genuinely excited about a new product or feature, or that Andrew wants you (and me) to understand those cryptic financial reports every company in this game likes to release on a quarterly basis. We do what we love.
The issue is that you might not love what we love. I know I'm in the minority when I say the Moto X is still perfect and I hope Motorola doesn't change too much. But I really do mean it. It's the same thing when Phil says he keeps going back to the M8, even when the camera disappoints him once again. To me, the Moto X is awesome. To Phil, the HTC One M8 is awesome. To you, one or both may not be very awesome at all.
It's our (the Internet tech press) fault. Somewhere in the past five years, things went from being well done and able to suit a particular set of needs to being buzzwordingly AWESOME anytime they are being talked about. You can hardly read a blog post or a news story without hearing about how awesome some new product is, even if it's really just mediocre at best for many of the people reading. In fact, none of these electronic devices inspire a sense of awe or reverence despite the description hung on them. When we use words too often, they tend to lose their power and the meaning changes. But language has to evolve.
Remember this as you read about the awesome new products we're going to see in Berlin and New York, as well as Chicago and Cupertino. When folks are on stage or demonstrating their new product to the tech press, we're going to be told that everything is awesome. Every little awesome feature and how it works with the awesome watches and other awesome accessories is going to be covered, and to the people genuinely excited about them they really are totally awesome.
But not everything can be awesome to everybody, and it's OK for you to think they are not. Chances are there will be an awesome product you can spend your hard-earned money on, but you will have to decide what that is. We can help, but we all enjoy different things and are different people.
Now go have an awesome weekend.
Put the internet to work for you.
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