I’ve been writing for HardwareZone for a while. I continued freelancing whenever I could, after moving on from my role to another career path back in the noughties. Those who know me and are reading this will say that I’ve been among the most ardent defenders of Android since I first laid hands on the HTC G1 Dream in 2008. While that early HWZ team was evenly divided between iOS and Android loyalists, I endured a lot of good-natured ribbing as one of Android’s loudest supporters. I would jump in to defend Google’s mobile OS at the slightest hint of debate.
It helped that my colleagues were largely Android users in the roles I moved on to. Some even converted after a bout of “passionate” evangelism on my part.
Unfortunately, I can no longer express that enthusiasm for Android’s open-source ecosystem, as it was also my downfall. It led to a month of panic, frustration, and many missed deadlines.
There has been scammers exploiting Android’s openness to third-party apps and accessibility permissions, which even allow a phone to be controlled remotely to perform fraudulent acts of all kinds.
Malware: Never Say Never
When I made my first public appearance with an iPhone 15 Pro Max earlier this month, there were exclamations of surprise and satisfaction from friends and family alike:
“You aren’t the real Count! What have they done to him!”
“Finally, you’ve come to your senses! Better late than never…”
Whether I had “come to my senses” is up for
