The Conquest is Finally Over.

After all those sleepless nights, stressful discussions, and an obstacle-filled defense, the thing in the picture above is finally finished!

I can't really say much about what happened in between since it may reveal what's inside the document, but I'm so happy that this part of my life has past and I have people to thank for making this possible. (Note: I'm keeping their identities private because I value their privacy very much.)

Thesis Adviser - She is the one responsible for pushing us to finish this successfully. I thank her for all the good advice she gave us during the whole process. I really felt lucky and grateful that she became our adviser. ^_^

Thesis Partner - It became obvious that we would be partners after finding out that the top of our class picked his cousin as his partner. My thesis partner and I got along well and agreed on everything about the thesis. I'm grateful that we became partners. No regrets at all here.

Family and Friends - Without these people, I wouldn't even be pushing myself to do this. I love these people with all my heart and I'll never let go of them.

IT'S FINALLY DONE! THANK YOU LORD ALMIGHTY! FOR WITHOUT YOU, I WILL NEVER BE.

How an Irrational Apple-Hater Turned Into an Apple Enthusiast

A lot has changed, but my view for technology has remained the same.

It's been a while since I posted something on this blog. My seemingly never-ending busy schedule has finally ended (at least for now), and I am on my way to finishing college. There are two things that I have to be grateful about: the fact that God, family, and friends have helped me reach where I am now, and the fact that technology is the reason why I'm even posting this.

As you may have noticed about my last few posts, I kept writing about Apple-related stuff. If the Internet actually hit on this, they would do so because they're Apple-haters (or at the very least, people who respect Apple but just doesn't like them). Unless you've been stalking me my whole life, (which I assume no one does because I'm boring when I'm alone) you would not know that I was one of those people.

Before "mobile" was even a thing, I already hated Apple. I hated their closed-system approach and their conceptual philosophy. I even hated the iPhone 3GS! (It was the first iPhone that I was actually aware of at the time.) The reasons as to why I hated them were too shallow. I was an avid Windows user, thus what it meant for me was to hate the other side. (I never really knew Linux at the time. Haha.) Maybe at that time, I forgot that I was able to use an Apple computer before. It was the first iMac, the one with the colors. The one in the house before was a green one. I was still very young at that time and I didn't really know how to use it.

Then in 2010, the iPhone 4 came out, and it arrived sometime in the September-October time frame in Cebu. Globe Telecom was still the only one selling the iPhone officially and they had a booth set up in a shopping mall here. I tried it out, and it was nice. I pondered for a moment after that, and realized as to why I was hating Apple in the first place. I never had a reason to. 

This was the turning point. I wasn't a convert yet, but I was sure I liked the iPhone 4. In the  observation of my surroundings, it was the iPhone that many Filipinos bought at the time. I was completely surprised. I now know that Apple was already at the forefront of mobile devices. 

A proof of my hatred still lingering was my hatred for the iPad. I unabashedly said that it's just "a bigger iPhone". Again, I didn't know why I hated it as long as I did.

Then 2011 came. My mom got an iPhone 4, a WHITE one. It took Apple a long time to produce the white model, which they fixed when they launched the 4S. By that time, I was already engrossed with what Apple's doing. When the 4S came out, I was a bit disappointed and thought about why Apple did such a strategy knowing people expected a new design? I found out about the 2-year cycle when they release a new design then the one after that is just upgraded internals plus new features. I found it interesting as to how it would play out. 37 MILLION iPhones in one quarter. INSANE.

Ever since that day, I became an Apple follower and enthusiast. I now wanted the Apple equivalent of what device I need in my lifestyle (except my laptop though; I like the Mac now, but Windows is still my preference) and it feels different. Right now, not much has changed. I want the iPhone 5 right now simply because I feel that the 4 is slow for me after updating to iOS 6, and that larger screen helps a lot.

Being an Apple enthusiast doesn't mean I agree in everything that Apple does. To those haters who think that iOS is getting old, CONGRATULATIONS! I agree with them because I feel that the more I use it, the more I feel that more of the UI elements are getting old. And the Settings would feel confusing if you weren't used to it already. There are things in Android I want in iOS  like quick settings, or more interaction with notifications. It's the smoothness of the operating system that keeps me from switching until now even though the performance was slower.

There, I said all I can say about my long journey. And to those who'll ask, "Do you hate Android?", I say:

"NO, I JUST DON'T LIKE SAMSUNG."

Keep an eye out for an explanation on why I just don't like Samsung. (I'll get hate just for this last part. I'm sure of it. HAHA.)