Jack Cooper

Photo: Connor Michie

Travelling across the world visiting multiple countries is perhaps one of the most common and desirable bucket-list wishes that anybody can have. The idea of broadening your horizons, meeting new people, and experiencing different cultures is extremely alluring, and yet for many people, it forever remains a dream.

Cross-country travelling with nothing more than a backpack to your name requires commitment, which clashes heavily with the typical adult lifestyle. Recurring things such as bills and relationships means many cannot just quit their job and disappear for a year or two.

Connor Michie graduated from Brunel University only last summer. For him, this was the now-or-never time to be brave, and book the flights and hostels – or risk forever missing the perfect opportunity.

“I don’t think - for big things like travelling - that anybody is ever going to be 100% ready, but I knew that I wasn’t ready to start settling down and pursuing a career”, he recalls.

“I had a list of destinations – a dream to travel, I suppose. I had the funds to go and do it. It was just a case of having no obligations left, and there’s no way I would’ve been able to settle without doing it.”

Running away from your problems

Criticism exists from some groups, who’ll often proclaim that people go backpacking merely to escape reality, and that they’re running away from the real world. Connor instantly rejected the sentiment:

“To say travel is addressing none of your problems is a bit cynical. You’re not running away from yourself; you are allowed to be more yourself than usual, I think.

“I wanted to eat some amazing food, meet some new people, and build some amazing connections around the world.

“I wasn’t running away from things – I was running to them whilst I had the opportunity.”

The gorgeous scenes of Queenstown, New Zealand | Photo: Connor Michie

I've  had my iPhone XR sitting in my pocket for just about 15 months now, which, to me, is mad. It only felt like a couple of months ago when I walked into the trendy (and culty) Apple store, and set out the rather appetising interest-free finance arrangement for my first step into iOS for a mobile phone.

Usually, you'll see a load of write-ups for 6 months of ownership, or perhaps 12 months. This write-up is after 15 months, because I'm lazy and I forgot to write something at a meaningful point in time. Better late than never, hey.

What I ultimately want to see is if moving to iOS has been worth it. I've had iPads since 2012, but I've stuck with Android for my mobiles until now, mainly just because there always tended to be an Android to suit my budget. With iPhones, it's either nothing or everything, with no real budget options besides the SE.



So firstly, let's start with what I've enjoyed with my iPhone ownership so far.

The good stuff

The battery has done me so well. When I first got the phone, it was a legitimate two-day battery life with moderate usage, and even with heavy, antisocial usage it was almost impossible to kill it before you went to bed. Even today, 15 months later, the battery still easily lasts for a day without any worries about conservation. It's definitely not a two-day battery anymore, though.

Compare that to my Samsung S7 Edge (my previous phone), which needed a top-up in the afternoon if you used it anything more than regularly, it's a refreshingly free feeling not to worry about bringing a battery bank with you for your travels.

iOS is a software that's love/hate, in my eyes. To achieve the things that you love about it, there has to be things you'll hate, too. For example, it's a beautifully optimised system. It's light on the battery, as we just discussed, and the phone barely ever stutters or hangs, regardless of what you throw at it. It's buttery, but it's also locked down in Apple's pursuit of optimisation. Every iPhone feels the same - you can't customise iOS like you can with Android. But I guess that's a necessary evil to have things like the smoothness and the fast software updates - it just depends where your priorities lie.

The camera is also great on the iPhone. The XR came with just a single lens on the rear - which is a bit old school these days - but that one sensor does a great job. Contrast is great, stabilisation is excellent, the colours are pleasing to the eye (if a little oversaturated), and video looks gorgeous. The camera still holds up well today, even as we head into 2020. I haven't found myself missing out on zoom or wide-angle sensors, but I wouldn't say no to them, either.

Lastly, and perhaps most surprisingly, I found myself getting on well with Face ID. This was something that I expected to dislike, after swearing that fingerprint scanners (like on my S7) were superior. In some specific circumstances, the fingerprint is better - e.g. if your phone is flat on a table, you have to actually hover your head over it to get the iPhone to unlock, which just looks daft. But 98% of the time, Face ID is so seamless that you barely miss other ways to unlock your phone. As long as you're looking at the screen, the phone will unlock almost as quick as you can swipe to unlock the screen. It's a great system that even works in pitch black conditions, and I don't doubt Apple will keep refining it over the next few years.

My iPhone experience hasn't been perfect, though. Let's have a look at some of the things where the XR falls a bit flat.

The less good stuff

The screen isn't that great. Sure, it's a fairly modern edge-to-edge design (albeit with some rather large bezels), but it's an LCD panel that's only just about 720p. It sounds like something straight out of 2012 - in fact, it has the same pixel density as the iPhone 4 from 2010. It's not a bad display per say, since the colours are good and things look sharp until you pixel-peep, but you really expect more from an £800 phone. Coming from my 1440p Samsung OLED panel, this was by far the largest downgrade.

Siri is bloody useless, too. What I like about Google Assistant and Alexa is that they're fairly human and contextual in their responses. If you ask Google Assistant a question, they'll read out an answer they took from the web, which 99% of the time is what you're looking for. More often than not, Siri will just take what you asked it, and respond with "Here's what I found on the web." You then have to click the search results, which takes you to Safari. What's the bloody point of that? If I wanted to surf the web, I would've just gone on my browser in the first place. The whole point of a smart assistant to me is having answers read to me, like a person. I remember when Siri was cutting edge back when it was announced. Now, it's just useless.

This is another side effect of the Apple ecosystem, but I don't like the Lightning connection. Again, this is one of those things that was cool when it was announced, back in 2012. In those days, everyone was using crappy Micro USB connectors, and Lightning appeared futuristic and simple. Today, everyone uses USB-C, and having Lightning alongside just doesn't make sense. The Macbooks are USB-C, the iPad Pros are USB-C, so why do I need to carry another cable for my phone? Additionally, I can't even plug in my phone to my Macbook with the supplied cable, since the other end of the Lightning cable is USB-A (the normal rectangular connection) - and modern Macbooks don't have a USB-A connection. It's a daft example of connection fragmentation, and I really hope Apple sorts it out sooner, rather than later.

Conclusion

Overall, though, I'm happy. I do wish sometimes there was a bit more customisation with my iPhone - I can't even toggle an option to display battery percentage, for god's sake. But what I lose with customisation I gain massively with stability and support. Add on the fantastic camera, generally preferential treatment from app developers, and good integration with my other Apple products, and it looks like I'll be hanging on to this XR for some time yet. 

I've been a long time Android user for as long as I can remember, but with my S7 Edge reaching the end of its life after a solid two and a half years of daily service, I fancied a more dramatic, Apple-shaped upgrade.

Don't get me wrong: I still like Android, and will defend it to the naysayers. But after three Android phones on the trot, I wanted a new experience to play with - mostly just so my new device can be satisfyingly 'different'. With that in mind, I dive-bombed straight into the deep end of the pool and plunged into the depths of the Apple ecosystem with the 256GB XS Max.

To save you time, my overall impression is that the XS Max is a damn nice phone, but the price Apple want for it is just absurd. You have to pony up £1,100 for the base model, which comes with only 64GB of non-expandable storage. Applications these days are pretty fat in size: your staple social media apps are approaching half a gig each, and of course the phone is capable of data-heavy 4K 60fps video recording. All of this means that 64GB is just not enough, and Apple know this better than anyone else.

Instead of offering up a sensible 128GB option (which in 2018 would be the sweet spot for a high-end phone), Apple makes you jump straight to 256GB. While nice to have, it means you're now paying £1,250 for a phone just to make it unrestrictive. But hey, it makes for a juicy profit margin for the trillion-dollar behemoth of a company.

Despite the insane pricing, people are still buying these phones at a consistently strong rate. I suppose that's what piqued my curiosity to switch to iOS; these phones must be amazing if they're still pulling in all these customers with that price. So, coming from Android, how is it for me?

Well, there's absolutely no denying just how much more smoother and well-optimised things are in the iOS world. In Android things can feel a bit disjointed with inconsistent UI and app designs (though it's miles better now than what it used to be), but iOS is undeniably on another level with fluidity. That comes at a double-edged sword, however, since the only way to achieve such consistency is to make the software incredibly closed off. So yes, the 'It Just Works' mentality is nice, but the lack of customisation can make iOS feel soulless.

Am I an iOS convert? Definitely not, though I do appreciate it for its own merits. I think if iPhones were similarly priced to Android flagships then I'd be swaying towards Apple more routinely, but at the insane price of the XS Max, I am unfortunately seriously considering a return.

OnePlus is a company that's been around for five years now (!), and in that time it has made strides in the mobile industry, that's risen more than just a few eyebrows. Rocking into the scene in 2013 with the oddly-named OnePlus One, it shook the competition with its top notch specs, and a mindblowing price of just £229. Today, though, things are a little different.

It's not exactly a hidden secret that I am an obsessive car nut; I always have been, and frankly, I probably always will be. At the ripe old age of 20, I've had my licence for three years now, and yet, curiously, I haven't had a car to my name since summer 2017.

The answer as to why that's so is, rather predictably, university. The hashtag student life suddenly makes you really rather poor, so much so that running a car just isn't economical. But I've finished for the summer, I've got a job, and because of that, I now have a new set of wheels. Read on to find out the good, the bad, and the ugly about my 'new' 2007 Corsa 1.3CDTI Design.

If you have a Facebook account, and live in a place of residence that isn't anything smaller than a hamlet, then chances are you've probably heard of the fabled 'Spotted' Facebook pages.

The 'Spotted' phenomenon really took off in 2013 across the United Kingdom, and has since remained strong for many local communities. Spotted pages rely on the locals to drive their content; residents are encouraged to message the page with anything they wish, and the administrator of the page will forward that message into a post that every member of the page can view. Common posts typically include breaking local news, upcoming local events, and general questions about the local area. For Coventry, posts reach over 60,000 people.

60,000 followers for a page is no mean feat, and it's safe to assume that the people behind running such a page have a lot of maintenance and management to keep up. Bearing in mind that all of this work is selflessly for the benefit of the Coventry community and is completely unpaid, I therefore think that the admins of the Spotted pages are, in my opinion, the hidden local heroes of your community. They go about doing their jobs unnoticed, unpaid, and uncredited. With such selfless and time-consuming work, what is the drive for an administrator to continuously maintain a Spotted page?

316,000 strong population, all connected together by one selfless, generous individual online

I got in touch with the administrator of Spotted: Coventry City to find out just that, and more. They kindly agreed to talk to me, but wished to remain anonymous.

"I think that Spotted really does unite the city, because it gets people who would otherwise never talk to each other to unite over problems and queries"

"I don't have a favourite post specifically, but one of my favourite things that Spotted does is help local residents have a voice, and a platform. There's no better page out there to ask for help about a missing pet, or to help find a criminal who's broken into your car, in my opinion."

It's clear that the administrator really does believe in the power of Spotted, and how it plays a role in the modern Internet-connected local community. But what is their motivation to continue running the page for free?

"Running this page just gives a feel-good factor; it's really nice to know that you're helping the residents of Coventry come together."

"I think [the motivation comes from] the knowledge in knowing that Spotted makes a difference. It brings issues and events into the spotlight. The amount of regular participation the page sees tells me that the people of Coventry do indeed enjoy Spotted, and that goes a long way to keep me motivated to maintain this page." 

Should everyone in Coventry participate with Spotted?

"Certainly so. You never know when your help might be needed for the locals around you, or when you may need help yourself! The Spotted community is a really nice, helpful place for discussion, and even helps grab the attention of the council at times."

But perhaps most importantly: do they believe they are a local hero?

"Ha, I don't think so. I don't think serving the community should be something seen as heroic - it should be something that everybody should try and aim to do."

It certainly isn't surprising that the administrator doesn't want to be known as a local hero. But in my eyes, they are. The amount of time and resources that have to be given up to maintain a 60,000-strong Facebook page that many of whom rely on cannot be downplayed.

So next time you participate with your local Spotted page, pause for a moment and consider the person behind the page. This person will be giving up their time for their love of the local community, and as such, the locals of Coventry and other settlements across the nation have their towns and cities enhanced just that little bit further.

Photo: Coventry City Council

17th March 2018

The 2018 Coventry Half Marathon, which was set to take place on Sunday 18th March, has been cancelled.