Not going with the flow

I hate "me too" products, period.

When I buy something, I want something that's cool, different, a pleasure to use, something that makes me feel good holding it. Thus I don't like to use what everyone else does.

Let's see...
I use a Mac while everyone uses Windows PCs (Computer OS).
Mac OS is elegant and productive. You get to get your work done, instead of dealing with errors, crashes, viruses, worms, flaws, lags and all the crap that normal people encounter with computing. In this case, viruses and adware mostly target the most popular platform: Windows, so using a less popular platform keeps me away from those hassles.

Firefox instead of Internet Explorer (Web browser).
Similar to the first one, I avoid the popular yet less stable solution. Firefox also provides extra functionality, such as easily manageable extensions & skins, instant in-page search, and customizable search box (which I default to PubMed for research paper search). Many small options, such as tabbed browsing, restoring the last opened pages, searching with google and Wikipedia from the address box... all though little things add up to a great experience. Best of all, it's cross platform, I can use it on a Mac.

Palm instead of Windows Mobile (PDA OS).
Interestingly, this is yet another against Microsoft option. Yeah, Microsoft tends to commoditize inferior products to the public with strong marketing. Yet, in this case, Windows Mobile (WM) isn't exactly worse then PalmOS. Due to the stagnant development of Palm OS, the lead of Palm over WM is almost gone, with Microsoft constantly adding features. However, I stick to Palm because it has an intuitive user interface, while WM tends to hide all the features in layers of meuns. Palm also is more responsitive, with most applications giving instant feed back to your input.

Clie over iPod (Mobile music).
Find this interesting? I am comparing a PDA against the iPod! Will, as I said, I like cool stuff. The iPod is considered good looking to most people, yet I think the feel of white plastic is too heavy. My first Clie (NX73V) has a magnesium casing, while my recent one (TH55) has a glossy reflective screen cover over a metal screen bezel. I have a great big color touch screen compared to that of the iPod which is half size. My Music player looks better then the simplistic white screen on the iPod. I can also drag me music in and out freely from my memory card on any computer, while the iPod is locked on to iTunes on your own computer only. Best of all, I can edit song info, delete songs, edit playlists on my Clie. A flexibility that the iPod doesn't have. Actually, if I really won't a MP3 player, I would want a Sony Walkman, which is designed beautifully, and not seen in everyone's pocket on the streets. Yet, it's locked on to Sony's equivalent to iTunes: Sonicstage, which is Windows only. If only the Walkman supports Mac OS, I'll get one.

Merida over Giant (Bike).
Giant bikes, iguanas and yukons are everywhere. I don't see how they are better then Meridas, yet their prices are about 20% higher then a comparable Merida with similar graded parts. Thus, getting a Merida MTA510 is a no brainer. I have enjoyed my bike and have never regretted saving that 20% for other add-ons.

PHS over GSM (phone system).
Now this is not an easy choice as the previous ones. At the time of choice (4 years ago), going with PHS means great looking Japanese phones, battery power of 1 month per charge, mobile e-mail and internet, and calling fees of only about 20% of that of others. Yet, now the GSM phones are much more advanced, while recent PHS phones are crapy, and none from Japan. The recent phones even have crappy battery life, and no e-mail nor internet. The only advantage left is calling fees, yet good thing I still holding on to my old phone, retaining most of the advatages...