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I’ve spent the last few days in Berlin and I’ve become the person I never thought I’d become.
I now ride e-scooters.
I want to clarify that I have always been one of those people who hates those things. Visit any big city, and they’re literally everywhere. If an e-scooter isn’t hammering past you on the pavement, it’s either clogging up the road in front of your car or strewn across the path after coming into contact with a reveller the night before.
However, in Berlin, those instances are, as one might expect, few and far between. The rentable e-transport scene in Germany’s capital is efficient, and reliable, and it just works.
It also got me thinking about the iPhone. Again.
My problem with the iPhone (is unfair)
I’m not one to hold back on my opinion of the iPhone. It is, without question, one of the most impressive pieces of tech I use and rely on every day. It makes running my business easier, it makes taking photos of literally anything a joy, and instances of it letting me down are so infrequent I genuinely can’t remember the last time I had to restart it.
Despite this, I’m one of the many tech commentators who has moaned rather too incessantly about the lack of iPhone innovation in recent years.
That’s unfair, as I noted recently. It might have taken me ten years to work it out, but one of the greatest strengths of the iPhone is that it doesn’t try too hard. It just gets the job done. The feature set is iterated at a pace that has given us, arguably, the most stable and capable smartphone on the market.
The iPhone 15 will be revealed next week, and it’ll be much of the same, save the rumoured smaller bezels, USB-C charging, and another camera system bump.
So, why did my e-scooter adventure remind me of this?
An e-scooter convert
Back to Berlin.
I’m here attending the IFA consumer electronics show which has involved the usual back-and-forth travel between the show venue and my hotel. I’ve also, mercifully, managed to squeeze in some sightseeing around this beautiful city.
The thought of relying on public transport was rather unpalatable. The same goes for walking; IFA is a huge show, and as much as I love exercise, I also value my feet.
One of my fellow content creators who had also travelled to Berlin for IFA noted that he’d been getting around on an e-scooter. It was, as far as he was concerned, the way to navigate these kinds of excursions.
I will hold my hands up right now and admit that my peers easily sway me. I look up to them, I’m inspired by them, and I end up doing a lot of the things they do.
That’s why I found myself on an e-scooter less than 24 hours after speaking to my fellow YouTuber.
I’m glad I spoke to him because I can now confirm that it is hands-down one of the most exciting, convenient, and hassle-free ways to navigate a foreign city.
I’m sure that others’ first-time experiences with this method of transport may not be as positive as mine. Perhaps I got lucky. But all I know is that, just like Uber, the e-scooter system works – brilliantly.
The infrastructure (in Berlin, at least) is impressive. There’s usually enough scooters nearby or, at the most, a five-minute walk away – and I’m yet to find one that isn’t charged and ready to go. The parking is pretty well organised, too, and everything is tied together in the brilliant Lime app (which was my e-scooter system of choice).
If you know me, you know I don’t like faff, and I detest tech that makes life hard for users. My e-scooter experience in Berlin was faultless.
Well, nearly.
There were issues…
The iPhone isn’t perfect. My iPhone 14 Pro Max has suffered from underwhelming battery performance, and I’m disappointed by the Deep Purple colour (I know – that’s pushing it, particularly when you keep in mind that I chose that colour solely because of the band).
The point is – even the best tech has issues. During my travels around Berlin, I found that people don’t always adhere to the parking regulations for e-scooters and e-bikes. This isn’t Lime’s fault (they make it abundantly clear how and where you’re supposed to park) but it grates when you have to pick up an e-scooter from the floor or retrieve it from the middle of a bustling city street.
I also found one bike whose pedal fell off as I was about to enter the saddle. Thankfully, a quick fault report on the Lime app resulted in an apology and immediate credit on my account.
It isn’t particularly cheap, either. Sure, scooting around Berlin on a pre-paid Lime pass does offer savings on the equivalent Uber trips, but I’d guess that a bus pass would possibly be more economical.
However, those gripes are minor, and the premium I paid to avoid busses and the underground – not to mention too much stress on my already worn-out feet – was worth it.
Once again, that reminds me of something.
“It just works”
I spend a lot of time with Android devices these days, and I love the respite from the safe walled garden of iOS. Devices like the Samsung Z Flip5, Honor 90, and Pixel Fold reveal what iPhone users are often missing out on.
They’re fun. There are more customisable features. They have designs and technologies that Apple is too cautious to consider ready for public consumption.
The trade-off is occasional instability, questionable long-term durability, and overwhelming user interfaces. Don’t get me wrong – not all Android phones are like this, but whenever I use one, I sometimes long for the reassurance iOS and the iPhone has always offered.
It just works. And just like my e-scooter adventure, that counts for a lot.
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