If there’s one species of tech fans that we find awesomely fascinating, it’s the Gadget Contrarians — that is, the people who love using services, devices and platforms that have been overlooked or dismissed by the mass market for whatever reason. One particularly striking example of this is GigaOM writer Kevin Tofel, who says that he’s finally decided that he can make the switch from Android to Windows Phone… because it finally has a good Google+ client.
“I’m a heavy Google+ user seven days a week and the G+ experience on Windows Phone is dismal,” Tofel writes. “At least it was until this weekend when I got a Twitter recommendation to try gPlus, a native Google+ app for Windows Phone.”
Tofel’s love of little-used technology isn’t just limited to Google+ and Windows Phone — he was also one of probably 15 people who actually bought a Chomebook Pixel, the comically overpriced Google laptop that costs you $1,300 even though you won’t be able to do anything useful with it without an Internet connection.
What makes Tofel’s take on tech so nicely refreshing is that while he’s a gadget contrarian he isn’t a Gadget Hipster who looks down on anyone who uses anything that’s remotely popular among more than 20 people. Instead, he just likes trying all different kinds of things and not being swayed by what’s popular.
We have no idea what Tofel’s other favorite tech products are, but we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he loves browsing on Apple Maps with his BlackBerry PlayBook right before he decides to sit down for a game of Crazy Taxi on his Sega Dreamcast.
