Kudos to you, Mr./Ms. Engineer Who First Thought of Cell Phone Flashlights

I get my money's worth from my smart phone, putting it to varied use throughout each and every day. It's an integral part of my existence.

But of all the apps loaded onto that phone, there is perhaps none more handy and none that I activate more often than the flashlight.

It's such a simple idea, really. Once phones started integrating cameras, they needed flashes for photographic lighting purposes. Why not allow users to turn that flash on for extended periods any time they needed to illuminate, say, a dark room?

There's nothing complex about the concept, but like so many things in life, its genius is in its simplicity.

I use that flashlight every morning when I'm up early and making my way around our bedroom as I get ready to exercise, dress for work, and generally just get my life in order. Since I'm always up before Terry, It helps me see what I'm doing without having to turn on the bedroom light.

A seemingly obvious feature, yet brilliant in its effectiveness and ease of use.

I don't know if it was the first phone to include it, but Apple started offering flashlight functionality with the iPhone 4 back in 2010. Somewhere there is an Apple engineer to whom I hope the company gave a large wad of cash for suggesting the feature.

You, sir or ma'am, are almost literally the light of my life.

I have sold my soul to Apple

Five years ago, I made the switch from an Android phone to an iPhone. As I explained at the time, it's not that I thought the iPhone was really any better than Android. I had been an Android user for several years and had very much enjoyed it. It was just that the rest of my family had iPhones, and at the time it seemed as if the world was catering more to the iPhone.

Which it mostly is.

What has really entrenched me in the Apple cult, however, is the ease of integrating various Apple devices.

On almost any given day, I actively use five different Apple devices:

• iPhone
• iPad
• MacBook
• Apple Watch
• AirPods

These are all good quality products. They serve my needs. And as I said, they are designed to play well with each other.

It's the little things about device integration that I like. For instance, whenever I'm away from my MacBook for any length of time and it goes to sleep, it will awaken instantly when I return because it senses my Apple Watch and knows it's me. I don't have to retype my password or anything.

Being a very simple (and ultimately lazy) man, I like that.

Chances are there are Android devices that will do the same, but I stopped following technological developments in that world after I ditched the Android phone, so I don't know for sure.

There are perhaps ethical reasons for shunning Apple products that I comprehend, yet (and here I freely admit I'm exercising privilege of the highest order) I choose to overlook them. I'm not sure the alternatives to Apple are all that morally superior anyway.

The point is, the Apple folks have me. And given the extent to which they have access to my personal data, they know they have me.

I'm OK with that. I mean, they give me those free Apple logo stickers every time I buy another one of their devices. How can I say no to that?