Oldereyes and the Dark Screen

I was slow to join the ranks of people using tablets like the ubiquitous iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab.   I have a laptop, I said.   I have a Kindle.  I can do everything else on my phone.  Why would I need a tablet?   But as I became more connected to digital media like Facebook and online news, via my phone, I got the answer.  Size does matter.  I bought a 7 inch Nexus tablet and it became a constant companion.  When I bought a bluetooth keyboard it even replaced my laptop for many tasks.   When my Nexus died (the early models had quality problems) I bought a Samsung 7 inch tablet which has been a reliable friend.   Unfortunately, with age comes weakening vision … reading the news on the seven inch tablet became too much effort.   Last July I moved up to a Galaxy Tab A 10.1 inch which  I use for reading the morning news.

Going Ape Over iPads

I didn’t plan on posting today.  I have the head cold from hell (yes, I am a wimp when it comes to being sick) and the kitchen renovation guys are demolishing our counter tops downstairs, so while my recliner is available, it’s an inhospitable environment for writing.  It’s a gloomy, rainy Socal day and I have a doctor appointment in less than two hours.   But a headline caught my eye on Yahoo this morning and I just can’t let it go by.  The headline said Apes Get iPads at the National Zoo.  My Anything-but-Apple Inner Curmdugeon said, Oh, let me take this one, but in the interests of not offending any readers, I shut him down.  One does wonder, though, how does the average iPad user feel about this?  Do they say proudly that, I use the same tablet as Gunung the Orangutan?   How does Apple feel about it?  In other words, when you look at this picture,

courtesy yahoo.com

is the appropriate caption, So Easy to Use an Orangutan Can Do It … or … The Tablet preferred by Lower Primates?  Why iPads by the way?  Why not a Google Nexus tablet?  Or a Microsoft Surface?  Yeah, I know, orangutans don’t use Excel*.   Given the prominent display of the iconic logo, one has to think Apple is subsidizing this in some way.

Monday Smiles – 1/21/2013

For a techie, I don’t have a lot of state-of-the-art electronic gadgets.  Oh, I have a nice (middle of the technical road) Acer desktop computer in my office and a Asus laptop that cost a modest $400 (and is my primary platform for blogging).   I have a last generation Samsung Galaxy smartphone and even a last generation e-paper Kindle.  When I go to Starbucks or to the Corner Bakery with Muri, I appear reasonably well-equipped as a senior but hopelessly behind the thirty-somethings sporting ultrabooks, tablets and the latest smartphones.  I rarely upgrade my electronics unless there is a practical reason to do so and I rarely purchase anything electronic that does not serve a definite need.  I don’t buy toys, I say, and tablets are definitely toys.   But, for Pete’s sake everybody has one and they all seem to love them.  So over the weekend, I decided to buy one, even though I still don’t know what I’ll do with it.

Our Own Devices

Ever since Apple introduced the iPad, I have watched the increasing number of tablets hanging out at Starbucks and McDonald’s and anyplace else where there’s wi-fi.   My Apple loving friends show me their babies, flipping though photos and webpages and apps frantically, absolutely sure the crystal clear graphics and quick response will send me running to the Apple store to get one.  They didn’t.   For all the speed and the flash, I couldn’t understand why I needed a tablet in addition to my laptop, especially at $500 plus.  As e-readers like the Nook and Kindle began to proliferate, too, for substantially fewer bucks, I was tempted but I like the feel of a real book in my hands.  Then, Barnes and Noble introduced the Nook Color at $250, followed by Amazon’s Kindle Fire at $199.  Barnes and Noble responded by reducing the Nook Color to $199 and introducing the Nook Tablet at $250.