Steve Jobs passed away 1955-2011

Steve Jobs

1955-2011

I’m at a loss for words, actually that’s not true, I have too many words and thoughts flying around about the death of Steve Jobs on Wednesday Oct 5, 2011.  I was on my way to Taco Bell for dinner, and for some reason I decided to check how Apple stock did for the day with the iPhone Stocks App and there it was at the bottom in the news section.  I did some quick checking to see if it really was true as I was in shock.  What’s strange is that I have never have checked Apple stocks in the evening.  So I’m one of many, many people that found out about his passing on one of his devices.

I couldn’t do anything other than watch the news about his passing.  It was over an hour before I could even text some people that might not know about it.  It’s now the next night and I’ve been looking at all the videos, blogs, pictures and news where people are morning and crying, it is so moving and shows how much what he did effected so many lives.  I have my feet up and the MacBook Air on my lap writing this about my thoughts and feelings and to post it.

First and foremost, my condolences to Steve’s Family and friends.  To Steve, thank you very much for your vision and drive to bring us great products.

I had an Ohio Scientific Challenger 1P and my friend bought himself a PET.  We realized I bought the wrong computer and went out and got a Apple ][.  At the time it was a wonderful computer and somewhere I still have an Apple ][e.  That was the last time I had an Apple product until the Newton which I still have too.  Somewhere along the line I went to PC’s.  I knew that is what I needed to deal with since most businesses used PC’s.

Steve showed off the iPad and I fell in love in with it and had to have it and I ran out and bought it when it was available.  I spent all day playing with it until the battery ran out and being disappointed that I had to wait for it to charge before I could use it again. Obviously it was so wonderful to use and play with.  I then ended up getting a used white MacBook.  What I couldn’t believe is that I waited so long to switch back to Mac.

A little background for you.  Besides using a Windows PC at home, I’m the IT guy at work and I also write programs for them, deal with networks, databases, websites, mail, servers and help desk.  I’m also the person that gets called when a coworker, friend or family member has a problem with their Windows PC.  In other words I deal with Windows PC a LOT.  I’ve built them from scratch, troubleshoot and repaired them and I have configured thousands of them.

Then I sold my white MacBook laptop and bought the MacBook Air.  Oh what a dream it was.  Sleek, Elegant, Beautiful and quick.  I tell you it is so much nicer using a Mac then a Windows machine.  It works!  No more blue screen of death, long wait times for boot, having to reboot in the first place, a program locking up the whole computer, dealing with viruses, doing constant updates and just a slow machine.  I had a video DVD the other day and it wouldn’t play in 4 different Windows PC and that included being 2 different manufacturers with both Vista and Windows 7.  I popped the disc into the Mac and boom it started to play with no problems.  What I’m trying to say is that Mac just works.  I haven’t ever had a problem, if I did, I could just take it to the Apple Store and they know what they are doing.  So now when someone calls for tech support, except at work of course, and they tell me what the problem is, I always say get a Mac and you wouldn’t have that problem or you should have gotten a Mac and then I help them out.  They don’t get it and you probably don’t either unless you use a Mac.

I was about to literally smash my Android phone with a hammer, the only thing that saved it from that fate was a friend needed a Verizon phone.  Then Verizon came out with the iPhone.  It was so sweet not to have to reboot the phone every week or all of a sudden see my battery is almost dead when it was at 60% a little while ago and I wasn’t using it or it locking up and having to pull the battery.  Now you need virus protection on Android.  Does all this sound familiar?  It’s Windows PC all over again on an Android phone.

I’m telling this because it’s Steve’s vision of the future and relentlessness of wanting things done right.  Devil’s in the details.  I still don’t understand that saying, maybe because it’s hell working on the details, but I do know that it’s the details that makes a huge difference and so did Steve.

Steve, didn’t care about fame, being number one, collecting your data, being first or money.  Most CEO’s, hell even regular people, that have millions or billions of dollars and being sick or sickly, would have left the company long ago but not Steve. He saw the future in a way that benefit every one with products that everyone could use.  It’s about the people and how he could empower them to do things they couldn’t do before and do it with elegance, style and simplicity.  He pushed people hard to bring out the best in them and strive for the best.

I know that Steve has his vision for the next 5 years in place at Apple.  I fear that the computer and technology industry, after those 5 years, is going to mostly stall and move at a snails pace.  I say this because Microsoft, Android and others copy Apple and without Steve leading the way others will go off in wrong directions.  Steve was about the people and his vision.  The others, it’s about money and your personal data so they can make more money.

I also want to also thank all the hard working people at Apple that helped make his vision a reality!  Oh how I know about putting in those long hours to solve a problem or complete a project.  You make awesome products, make Steve proud.

Steve, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you for giving me time to enjoy your products and more of life and for showing me there still are people who are not money grubbers.

Mitch

Why the hatred for Apple?

I see around the web all the debates apple vs xxx.  Debating is good but when it comes to Apple people starts getting emotional, i.e. angry, when that happens others don’t listen or don’t hear.  What I see is people jumping on the bandwagon or the mob mentality.  The biggest one, when dealing with iOS like iPhone or iPad, is Choice.  This one is big especially when people think their choices are being taken away, limited or made for them and they have the right to be.  What bothers me is they really don’t understand and I’m not talking just about Apple, I’m talking about their misconception about choices.  I’m for choices, we need choices.  But, first off, with too many choices makes the probability is that you will make the wrong choice and this has been proven in scientific studies.  The second one is a big one and that is you have choices taken away from you or made for you all the time.  What happened to the shampoo you bought all the time and you can’t get it, or a store that stopped stocking a brand you like.  Those were choices made by someone else and not you.  How about the car you just bought, did you have a choice to get a stick or automatic?  Why not?  A choice has been taken away from you.  I don’t hear the hordes complaining about that.

Lets take the iPad and Android tablets.  No SD slot for use as extra storage, another choice gone.  Here’s the problem with Android’s tablet and using SD slot for extra storage.  First and for most, you’re not extending your main storage area of the tablet, its external and has to be treated as another drive.  What does this mean, if a program isn’t designed to be located on external drive and keep its data there then it has to be kept in the internal storage.  If you ran out of space on the internal storage it doesn’t matter how big the SD card is it isn’t going to help.  Second, SD’s are way slower than the internal storage, like 5 to 10 times slower!  Here’s a kicker for you, lets say you stored a program on the SD and needed to use it for something else, guess what, all those programs and data is not available anymore to the tablet until you plug it back in and there is a possibility that you didn’t unmount, or tell the OS to eject it, you could end up with missing or corrupted data.  Think about those that aren’t technical, they don’t know to unmount the drive.  Also I wouldn’t trust my valuable data on a SD card.  I’ve seen too many of them crap out, one day working fine and the next, nothing, totally useless, then what?  Do you have your data backed up, what programs do you have to re-install that was on the card, how much time is it going to take you to put everything back?  Lets see the benefits of the iPad not having SD slot.  Everything is in one place so you don’t have to worry about not having data or programs because you removed a card.  The card going bad or getting corrupted because it was removed improperly and yes, I trust SSD way more than SD cards.  Program and data will run/accessed way faster.  I think Apple’s choice is a far better one.  Faster, easier and more reliable and Apple does give you choices of storage size.

Now if your still with me and didn’t get made and went on or hit the comment button, I’ll tell you more and let you calm down 😉  Apple’s iPad is all about the experience.  Example, I have a friend at work that is all Android and been using it for a while.  He tried the iPad and he was like wow.  It was  responsiveness and the smooth scrolling that got his attention and get this, it was a 1st Generation iPad a single core processor.  Apple doesn’t just through things to gather and sell it like most of the other companies.  They pay attention to details and if it doesn’t work right or add to the user positive experience it doesn’t get done.  Other companies are happy to toss together some hardware and put Android on it and maybe do a little tweaking and sell it to the suckers.  I had an Android phone for a while, and I wanted to smash the thing and still do but someone needed a phone and they saved it from that fate, for now.  It was frustrating to use, I’m very tolerant but this thing pushed me over the edge and that’s very hard to do.  Find a program you want only to find out it doesn’t run on your particular Android phone.  I’ve seen and used several Android tablets, they are heavy, fat , the displays look crappy or faded, don’t last very long, slow or sluggish and not very responsive.  This is were Apples attention to details pays off and making the experience  the number one concern.  So yes, Apple makes some choices for you but they don’t make them lightly and take it very seriously.  Other companies are making choices for you too but they are more concerned about their bottom line then your experience.

Here’s an example for you.  Apple doesn’t go out of their way to say it’s a dual core processor just that it’s faster than before or just fast, while other companies are it’s 1.2Ghz dual core or quad core.  Actually they need the speed just to make it half way decent in the responsiveness department.  Besides what good is the latest wiz bang hardware if it’s still not that responsive or apps keeps crashing.  Oh, I can run into the wall twice as fast as before.

Back to choices.  Here’s what Android and the manufactures have done, giving you ton of choices.  Which one do choose, it’s hard isn’t it?  How much time are you spending comparing specifications, wow all the internal turmoil that creates trying to compromise your choices, hey you wanted the choices.  Now you bought one, was it the right one, the best one or meet your needs?  Oh look 2 months later and someone else came out with one you like better.  Google just released the latest Android software with cool new features, damn it’s not available for my tablet/phone and it may never be.  You don’t have those problems with Apple, again it’s the experience.  When Apple releases the latest iOS it’s available right then and there for you, no waiting on a manufacture to maybe release the update.  And it will usually be available for older hardware.  Motorola Xoom doesn’t even have the SD card slot working yet, wtf?

Now you have trouble with your phone/tablet, it’s not working or something is going wrong with it, now what?  Take it back to the store and watch them scratch their heads?  Oh, you’ll have to send it back to the manufacturer, how long is that going to take, are you going to get a replacement now or have to wait?  How about if you just have a question about how to do something?  With Apple, just go to the store and a Genius will help you out, answer questions, fix it or replace it, Done and a pleasant experience to boot.

Off topic, Apple Stores.  It is a real pleasure shopping/browsing at an Apple store, like no other I’ve been too.  They don’t hassle you, they don’t even ask if they can help you unless you look like you are looking for someone to help you, or you go up and ask for it.  If you need help they are right there to answer any questions you have or help you in any way they can and no sales pressure to buy anything.  You can try out any Apple product and just be left alone.  iJustine even records video of her dancing in a store, try that in another store.  You want to buy something, stay right where you’re at and keep playing with the display until they bring it to you and ring you up right there, no standing in line (except launch day of a product).  Again, it’s the experience.  Have you ever been to a Radio Shack?  Ambushed before you finish walking through the door, OMG let me look around first before you do that at the very least.  I hate shopping there.

Not having choices isn’t what you should be getting mad about when it comes to Apple stuff.  It’s about having smart choices and the right choices available.  With the iPad, it’s how much storage do I need and if I need 3G or not, oh and what color the smart cover should be 🙂  Smart Covers is great.  Not having to figure out of the 20 different ones out there will fit my needs and trying to find who has the best price, or if it will be discontinued and not support soon or or or.  Not to include the hours and hours I would spending do the research about the specs and the opinions, time I could be spending enjoying the park with my dogs and not regretting my choice 2 months down the road.  I think you get the idea.

Oh, I’m not buying any Apple product because Apple makes the choices for me or Steve Jobs determines what Apps I can have.  Give me a break.  First off, they are not telling you what Apps you can and can’t install!  They deny apps on the app store because they didn’t follow the guide lines and rules or doesn’t do what it says it’s suppose to.  There are hundreds of thousand of Apps to choose from and it’s the attention to detail and being a stickler that makes the great experience you have using the product.  It’s consistency in the way they look and feel.  I know tapping the top bar of a list will take me to the top of the list.  What do you get when you don’t make rules for people to follow?  Take a look at Android apps and the market place.

Did you know Google didn’t create Android OS?  They bought the company that created it.  I also don’t trust Google’s motives, they are in the advertising business, they want all the information on you as possible.  They also don’t have focus, they are all over the place with what they are interested in.  They just came out with an app called PhotoVine and they killed it off in a couple of weeks, how many other projects have been killed off?  How about some focus Google, he who chases 2 rabbits catches none.  Do you think a company in the Ads business is conceded about your experience with their product or just sell you something so they can collect more data on you?  Sure Apple wants to make a profit and charges a good price for it but they are concerned about you and your experience with their product, they have focus, vision and attention to details.  Apple isn’t in the advertising business, so they don’t need to collect data on or about you, even if they did it would be to increase your experience not to sell you more stuff or sell/use the information.  I see Apple being way more honorable and moral than Google.

Go try an Apple product before you bash it or jump on the bandwagon.  I don’t know about you but it’s time to demand stuff that just works.  I’m tired of having to put up with half-baked ideas, software and hardware and giving them money to keep doing it.  You would put up with a car that just stalls because it was rushed to market or they just don’t care about the buyer?

 

Consumer Reports Agrees with me about iPad 2

In Consumer Reports, it picks iPad 2 above all other tablets.  The only other tablet that came close was the Xoom and it tied for second with the first generation iPad and personally I wouldn’t have given Xoom second place as Honeycomb is still buggy causing crashes and feels more like a beta equipment.  Even Google said it rushed Honeycomb.  They also reported that the iPad 2 lasted 12.2 hours playing a looped video.  Does anyone know how long the Xoom lasted, as I don’t have a subscription to the consumer reports?

It all comes down to the experience and the iPad is just wonderful to use and yes I would call it magical.  Magical, not in you don’t know how it works but in the way you feel when using it.  You can read the CNN report here or here for 9 to 5 Mac.

Apple iPad summed up

I was thinking about the iPad the other day about how it has effected my life, trying to put my finger on what it was.  It couldn’t be only the touching, although it’s a huge part, there had to be something more.  Then Apple released its new commercial “We Believe” and it struck a chord with me.  It’s a direct and elegant way to put it.  Gotta love those Apple commercials 🙂

It’s hard for me to put down in words what’s it like, it’s something that really needs to be experienced.  It has effected and changed so many lives.  From children to the 100-year-old woman with impaired vision and everyone in between.

Here is Apples video of the 1st year of the iPad.

 

Apple iPad 2 finally

 

iPad 2

 

I finally managed to get my hands on an iPad 2, insert excitement here.  I heard that Apple stores received a good size shipment on Monday, in my area, so on Tuesday stood in line.  Actually stood in 2 lines, first one didn’t have the one I wanted, should have skipped that one and gone to the second one at WoodField mall.  I ended up with the 64G one since they were out of the 32G AT&T one, at least I’ll have more space and not worry about watching the amount of data I have on it.  At one time I had my 32G almost full, and that was with watching what I was doing.  Now I just have to not get in the mindset that I have all this extra room and end up filling that up LOL.

I’m not the typical user, so don’t worry if you bought one and start thinking that you should have bought the larger one.  Also, you can always take it back within 2 weeks and get a larger one.  Gotta love the Apple stores.  If you’re wondering what I’m doing that uses up so much space is that I did have a lot of video’s from iTunes U.  So much so that I had to make room on my main machine.  Music was taking up a good chunk as well but I spent a day going through and deleting all the ones I didn’t like anymore or didn’t want and cut the size down to about 40%.

I LOVE it.  The thickness is just about perfect and I really like the smart cover beats the original one hands down.  Photo booth is great to show off the iPad with the 9 live video feeds, 8 of them with effects being applied real-time, and people love seeing themselves with the funny effects applied.  Of course you also have to show off Garageband.  Even if you’re not musically inclined, even in the slightest, it’s worth the $5 to play with it and also to show it off.

Anyway, I’m off to go and enjoy my iPad.

Apple store in Japan helping out

Someone that works at an Apple store in Japan sent Kevin Rose an email saying how the Apple store was helping out during this time of crisis, it’s pretty awesome.  You can find it on Kevin’s blog here:

Kevin Rose Blog

iPad 2 March 11, 2011

iPad 2 will be available on March 11, 2011 starting at 5 pm. If you missed the announcement event from Apple or would just like to watch it, you can find it here.

For a quick recap. It is 1/3 less thinner, lighter, faster with dual core processor, up to 9x faster graphics, front and rear facing cameras, iOS 4.3 and will come in black or white bevel (body still made out of aluminum), allows for smart cover, and it still has 10 hour battery life! Both WiFi only or 3G + WiFi on both AT&T and Verizon networks and kept the same pricing starting at $499. It will have FaceTime and Photo Booth. You will be able to buy Garageband and iMovie for a low price, I can’t wait to try both of those and I know the kids are going to love playing with Photo Booth.

Smart cover is pretty cool. Where to start. It’s a screen cover that snaps into place and aligns itself. It will help clean the screen and it will roll up into a stand for typing or prop it up for watching a movie. Oh, and one more thing. The cover wake up or put the iPad to sleep. I’m wondering how many people are going to test this to see if it works like they do to see if the refrigerator light goes out when you close the door. Smart covers will not work with the iPad 1 as the 2 has magnets built-in. You can find the information here. See the iPad Smart Cover in action.

My take on this, go get one! If you been holding out, now is the time. If you have one already, couldn’t you use a second one? You’ll have to decide that one, I think it’s worth it, you can always sell your first one. If you’re sitting on the fence about getting one, just go get one. Read reviews and opinions all you want it’s not really going to help. Why? Because you need to experience it. I could talk till I’m blue in the face and you’ll hardly hear me. Spend a day with it and you’ll see. Touching makes it so much more personal and the iPad itself is more personal than a laptop. I use the laptop about 80% less now that I have an iPad. Want to look something up, the instant on and the quickness makes it a joy to use. Like I said you need to go use one for a little while, sometimes it doesn’t even take that long.

A little guide to help you pick out which one to get. Black or white that’s all you. There are 2 hardest decisions and that is storage size and to 3G or not to 3G. Storage size. This will mainly be how much stuff you have and want to keep on the iPad. Mainly it will be how much music and pictures you have and maybe movies. Apps will take up a 1 or 2 Gig, in general. So add up the size of music and video’s you have that you will want to put on it. If you have no idea what I’m talking about then you can probably get away with 16G version. If you feel that it might not be enough then spend $100 more and get the 32G. 64G is more for users with a lot of stuff and want it all on the iPad. Don’t forget there is always cloud storage like MobileMe, Dropbox and your machines at home. If possible, I would buy one from an Apple store, put everything you want on there and see how much space is left. If it’s not enough then take it back (within a week or 2) and get the next size or 2 up. Since you’re getting the next model up Apple will not charge you a restock fee. Side note. If you believe your going to shoot a lot of HD video with it or editing, remember that when picking storage size. Storage size cannot be upgraded, what you get is what you have.

3G. Advantages: GPS and access to the internet everywhere (you can get a signal). Disadvantages: Extra $130 and that’s about it. On AT&T it’s a month by month basis if you want to use it or not, you can stop and start it (monthly) all you want so there doesn’t have to be a monthly charge. If you have the AT&T unlimited from iPad 1 you can transfer it to iPad 2 from what I’ve heard but you might want to double check to make sure. You need to look at your life style and how you think you will use it. I’ll give you a few examples to help you out. If you are mostly either at home or work and do the driving you probably don’t need it. If you travel a lot or take the public transportation you probably will want it. You can use a MiFi instead but it’s not going to last as long as the iPad. If your usually at a spot with wi-fi access or hot spot. I have it and it’s mostly off but there are a couple of times it comes in handy. Like I said AT&T it’s monthly and you can start and stop it anytime so that part is a no brainer. As for Verizon I don’t know as the first one used MiFi. As for choosing AT&T or Verizon? AT&T 3G is usually faster than Verizon and you’re not worry about drop calls, so it’s your choice on that. You’ll have to do a little research about Verizon’s pricing and if it’s going to be Monthly.

Maybe your trying to decide about iPad or one of the other tablets. Easy, iPad. 7” is to small, you might as well go with the 10”, besides you have your phone with you. Xoom is too costly and no WiFi only and having a Motorola Android phone has made me lose respect for them. Android itself is a problem, it’s more like beta software and hardly any software has been written to take advantage of tablets. You might say but Android has mostly free software. You get what you pay for and if you didn’t pay for the product YOU and your data are the product. From what I’ve seen apps for iOS is more polished than Android ones. Any updates for Android has to come from the manufacturer and it’s a if and when and how much will it cost type of deal. When Apple comes out with an update it’s available to everyone right then and there and no extra charge. I’m not sure on the battery life of the others but 10 hours on the iPad is GREAT. WebOS isn’t even here yet, RIM is still vaporware and MS is fall of 2012. As of late I’m not liking Googles practices and they are collecting way too much data on people. The sole existence for Android is to collect your data.

Even though I have iPad one I will be getting an iPad 2, they have made enough changes to justifying me to get the new one.

iPhone coming to Verizon

Originally posted on 1-11-2011

Verizon Wireless announced today that the iPhone 4 is coming to Verizon.  Finally!!!!!  This gave me a big smile today 🙂  Existing Verizon customers can pre-order on Feb. 3rd and new customers on the 10th.  Two things are different from AT&T’s phone, one is the antenna around the outside also moving the mute and volume buttons a little.  The other is that you can’t browse at the same time your on a phone call.  This is because of it being on CDMA instead of GSM for both.  One thing that AT&T doesn’t have is that the Verizon one can act as a MiFi, allowing up to 5 connections.  AT&T’s only allows tethering with one computer at an extra cost.  It hasn’t been said if there is extra cost.

Unlike AT&T, if you’re not grandfathered in, will offer true unlimited data as opposed to capped unlimited, someone should explain to the carriers what unlimited means.  This phone is CDMA only, no LTE and no GSM.

When the Droid came out, 1 year and few months ago, I bought one as my first smart phone and was impressed.  When there was the ad wars between iPhone and Droid I was on the Droid’s side and dismissed the iPhone.  What can I say, I hadn’t used an iPhone.  I still haven’t but I have used the iPad and the iPod touch 4G.  I like the HD 720p video quality of the touch and I want the phones great picture quality.  So, after I’ve spent over a year with the Android OS and the Droid phone and the last 8 months with the iPad and the last 2 months with the iPod touch I can say Apple has it right.  If you haven’t used one, don’t dismiss it out of hand like I did.  Not only does Apple have it right, it does it in style and finesse providing a much better experience.

Have you seen office space and what they did to the fax machine?  Well, that’s what I would like to do to my Motorola Droid phone.  I use to like Motorola phones.  It’s not only Motorola’s fault though, it’s also Google’s Android as well.

Apple put Cherokee Language on iPhone

Originally posted 1-5-2011

Tribal officials, of Cherokee Nation, contacted Apple a little over 3 years ago about getting Cherokee on the iPhone.  It seemed like a long shot because there are thousands of languages world-wide and many of them wanting to get on the iPhone.  Apple surprised the tribe by bringing it out in fall of 2010 (iOS 4.1), they are pretty excited.

Kids now days what cell phones and if they didn’t have Cherokee they would be using English.  Having Cherokee on the iPhone is a good way to keep the kids using the language and keeping it alive.

In 2001 Tribal officials started a language immersion school in which students would be taught multiple subjects in Cherokee and now has 105 students from kindergarten to 5th grade.  They work on Apple laptops loaded with Cherokee language.  Apple has supported the language since 2003 on Mac computers.

Cherokee is currently the only American Indian language supported.  Another indigenous language supported is Hawaiian.

I have to give Apple a big pat on the back for doing this!!!!!

If you would like to read more go here:

report on NPR

Bye 2010 Hello 2011

Originally posted on 12-31-2010

Good bye 2010, hello 2011.  This will be an interesting year for slates (they really shouldn’t have been called tablets, those are the old bulky ones and slate sounds modern too), smart phones and TV appliances.

I can say one thing for sure, I’m glad to be back to Apple and I think I might have went a little overboard …. nah lol.  I love my iPad and my MacBook Air.  So which do I use more?  I would have to say iPad.  Even though the Air is light it’s still more enjoyable using the iPad.

Some of the things we have coming in 2011.  We’ll start off the new year with CES showing us what is coming or might be coming. App store for Mac, iPhone coming to Verizon (about time), iPad 2, iPhone 5 and who knows what else for Apple.

When iPhone comes to Verizon it will be interesting to see how Android phones really do when it’s on the same carrier, other than AT&T.  Both Apple and Verizon needs this.  One of the main reasons Android has been doing so well is it being on many different carriers, this is going to change.  You can see, on my regular blog, what I think of the Droid.

On the slate front.  We will probably have a slew more of Android tables and then there is RIMs playbook.  I think they are finding it is harder than they thought.  There was a report that it only lasted a couple of hours on a charge, then there was a statement that it didn’t have power management yet, even so they are not going to get 3x more even with aggressive power management.  I can see it now, your ready a page and 10 seconds later it goes dim to save power.  Or they will have to turn down the processing speed.  Looks like it will not be out till May and the iPad 2 will already be out.

I would like to be there when Balmer announces their new tablet.  I would yell like last years hp tablet you showed.  Microsoft is way behind and it’s going to be a year or 2 to catch up.  I believe they are even going to start to use ARM processors.

Android shows promise but even Google said it’s not ready for tablets yet, that’s coming.  It’s still not very polished.  I also like it how people keep saying that it’s got a SD card slot to expand memory (which is wrong) / storage space.  That’s not totally true.  You can’t expand the main storage area by adding a card, it treats it like another drive.  When you run out of storage space, your out.  You can move Some programs to card, to free up main storage, but if you remove it then you can’t run it.  You know how much slower SD cards are over SSD, magnitudes.  I also don’t trust SD cards, how many times you had one where it had errors and needed correcting, possibly loosing pictures etc.  I’ve also seen a lot of them stop working.  For me an SD slot would only be good for moving pictures from the camera over.  I think we should start demanding that camera makers start putting in wifi and/or bluetooth and do wireless transferring instead of a card.

Even if you hate Apple you have to thank them for pushing technology forward.  I wonder how long it would have been before we would have seen a slate if it wasn’t for the iPad?  Microsoft has been trying for 10 years.

Go out and enjoy New Years Eve, see you next year 🙂