New Toy
I'd seen iPads around the office, and done some work with them before. They seem like perfectly useful devices for a niche that last almost no appeal to me. They aren't heavy, but they are bulky enough that I feel I may as well take a laptop if I'm going to try to get something done - at least laptops have full keyboards, which I'm very partial to. Overall impression: Not for me.
A few weeks ago, my new manager showed me his Windows Surface. It was neat, but didn't especially win me over. I was looking at the Windows 8 variant on there and... well, I can't fathom why Microsoft is pushing such a touchscreen-oriented interface toward the PC market as well. Overall impression: Sort of meh.
Then he introduced me to his Nexus 7. What struck me immediately was the size - between a smart phone and other tablets I've seen. It's a bit large for anything but a cargo or jacket pocket, but easy enough to carry, and remarkably close to the size of a novel. "Hmm," I thought. Immediately, I starting considering it as a reading device. While I like my paperbacks, they sure do pile up as time goes on. Being able to have new books digitally in a format that's not really any harder to carry and use appealed to me in a way the other tablets did not. The ability to do other things was secondary, but a consideration.
A few days later, I bought my own. It does not have cell service, which is fine - I didn't want another expense there, and there's wireless most anywhere I'd use it. I've got a few games on it, though I'm finding most of the free ones are dangerously pay-for-advantage. I've got some remote desktop software, but I have yet to get the VPN setup to work. And Cold Days was the first book I've read on it, and... that was ridiculously convenient. So from now on, I expect to be purchasing new books in Kindle format for reading this way and I'm reasonably pleased with my new toy.
A few weeks ago, my new manager showed me his Windows Surface. It was neat, but didn't especially win me over. I was looking at the Windows 8 variant on there and... well, I can't fathom why Microsoft is pushing such a touchscreen-oriented interface toward the PC market as well. Overall impression: Sort of meh.
Then he introduced me to his Nexus 7. What struck me immediately was the size - between a smart phone and other tablets I've seen. It's a bit large for anything but a cargo or jacket pocket, but easy enough to carry, and remarkably close to the size of a novel. "Hmm," I thought. Immediately, I starting considering it as a reading device. While I like my paperbacks, they sure do pile up as time goes on. Being able to have new books digitally in a format that's not really any harder to carry and use appealed to me in a way the other tablets did not. The ability to do other things was secondary, but a consideration.
A few days later, I bought my own. It does not have cell service, which is fine - I didn't want another expense there, and there's wireless most anywhere I'd use it. I've got a few games on it, though I'm finding most of the free ones are dangerously pay-for-advantage. I've got some remote desktop software, but I have yet to get the VPN setup to work. And Cold Days was the first book I've read on it, and... that was ridiculously convenient. So from now on, I expect to be purchasing new books in Kindle format for reading this way and I'm reasonably pleased with my new toy.
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