Technology Apple
- Thread starter Casey
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Hmm, you're right. I meant how it's used and the organization of things like the speakers, etc. Also, how it feels. Although thin, the iPad feels very solid. The Touchpad feels very hollow, and the other tablets out there feel kind of in between. I guess I gotta go try out some of the new Android tablets. There's always a new one out, and it's always some shit manufacturer; nothing like Samsung or Moto.
I stil have to see the Tab 10.1 and Sony's tablets.
I stil have to see the Tab 10.1 and Sony's tablets.
From the tablets I played with the Note 10.1 is real cool. It feels nothing like other Android tablets because of the stylus. Using it feels really cool and it offers a whole new world of possibilities. Also it has awesome stereo speakers. It doesn't feel as smooth as the Nexus 7 but most prorbably Jelly Bean will fix this.
It's just when I see Android, my mind automatically thinks smartphone. Something just doesn't feel right about having a WiFi tablet. But again, I would never buy a data plan for a tablet either. But I do enjoy using tablets. That make sense? It's just that eventually I realize that what's missing on my WiFi Touchpad is the call-making aspect and the fact that I cannot be "connected" and use the tablet to its full potential because it lacks cellular services.
Sprint announced 4G in my area of Chicago. It was just by chance that I was on a five hour train ride (first time taking a long trip in a train, ever) and I got curious to see where Sprint's rollout plan for 4G in Chicago was due. The said later this year or early next year, but it appears they were talking about all the equipment running full-fledge in the city, not just sites of rollout.
Long story short, I saw three surrounding suburbs had gotten 4G activated in their areas on Monday. I saw this on Tuesday afternoon. I was so excited, I double-checked the Sprint coverage map to see if 4G was indeed available in those areas. Turns out it had actually spread about 10 miles away and directly on top of my house at home. I was so excited.
I get home and I cannot find 4G for the life of me. I was pissed at Sprint and thought it was just a lie or was only activated for a few hours on Monday, and then switched off. Fast forward to today and my mom was complaining our WiFi in the clinic wasn't accepting her phone. So I just turn off Wifi on her GalNex and it switches to data. Immediately, 4G pops up. I freak out. I think, "oh, maybe it does that meaning it searches for 4G, and when it can't find it, it reverts to 3G." Nope. It stuck. I look at my S3 and still see 3G. Then it hits me.... I had turned off LTE radio in the settings when I got my phone, thinking I wouldn't see 4G until December. I go to the Settings menu, check LTE, and boom, I got it. What an idiot. I was so pissed at myself.
I had full bars of 4G, compared to two bars of 3G not two weeks ago. Blazing fast. About 1 MB/s. I'm loving it.
Had 4G about 60% of the drive home. It ends about one mild down the road from my house before reverting to 3G, but I use WiFi at home anyway. The speeds on speedtest shows double the bandwidth in my area, compared to where my dad's clinic is, 30 minutes away, yet it's slower. Kinda confusing.
But whatever. Got LTE. I can only hope it gets better over the next few months and my street gets 4G fully. I got an app called Sensorly that has user-submitted data on areas where there is 3G,4G, and voice coverage. So I definitely went ahead and ran the app on my drive everywhere in my area, giving them data. Seems like someone has gotten most of my area down pretty well, so I just decided to be a good samaritan and cover the gaps. You never know who around here is looking for that data. The carrier website and their coverage maps are a sham.
Also, this app notes your carrier as well, so it differentiates between Sprint and VZW, etc.
Sprint announced 4G in my area of Chicago. It was just by chance that I was on a five hour train ride (first time taking a long trip in a train, ever) and I got curious to see where Sprint's rollout plan for 4G in Chicago was due. The said later this year or early next year, but it appears they were talking about all the equipment running full-fledge in the city, not just sites of rollout.
Long story short, I saw three surrounding suburbs had gotten 4G activated in their areas on Monday. I saw this on Tuesday afternoon. I was so excited, I double-checked the Sprint coverage map to see if 4G was indeed available in those areas. Turns out it had actually spread about 10 miles away and directly on top of my house at home. I was so excited.
I get home and I cannot find 4G for the life of me. I was pissed at Sprint and thought it was just a lie or was only activated for a few hours on Monday, and then switched off. Fast forward to today and my mom was complaining our WiFi in the clinic wasn't accepting her phone. So I just turn off Wifi on her GalNex and it switches to data. Immediately, 4G pops up. I freak out. I think, "oh, maybe it does that meaning it searches for 4G, and when it can't find it, it reverts to 3G." Nope. It stuck. I look at my S3 and still see 3G. Then it hits me.... I had turned off LTE radio in the settings when I got my phone, thinking I wouldn't see 4G until December. I go to the Settings menu, check LTE, and boom, I got it. What an idiot. I was so pissed at myself.
I had full bars of 4G, compared to two bars of 3G not two weeks ago. Blazing fast. About 1 MB/s. I'm loving it.
Had 4G about 60% of the drive home. It ends about one mild down the road from my house before reverting to 3G, but I use WiFi at home anyway. The speeds on speedtest shows double the bandwidth in my area, compared to where my dad's clinic is, 30 minutes away, yet it's slower. Kinda confusing.
But whatever. Got LTE. I can only hope it gets better over the next few months and my street gets 4G fully. I got an app called Sensorly that has user-submitted data on areas where there is 3G,4G, and voice coverage. So I definitely went ahead and ran the app on my drive everywhere in my area, giving them data. Seems like someone has gotten most of my area down pretty well, so I just decided to be a good samaritan and cover the gaps. You never know who around here is looking for that data. The carrier website and their coverage maps are a sham.
Also, this app notes your carrier as well, so it differentiates between Sprint and VZW, etc.
So.... I am still tempted to pick up an ipad for the educational apps. Android's offering is pathetic in comparison. Which is something I thought they were going to be targeting when I saw google body...!
But... A 4th generation Ipad is £400. Wifi and 16GB.
Not cheap.
But... When I look at phonics apps on Apple and then Android the difference is clear...!
But... A 4th generation Ipad is £400. Wifi and 16GB.
Not cheap.
But... When I look at phonics apps on Apple and then Android the difference is clear...!
yeah there are some things Apple is clearly better with. Another good example is games. I have no idea why some of the coolest games are not made for Android and instead the market is filled with fart sounds and Angry Birds seems to be the pinnacle of Android gaming. I don't play much on my phone or tablet but I know a lot of people who do and choose Ipads (I even have a friend who bought an Ipod Touch just as a gaming console).
http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_lose_iphone_name_in_mexico_revise_legal_statement_in_uk-news-5037.php
lol, Apple deserved that so much. Their lawyers deserve a punch in the face too.
lol, Apple deserved that so much. Their lawyers deserve a punch in the face too.
This might sound crazy but Microsoft has forced my hand with Windows 8. I convinced my friend that getting the Retina Macbook Pro is a better choice than a shitty Windows 8 tablet-laptop. Eh.
I feel really bad for Samsung, Asus and other such companies that are currently delivering really great hardware platforms, better than they ever did. They had to push really hard and are making things better than they ever did only to have their products wasted by Windows 8, with no alternatives. It's ridiculous how a single company that went really weird was responsible for one of the most important software.. and how can change the game and fuck up everything for the other companies that are doing great job but are left without alternatives.
It's a shame that developing a fully operational and decent desktop OS is so much work because the situation is calling for a new player.
With Microsoft making so many fucked up decisions (and only getting more and more weird with every product) it seems that Windows Blue or whatever they are working on is an even more ridiculous concept (you're going to be actually forced to use Microsoft's ecosystem, and nobody could stand THAT). This might be the beginning of an end for Windows supremacy.
Call me crazy but I'm getting more and more serious about switching to a Mac. Me.
Windows 7 is a great system, probably better than the few upcoming Mac OS iterations but it's not going to last forever. Microsoft will make a lot of users switch to Mac and that might make the platform better (and make companies actually develop for Mac). Plus those new Macbook Pros are actually good.
The last hope is in the OEMs, they are relying on Windows but Microsoft seems to begin relying less on OEMs, they basically said "fuck you" with Surface. This really calls for a new player, but I can't see that happening. The situation is certainly shitty for OEMs. It might push a lot of manufacturers to switch their operations to mobile devices because Android is far less troublesome now. This might push the market even further towards mobile devices and that's how Microsoft digs their grave because honestly, none of their mobile systems has been good and none of them stands a chance against Android or iOS.
I feel really bad for Samsung, Asus and other such companies that are currently delivering really great hardware platforms, better than they ever did. They had to push really hard and are making things better than they ever did only to have their products wasted by Windows 8, with no alternatives. It's ridiculous how a single company that went really weird was responsible for one of the most important software.. and how can change the game and fuck up everything for the other companies that are doing great job but are left without alternatives.
It's a shame that developing a fully operational and decent desktop OS is so much work because the situation is calling for a new player.
With Microsoft making so many fucked up decisions (and only getting more and more weird with every product) it seems that Windows Blue or whatever they are working on is an even more ridiculous concept (you're going to be actually forced to use Microsoft's ecosystem, and nobody could stand THAT). This might be the beginning of an end for Windows supremacy.
Call me crazy but I'm getting more and more serious about switching to a Mac. Me.
Windows 7 is a great system, probably better than the few upcoming Mac OS iterations but it's not going to last forever. Microsoft will make a lot of users switch to Mac and that might make the platform better (and make companies actually develop for Mac). Plus those new Macbook Pros are actually good.
The last hope is in the OEMs, they are relying on Windows but Microsoft seems to begin relying less on OEMs, they basically said "fuck you" with Surface. This really calls for a new player, but I can't see that happening. The situation is certainly shitty for OEMs. It might push a lot of manufacturers to switch their operations to mobile devices because Android is far less troublesome now. This might push the market even further towards mobile devices and that's how Microsoft digs their grave because honestly, none of their mobile systems has been good and none of them stands a chance against Android or iOS.
What you said can very easily happen to Android as well. You description of M$ is not too far off from what Google is trying to do as well. People are being forced to use Google's "ecosystem" on Android, but luckily, it actually works. That doesn't change the fact everything you have has to run through Google first with your Google accounts.
Microsoft has just lost its way. I don't know when it started, but Vista may have been the beginning of the visible cracks in the company. I think they rested on their laurels for too long and allowed Apple to figure out what people want and also create interest in what they were already doing with hardware/software through trial and error, that when the Apple boom happened, M$ was caught with their pants down and has been struggling to get any projects of theirs in motion.
They do have something going for them in that their OS supports touchscreens and there are some OEMs that are making hardware to utilize that, but once Apple releases an MBP or MBA with a touchscreen, it's going to be game over. The trackpad on MacBooks right now are touchscreen-lites, in that they have gestures that actually work, unlink M$ gestures which are shit and pointless. Many features of OSX would be improved further with a touchscreen, like resizing windows to fit right on the screen, overviewing all windows open, etc.
I can't wait. I'm not sure if Apple will give their notebooks a touchscreen, in order to prevent it from cannibalizing their iPad sales, but those iMacs sure could use it.
I wouldn't mind using this on my MPB, though: https://leapmotion.com/
Microsoft has just lost its way. I don't know when it started, but Vista may have been the beginning of the visible cracks in the company. I think they rested on their laurels for too long and allowed Apple to figure out what people want and also create interest in what they were already doing with hardware/software through trial and error, that when the Apple boom happened, M$ was caught with their pants down and has been struggling to get any projects of theirs in motion.
They do have something going for them in that their OS supports touchscreens and there are some OEMs that are making hardware to utilize that, but once Apple releases an MBP or MBA with a touchscreen, it's going to be game over. The trackpad on MacBooks right now are touchscreen-lites, in that they have gestures that actually work, unlink M$ gestures which are shit and pointless. Many features of OSX would be improved further with a touchscreen, like resizing windows to fit right on the screen, overviewing all windows open, etc.
I can't wait. I'm not sure if Apple will give their notebooks a touchscreen, in order to prevent it from cannibalizing their iPad sales, but those iMacs sure could use it.
I wouldn't mind using this on my MPB, though: https://leapmotion.com/
Yeah, Google's ecosystem actually works and most of their services are cool and useful. The only Microsoft "service" that people use is Office so it's crazy that they're trying to force things that nobody wants. Because honestly - things like IE, hotmail and microsoft live are things that smart people peace the fuck out from. Nobody who knows what a tablet is uses those. Compared to things like Google maps, gmail or youtube.. well, Microsoft have their heads up their asses if they believe they can 'go Google' on people.
Now if it comes to touchscreens on laptops.. I don't know, I personally dislike them. First and most of all it's really inconvenient, having to reach to your screen instead of laying your palm comfortably on the keyboard. Secondly, I'd hate having to clean my laptop's screen all the time. Back in the days they already tried to introduce touchscreens to laptops and everyone thought it was a silly idea because of how inconvenient it was, so they dumped the idea.
Now if it comes to touchscreens on laptops.. I don't know, I personally dislike them. First and most of all it's really inconvenient, having to reach to your screen instead of laying your palm comfortably on the keyboard. Secondly, I'd hate having to clean my laptop's screen all the time. Back in the days they already tried to introduce touchscreens to laptops and everyone thought it was a silly idea because of how inconvenient it was, so they dumped the idea.
Are you talking about the tablet PCs that were big for a bit from 2005-08, or so? I know every teacher in my high school was equipped with one, complete with stylus and a wireless connection to the overhead projector. Some teachers just sat with their legs on their desk and tablet on their lap and taught from there. Well, it was our English teacher, so it was BS to begin with, but....
Those were neat, but weren't exactly touch, like touch with your finger.
You're right though, reaching over to touch the screen may be an inconvenience, but sometimes you may need to zoom in on something or find something in another program that may be easier to maneuver around with with touch. Imagine music and video or picture editing on a touchscreen notebook. It would be like a tablet, but still the power of a notebook. Better GPU and CPU and all that jazz. It still wouldn't really replace the tablet, since a notebook isn't as portable, especially if we're talking a 13 or 15" MBP with a touchscreen, but it would be nice to have that option.
On an iMac, like I gave the example of earlier, I think touch would take off in home use. A family would be able to use it for web browsing, or whatever, and kids could play games or someone could edit family photos and such with a touch screen with greater ease.
To avoid pissing people off, there should be an icon on the top that would turn on and off the touch capabilities so avoid accidental actions.
It could work.
About M$ again, I read that people didn't know what the fuck the difference between Windows 8 and RT was. Can't say I know either, but those Surface tablets are awfully overpriced. If the Surface or the BlackBerry PlayBook fail and go on fire sale, you bet your ass I'm scooping that shit up too, like the Touchpad. Someone's gonna get Android on it and it would be a proper, well-powered Android tablet. Nothing actually running Android out of the box interests me, still. Electronics sell well and high on the island I'm on, so maybe some tard will buy my $100 TP for near $300 if I tell them it's running Android and is rooted and all that shit. The coons on this island don't know any better. Just gotta make sure I don't get robbed for it.
Those were neat, but weren't exactly touch, like touch with your finger.
You're right though, reaching over to touch the screen may be an inconvenience, but sometimes you may need to zoom in on something or find something in another program that may be easier to maneuver around with with touch. Imagine music and video or picture editing on a touchscreen notebook. It would be like a tablet, but still the power of a notebook. Better GPU and CPU and all that jazz. It still wouldn't really replace the tablet, since a notebook isn't as portable, especially if we're talking a 13 or 15" MBP with a touchscreen, but it would be nice to have that option.
On an iMac, like I gave the example of earlier, I think touch would take off in home use. A family would be able to use it for web browsing, or whatever, and kids could play games or someone could edit family photos and such with a touch screen with greater ease.
To avoid pissing people off, there should be an icon on the top that would turn on and off the touch capabilities so avoid accidental actions.
It could work.
About M$ again, I read that people didn't know what the fuck the difference between Windows 8 and RT was. Can't say I know either, but those Surface tablets are awfully overpriced. If the Surface or the BlackBerry PlayBook fail and go on fire sale, you bet your ass I'm scooping that shit up too, like the Touchpad. Someone's gonna get Android on it and it would be a proper, well-powered Android tablet. Nothing actually running Android out of the box interests me, still. Electronics sell well and high on the island I'm on, so maybe some tard will buy my $100 TP for near $300 if I tell them it's running Android and is rooted and all that shit. The coons on this island don't know any better. Just gotta make sure I don't get robbed for it.
^ A lot of those new Windows 8 laptops have touchscreens on them.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/11/27/windows-8-touchscreen-laptops-see-slow-start/
Asus, Acer, Samsung, Lenovo - they all make them now. The problem is, nobody wants them (primarily because of Windows 8 and also because people still think it's a "weird" thing). Now Windows 8 looks touch optimized, right? The problem is that while its metro part sort of is, the desktop part sucks to use with touch. Just how the metro part sucks on a huge screen desktop.
As a matter of fact real desktop programs are not touch optimized, including photoshop and such which means it's actually impossible to operate them with touch. Only "metro apps" that suck ass and are of far lower quality than iOS apps and even Android apps are touch optimized. So you can play fart games and use the chopped metro version of IE with touch.
Now if it comes to Surface.. the Windows 8 version is almost twice as expensive as the RT version and it's freaking big ass big, but the hardware inside is pretty decent.
The RT version is not better at all than 10 inch Android tablets which are cheaper and more portable. It's pretty much equal to year old Tegra 3 Asus Android tablets, it's only thicker and heavier but I have to give it to Microsoft - it looks better.
You also have tablets like the Nexus 10 which absolutely rape the Surface and are cheaper, and also more portable. The new Ipad is also much better than the Surface (RT).
That's pretty funny considering that RT is not even close to Android. It won't run Windows programs which means you are screwed because you're limited to what you already have installed (IE, hotmail app, mobile office, skydrive) and some metro apps from the store, which means basically fart apps and stuff like that. The last word on XDA was that you can't run Android or any other non-Microsoft OS on Windows tablets. Which means you're stuck with an overpriced and slightly oversized, mediocre tablet with a shitty OS.
Now the Surface Pro is a different story - it's big ass for a tablet but it's more similar to an ultrabook on the inside while being a bit lighter than those. You have a full fledged Windows 8 on it and the best part of having it is that it can run most Windows programs on it. It has a low voltage i5 on it which is pretty fast and a pretty decent graphics which means you can play games on it. The problem is that you have to hook up a mouse and a keyboard or a gamepad to it to use those because Windows programs are not touch optimized. Surface Pro is effectively meant to replace your laptop, it's kind of an alternative.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/11/27/windows-8-touchscreen-laptops-see-slow-start/
Asus, Acer, Samsung, Lenovo - they all make them now. The problem is, nobody wants them (primarily because of Windows 8 and also because people still think it's a "weird" thing). Now Windows 8 looks touch optimized, right? The problem is that while its metro part sort of is, the desktop part sucks to use with touch. Just how the metro part sucks on a huge screen desktop.
As a matter of fact real desktop programs are not touch optimized, including photoshop and such which means it's actually impossible to operate them with touch. Only "metro apps" that suck ass and are of far lower quality than iOS apps and even Android apps are touch optimized. So you can play fart games and use the chopped metro version of IE with touch.
Now if it comes to Surface.. the Windows 8 version is almost twice as expensive as the RT version and it's freaking big ass big, but the hardware inside is pretty decent.
The RT version is not better at all than 10 inch Android tablets which are cheaper and more portable. It's pretty much equal to year old Tegra 3 Asus Android tablets, it's only thicker and heavier but I have to give it to Microsoft - it looks better.
You also have tablets like the Nexus 10 which absolutely rape the Surface and are cheaper, and also more portable. The new Ipad is also much better than the Surface (RT).
That's pretty funny considering that RT is not even close to Android. It won't run Windows programs which means you are screwed because you're limited to what you already have installed (IE, hotmail app, mobile office, skydrive) and some metro apps from the store, which means basically fart apps and stuff like that. The last word on XDA was that you can't run Android or any other non-Microsoft OS on Windows tablets. Which means you're stuck with an overpriced and slightly oversized, mediocre tablet with a shitty OS.
Now the Surface Pro is a different story - it's big ass for a tablet but it's more similar to an ultrabook on the inside while being a bit lighter than those. You have a full fledged Windows 8 on it and the best part of having it is that it can run most Windows programs on it. It has a low voltage i5 on it which is pretty fast and a pretty decent graphics which means you can play games on it. The problem is that you have to hook up a mouse and a keyboard or a gamepad to it to use those because Windows programs are not touch optimized. Surface Pro is effectively meant to replace your laptop, it's kind of an alternative.
Hmm. I can see what the article is saying. And yes, doing major projects with Photoshop might be difficult, but if you're doing some touch up work, it could be useful to use something more precise than a mouse, like a finger. Or more precise, a stylus.
While not much in Windows 8 is touch-friendly, or even capable, I can see Apple having it run natively fluidly on OSX. The way gestures work in Finder and web browsers and such. It's possible. And more importantly, Apple should obviously give the user the option to turn off touch. Maybe the feature won't be available on the stock MacBook models, similar to how the Retina display isn't available on stock models; only those that want it would buy it and use it.
I don't know jack about Windows 8 or RT. I just know both are being considered "flops" by many blogs and the numbers seem to support that as well.
You were right that Win7 is great and really didn't need the radical change 8 brought, but it seems like M$ is where Apple was 10-15 years ago before Jobs came and put them back on track. Windows is trying some radical ideas but they keep blowing up in their faces because Apple, arguably, has the stability after trial-and-error for so long and the backing of its fan/user base.
Their Windows Phone doesn't seem to be big yet either. I don't know anyone that has one and uses it and loves it. Microsoft is in a real mess after Win7.
While not much in Windows 8 is touch-friendly, or even capable, I can see Apple having it run natively fluidly on OSX. The way gestures work in Finder and web browsers and such. It's possible. And more importantly, Apple should obviously give the user the option to turn off touch. Maybe the feature won't be available on the stock MacBook models, similar to how the Retina display isn't available on stock models; only those that want it would buy it and use it.
I don't know jack about Windows 8 or RT. I just know both are being considered "flops" by many blogs and the numbers seem to support that as well.
You were right that Win7 is great and really didn't need the radical change 8 brought, but it seems like M$ is where Apple was 10-15 years ago before Jobs came and put them back on track. Windows is trying some radical ideas but they keep blowing up in their faces because Apple, arguably, has the stability after trial-and-error for so long and the backing of its fan/user base.
Their Windows Phone doesn't seem to be big yet either. I don't know anyone that has one and uses it and loves it. Microsoft is in a real mess after Win7.
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