Learning New Things... (Technology related, of course!)

I think my love affair with technology began the Christmas I was six years old.  I already had my doubts about Santa.  Believe me, parents, there's a lot of playground talk among the Kindergarten and first grade set that you know nothing about.  But, that Christmas, I opened a beautiful new device, probably my first real technology item -- a lovely new cassette tape recorder.  And, there was a real live message from Santa already recorded on it!!!  I was convinced again (ok, maybe just for another year or so) in the magic of Christmas.  My beloved device looked something like this, and I used it and loved it for years:

Fast forward three decades.  I was a mom of two working full-time with an over-the-top busy family life.  But, I was also re-discovering technology, or so it felt.  Up to about that point, gifts from my husband usually consisted of pretty jewelry.  And, don't get me wrong, that was great.  But I started wanting tech products more than jewelry, and I haven't looked back since.  I carry my smartphone everywhere, after all, but the only jewelry I wear everywhere is my engagement ring and wrap set.  I can store an unlimited number of books on my Kindle and in the "cloud", but I can only fit so much jewelry in my jewelry box.  You get the picture.

I can make just about anything I want to do on my phone, computer, and other tech devices work.  I have a lot left to learn, but I think most people who know me would describe me as fairly tech-savvy.  My son regrets that I'm not very interested in learning to set up a Mindcraft server for him, so he thinks the teenager down the street knows a lot more about technology than I do, but other than that, I'm the one my family comes to when their smartphone, iPod Touch, tablet, etc. isn't doing what they want it to do.

But one thing I had never done until last week was take apart a tech product to fix it or even just to see what it looked like inside.  I always wondered why my husband would do that.  And then I found out - it's fun!  We're considering starting a little side business fixing some broken tech products.  Who do you know who hasn't at one point broken a screen, needed a non-replaceable battery replaced, wished they had more memory in their device, etc.?  So, I bought this used iPhone 3G on eBay:

Note the cracked screen.  I purchased a new screen, watched a few YouTube videos, and wa la...  Ok, I wish I could say that, but actually, it took some work and I still managed to damage the LCD in the meantime.  Who knew how difficult it was to pry the LCD from the glass screen without damaging it, right?  And now I also know why my husband finds my old hair dryers so useful.  So, after about an hour, here's what I ended up with:

Oops!  But, never fear, about $20 will get you a brand new LCD and even some decent tools to help, and it was actually a lot easier replacing the LCD than the glass screen (no hair dryer/heat gun required to detach glue).  So, finally, several days later, wa la!

Good as new!  I did have a moment of panic when I put it back together and the touchscreen didn't work, but then took it apart, noticed I didn't have one of the three connectors firmly hooked back up, and all was well.  I can fix an iPhone 3G screen AND LCD now!  So, if you need one fixed and aren't as brave as I, I'm your woman!  I plan to tackle an iPhone 4 this weekend.

And if you don't love technology the way I do, what new thing are you planning to learn this week?

Kindle Paperwhite Unboxing

Well, you had to know it was only a matter of time before I purchased the new Kindle Paperwhite after my great first impressions at launch. The exciting day for my new Kindle to arrive came about one week ago.

 

Above is what I saw once I opened the box: my lovely new case and a nice, sturdy looking box with my new Kindle Paperwhite inside! This is what I saw once I opened the box, along with a picture of what you get (just the e-reader itself along with a USB cable):

 

After a few quick set-up options (like choosing English as my language), I got my first view of the new home screen. I really like the more visual layout of actually seeing the book covers on the home screen. And of course, one of my very first tests had to be trying this puppy out in a dark room:

At first, I found myself missing the physical home button now missing from this newest Kindle version. But, the touchscreen performs so much better than my Kindle Touch that I adjusted within a few days, and don't miss the home button at all now.

I love the way they've done the lighting. I can now sit or lie in bed, or sit in the dark while my hubby watches a movie, with no need for a flimsy book light that ends up being an annoyance to others in the room. Reviewers seem to agree that Amazon did a better job with this screen lighting technology than Barnes and Noble did with the Nook, but I haven't tried out the Nook with Glowlight to verify that.

There is really only one thing I will miss and that has at least briefly held me back from selling my Kindle Touch: there is no headphone jack, no speaker, and therefore no way to listen to audiobooks, have the text to speech option from Kindle e-books, or listen to music on my new Kindle Paperwhite. I didn't spend much time on these activities as I tend to use my e-ink device for longer reading sessions and either my Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone or iPad 3 tablet for other uses. But, it usually does make me sad when a manufacturer feels the need to remove features from a product. I suspect this was necessary to keep the size nearly the same as the past few Kindles and to keep costs down, but I wish it still had audio capabilities.

Other than that, this is a great product, one I will have no trouble recommending to friends and acquaintances.

 



Opinion: Our Patent System is Broken

First, a disclaimer:  I am not in any way an expert on patents or patent law.

I just don't think patents do what they were meant to do.  Of all things, a movie I watched last year kind of woke me up to this, and then the "patent wars" amongst smartphone manufacturers has driven the point home for me. 

If you haven't watched the movie "Flash of Genius", I highly recommend it.  The gist of the movie is that Ford takes an intelligent man's invention of intermittent windshield wipers and runs with it.  They tell the inventor that his invention really isn't that great, and proceed to include it in the Ford Mustang without his approval.  He sues Ford and eventually wins, but it is a long process that basically costs him his family (his wife leaves him when he is so obsessed with getting the rights to his invention back and compensation).  His patent for the idea protected him in the end, but the lengths he had to go to surprised me, and it got me to thinking about the power corporations have over individuals in cases such as this.

Corporations can afford to have legal experts on staff.  Some even employ patent "trolls" to diligently look for ways other companies are violating their patents.  Corporations patent things that amaze me, ideas that don't seem very new and novel at all.  But they have the money and power to push their patents through the system in ways that the vast majority of individuals just can't.

Idealistically, I thought patents were meant to protect individuals' ideas, but realistically, they have become ways for corporations to make more money.  Most engineers I know have to sign off on their right to patent new ideas on their own when they hire on at a corporation.  Typically, they only have to patent their ideas through the corporation that employs them if it relates to the corporation's business and market, but that isn't always the case.  I've witnessed the incredibly long process a person might have to go through if their idea is not related to the business and they want to keep their individual right to it.

I've told my kids that I'd love to have a lawyer in the family, for this and other reasons.  Sometimes I think the best way I could have helped my husband financially is if I did have a law degree to help him actually patent some of his new ideas.  Sadly, he may never put the effort behind getting his own patents.

And what about the "patent wars" between Apple and Samsung, as well as other technology companies?  Is it really helping technology progress?  I don't personally think so.  I don't dispute that Apple has come up with some novel ideas that they probably deserve patent protection for.  However, many of the things that have come out of recent cases have been ridiculous.  Some basic things should be able to be reverse engineered and then improved upon.  Android is not a complete copy of Apple's mobile operating system any more than Apple's mobile operating system is a clone of Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and other forerunners.

What are your thoughts?

My impressions of the new iPad…

If you had asked me two years ago, I would have told you that there was no way I’d ever own an iPad. I thought the name was ridiculous (still not a huge fan of the name, but I’ve grown used to it). I thought Apple was trying to create a market for something that didn’t have a useful purpose (why would I possibly need a tablet when I had my laptop and smartphone?). And it was expensive!

Then last year my kids wanted tablets. We tried out a cheap Android tablet for my son, and it was just that – cheap. There were a few nice things about it, but it ran slow and had a fairly non-responsive touchscreen. My daughter saved her own money and purchased an iPad 2 in November, while my son had enough to purchase a much nicer Android tablet (the Asus eee pad transformer).

I helped my daughter set up a few things on her iPad. Despite not being an Apple worshiper, I know my way around most technology, including maintaining the family’s iTunes account/library, ripping our CDs and DVDs, etc. I started playing around with my son’s tablet after he went to bed some nights.

Yes, I have a small enough laptop, but I leave it docked to a keyboard and huge monitor more than 90% of the time. It’s for “work”. Tablets are more for fun, and yes they are more portable. I started using his tablet to surf the net in bed, for a larger view of new recipes while cooking, etc. And I liked it.

Still, I intended to wait. And even then I would have thought I’d purchase an Android-based tablet when the time came. I have a Samsung Galaxy S II phone, and there’s no way I’d trade it for an iPhone. But then they had to go and make the iPad screen so incredibly good! No other tablet on the market can compare right now, and what is a device like this for if not an awesome personal screen? And so, after hearing me talk about it for only a short time and deciding there was no way he was going to buy me yet another point and shoot camera (the other tech product I was talking about lately), Darrell bought me the new iPad as my early birthday gift.

Here’s what I think so far:

- The screen really is THAT good. I downloaded identical pictures to my new iPad and my daughter’s iPad 2. They look great on the iPad 2. They just look that much more awesome and true to life on the new iPad. Some of the “HD” apps being updated for it are great (Flipboard and 500pix are a few examples). There isn’t enough content out yet for this amazing new screen, but I hope it comes quickly.

- It’s just very easy to use (until it isn’t). iOS is the every-man’s mobile operating system. If you aren’t the kind of person to make a lot of tweaks, I’d say it’s for you overall. It is smooth, easy to start using right out of the box. I find myself thinking, “don’t I need to clear some memory, exit out of some apps, clear some cache or something?” But no, that sort of thing isn’t something you go digging into on iOS the way I think even less advanced Android users do. The apps, even ones that also exist for Android, seem more streamlined and user-friendly for iOS. That said, I still miss more detailed menu options that for me at least seem easier to get to in Android than iOS. And when you really do want to tweak or customize something, it seems more difficult on iOS than Android. Even early on in my Android owning days, I was able to find work-arounds for Android that I don’t think exist for iOS.

- I like reading on it better than I thought it would. I’m not getting rid of my eInk device any time soon for long reading sessions (say an hour plus), but I’ve found myself reading from the new iPad much more often than I do from my phone. The screen size coupled with the resolution makes text very smooth and easy to read. I can see someone who has never experienced eInk deciding that this is a good eReader for them, and in fact I’ve heard of many people considering just that. And of course you have the added benefit of being able to see your favorite magazines in full color.

- It’s fast. Jumping from app to app, into and out of the web browser from site to site. Nothing I’ve done seems to strain the iPad’s processor so far. And I don’t seem to have the heat issues that some have complained about.

- The battery lasts and lasts. In one week of heavy evening use, I’ve only had to charge it once.

- iOS apps aren’t as expensive as I thought they were, but I have already spent more on them in one week than I have on Android apps in nearly two years. But I’ve also recently been rethinking my “buy only add-sponsored when possible” strategy for apps, and iOS doesn’t have the equivalent of the Amazon Android App Store where I’ve snagged great deals on the free app of the day many, many times. There are some sales/specials worth keeping an eye on for iOS, and that has kept me to only about $10 out of pocket on iOS apps so far.

Bottom line, the new iPad is great. I like it. And any way you look at it, I believe it’s the best tablet on the market right now and Apple is doing a good job staying a step or two ahead of the competition. But I still don’t want an iPhone 4 or even 4S (sorry, Siri, I’m just not that into you) over my Samsung Galaxy S II, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Oh, and that amazing screen and super-fast processor inside my beautiful new iPad? Yeah, they are most likely made by Samsung, according to the research I’ve done.

New Gadgets! Part II - Kindle Paperwhite

Don't let anyone tell you that Amazon and Jeff Bezos aren't smart.  Founded and beginning online sales in the mid 90's, it survived the dot com burst.  That alone says a lot, as I remember several online services that I tried or even used regularly, that quickly disappeared back then.  Amazon even hosted the websites for several brick and mortar stalwarts until fairly recently, including Toys-R-Us and Target.

But becoming the biggest and best in online sales wasn't enough for Amazon.  In November 2007, Amazon launched the Kindle.  I tend not to buy gen 1 tech products, as I prefer to let the manufacturer work out the bugs and add a few new features first.  I was also very hesitant to try an e-reader.  Sony already had something on the market, but I'd also already begun to worry about Sony electronics products in general, so I did not want to be tied to their ecosystem.  This was before Barnes & Noble had released the Nook.  And, as an avid reader, I was quite concerned with switching to an e-reader in general.  Was e-ink really easier on the eyes than LCD screens?  Would I read more or less on a device like this compared to actual books?  Would I spend more or less on books this way?  And, could I just give up the "feel" of physical books?  All things I wondered about...

Fast-forward about a year, and I bought the Kindle 2.  I had tried a few original Kindles, and as mentioned a time or two, I love electronics gadgets in general.  And I fell in love.  I read more, found a lot of titles for free or for less than I'd pay for the physical book, started saving space in my house (I'm sure my husband was happy to have me stop asking for new bookcases and/or room in our basement to store more books), and on what other device could you get free 3G data?  My initial hesitation totally shifted to me being a Kindle advocate.  I joked that I should be paid some sort of royalty from Amazon for all of the Kindles I was selling for them by telling friends and family how great a device it was.

My daughter owns and uses that same Kindle 2.  I graduated to a Kindle Touch a few years later.  And yes, I'm seriously considering upgrading again, but not to a Kindle Fire HD as some might suspect. I want a Kindle Paperwhite.  I like my Kindle Touch, but I want some of the new features:

• Paperwhite built-in light:  I was disappointed in Amazon that they let Barnes & Noble beat them to the punch with a lighted e-reader.  But I am now convinced that the technology behind the Kindle Paperwhite is better compared to the Nook Simple Touch with Glow Light.  For one, the shorter name helps (ok, not really, but I have to laugh at some of the product naming that companies still manage to come up with).  I like that the light points downward and illuminates the screen equally.  And I like that you can keep the light on at all times (even in direct sunlight) and still have a battery that lasts 8 weeks.
• Battery life:  They essentially kept the same battery life of the Kindle Touch, while adding an awesome light.
• Display:  212 ppi (pixels per inch), up from 167 ppi on the Kindle Touch.  Clearer text, faster page-turns, same size (6-inch) screen that has proven to be a sweet spot for e-readers.
• Data:  Still only 2gb of built-in storage (and yes, I still mourn the SD card option they took away after the original Kindle), but if you don't mind buying primarily from Amazon, most of what you own can be stored in their cloud anyway.  Free 3G available is available (higher price upfront of course) in addition to standard WiFi connection.  A little-known fact though is that you used to actually be able to use the 3G for web surfing on the Kindle 2, and that does not work anymore (although I believe it still will over WiFi).  Not that this is something Amazon advertises or that you'd spend a lot of time doing on a dedicated e-reader, but it was another cut that I do (slightly) miss.

To special offer or not to special offer...  I broke down and saved the money on my Kindle Touch and took the special offers model.  I was not disappointed.  I think I've grown accustomed to mostly ignoring ads anyway, and they are not obtrusive (not shown at all within a book).  I have even claimed one or two of them.  And, if you find that you just don't like the ads, you can pay to have them removed.  It looks like Amazon is moving to having them included up-front as a standard anyway, but that shouldn't keep you from considering a Kindle product even if you know that you will immediately pay to remove the ads.

Amazon customer service has typically been great over the years in my experience.  If something happens to your Kindle within the year warranty, they send you a new one happily (at least in my experience, which did happen personally with my Kindle 2, and I've heard of friends with similar experiences).  You can actually speak to someone over the phone without a long hold time (as long as you know where to find that option in the online help section).  My only real complaint is their pricing strategy on other (non-Kindle) goods and software, and their lack of customer empathy on that front.

Why don't I want a Kindle Fire HD you ask?  I do like the idea of offering 3G data (although with a monthly limit) at a very reasonable price (although with a hefty addition to the price of the Fire with 3G versus WiFi only).  But, while I don't mind being fairly locked in to the Amazon ecosystem for books, especially now that I can borrow in Kindle format from my local library, I do NOT want to be locked in for a tablet experience.  I want full access to the Android or Apple markets.  With Android, I still have access to the Amazon App Store and content anyway.  But I can see that it's a product that will still attract a large demographic.  If I had an unlimited electronics budget, I'd buy one, too, so I certainly can't say it's a bad product.

While it's become much easier to read on a tablet device, or even my smartphone, I still see great benefits in reading an e-ink device, especially in longer reading sessions.  I'm excited to stop using my iPad for night time reading if and when I get the Kindle Paperwhite.

I hope you have or get a tech toy that you enjoy, too!

New Gadgets! Part 1: Apple

Yes, I am one of the minority of females who gets excited when new consumer electronics products are announced.  New jewelry doesn't do much for me as a present these days.  I could care less about designer clothes labels.  If you want to actually see a gleam in my eye for a material object, get me (or tell me I can order) the latest xyz gadget.  Let me research the specs, dream about the new things I can do with it, think about all the ways I'll set it up to be individually mine.

I actually sometimes even watch the new product announcements.  There were a lot over the past week or so, in case you didn't notice.  Several smartphone and tablet manufacturers were in a rush to get their latest and greatest Android or Windows 8 product announced before Apple's big reveal.  I am a little biased towards Samsung at the moment given my great experiences with their smartphones over the past two years, so I'll admit that I felt a little smug that Samsung announced their flagship phone (with flare) months before all of this hubbub, and that I've had my Galaxy S3 in hand long enough to already know all of its ins and outs before these other products can be had.

Anyway, there were only two of these product announcements that I actually watched in the past week - Apple and Amazon.  These are two amazing companies.  I admire them both for different reasons.  Apple came back from the brink (with a little help from Microsoft, but most people don't know or want to hear about that) with a revolutionary device, and no, it wasn't the iPhone.  The iPod overcame all the objections to digital music, and finally got us to actually pay and listen to mp3 files.  The user design with the little scroll wheel that most people came to love - kudos!  I have mixed feelings about the usability of iTunes, but no one can deny that they accomplished something amazing.

Some people think I don't like Apple just because I actually have some complaints with some of their products.  Not true, I just roll my eyes at the people who think they are everything, will only consider their products, and think they invented the smartphone.  But, I won't go into all that here.

Amazon.  Well, they may not have invented the digital marketplace, but they certainly mainstreamed it.  They didn't invent the e-reader either, but they did with ebooks what Apple did with mp3 music.  They made it easy and seamless, and they did it when we'd already learned to depend on them to order so much online already.  Today, I can read a Kindle book on my laptop, phone, iPad, or Kindle Touch and it will sync seamlessly to the last place I read.  I can carry around a library full of books rather than asking my husband to help me find a place for yet another bookcase.  I don't have to remember the page I left off on the several books I sometimes have going (I was never a fan of bookmarks, so yes, I'd literally memorize the page number each time).

Back to the product announcements.  Here are my general first impressions of the Apple product announcement, in case it is helpful to anyone out there: 

iPhone 5, etc.

• 4-inch screen:  Finally, now I don't have to feel sorry for iPhone owners browsing the net on their tiny screens.  I'll still keep my 4.8 inch screen, but it's a definite improvement.
• Display:  Yes, they have Sammy beat on the ppi (pixels per inch) - beautiful, and the entire reason I purchase an iPad.  The new Nokia Lumina will beat it, but I've been disappointed so far with Windows Phone's attempt at a resurrection of their OS.  I wish them well and hope Windows Phone 8 is great.
• Design:  Yes, it's very pretty.  I would never argue that.  Nor would I ever confuse a Samsung phone for it or it's predecessors, but that's an entirely different blog post.  It now will briefly hold the title for the world's thinnest phone.  Although that's a war I hope stops soon as well.  I don't care what type of glass or back you put on a phone, if it gets too thin, it will be easier to break.  Someday I imagine we'll have the technology for super-thin and super-durable phones, and I hope some folks smarter than I are working on it, but for now, it just doesn't work.  I've already noticed a durability difference in my thinner Galaxy S3 (with Gorilla Glass 2) phone compared to my Galaxy S2 (with original, thicker Gorilla Glass).
• Connectivity:  LTE, finally.  Yes, you now have 4G data connection, which has been available on other phones for a long time, and honestly, confused a lot of people as to why they had iPhone 4's and 4S's that weren't 4G.
• Processor:  Why is Apple so vague about the processor's actual specs?  I still don't understand that.  I suspect the specs are actually quite good given that it is supposed to be twice as fast as the already decent processor in the S4, so why not just tell us?
• Battery:  They managed to keep similar battery life despite the speedier processor and thinner phone, BUT it doesn't match some of the Android phones out there (mine included), and, as always, you cannot easily replace the battery.  My phone has longer battery life and I still carry around a spare for emergencies.  To be fair, several high-end Android phones and others are starting to include a non-replaceable battery, but I don't like it for any consumer electronics product and never have.
• Storage:  Options, options, options.  Well, except the one that's always missing - to add an external microSD card.
• Connector:  Lightning.  Sounds great, something new to market.  And we promise we'll make adaptors for all of your old Apple products!  Really, this is my hugest disappointment.  Instead of updating an adaptor to something more universal (microUSB) that works great, let's make another proprietary connector different from the old one.  If I had lots of Apple products, I would be ticked.  I already don't like what it implies for my iPad 3.  I just keep imagining all those nice iPhone/iPod docks with a beautiful new iPhone/iPod sitting precariously above the new adaptor.  Hmmm...
• EarPods:  To me, just about the best thing that came out of the entire product announcement.  My daughter is the only person I know well who just loves the old Apple earphones.  These earpods look very well-designed and I have high hopes that the sound quality will be much better.  And the price is not outrageous. 

One more general comment:  Why can't I watch the Apple keynote in real-time video like I can others?  It was a bit of a pain to follow just the live feed comments and images.  I'd much rather be watching video of the actual event as it is happening.

Stay tuned for a separate post about my thoughts on the Amazon product announcement!

I hope your weekend is filled with lots of time with family and friends, and time with your favorite tech product as well.

Ahead of my Kids

I don't know everything there is to know about technology.  I don't even know more than some other moms, I'm sure.  But I know more than my kids do, and my entire goal is to keep it that way.  Considering one of my kids is already a teenager, I think I'm doing well most days.

We added unlimited texting to our cell phone plan a few years ago because our (almost teen at the time) daughter was begging us to.  We made it one of her Christmas presents, along with a new phone.  In our current billing cycle, she has sent and received 123 texts to my 744.  A few years ago, I was one of those who couldn't imagine texting other than to keep up with my teenagers, but obviously, I've embraced it much more than my daughter.

I usually don't get new technology first, and I don't just go for the most popular thing out there.  I love to research.  I love just keeping up with tech sites like Engadget, Life Hacker, Android Central, CNET, Gizmodo, Popular Science, and MacWorld.  The most recent magazine I subscribed to is Laptop.

I've never liked programming, and I don't want to know all the inner workings of my cell phone, computer, or TV.  But, if I need one of them to do something or need to solve an issue, I'm willing to search the internet until I find a solution that works for me.  And I'm willing to help other people with this also.  Just ask my neighbor whose phone I recently installed a new keyboard on.  Just ask my father-in-law who calls regularly with questions about his phone and computer.

I also don't tend to jailbreak, root, or otherwise do things to my gadgets that would void the warranties.  It's not that I can't do it (believe me, there are easy step-by-step directions posted all over), but that I am a rule-follower in general, who wants the warranty intact should I have any issues and need to insist on a repair.  However, I'm all for side-loading apps, installing OS updates from the manufacturer before my provider sends them over the air, etc.  And don't worry if you have no idea what I just said - my hope is that I can explain some of these things in non-technical terms in upcoming posts.

I think part of why I have gotten so into electronics gadgets is because I have always liked little things.  I was the kid who couldn't bring myself to eat Cornish game hens just because they were so little and cute.  I remember vividly dreaming about a TV that I could fit in my hands and carry around wherever I wanted to watch shows on the go.  I didn't even think to add a phone into that, but look how far we've come since my childhood!  My absolute favorite toy as a child was the tape recorder I got the Christmas I was six years old.  It was small enough to carry around with me, and it could record whatever I wanted!  It was nearly magical in that it made me believe in Santa Claus just a little longer - he'd recorded a message just for me to discover Christmas morning!  I even always dated taller guys, perhaps in part to make me feel smaller.  One of the best compliments Darrell gave me while dating was calling me miniature.  Yes, I know this probably all sounds kind of weird to some people.  Oh well, it's me.

So, I don't know where this is all heading.  But I love tech gadgets and I like to write.  And until I find a job and maybe after that, I'm not writing nearly as much as I'd like.  Perhaps it will start to fizzle the way it feels like my marriage blog has.  Perhaps it will continue on and I'll be helping some friends and people I don't even know along the way.  I hope it's the latter, but I've learned to be fairly content with most of what falls my way in life these days.

Thanks for reading!