Errr.... yes, that is a *really* good question. Why *do* you have so many devices? Why do any of us? Do they make us happier?
—R On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 12:05 PM, ERIC P. CHARLES <[email protected]> wrote: > To deviate a touch, and head a bit back towards a past thread... how many > of us are there left who use their different devices for different purposes? > > I like that my computer at work has totally different bookmarks than my > laptop, which has totally different bookmarks than my cell phone... because > I use them for different things. Sometimes I even have my laptop sitting > out next to my desktop at work so that I can do different tasks on a > computer that I have set up to do those tasks. I would think having all my > digital devices that much alike (the same programs, the same features, the > same settings, etc., etc., etc.) would make you wonder why you have so many > devices. > > Any thoughts from the other side of the (digital) ecological divide? > > Eric > > On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 01:26 PM, *Chris Feola <[email protected]>*wrote: > > In that case, one more word in praise of the Google ecosystem, which > people don't tend to think of as such. Until iOS 5, iPhones were > largely ancillaries to your desktop -- you needed to cable up regularly to > synch with iTunes to do stuff. For better or for worse, Google is pushing > deep into the cloud space. Go to the Android Market; pick an app. The > Market knows which of my devices are compatible and cloud installs; the > next time I use that device its just there. The phone backup is seamless > and wireless; when I upgrade my games are not only installed, I'm on the > same levels! But, as Apple has proved, its the little things that often > count most. If you use Chrome, you have The. Same. Bookmarks. Everywhere. > Yes, I realize there are bookmark sync tools/social tools/etc. This, > however, is seamless. If I'm working on something like the BlackBerry SDK > -- don't ask -- and find a good reference, I drag it to my toolbar, and > that's exactly where it is every time. On my desktop. On my laptop. On my > tablet. (Honeycomb or better.) On my phone. (Ice Cream Sandwich.) When I'm > done with it, delete it/file it/what ever. Changes how you use things, for > sure. > > cjf > ------------------------------ > *From:* [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf > of Owen Densmore [[email protected]] > *Sent:* Tuesday, November 01, 2011 11:43 AM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] [SUSPICIOUS EMAIL] Re: Android Choice > > Brilliant! Just what I needed, thanks! If I'm wedded to anything in > the apple world, its unix and programming and command line. iTunes is just > a fairly reasonable interface to manage phone/pad/pod. I don't need it for > music/video/books etc, there are fine alternatives. Quite willing to give > it up and start really using my google ecology: calendar, mail, contacts > etc. > > We have Vzn & TMo near to each other so I'm going to eliminate ATT, and > focus my Android attention on TMo as a carrier, and iPhone via Vzn with > their world-phone iPhone. I'd like to wait for a larger screen iPhone but > as for my 2G, Its Dead Jim! No worries. Glad to see we agree on TMo. > Damn I wish they had not gone the AWS route. > > -- Owen > > On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 10:27 AM, Chris Feola > <[email protected]<#133604f316893c23_> > > wrote: > >> Hi Owen, >> >> Glad to help. Short answer: Buy an iPhone. >> >> Longer answer: When people ask me what phone to buy, I ask one simple >> question: Are you married to iTunes? Do you have a playlist for every mood? >> Have you spent years getting it to work just right? >> >> If so, buy an iPhone. You will be massively unhappy otherwise. To a >> lesser extent, if you are married to the Apple ecosystem -- iCal and such >> -- this also applies. Modern smartphones are becoming the sharp point of >> your digital life; one that doesn't fit will drive you mad. >> >> If you are not married to the Apple ecosystem, then try out a few phones >> side by side and see what you like. Frankly, they are all "good enough." I >> find the current real differentiator to be the screens. Here, Android has >> the lead, and it is widening. (Sorry for the pun!) State of the art here is >> the new -- and for the moment, insane appearing -- Galaxy Nexus Prime, with >> a full HD 720 screen -- !! -- that's just over 4.6 inches. What appears to >> be happening here, btb, is that Apple is betting heavily on larger tablets, >> and Google is trying to find out if a phone can have a screen big enough -- >> while the device remains small enough -- that you don't want a tablet. >> >> So, specific advice. It sounds like you are in the Apple eco-system. If >> so, buy an iPhone. If your 2 is dead dead, buy a 4s; its a very nice >> device. If your 2 can be coaxed through another year, wait for the iPhone >> 5. Rumor has it that this will be the last Jobs designed phone, and that it >> will finally have a bigger screen. >> >> If you are not married into the Apple eco-system, I would definitely give >> the dual core Android phones a look. My advice is to focus on either the >> HTC phones, or the Google Nexus line. The Nexus line are "Google >> Experience" phones; they get every Android release first. HTC is also good >> about this, and makes solid equipment. Take a look at the Sensation if for >> nothing else than the manufacturing: instead of a battery cover, the entire >> back is a single milled piece -- aluminum, IIRC -- that pops off the >> screen. You could drive nails with the thing, and its beautiful. (To be >> clear, Do Not Drive Nails With Your Phone.) >> >> Carriers: >> Verizon-Stupid expensive. Good service and coverage. >> ATT-Stupid expensive. Bad service and coverage >> Sprint-They suck so bad we won't use them >> T-Mobile-Great plans! We have multi-line T-Mobile plans that cost less >> than single lines on ATT and Verizon. Good data tiers. Great Android phone >> selection. Pretty easy to get the phones unlocked to swap out SIMs for >> international roaming. Alas, no iPhone. >> >> Hope I haven't overexplained as usual... >> >> cjf >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* [email protected] <#133604f316893c23_> [ >> [email protected] <#133604f316893c23_>] on behalf of Owen >> Densmore [[email protected] <#133604f316893c23_>] >> *Sent:* Monday, October 31, 2011 7:18 PM >> >> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group >> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] [SUSPICIOUS EMAIL] Re: Android Choice >> >> Please keep firing questions as you think of them! >> >> >> God, what an offer! Thanks! >> >> History: I bought the initial iPhone 2G, first by trying ATT, which >> failed due to lack of coverage (and poor service reports) so I bought one >> on-line and use pwnage tool to jailbreak/unlock for TMo and european >> travel. It just died (after 4 years!). I rather like the iDevice ecology, >> having macbooks, macmini, ipad, ipod etc, and have an app that is not yet >> on android but has a poor replacement on android. I like that the apps >> span ipad/pod/phone too. I'm not a power user, but use phone, web, mail, >> music, apps, maps, angry birds, ... at least once a day, no more than an >> hour, I'd say. >> >> I like TMo quite a bit, but am willing to try Vzn, less so ATT .. they >> still have poor coverage where I live (Santa Fe). I find that the plans my >> friends have are impossibly expensive, > $90/mo, .. while I pay $58/mo. >> There are some interesting alternatives such as buy unlocked and use >> prepaid plans, but this mainly makes sense on GSM, which here means TMo. >> Even with Vzn, I would prefer a "world phone", thus GSM (Italy 1-2 >> months/yr). Main negative for TMo is AWS rather than the more standard 3G >> etc, and would eliminate iPhone unless Edge was good enough, which I >> haven't found to be the case. I've looked at a lot of alternatives: MVNOs, >> WiFi "carriers", prepaid, Senior plans (I'm 69) and even cheaper phones + >> iPod. >> >> If I had my choice, I'd buy an unlocked iPhone, 4 or 4s, and use it on >> ... hmm, ATT, no, lousy coverage, TMo, no, uses non-compatible broadband. >> Well what's left? >> >> 1 - See if the Vzn iPhone 4s is OK, get the european SIM unlock, and see >> if I can avoid $90/mo bills. >> >> 2 - Suck it up, embrace android, and go with TMo. They seem to have OK >> phones. They have brilliant plans, both contract and pre-payed. And are >> way less than $90/mo. They've saved my skin more than once with problems >> traveling. >> >> 3 - Buy a prepaid GoPhone ATT SIM and try it on unlocked phone to see if >> coverage has improved. Then try ATT + iPhone and see if I can avoid $90/mo >> bills. I also prefer their more standard broadband, but not a big deal. >> >> That sounds like Pogue's great "I Want An IPhone" video, but I really am >> open to change. The difficulty is the "gotchas": plans that are really >> expensive, having duplicate apps for android and iOS (pad/pod/phone), >> phones that I don't trust (yet), mobility (I really find it hard to >> understand folks leaving europe out of their plans, but then...), batteries >> that die if I forget to turn off x,y,z and kill app a,b,c ... and billions >> of cellular issues that I don't really understand as well as I'd like (TMo >> about to die? Why do plans cost so much?, WTF w/ AWS?) >> >> So that's it! And I really thank you for your clear explanation of some >> of the android world that I didn't "get". >> >> -- Owen >> >> On Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 4:12 PM, Chris Feola >> <[email protected]<#133604f316893c23_> >> > wrote: >> >>> Hi Owen, >>> >>> Yes, Android phones are open. There are two paths for this: >>> >>> 1. Download updates yourself. Lots of places to do this, the best of >>> which is generally regarded to be CyanogenMod >>> http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ >>> 2. Wait for your manufacturer to stream you updates. >>> Plenty of good reasons to do both. The best manufacturers -- I like HTC >>> -- are consistently tweaking and adding features. CyanogenMod tends to be >>> faster to the big updates. Use what you like. >>> There has been some controversy about locked bootloaders, but everyone >>> has pretty much backed off of that now. >>> >>> As to battery life, I'm sorry if I was unclear. The Sensation is as good >>> or better for battery life when you use it the same way. But you won't. If >>> you keep that quarterHD screen lit for four hours non-stop reading Heinlein >>> on your Kindle app while streaming Pandora...yeah, you're going to need to >>> recharge. If you only flick the screen on when you hear a text come in, not >>> so much. >>> >>> Please keep firing questions as you think of them! >>> >>> cjf >>> >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >> > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > Eric Charles > > Professional Student and > Assistant Professor of Psychology > Penn State University > Altoona, PA 16601 > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
