Well, I have mixed feelings about this smart phone stuff. One one hand, the Borg seem to be OK to rub elbows with. Kind of handy having a pocket programmable computer. Still only scratching the surface, but the idea of being able to speak into a handheld device and get answers to just about anything is right intriguing. Of course, I haven't tested it much yet to see what sort of limits there are. Could it REALLY tell me what the torque specs are on the starter bolts for a 2002 Corvette engine while I am in the garage in a NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW sort of situation?
Seem to be a LOT of freebie apps available, but it seems the strings attached mean being slammed with ads. Of course, I guess anything run by Google would have to be that way. Probably after I get my feet wet learning on the freebie apps, I might just try to replace what I can with paid apps. Of course, I don't know how the pricing structure works. Prices seem cheap enough, but is that a one time purchase, or are they what I would have to pay each month? I've stopped buying PC software from vendors who just want to lease you their software products instead of you BUYING them outright.
One thing I do know.... No way in hell I would want to do much of anything on the internet on something like this. I logged into FaunaClassifieds and just tried viewing some classified ads, and that was actually painful to do. Expanding and shrinking the screen constantly, scrolling just to read the text or view a picture CONSTANTLY is WAY too much work. I'll stick with my 4K 28 inch screen and full sized keyboard on my desktop computer, thank you very much. If I HAD to do much of the stuff I do on a daily basis on my sites only using a smart phone, I would be out of and over this stuff in a hurry. Heck, I have small hands and fingers, and trying to tap out even the most basic stuff to post a message is cruel and unusual punishment. I found a stylus I had laying around and find it much easier to "type" that way. Why anyone would put themselves through that day in and day out is beyond me. It just makes the internet actually painful to use.
I do like being able to see weather radar on the fly, and the GPS topo maps look like they could be useful when on trips. Then there is a tool package I installed that has some pretty nifty stuff. The ability to make the smart phone effectively into a magnifying glass is neat. One of the tools is a metal detector, so I'm curious to see how that one works. Also a heart rate monitor, compass, etc.. And yeah, it is kind of cool to be able to take photos and 4K video on the fly with this phone. But I really can't see it taking the place of my photo and video gear for serious shooting. This would be for times when I DON'T have camera gear with me, and something photo worthy just happens to come along. This would be WAY better than nothing in a situation like that.
But yeah, when I take trips, I am STILL going to be taking my laptop with me. This smart phone makes a pretty interesting tool for a lot of things, but I just cannot see it ever taking the place of my main desktop and laptop computers. Even though the computing power should be sufficient, the user interface itself is severely lacking.
So, I guess I am not fully assimilated into the Borg culture yet. This could go one of two ways, I guess. (1) I become absorbed in this technology as I find more and more practical things to use it for, or (2) The newness of a new fangled device enthralls me for a little while, but eventually the novelty will wear off, and it becomes "just a phone with other benefits" to me. Even as a phone, I sure as heck don't want anyone calling me unless I am at home without a darn good reason.
Oh yeah, Connie wants her own phone. So I guess we will be buying another one pretty shortly. Normally she just takes the cell phone we had with her when she makes trips when we are not together. But she worries about me being without one when I am here alone and driving on the roads anywhere. I sincerely doubt she will ever get much involved with a smart phone, however. She just doesn't care much for anything of a technical nature.
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