Picking a new phone

Choices
I need a new phone. My phone hails from the first decade of this century and is on life support. The reason I have a phone that is two steps from a flip phone is totally logical, I don't have a IT budget for my family technology and there are six people in this household. Sounds like an excuse but its actually a valid reason. Let me explain

The Rationale

There are six people in my household,not including the dog,( they haven't asked for a tracking collar yet. That's when I put my foot down. No cellular plan for Roxie). Everyone has a cell phone. We have wrestled with plans for cell for years and have finally got a grasp on things.(the cell bill is less than a car note now). The problem is you have to pay full price for your phone which is more than a laptop or a tablet.  So I have been replacing phones for the past year and my phone is still third in line( yeah, I know you can finance phone but I don't like to). So now the process.
I need a phone that allows a lot of functionality and portability. I llaptopike the Samsung Note 4. It has plenty of power, an excellent camera and a large screen to multitask ianywheren two windows. My family has decided to start some YouTube channels and we plan to do all the filming with the latest high quality cell phone cameras. The price will put a hurtin' on my pocket book but its a killer system!  Then the other day I saw the LG G4 with ttablet and onhe leather back. The concern about technology I have long had is that it has no soul. The style is minimalist and cold. This does not describe the LG G4.  The G4 has a very warm and inviting. I think they need to make a stressed leather back, like an old briefcase.

The Specs

Now  the specs. The G4 has an eight core CPU, high screen resolution to make viewing sharp and crisp, plenty of storage and a removable battery( I am writing this for the uninitiated or nouveau geek so I'm leaving a lot of the in depth tech info out). It has expandable memory and one of  the highest resolution front and and rear cameras. The rear camera has a f-stop(don't ask) that allows it to take pictures in low light and image stabilization( no more blurry pictures) and a high resolution front camera that  let's you control the delay for shooting selfies with hand gestures.  The screen is as big as the Note 4 and the IPhone Plus. The rest of the comparison is so close it really a matter of personal preference.  The only advantage the Note 4 has over the G4 is the stylus. The jury is still out if the G4 can do "Split View" as LG Flex could for multitasking.  They both run the latest version of androids OS so neither has the advantage there. For me its a heads up tie except for the multitasking. Over the years  I have migrated from a desktop to a laptop to a tablet.  My method of computing is totally fluid so I can do what I want or need to do  from anywhere.  As of 2010 95% of my computing has been tablet based(I am writing this blog from a tablet). I love working on tablets but they have become cumbersome. I want to instantaneously access all of my information all of the time. Thats why I am looking at the phablet. It's a nice cross between a phone and a tablet and one less gadget to carry around.

Chromebook

The Google Chromebook has taken the tech industry by storm. Its an inexpensive way to get into portable computing. Walmart has two models that are fully functional for $150. The question most people have is " what's the catch"? Let's look into that.
Day to day computing has changed in the past ten years. To see that let's take a trip down memory lane to see what home computing has been. Our first home computer was a Magnavox 286 machine my wife and I purchased at Dillard department store. I remember the purchase because we had a Dillard's charge card for financing the machine. It was 1992 and our oldest child was  5 years old. He would wake us up in the morning at 5:00am to turn on the system so he could play a game called Sesame Street Alphabet. He taught himself the alphabet on this system. The software we had was from a library of app(lication)s we bought from Dillard's. Comp USA, WalMart, Office(Max)Depot all had selections of  software from boxes you could purchase. This continued up until the mid to late 20's.
By the mid to late 20's computers had become ubiquitous in most households. Email and word processing were the mainstay of everyone's work. We all had a few games and and applications we ran. As the internet became faster we started running a lot of these programs on websites instead of running to the store to by a box with software in it. I for one have converted to the internet for everything but two programs that run my business. I rarely store any digital data on the system I am using. I definantly don't purchase box software anymore and have not for years. So now I ask myself, why not a Chromebook?  My family has reluctantly converted over also. Its a mind set for them to think they need a Windows based machine to do their work. From streaming Netflix or any other web based video.
The mindset of needing a laptop with tons of unused storage space for malware and viruses to occupy is a hard one to break. We don't use software anymore. Apps are the way to go. The bulk of the computing in done on the web so a low powered machine is all you need. I consult clients all the time and tell them you can thrown away $300 dollars in three years or you can throw away  $2000 in three years. The choice is yours. The system will be outdated to the point that it will not be functional so get in as cheap as you can for your needs.
This brings us to the Chromebook. It is designed for the internet. The newer systems are still functional for basic word processing  and offline email or spread sheets when offline. The thing most people don't realize is how little they are actually outside of the swath of the internet. Even while driving or in a seemingly remote spot you can use your phone as a hotspot(most cell companies throw this in to get you beyond your allotment of data to ring up extra charges). If you factor your cell phone as a hotspot your practically always have access to the internet. Knowing this why not take the Chromebook plunge.
For $150 you get a basic system with an acceptable screen, enough storage space for pictures and documents you always want, and the ability to change systems without loosing data. That is the blast point I want  to make.
Over the years as we replaced different desktop and laptop  systems we always had the dilemma of  the continuity of our data. If a hard drive failed(which was the usual reason for an upgrade) we would loose 2-3 years work of work and memories. If it didn't fail we had to figure out a way to connect the hardrive internally or externally to have access to our data. The next prob!em we would have is the additional drive would go unused and fail. Since it was rarely accessed but assumed to be working it would be inconvenient when the drive failure was realized. All of these scenarios became common place over the last 20 years. The Chrome book concept has solved all of these issues.
I have decided to replace all of our systems with Chromebooks except for my youngest child. He is a gamer and want to go into graphic design when he enters into college next year. He will require something more powerful. I think in 5 years the gamers and graphic designers will be web based so he will then be able to participate in the Chromebook phenomena. I have been pretty successful at predicting the trends in technology and I think this is one that will grow by leaps and bounds in the next few years. Computing is mobile, convenient and cheap. The days of the $2000-$3000 dollar system are growing short except for a few vertical industries. Tablets, Chromebook and like products are what will allow the digital divide to diminish to oblivion. Stay tuned and see.

Whats Hot!

So now you have your smartphone and have decided that technology is your thing, especially if it's simple. Well one of the hottest gadgets out now is the tablet computer. You've probably heard of the iPad.








This gadget falls between a cell phone and a laptop. You're probably wondering what all the fuss is about. It's just another computer right? Wrong, the tablet computer represents a long overdue shift in the way we interact with computers and the Internet. It's very subtle but significant change. You can compare it to when you thought you didn't need a laptop if you had a desktop computer. Or you could not understand why these people where always on their cell phones. It's a case of not being able to understand the importance or impact of tablets until you have one. I am currently publishing my blogs on an iPad since my net book had a swim with the "fishes". I'll give you just a little bit of information about tablets.

Tablet computers have been around for about ten years but due to cost and usability they have been restricted to small markets like medicine or heavy industry. Here recently the popular tablets have been what are called Android tablets. These little computers run anywhere from $100 to $200. They are good for reading E-books, surfing the web and email. So you're probably asking yourself why would this be more convenient than my desktop or my laptop. The simple answer is speed of booting and convenient size.







These little gadgets fit easily into a man's suit coat pocket or a woman's purse. They are perfect for a spontaneous surf on the web for information that's too hard to read on your smartphone. Or, for that 15 minute wait you have everyday while picking up your son from band practice. You can read one of the many E-books or magazines you have downloaded, read email or surf the web if you're near a wifi hotspot. By the way, all of the popular E-book readers have this same form factor. With that information in hand you're probably asking yourself, why not get an E-book reader. The big difference is that all of the popular E-book readers have very poor Internet browsers and a black and white screen.








As you can see all of them have a very slight difference in size and screen. This add up to be big differences in ease of use. Now let's get down to the nitty gritty. What's the real difference in tablets.









One thing all tablets have in common is size and convenience. From the smallest to the largest they are all more convenient that a laptop, easier to view than a smart phone. The major difference is cost. They range from $100 up to $829. They all do just about the same thing. The major stumbling block is very few do Adobe flash. This is a web based program that adds animation or video to web sites. Up until now it was not a big deal, all laptops and desktops could run flash. Now these small appliances are becoming the largest consumers of web information, even without Flash. To be honest the Android tablets are in the process of getting Flash ability, the rest have to catch up. I don't really count the tablets with the smaller user bases like the JooJoo and the Windows 7 tablets. They are flash capable but have limited users at this time. Another difference is some can function as a cell phone. I know it seems redundant but when mobile video calls become common you'll get it. Compare it to the question you asked yourself ten years ago, "why are all these people talking on there cell phones". Get the point!


Technology will always seem to overlap with something we have and use today. This is done by design to get our attention and hook us in initially. We usually can't imagine what we can use this new gadget for because we already do what it's proposing to us. Once we start to use it then we realize what new frontiers of learning and expanding our mind open up. Let's continue to explore these places " where man has never gone before".

Location:N Parkwood Ln,Wichita,United States

Nouveau Technology

Have you ever had questions about new or old technology, asked the villiage tech expert but felt like you don't know anything more than when you started. If you can relate to this experince then this blog is for you. We will deal with all of the most basic information to make you confident with those gadgets. We can help you rise to the level of Tech-head, or just be able to read the text message someone has sent you. Check back frequently for updates and present questions that you have about technology that has your interest.

Location:N Parkwood Ln,Wichita,United States