We walk you through the process of selecting a large mobile device, answering the questions: Netbook or tablet? Tablet or reader? We discuss Google’s purchase of Motorola’s mobile division and what it might mean to the smartphone (and possibly computer) biz. And we take a close look at Canon’s killer point-and-shoot camera, the PowerShot S95.
Spreadsheet updated.
Some thoughts on Readers:
There are a LOT of readers out there. A lot. Dozens. When it comes down to it, there are really only 2 file formats you need to be concerned with
(well, maybe 3) :
.azw: This is Amazon’s format for the Kindle. It can incorporate DRM, and it more or less can only be read on a Kindle, or using Kindle Apps on your platform of choice. It’s based on the .mobi format of olden times, which interestingly was the ebook format of yesteryear, namely Palm devices.
.ePub: This is the other heavy-hitter in the eBook world. ePub is based on HTML and CSS, but it is encoded, so don’t expect to go reading it with your web browser. ePub can be read by virtually every reader (except the Kindle). Apple has provided ePub support on the iPad, Sony, Nook, Kobo, iRiver, and nearly every other guy on the block will read this. DRM can be incorporated in a lot of different ways, the most popular is through Adobe’s ADEPT system. Most public libraries support this format because it’s been around for a while, and the biggest company which provides epub lending (overdrive) has a large library of this format.
It would take a lot to go through the different readers, and as Chuck and Juan talked about features, I’ll simply sell my own preference:
The Sony PRS-650.
The current middle-child of the Sony line is great. The touch screen is tremendously responsive, the stylus works great for drawing, typing, highlighting, searching, etc. I think my one regret about it is WiFi, but I rarely find myself in a position where I’m finishing a book and not close enough to a computer to get another. Still, and automated over-the-air transfer would be nice. If you can, swing by a Sony Style Store, or any number of retailers that carry the Sony’s and give it a shot.
There is a very useful, informativematrix of readers over at MobileRead.com
so excited bouncing up and down can’t wait to listen
Modern Geek is now available on iTunes. Subscribing now…or trying to. iTunes is timing out. :shifty:
ETA: Success…finally!
I enjoyed the foreign hotness. The thought of GWC (classic) being a “variety show” made me giggle. Kind of like “The Muppet Show”?
anyhoo … the discussion of Android phone and lack of Netflix support was guud 
My marital unit purchased a B&N Nook for ereading. She enjoys the thing but I of course tried to use it as cheap tablet Netflix viewer. The android-i-ness of the thing caused grief, but use of ‘the google’ and ‘the youtube’ found on line advice into ‘tricking’ the shiny black thing to serve up some Netflix.
What a wonderful modern age we live in
Loved it guys, same quality of humour and love of the subject but with a technical edge I appreciated since I’ve found a few of the geek tech shows I’ve sampled a little too much to listen to every week even those that do video content. I would love to have tablet but right now I can not justify the price versus the use I would get out of it and truth be told I’m really enjoying the Kindle I picked up a few months back, certainly reading more these days:D
I really enjoyed the cast. You might also check out the Panasonic Lumix line of cameras. My wife and I recently purchased a FH-25. I was throughly impressed with the photo quality. Especially for those on a budget. It is a great little camera and it seems to have a lot of the same options as the camera you described.
I just subscibed to the rss feed and I am looking forward to listening.
Some thoughts on Google’s Motorola Purchase:
The biggest thing I’m seeing, is that this is all about Motorola’s Patent Portfolio, rather than actually producing a product. That’s a shame. The way things are going, it looks like we’re going to hit a patent stalemate sooner or later, and no one will be able to make anything.
Now that that’s out of the way, I have another theory lingering:
Since Android got moving, it’s suffered from a major problem that’s been more or less inflicted by the manufacturers: Fragmentation.
The wonderful thing about an open market is that the customer wins out because competitors add value to similar products. In the case of Android, it’s gone a little overboard. Virtually every manufacturer has its own brand of UI for Android: Sense UI, TouchWiz, MotoBlur. These coupled with non-standard non-removable apps, a wide variety of hardware, and whatever else the Carrier wants to stick on after that has created a bit of a mess. Pile on top of that manufacturers who abandon phone models mere months after their release for the sake of selling other handsets. (Samsung did this with one of its pphones, stranding it in Android 1.6 after only 9 months on the market.)
Google has expressed some dissatisfaction with this approach, but the manufacturers have shot back saying this is the way it should be. “We can do what we want.”
I think this is Google taking a stronger stand. Rather than try and throw around its weight in the software world - it’ll be making a serious competitor in the market. To be fair, this isn’t the first Google Branded phone. The Nexus One and now the Nexus S serve as fantastic phones and great platform reference. (The prior made by HTC and the latter by Samsung) There’s also a developer’s reference phone that Google will sell to you (if you want it)
I hope this isn’t purely a patent move. I’d like to see some real competitive phones straight from the source.
FYI: My current android is a Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant. I’ve previously owned an iPhone, and my next phone (I’m convinced) will be whatever google releases officially branded (whether it be a Nexus S II or whereever they go).
I’m like you – I couldn’t justify the money to buy an iPad no matter how badly I wanted one. Then I took a long-term job for the state and we’re only allowed very restricted personal access that does not include email access whatsoever. I didn’t want to take my laptop to work every day, so I ended up with a Nook Color. I formatted an SD card so that when I start it up, I have an android. This trick has been around a long time, but it had some risk - if you re-rooted the Nook itself and you screwed up, you were boned. Starting it from the card leaves the warranty intact and gave me the ability to read my email during the day as well as download my podcasts and do some very cursory web surfing. I don’t use the nook interface at all but I could. I’ve been getting my books from my local library via the Overdrive app.
It’s not a perfect solution, but it does what I need it to do for under $300.
Oh, and I love the new podcasts!
Well just listened to this cast. I can’t really comment on the Google and mobile parts, but on the camera I can give a few notes. The S95 is a great little camera, though not what I look for as a compact portable. As my user name indicates, I’m a photographer by trade so my needs for a compact are a bit different. Basically it comes down to image quality. For instance the point and shoot Chuck saw me with when we met in NYC had an APS-C sensor, a Sigma DP2. I’ve since moved on from that camera and now currently use a Fuji X100, though I am seriously tempted in purchasing either an Epson R-D1x or a Leica M8 used. While all three are larger than a S95, I always carry the camera with me in a messenger bag, and with either the Epson or Leica I can use my collection of Leica and Voigtlander lenses I have from my film Leica M4. Also all three are smaller than a DSLR and give DSLR quality. In the end it really depends on your needs and budget.
A note on reading books in general, I’ve read over 400 on my iPhone and both my wife and I have switched over to exclusively electronic reading now via Stanza on our phones. They’re always with us, it’s less awkward to read with because you can hold it in one hand, and the font for presentation is super configurable. I like to read with white text on black background with a smaller font because my eyes are good and it’s easier to read in the dark while my wife prefers a slightly bigger font on a parchment background with black text.
We have our own book server in the house and new titles are constantly available in ePub, Lit, Mobi, etc.
If I’m reading documentation, on the other hand, I prefer the iPad. Textbooks, things with diagrams, the iPad works well for that, but it just doesn’t feel as right as the phone for reading text. </personal opinion>
Juantastic and Chucktacular!!
I like to take good photos and I’m not terrible with a camera but I have no training, time to get expert, or money. I recently purchased a Lumix Z-something (sorry, it’s not handy and I don’t remember) and have been very happy with it. Good camera for the price point.
That theory has been hot lately, both in the mainstream media and on the tech blogs. I don’t think it will get that bad–we’ve got too much intellectual power and capital invested to let it get that far (she says, despite having made her career for the last five years on the fallout of the housing crisis, so, grain of salt. I hear that goes great with tequila). Actually, Congress managed to put together some not-terrible patent reform legislation last session and it was on the short list this session to move–one of the few bipartisan things with a chance to go anywhere in the current awful gridlocked mess. However, as soon as the President started mentioning that legislation in speeches on job creation, the GOP leadership in the house stopped their small business committee leaders from moving the bill. It’s dead now. Maybe in 2013…
In the meantime, there’s got to be a better scheme for patent infringement insurance that’s just waiting to be invented and marketed.
Interesting take on laptops for students here at msnbc.com. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44232239/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/) The take-away: college and high students need smaller ones for portability and middle school students need larger ones.
I’m not sure I agree. In general the larger screens are more expensive. Plus the younger kids tend to be more accident prone with the laptops. Also, when I was in college a larger screen helped CAD, report layouts and running multiple applications simulanteously. In short, I disagree.
Finally, the article completely stays away from tablets. I would wholeheartedly recommend a tablet for a student. However, if I had to choose just one I would choose the laptop.
~Shooter Out
This article is exactly the kind of thing that triggered Juan and I having a discussion about the subject on Modern Geek. MSNBC looks at “Picking the right back-to-school laptop” – in short, they’re comparing laptops. I definitely wouldn’t ever recommend a tablet as a laptop replacement. That’s sort of like recommending a screwdriver as a hammer replacement. Sure, you can beat on things with a screwdriver, but it’s no hammer.
That said, I think they’re not as much recommending that middle school kids will benefit from bigger laptops as much as they’re just noting that 15" and 16" models seem to be the cheapest right now, which makes them ideal for middle schoolers who won’t take them to class every day, will probably run mostly mainstream programs, and don’t need extreme battery life.
All in all, I don’t dislike their laptop recommendations. I’m just a little baffled at how many people don’t understand how much difference form factor makes. Tablet <> small laptop <> big phone. And that’s from where our primary recommendation stems: Identify your (or your student’s) use case first, then select a product.
My mistake. I had misread the article. I thought the middle school laptops were more expensive than the high school/college laptops. In re-reading the msnbc article I see that the middle school recommendations were indeed less expensive therefore I would agree if the form factor for a middle school student was a laptop, those cheaper price ranges would be better.
Chuck, I also think that we are saying the same thing as it pertains to tablets and laptops. I think both are incredibly useful for a college student. I’ve never taken an undergrad college class with a tablet or a laptop, but I can only imagine the usefulness in taking notes and having entire textbooks with you in that small of a package. I would literally utilize documents and textbooks more in a tablet because I would be taking them EVERYWHERE I went. But I would also need a laptop to participate in laboratory experiments, work groups and report writing in the library. Would you agree that we are basically saying the same thing there?
However, I will throw in a minor disagreement - or rather maybe just a statement or a personal recommendation. I have a middle school student and we chose to buy her an iPad2 this May instead of a netbook or a laptop. After watching her utilize it the entire summer I wholeheartedly know we made the correct choice. As long as there is a desktop available at home (which you and Juan recommended during the cast), I submit that a tablet is leagues better for a middle grade student than a laptop. It better fits the content they are utilizing the computer for anyway between the social media, video media, audio media, e-books and mobile device gaming.
However, our two high schoolers definitely require laptops. Sure, a tablet would be a great supplement to a desktop and a laptop but if I was choosing just one between a laptop and a tabletd for a high schooler I would choose laptop in 2011.
I hope I made a little sense there.
~Shooter Out
Another option is something like the Asus Transformer http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/
I see this as a nice middle of the road choice.