We respond to listener feedback including a number of questions and comments about the Nexus 7, discuss in detail the process of using Google Voice as a (potential) Apple Messages replacement (and a killer home phone problem solver), and hear about one listeners awesome use of mobile videoconferencing for labeling his circuit breaker box.
I finally unplugged the home phone the week after Christmas. The house has been an incredibly more pleasant place ever since. I should have done it years ago.
In the For What It’s Worth Catagory:
Within the past week we’ve increased our e-reader/tablet count in our house from 1 to 3. We had purchased an iPad 2 for Little Shootette in the spring of 2011, which I steal to use whenever I can get away with it. But within the past week Shootette bought herself a Kindle Paperwhite and I purchased Shooter Jr a 32 GB Nexus 7. The Kindle Paperwhite is amazing for exactly what Shootette needs. She did not want to read off of a computer-style screen like her sister’s iPad. Plus in warmer weather she loves to read outdoor on our patio or at the pool - the Kindle remains far superior to read outdoors in sunny conditions. While still black and white the higher resolution screen enables book cover display icons instead of a textual menu display. Finally the integrated LED lights make the Kindle Paperwhite amazing to use in dark-lit situations like in bed. Eventually Shootette might prefer a tablet, but for now her enjoyment of e-ink reading with the Paperwhite is amazing to see - especially for a technology-change-resistant person like Shootette.
Next, on the advice of Shooter Jr’s doctor in his concussion recovery we are transitioning his interest in video games into reading. Shooter Jr had expressed his extreme disinterest in apple tablet products. He loves his iPhone but had used both an iPad and iPad Mini before and really really REALLY wanted an android based tablet. I think he would have made do with a Kindle but I knew down the road he would like a tablet and for the price of two Kindle Paperwhites I could get him a multiple app capable 32GB Nexus 7 wifi tablet. So I sprung for the Nexus 7 and helped him set it up yesterday. For anyone out there that have used Android OS from the beginning with a phone such as an original Motorola Droid you will be pleasantly surprised that the basics of the OS really haven’t changed. There’s the page with all the apps on it, the home screen, app icons and widgets. That’s it. Sure, it’s different from iOS but within Android its been the same from day 1. That was comforting to me and enabled me to speed through the initial setup in a manner of minutes. Now that the tablet is in Shooter Jr’s hands I will doubt I will ever get to use it for any significant amount of time again. But for what I had used it for I enjoyed it.
And using either the Paperwhite or the Nexus 7 as a reader? Both are very capable indeed.
Chuck,
I think you mentioned in this cast that app you’ve used to study academic type papers on your iPads. What was the name of that app again? I’d like to try it out on Little Shootette’s iPad. Thanks!
~Shooter
I use Goodreader on iOS and (so far, anyway) RepliGo on Android. Since acquiring the Nexus 7 (and sort of using it as a take-everywhere tablet/reader), I moved my shared document store to Dropbox. Goodreader can do sync-on-command to Dropbox (as well as others), and RepliGo lets you navigate directly through Dropbox shares, saving your changes on the fly back to Dropbox. So I can read on either device and say current, plus I have instant access to the marked-up docs on my desktop and laptop as well. Bonus: My academic advisor (and project supervisor) is tech literate as well, so I share portions of the Dropbox directly with her, too. She can drop in additional readings or check out/download the stuff I put in.
Thanks! I had forgotten that I had already installed Goodreader based off of you recommendation a year and a half ago. I’m using that now instead of Kindle on the document I was review.