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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Well I have had a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 now for about 10 days (could be 10.1) and I have come to really like it

I purchased the White 32 GB WiFi only device. I carry a Verizon MiFi for my wireless connection when out of the house. You can read all the specs at Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

It is light, easy to handle, and quick to start up. It has a very brilliant HD screen and the resolution is perfect for me. Video’s look GREAT. Since I am on a computer of some sort all the time I want something that is light, easy to access, and will allow me to read and write. The heavy stuff I will do on my laptop.

I think I found it.

This is an Android tablet and there are plenty of apps to meet my needs. In fact when first accessing the tablet and entering my Gmail address all the apps from my phone came over, which was pretty nice. Since I have been an Android user for about two and half years I have apps Including some that I really don’t need. It seems to go with the territory.

The tablet has 5 screens, 2 each side of the home screen and plenty of room for all those apps. I played my first game of Angry Birds on this tablet. I am now one of the millions.

I like that you can view the tablet from any side and nothing is upside down.

The Galaxy does come with it’s own Swipe type keyboard however I also added my Nuance FlexT9 keyboard.

I send/receive email as well as text messages. I have Twitter and Foursquare as well as Facebook. Have to have Google+ and Google Reader. There are many others.

Yes, there is a learning curve however for most of the use of the Galaxy that learning curve is not very bad. So all is cool.

Some thoughts about my experience.

Purchasing: First buy the tablet without any peripheral objects such as covers, screen protectors, etc. Use it for a week and then decide what you want. Watch out for the salesperson.

I purchased a cover which gets in the way, and it was expensive in my mind. If not held right the case/cover can block the camera.

The screen protector was a total disaster. I am not sure you really need one. “Look at the finger prints!” I heard someone say. When you turn it on you can’t even see them.  Take care of it and clean the screen.

Hardware: The biggest problem is when using the tablet in the landscape mode the power connection is on the bottom and difficult to connect. If you turn it over (I said all sides) the on/off and volume controls are then on the bottom and that doesn’t work well either. It looks like everyone assumed you would be using it in portrait mode, which works but that is not always the best choice. The power input needs to be relocated. Where? I don’t know.

Oh and the cover does not support portrait standing. Another minus for the cover.

Only hardware issue I can think of. Everything else is really, really nice.

App issue’s: None of the apps come with spell check. Unlike the phone, the tablet has plenty of screen for doing some heavy duty typing. Alas  it is very difficult without spell check. Auto correct, also on the phone, is, as everyone says, not very good. Spell check should be more important.

I realize that this is still a work in progress but for all the hoopla the browser’s are not very good. They work but not intuitive coming from a computer and that includes Google’s browser. Google’s browser on my phone is actually better. 

App I want: A Windows Live Writer type of app for the tablet. One that will allow me to type, add pictures, and light formatting and then send to my blog. I will be very happy. There is a Blogger app but still needs some work.

Conclusion: I am very happy with my tablet. Samsung gets a +1.

I know that Ice Cream Sandwich is coming this year and things will keep on getting better.

I should note that after all these years I am finally moving away from being all Microsoft as well. They have almost waited too long to be mobile for me. I have gone over to Evernote in big way and may be moving to Google Docs. I am using Gmail much much more and Google Calendar. They all sync everywhere – and I am everywhere. The Office package is a monster and although it is not available for my phone I have also found that I do not need everything I thought I did.

Printing is going away, paper companies are not having a good time, and Microsoft Word was all about printing – built on desktop publishing. I really think that the mobile world is going to have greater and greater impact on all that we do - as well as all the tools we ‘used’ to use.

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Oregon Tries to Criminalize Tweets - Forbes

First Blog Post From Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet

I have tried finding an app to write a blog post with from both my phone and now the tablet. It has been an unsuccessful search. I do have a keyboard that I can connect but I would rather work without it. I would like to use the Nuance keyboard that does swipe keyboarding however it does not appear to communicate with the Typepad composer. This is slow so it will be the way that I do this. I am using the online composer and I feel like I have returned to first IBM PC that I owned in 1981. My coffee has turned cold just writing this paragraph. Time to rethink this process.

 

Paramount: What If All Car Dealer's Treated Customers As Car Thieves?

Just how far do you thing card dealer's would get? What if bank's treated all client's as bank robbers first and then tried to be their bank? 

Could it be that Paramount, the MPAA, the RIAA and others have the wrong approach?  Could it be that we, the majority - who pay for their music and movies, are completely turned off my you accusations and insinuations? We could care less and we have to watch YOU!

Hey, good point.

Could it be that your position is that of an arrogant, egotistical, technology challenged individual and we understand that? 

Guess what? This leads to distrust of you! Because we know you don't know therefore we cannot trust, believe, or care to listen to you. 

Mike Masnick has some good thoughts below and the comments are interesting. 

Paramount Wants To Talk To Students About How They're All Thieves & Then Ask For Ideas On What To Do | Techdirt

As Hollywood struggles to come up for breath and understand the nature of what hit them last month in the SOPA/PIPA debate, it appears they're still thinking that part of this is an "education" issue -- and if they could just tell young people how evil file sharing is that everything would be good. A whole bunch of folks have been passing on variations on the news that Paramount Pictures (owned by Viacom -- one of the major backers of SOPA/PIPA) wants to go talk to college kids. A bunch of universities received:

via www.techdirt.com

Related articles

• Wil Wheaton Says Chris Dodd Is Lying About Lost Jobs; Says MPAA Accounting Creates More Losses Than Piracy | Techdirt (tribuneofthepeople.com)

Anti-Facebook Chatter

I am really surprised at the anti-Facebook conversations that are going on. People warning investors about Facebook’s lack of mobile services, or Facebook’s inability to keep up the growth. Better, Facebook is going down over time and will never be what it is today – or something like that.

My don’t we sound like a bunch of cats. Me thinks thou doeth protest too much. Surely you jest, this cannot be true.

Lead ins such as “Investors and user beware..”

Come on people, leave Mark and his 28 billion alone.

Say Mark, can we talk? Just kidding.

Actually for all that Mark has had to put up with since Facebook rolled out I am not sure that 28 billion is enough – but it’s a good start.

I like being on a first-name basis with Mark. I tell all my friends that “Mark let me know it was your birthday. Mark? Mark Zukerberg. Yea he sends me notes so that I don’t miss out on anything with my friends. We are on a first-name basis.” Of course he doesn’t know mine but with  so many people following him I am not surprised. However when I turn 74 this year he will tell all my friends about it – count on it.

Thanks Mark.

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Google, The Unemployed, and Computer’s

In the last few years it has been my privilege to work with people who for many reasons are just now beginning to use computers. Most, not all, have lost jobs due to the changing economic times.  

The actual task of finding a job today is through the use of the computer, everything is online. The unemployed individual has to; 1) have an email address, 2) produce a resume using the computer, 3) they have to find a position and apply using online services. One does not knock on doors any more, we attach documents or upload documents.

They need help big time.

How about Google?

Google Docs has the tools to create a resume, it spellchecks and it is FREE. You even get a FREE email address. Perhaps Google should get involved with getting the country back to work. They have everything needed including search. They could create a few resume templates, assist in search and perhaps a spreadsheet to track where one has applied.

Even a few YouTube video’s on how to do all this.

I can feel the power moving.

The world is nothing like it was when most of the unemployed went to work 15 to 30 years ago.

Of interest is this group of unemployed are not as fearful as those 10 years ago were. They don’t feel forced into this and they understand it is a fact of their life. A good many of them are over the anger and want to get on with living.

Most are all good people and will put in the time to get adjusted to the changes however it is not instantaneous learning. They have not had to work with the computer on the job and most likely did not deal with it at home.

A great number of the unemployed are factory workers whose jobs have either disappeared due to changes in technology or their companies have gone under because management has not kept up. All you have to do is read the news.

Maybe a deal on a Google Chrome notebook computer for the unemployed? Hmmm.. Anybody know anyone at Google?

Related articles

• Top 5 Reasons Job Seekers Should Use Google Docs When Applying For Job Positions (prweb.com)

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We Need To Keep Re-Inventing The Wheel

Many people have often repeated Bod Dylan's song title from the 60"s "The times they are a changin" and I for one have used it over and over. After reading the article below from Knowledge@Wharton it reflects on just how long we take to realize that something isn't just quite right. 

In today's world what we know today from what we learned yesterday will not be that valuable tomorrow. We don't need Moore's Law to tell us that. Look at what you did today and think "will my customer tomorrow want something different?" Are you doing what you do because it is what you know? Do you need to see what you do from the user's perspective? Is your product's value dying off? 

Could that be what is happening to the movies? To the music? 

This story that I have linked too has so many really good thoughts. Read it slowly.

What's Wrong with This Picture: Kodak's 30-year Slide into Bankruptcy - Knowledge@Wharton

When new technologies change the world, some companies are caught off-guard. Others see change coming and are able to adapt in time. And then there are companies like Kodak -- which saw the future and simply couldn't figure out what to do.

via knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

Related articles

• Kodak Bankruptcy Dims Once Bright Hollywood Star (huffingtonpost.com)

Beware of Bloomberg Businessweek

The latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek is a very plain and open example of the media creating and slanting the news to their point of view. The use of words and pictures to enhance their opinion. In my opinion, the media, as we know it today, should not to be trusted to report an accurate picture of anything – and this is a reality check.

The cover of the current Bloomberg Businessweek (January 30 – February 5, 2012) shows a picture of a book burning. It is inflammatory and meant to incite feelings of fear focused on Amazon destroying the book publishing industry.

When you get to the article on page 55 the actual title even gets more deceitful. “Amazon’s Hit Man – A Tale of Books, Betrayal, And The (Alleged) SECRET PLOT to Destroy Literature”.

Amazon out to “Destroy Literature”?

There is actually a reference in the article to Nancy Pearl, librarian and author, who is partnering with Amazon to publish 12 novels that are out of print. This past week, in an NPR interview with Nancy she stated that she had approached the other ‘old’ publishers and they turned her down. I would suggest that this is keeping literature alive.

Amazon is re-making the publishing industry in today’s image and this does not set well with publishers of old – including the one that publishes Bloomberg Businessweek.

The same miscarriage of information is playing out at the MPAA and the RIAA where buying a congressman has recently had a set back.

Our world of media is changing and the old forms had best figure it out. The Revolution has started and it won’t end until change has been implemented.

One should note that I first read this article via the Internet. I received a link from a Bloomberg Businessweek email. The story was titled “Amazon’s Hit Man”. There was none of the secret plot garbage mentioned – either in the newsletter or when I went to read the article on their website. They saved the rabble-rousing words for the print version.

Perhaps they are hoping that the people who get the print version are not capable of seeing through the smoke.

If you would like to see my original post it was on Google+ under Walter Riker (search and you will find) It was written after reading the article on the web. I find I am posting more to Google+ than to my blog. Yes, times are changing.

You add me to your circle I will add you to mine.

An interesting article from O’Reilly; Ereader Ownership Doubles, Again by Jenn Webb.

Related articles

• Nancy Pearl strikes deal with Amazon (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Bloomberg profiles Larry Kirshbaum, Amazon's publishing chief (teleread.com)

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Lyrical Wisdom: Leadership Lessons from Bob Dylan :: Refresh Leadership | Fresh Ideas for Today's Business Leaders

Few artists have had as big an impact on art and culture, both American and beyond, as Bob Dylan. Whether it’s his legendary musical career that continues to inspire singers and songwriters more than five decades after the release of his first album or the way his body of work helped define a generation of social change, it’d be hard to believe Dylan hasn’t learned a thing or two about leadership along the way.

via www.refreshleadership.com

I have always been a fan of the 'early' Dylan and I use "The Times The Are A Changin'" over and over. It was true then, it is true now and it will be true forever. If you don't like change YOU have a problem.

Tablet and E-Reader Sales Soar - NYTimes.com

The report, which is expected to be released on Monday, confirms what book publishers say they have experienced in the last few weeks: a big jump in e-book sales after the holidays.

via mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com

In listening to NPR this morning they were talking about how publishers are getting really worried about Amazon. I think that puts them right up there with the MPAA, The RIAA, and the newspapers of the world. Times are changing. Don't try to hang on, find a new way. Get excited about the future rather than depressed about the past. It's over!