I have been in the market for a new laptop for quite a while now. Last December, my trusty Acer laptop celebrated its third birthday, and even though it's still working well enough, it's definitely starting to show its age. I've been getting blue screens on the regular recently --- I'd say at least twice in a week. The battery can't even last long enough to get through the booting process (it dies about one minute before getting to the desktop), and overall performance just isn't as good as it used to be.
So "laptop" is definitely at the top of my shopping list, and has been for quite a while now. See, I have been putting the purchase off for ages --- I have since gotten myself a Nexus S, and even a Kindle, but still no laptop. And it's because I still haven't made up my mind about what to buy.
I initially wanted a MacBook Pro, just the base 13-inch model. I think I made that snap decision during one of my PC-behaving-badly episodes (I've had quite a few, especially during the past year), and all the stress and anger made me look towards the Apple cult for salvation. I just wanted something reliable, pleasant to use...something that just works. And isn't that Apple's mantra?
But eventually it occured to me that it might not be the most practical thing in the world. I work in the architecture industry, and my computer should ideally have a decent graphics card, which the base MacBook Pro does not have. And even though more and more programs are starting to become available for OS X, there's still no disputing the fact that I'd have less trouble getting software onto a PC than a Mac.
So, feeling slightly resigned and defeated, I looked to Windows laptops. The selection turned out to be more decent than I anticipated. There were a lot of reasonable configurations (my minimum was a Core i5 processor and 2GB of graphics memory) in the 30-40K price range. I liked the keyboards I saw on Lenovo's models and was quite impressed by the metal body and long battery life of Acer's Timeline laptops.
But I decided to let the Christmas season pass and put off the purchase indefinitely: CES was just around the corner, the computer makers were rallying around the Ultrabook, and Windows 8 was (and still is) looming over the horizon. It just wasn't the right time.
Last week, as I was browsing through the avalanche of "meh" Ultrabooks from CES, a wild idea hit me: what if I just got a MacBook Air? And for the past couple of days, what started off as a crazy, ridiculous idea has been seeming less and less ridiculous. The more I think about it, the more feasible it starts to sound. It scares me, actually.
I never considered the MacBook Air because it's not the right computer for me for two reasons:
- The SSD is nice but I have a ton of files and need a hard drive.
- The programs I use require plenty of serious processor and graphics horsepower, two things that only a crazy person would associate with the MacBook Air.
However, I recently realized that I have been fine with my Acer's 160GB hard drive (give it a break, it's ancient) for years now. Obviously I supplement that with an external drive that I always carry around with me, but who says I can't do the same for the Air? And the benefits of solid-state storage would be more than a good enough trade-off for the loss in onboard space (actually a minor one, if I get the 128GB model).
As for the horsepower, I am at work five days a week. 99% of the work that I do, I do on a desktop at the office. When I get home at night, or when I come home for the weekends, work is usually the last thing on my mind. I use my laptop for everyday tasks --- web surfing, movies, music, Skype. Things that the Air can handle perfectly well, especially since the latest generation have Core i5 processors. The Air is built for this kind of stuff --- there's a reason why Molly Wood calls the 11-inch Air the "perfect little computer." And if I want to be productive (like learn a new program, for example), I can and will most likely do that on my office desktop.
And lastly (and this could be the biggest clincher of all), I could use a bit more portability. More than the average person, I dare say. I come home to my hometown every weekend (a one-hour travel in a cramped van), and I bring my laptop with me. Dragging the big elephant slab that is my Acer laptop with me every single weekend used to be a novel inconvenience, but now it's a chore. So you'll forgive me when I turn green with envy whenever I look over to the Air.
Anyway, everything's still up in the air (geddit?). I still intend to wait and see how Windows 8 will fare, and recent rumors about the Air getting Ivy Bridge processors this summer will definitely keep me at bay for now (there's even rumors that the MacBook Pro will get an Air-like new design, so that's something to consider too). I'm just saying, the prospect of me getting a MacBook Air is not as crazy as I used to make it out to be. It'd be a big jump, naturally, but it's not an impossibility.
And yeah, that actually scares me.
This year, I want you to...
- Stop being fricking late. It's annoying, it's stupid, and it doesn't help anybody. And it can be helped. You actually wake up on time --- it's the internet that ruins everything. Take a shower right after waking up --- do not go online! The internet is the source of all evil. Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader can all wait.
- Eat more vegetables. Try to eat vegetables for dinner every single time. You overdosed on Jollibee this 2011. You did not get fat, but I'm telling you that it was not good for your body (besides, when did you ever get fat?). Let 2012 be the year of reversal. And the start of healing. Besides, if you're really intent on starting being really health-conscious when you turn 25 next September, you have to start getting used to it now. Start eating those vegetables.
- Run again. You started it this year, but the ridiculous overtimes/deadly schedules at the ex-office ruined your streak. But it doesn't matter. Take those running shoes out and start running again. This time, don't burn yourself out. Instead of running everyday, try running three times a week. After a while, see if you can go back to running everyday without injuring yourself. Either way, just go back and run again.
- Ask for less allowance from your parents. It's ridiculous how you're still getting your full weekly allowance months after you graduated! You're a salaried employee now, and you can provide for yourself, so try to. I understand that it's a terrifying prospect --- you've been a pensionado for the past 24 years, I get it, so don't completely cut off the allowance yet. But reduce it to at least a third of the amount you're getting now --- it should be more than enough. And don't lose sight of the goal: you want to be totally independent...somewhere down the road.
- Keep track of your money. Start making weekly budgets, and keep to them. You have a ton of money apps on your phone --- choose the best one and make it a habit. Record every transaction, big or tiny, and make sure you do not go beyond your budget. Save up. It doesn't matter that you don't know exactly what you're saving up for --- just save up. Trust me, spending it is the easy part. So shut up and just save up.
- Take RareJob a bit more seriously. It pays more than your real job, after all. Make sure to call every student. Pay attention to the student during the lesson. Don't eat, don't cut your nails, don't play Cut The Rope, don't do anything. Just pay attention to the student.
- Make an effort. JUST. MAKE. AN. EFFORT. The years of coasting are over. It's time to live up to your potential. You know you deserve more, you know you can do more --- but who cares what you know? Newsflash: knowing is out, doing is in. You owe it to yourself to prove yourself to yourself. So stop whining and get moving. Make hard work your religion this year.
- Take your resolutions seriously. No, really, I mean it. Bookmark this post, add it to your Read-It-Later, print it out if you want to. And add things to this list as you see fit.
It's time to change. The year is yours for the taking, don't let it pass you by like you did all the others. From where I stand right now, 2012 looks beautiful. You have not ruined it yet. Please, please don't. Take it day by day. I'll see you in 2013!
From somewhere deep inside of you,
Your good side
Yes, I now own a Nexus S. I bought one last week (two days after the unveiling of the Galaxy Nexus) for P16,000 at Avant Trinoma, and this is my disjointed account of my first week with it.
Globe isn't the exclusive Philippine distributor of the Nexus S
You read that right. And frankly, I wish someone had told me sooner. I only found out from a seemingly clueless MemoXpress saleslady whom I almost didn't take seriously. But I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be true: the Nexus S is also available contract-free in the Philippines, courtesy of Abenson. There is absolutely no need to commit to a two-year contract with Globe to get your hands on a Nexus S. I got mine at Avant Trinoma, and the salesman I spoke to told me that they have been selling it for approximately three months now, and that they are the only official Philippine distributor besides Globe. The price, pegged at P16,000 cash, seems reasonable too. I think it was cheaper than the Galaxy S by a grand. And it naturally comes with a year of local warranty, which is important to many people, including me.
It comes in a nice little box
The phone comes in the typical Nexus box - small and simple. Inside is the phone itself, a pair of in-ear earphones, a micro-USB charger, a micro-USB data cable, a safety precautions card, and a warranty card. That's it. Should you need anything else, you can look underneath the box cover: it says "google.com/nexus."
I do have a couple of gripes: I hate the included earphones. I'm not even going to try to use them (I hope you're reading this, future buyer of my Nexus S). I hate in-ear earphones in general, and these stock earbuds are no exception. They don't fit, and even if they did, I still would not use them because I hate in-ear earphones. They just feel wrong. Another thing: I don't appreciate how there's a charger, AND a data cable. I wish Samsung had gone the Motorola/HTC way and just made them into one thing --- a microUSB cable + a power adapter. That way, I'd only have to lug around one object and have both (data cable AND charger) with me. And it would have been much more environment-friendly too, so I really don't understand what Samsung was thinking here.
One more thing: I'm all for the package minimalism that seem to be a hit with manufacturers these days. The "google.com/nexus" underneath the lid and the clear lack of manuals/documentation in the box sure make a statement --- that this is a device that was meant to be used online. But I would have appreciated even just a tiny quick start guide about the hardware. I took me a few minutes to insert my SIM card because I could not figure out how to remove the stupid battery! Would an additional tiny leaflet have hurt the minimalism that much, Samsung/Google?
But I love the box. The first time I saw it (when the salesman brought it out), I felt butterflies in my belly. Kidding. But really, I kind of did. (So yeah, all gripes are forgiven.)
The hardware is better than I expected
The phone looks better in person than in photos. And it feels amazing. The plastic looks cheap, but it feels great. Of course I hated the Corby-ish backplate initially, but I got over it after one day. Seriously. The protrusion at the lower back helps in the ergonomics and makes the phone really nice to grip. The weight distribution is great (thick and heavy at the bottom, thin and light at the top) and overall it feels awesome in the hand.
The curved screen ("Countour Display," as Google calls it) lends a lot of character to the phone. I dig it a lot. It doesn't only make the phone look interesting, it also makes it much nicer to hold and use, and the difference, especially in the grip, is noticeable. I wouldn't say it's a huge improvement (holding the phone to my face for a phone call doesn't feel wildly better, for example), but it's a welcome touch. I love how it looks from the front, which is how I look at it 99% of the time, so yeah I guess I love how it looks.
I was initially worried about the power button, which, in typical Samsung fashion, is placed on the right side instead of the top, but it turned out to be okay. Like the volume rocker, it's easy to reach and press. I'm just going through some sort of acclimation phase because my fingers are used to the Milestone, where the power button is at the top and the volume rocker is on the right side (instead of the left). Not a big issue, but worth mentioning.
Overall, the hardware is better than expected. It does not feel as cheap as I thought it would, and the phone feels so nice to use that I have actually decided (for now, anyway) to not use a case and a screen protector (I hope you're not reading this, future buyer of my Nexus S). But there are cases available for the phone --- check out the Capdase shop at SM North EDSA. I just feel like I want to use the Nexus S the way it was engineered to be used (i.e. naked), at least for a while.
Love the screen
It's not as sharp as the Retina Display on the iPhone 4, and its blacks aren't as deep as those on the Super AMOLED Plus display on the Galaxy S2, but that's not to say that the Super LCD screen on the Nexus S isn't good. The screen is beautiful, and the colors pop enough. With auto-brightness turned on, I have had no trouble reading the screen in bright sunlight. And it's super responsive too.
Another thing I realized: 4 inches is the sweet spot. I personally would have liked a 4.3-inch screen (as on the Galaxy S2) but I can understand why some people would have reservations about a screen that big. The Nexus S showed me that 4 inches is big enough without being too bulky for most people. It's the sweet spot. Seriously. The screen size provides a perceptible advantage in browsing the web, reading books, ot watching movies, without adding any deal-breaking bulk. I seriously looked at my friend's iPhone last night and marvelled at how tiny and cramped it felt.
If people would just step out of Steve Jobs' reality distortion field, they'd realize that 3.5 inches is too small for today's smartphones. I'll say it again --- 4 inches is the sweet spot, people.
There is no notification light WTF
Not a dealbreaker by any means, but definitely a bummer. My past two phones have had notification lights, and I've gotten used to having that tiny little bulb above the screen that not having one on the Nexus S is becoming a major pain. Why anybody would decide to forego this really nifty feature is beyond me.
The camera is fine
The camera is decent, but not mind-blowing. I don't know if this is the same camera that Samsung used in the Galaxy S phones (some reviewers feel like it's slightly different), but in any case, it's miles ahead of the camera on my Motorola Milestone. Photos usually come out sharp and detailed, but they have a tendency to look washed out, although I think this has more to do with the presets rather than the camera itself (just like how the iPhone 4's camera is preset to oversaturate to produce colors that pop). I find that adjusting the white balance usually is a good remedy: switching to "Daylight" from "Auto" works wonders, producing much more saturated colors. Focus is plenty fast (although there's no touch-to-focus --- that'll come in Ice Cream Sandwich), and the camera can produce some really impressive macro shots. Overall, the camera's fine. It's no Galaxy S2 or iPhone 4S, but it's fine.
Here are a few sample shots.
Everyday performance and battery life = impressive
It's fast. It does not have a dual-core processor like the Sensation or the Galaxy S2 do, but you wouldn't notice the difference. I have not installed a task killer (I usually use Watchdog) yet because, one, the functionality is baked right into Gingerbread, and two, I don't need it. I can switch from Aldiko to Cut The Rope to Pulse to Facebook Messenger to Seesmic and not have to close anything because it doesn't slow the phone down. I'm amazed. Overall performance is buttery smooth --- it's still no iPhone, but it's more than good enough. I've only had one app crash on me, and it was Fruit Ninja (and I have a strong feeling that it was the app's fault and not Android's). Other than that, things have worked the way one would want and expect them to work. This is Android at its best.
Battery life is actually surprisingly good. Yeah, I still prefer to recharge every night but I know I could stretch a charge to two days if I wanted to.
The keyboard is very much improved
This is the first all-touchscreen phone that I've ever bought, and I have to say, I am not missing the hardware keys so much. The new stock keyboard in Gingerbread is very easy to use, and is a gigantic improvement over the stock keyboards of previous Android versions. I can type really quickly and accurately on it, even in portrait mode. I prefer to type in landscape most of the time though, especially when I'm walking about. Overall, the keyboard is still not as good as the iPhone's, but it will get you through most typing tasks. I have not even tried to get Swype or Swiftkey onto it at all because the stock one is really fine. The word prediction engine is amazing too, and is very, very useful when I'm typing in English. There is no Filipino dictionary yet, unfortunately, although there's Go Keyboard in the Android Market which can be downloaded for free and which claims to be fluent in Filipino (have yet to try it though).
A ticket to Ice Cream Sandwich
This is definitely worth mentioning. I bought the Nexus S for many reasons, and one of the main ones is updates. Being a Google device, it is going to see more updates than other Android phones, and at a faster rate than other Android phones. Case in point: the impending Ice Cream Sandwich update, due to be released before year-end. Guess what? The Nexus S will be the first one to get the update (the Galaxy Nexus doesn't count because it's launching with ICS). In fact, ICS has already been ported to the Nexus S, unofficially. I'm just hoping that the updates won't stop with Ice Cream Sandwich --- Jellybean sounds like a sweet treat too.
Final thoughts
I'm really, obviously happy with the Nexus S. It has lived up to, and in some cases exceeded, my expectations. This was one of the easiest decisions I have ever made in my life.
Would I recommend it to others? That's a bit more complicated than yes or no.
To someone who wants an iPhone really badly but is considering getting an Android phone because iPhones are just way too expensive? I'm not entirely sure. As much as I love Gingerbread and my Nexus, Android still hasn't reached the level of polish and responsiveness of iOS. The iPhone just feels a tiny bit faster in everything. Typing out a text message or slicing watermelons in Fruit Ninja feels a teeny weeny bit smoother on the iPhone than on the Nexus, for example. It's good and fast enough on Android, but there's just a little extra responsiveness on iOS that I can't explain so well. Also, there are apps, like Instagram, that still haven't crossed over to Android. The Market is decently stocked with almost all the apps you'd ever need, but if you're into games, you might do better sticking it out for an iPhone instead. Lastly, iOS is still simpler to use than Android. That's not necessarily a good thing (I personally find the iOS homescreen shockingly bland and boring, but that's just me), but it does make the iPhone easier to navigate and use than Android (it's good for grandpa, is what I'm saying).
To someone who wants an iPhone but wants a lot of other things as well? You could do a lot worse than the Nexus S. The Nexus S is certainly a better proposition than a BlackBerry, for example. (Anybody who would need me to explain why would have to be terribly uninformed.) It's also better than the typical iPod touch + regular cellphone combo (I would hate having to lug around two devices, and so would you, I think). For the money you'd spend on the Nexus S, you'd get a really smart smartphone that just works. I know it's an Apple tagline, but it's seriously true for the Nexus S. It is fast, and it works the way Android was supposed to work. This is Android at its best (I think I've already said that). If your mind is not entirely made up on getting an iPhone, the Nexus S would more than make for a wonderful alternative. And it's a lot cheaper too.
To someone who wants Android? If you really require excellent build quality and you really need the horsepower (for a really hardcore game, for instance) and you have the money for it and you don't mind a little delay in your updates and several interface customizations here and there, then the Galaxy S2 or the Sensation might be better choices. But if you're like me, who answered NO to all the previous questions, then what the hell are you doing still reading this? Just buy the Nexus already.
Weekday, early in the morning. My alarm goes blaring approximately two hours before office starts. I press the snooze button, and go back to half-sleep. It's just the first of eight alarms anyway. Five more alarms later, I wake up, turn my laptop on, and check my internet requisites: Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader. Of course there's barely anything new, save for maybe a couple of Engadget articles, because I just checked them right before I went to bed. After thirty minutes, I finally muster enough willpower to drag myself out of bed and take a shower. By the time I'm done preparing my sandwich and my office paraphernalia (keys, phone, handkerchief, wallet, earphones), I'm already on the brink of running late.
I head out the gate, and bask in my surroundings. I've lived in this crappy apartment for months now, but I'm still smitten by the idea of living inside the UP Diliman campus. I'll never get tired of it. Walking down the moldy pavement with the birds singing in the trees and the sun peeking out from beyond the dense foliage of the Acacias is certainly one of the best parts of my day. I consider making a run for Rodic's (for my office lunch) but I know that I have no time. So I just continue walking till I get to Romulo Hall, and wait for my jeepney ride to Katipunan.
I get off at Elizabeth Hall across La Vista, climb the footbridge, and make a run for Jollibee. I hate it, I'm sick of their food, but I don't always have a choice. The guard promptly opens the door. I have a feeling that he knows me by face already, and probably calls me 'The Guy Who's Always Running Late' in his head. I order my regular --- a breakfast meal with plain rice (their garlic rice is disgusting) and hot chocolate, to-go. I don't have to tell the staff to hurry --- they can just tell that I'm pressed for time, probably by the no-nonsense way in which I recite my order to them, or by the way that I closely watch their every movement, or by the way I peek at my watch every twenty seconds.
Speaking of my watch, I don't know know exactly what time it is. It's probably ahead of the office clock by half an hour, a quarter of an hour, I don't really know. The reason I made it that way is so I'd panic every time I feel like I'm running late. Like how I'm panicking now. If I knew how much time I had left, I'd probably calm down, give up, and take my sweet time because I'd probably be late anyway. So this is one rare case where not knowing is actually a good thing for me.
I sprint across Petron to the tricyle terminal at the La Vista gate. I board a tricycle, and tell the driver to take me to Loyola Grand Villas, and hope for the best. If I were religious, I'd probably be praying now. I look at the mirror in the tricycle and realize that I forgot to shave again. (I stopped combing my hair a few years ago, so no, I didn't forget that one.) The moment we reach the gate, I frantically hand the driver a twenty, jump out, and run again. My hot chocolate is spilling all over the breakfast container because of Jollibee's crappy new lids. I know I'm supposed to sign the log sheet at the guardhouse, but I'm late and I know that the guards know me by now anyway. I fly down the many flights of steps in my boss's garden until I get to the office entrance, five storeys later (it's a seven-level house). I run to the Bundy clock, and breathe a sigh of relief when my time card comes out with 8:41 freshly stamped on it.
I fucking made it, with four minutes to spare. I'm getting really good at this.
I go down to the basement, which is where most of the office is located. Almost everyone's there, save for the regular latecomers. (I'm one of the regular in-the-nick-of-timers.) I turn my computer on, try to catch my breath, and sigh a little bit while trying to remember what it was that I was doing yesterday and what it was that I was supposed to do today. I really need to start writing things down. It's the start of a long day.
CAD, CAD CAD. That's 90% of my work now. Which is kind of funny, since I barely knew how to use CAD when I started working six months ago. Sometimes I glance at the wall clock to see how much longer I have to wait before I can whip out my sandwich and pacify my rumbling belly. I glance at the opposite stations and see Glenda and Claire working quietly. Sometimes I'd see Tom near the ref, drinking water. Sometimes JM would approach me to ask a question and I wouldn't really see the point because I couldn't answer it any better than he could. Back to CAD.
12:00 noon. The Bundy clock goes off in the tune of some nursery rhyme. It's lunch. I grab my takeout and head for the microwave. There's quite a line. People seem to be getting in on the microwave craze. I heat my food, take it a bit too early in fear of the food scalding the styrofoam, and head for the pantry. My food tastes like cancer. Note to self: wake up early tomorrow and buy lunch from Rodic's.
This dining table is crowded. There's a lot of people in the office now. I'm the first on the table to finish eating, as usual. I eat fast. I leave the table right away: I've never been a lunch table person. I don't really know why, but I always leave as soon as I'm done eating. I go back to my station and play with SketchUp, a bestfriend that I sorely miss. I make a 3D model of my water bottle, or look at a car component and try to take it apart. I make a mental note to try to study how to make complex curved surfaces in SketchUp, a mental note that I know will invariably end up in my mind's recycle bin a few minutes later.
The Bundy clock strikes again. It's 1:00PM, back to work. CAD, CAD, CAD. The longest part of the day, AKA lunch till end of day, begins. I feel sleepy from lunch, but I manage. Sometimes I take a cup of coffee, most of the time I just go to the bathroom and wash my face when I veer dangerously close to full-on dreaming. The Bundy clock sounds another alarm at 5:30, but we keep working. We are on a weird schedule these days. To keep from adding Saturday to the workweek, the office decided that it would be better to just add two hours to the regular workday, effectively extending the schedule to 7PM. It's hard, but it could be worse. I'll definitely take this over coming in on Saturdays like in other firms.
7PM comes, and it's time to pack up; everyone's anxious to get home. The divide between the oldies and the newbies could not be any clearer than at this time: the oldies leave together, the newbies leave together. We the newbies squeeze ourselves in Tom's car, which he brings to work most of the time. He's generously giving us all a ride out of La Vista, as usual. He drops us off at the Katipunan gate, and we say our thank-yous and goodbyes and see-you-tomorrows.
I walk to the footbridge and wait for a jeepney to take me back to UP. The wait usually takes five to ten minutes. Rush hour. I get off at the shopping center, and head straight for Lola Lita's to buy dinner, to-go. I check to make sure they included a paper plate and plastic utensils with my meal, because I really hate washing the dishes after dinner. I walk back to my apartment, drop all my things on the bed, and take a quick shower. I put on a dry-fit shirt and my running shoes. I take a swig of the leftover Real Leaf Lychee Tea from last night's dinner. It's quickly becoming a staple --- I have so many empty big bottles under the table. I grab my earphones, my keys, a hundred peso bill, and head out into the night.
I walk down a very dark Agoncillo Street, past the UP Chapel, the School of Statistics, and the new building they're constructing behind the Engineering Center. This walk is my warm-up, I don't like doing stretching. I get to the College of Law, make sure that my shoes are tied tightly enough, summon my running playlist (I like starting with Boys Don't Cry), and start running, phone in my right hand and my keys in the other. I run against the traffic, and against most people in the process. Not really because I think it's the right way to run (although it is); I mostly do so just out of habit.
Sometimes I wonder if I know any of these runners (there are many of them), or if any of them are celebrities. But I know that there's no point in wondering because even if there were familiar faces in that crowd, I still wouldn't see them because I'm practically night blind. Running two continuous rounds around the Acad Oval used to be formidable, but now I'm used to it. A few Foster The People and Cut Copy songs later, I'm almost done with my second round. For the last stretch (from the statue of Oblation back to the College of Law), I whip out All These Things That I've Done by The Killers, and imagine the Nike commercial with the athlete running to the tune of " I got soul but I'm not a soldier." I don't know, but that song really gives me extra energy. I stop at the College of Law, and walk back to my apartment. My running professor used to always tell us to never just stop after a run --- there had to be a warm-down. And that's this walk. I walk quickly because I'm so thirsty and because I don't want anybody to see me all sweaty and panting. I get inside my apartment, take another shower, turn on my computer, log in to Skype, and eat dinner. Time for RareJob, my part-time job that pays way more than my real job. I'm exhausted but I do it for the money. Besides, it's not really that much work. It's just talking.
Smart Bro's being a bitch again, but I soldier on. About four lessons later, I log out of Skype. I check my requisites: Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader. There's not a lot of new stuff, since I already kept going in and out of them throughout my RareJob lessons. But I keep doing it. After a few minutes, I realize that nothing is happening anymore, and staying up for nothing will be a big regret the following morning. This is my cue: time for bed. I turn off all the lights, make sure my phone has enough battery to wake me up in the morning, close my eyes, and dream of things I'll have no recollection of the following morning.
My alarm goes blaring approximately two hours before office starts. I press the snooze button, and go back to half-sleep. It's just the first of eight alarms anyway. It's the start of a new day.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Yeah, I guess I've fallen into a routine. And guess what? That's not necessarily a bad thing.
Nope, not the Kindle Fire. Although it was definitely the star of Jeff Bezos' keynote, and the most highly anticipated, most hyped, and most talked-about of all the devices that were announced, I do not want it. I am not in the market for a tablet; at least not right now.
Nope, not the Kindle Touch either. At $99 (albeit with Special Offers) and with a touchscreen in tow, it definitely sounds like a good buy. Especially considering how its closest competitor, Barnes & Noble's latest Nook, costs much more. But nope, it's not the one I want the most. I am talking about the base model, the 2011 non-touch Kindle, which costs $79 with Special Offers. Amazon simply calls it "Kindle." I think it's confusing, but who cares, I want it.
I said this once for the $99 TouchPad, and now, I have to say it again for the 2011 Kindle: it is way too cheap to be a bad buy. At $79, how can this thing be a mistake? I have been wanting an e-ink reader for a long time, but I have never been able to justify the expense: I no longer read as heavily as I used to, and my phone has been a perfectly adequate stand-in for the light reading that I do. Sure, e-ink screens are great for reading, but the price always made the LCD screen on my phone seem much more bearable. But this $79 sticker (approximately PhP3,500) on Amazon's base model changes a lot of things. What is PhP3,500? It's just a month's rent. A few expensive dinners. A pair of shoes. A few hardcovers. It's next to nothing, considering what you're getting: a really compact device with a Pearl e-ink display that's probably the closest you'll get to an honest-to-goodness paper experience. And further helping its case is the fact that the big block of awkwardness that was the original Kindle retailed for $400. That, and the fact that most people paid nearly twice as much last year for the Kindle 3 (now called the Kindle Keyboard). Another thing that this model has going for it is the page turn buttons. Of the three new Kindles unveiled this week, the $79 model is the only one that still sports page-turn buttons. I've never had plenty of experience with Kindles (although two people in the office have Kindles), but I have read enough books on my Android phone to know that I don't enjoy tapping the screen to go to the next page of a book. I almost always use the volume buttons on my phone to turn the page. Which is why I find the new Kindle Touch not as appealing as the $79 Kindle, or the 2011 Nook: while the Nook made no compromises by retaining the page-turn buttons despite the touchscreen, the Kindle Touch decided to do away with page-turn buttons entirely. And while Amazon's EasyReach touchscreen configuration looks like a good idea, I'm still not sold on the no-button affair on the Kindle Touch. ( Side story: I was initially surprised that the press did not find this to be as big an issue as I did, but a few complicated Google searches revealed that there are some people out there who agree with me, thank goodness. This blog post by some internet stranger hits all the right marks and might be worth checking out.) The lack of a hardware keyboard initially alarmed me, but most reviewers say that it's not as big a deal as most noobs think it will be. Most Kindle owners never use the keyboard, except for when they're searching for books in the Kindle Store. And it's worth the tradeoff --- this Kindle is much smaller and lighter than last year's Kindle 3.
The one thing I don't like, however, is the styling. I don't know, but it just feels a little off. I like how the black Kindle 3 looks, and I was hoping that this year's model, save for the scrapping of the keyboard, would look the same. Instead, Amazon launched something that was a bigger departure from the Kindle 3 than many people expected. It's not ugly, for sure, but in my eyes it lost a lot of the flavor that made the Kindle 3 feel like what it felt like (I don't have time to be too articulate, sorry).
I'd really have preferred more of the matte black plastic on the Kindle 3 and less of two-tone grey casing they have on the 2011 model. And less text on the back would have been nice. And the five buttons below the screen look odd for some reason. But I'm nitpicking. Either way, none of the new Kindles came close to beating the 2011 Nook in terms of hardware design. That's just my two cents, everyone is entitled to disagree. The bottomline: I want this. This is the first Kindle that I can realistically see myself buying. Obviously, I'm still trying to fully convince myself (hence this blog post), and yes, I write a lot about wanting things that I almost always end up not buying, but this Kindle is really crazy cheap. And it feels like time to give my growing EPUB collection a dedicated home (although I would actually need to convert them to MOBI first).
Who knows, I might actually start really reading again.
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P.S. I hear that the $79 Special Offers edition is only available in the US. Without Special Offers, this thing will actually cost $109. If you are reading this and you are thinking of getting one Special Offers Kindle for yourself, and you are willing to help me score my own Kindle too, shoot me a message! I would consider it a huge favor. :)
via coolposters.com
It's now an official fact of life --- Steve Carell never won a single Emmy for his portrayal of Michael Scott in The Office. Nominated for six straight years, and lost to somebody else every single time. Even though I do not know Jim Parsons, the eventual winner (I don't watch Big Bang Theory), I still can't help but feel dismayed that one of the most memorable TV characters in history never got anything better than a Dundie.
To anybody who has never ridden The Office wave, maybe now is a good time to try. I only started watching a couple of months ago, but yesterday I already finished the last episode of the the seventh season. Seven seasons...in two short months. I think that this was a new personal record. The show was so fun I just could not keep myself from watching. The last time I got this badly hooked on a show was when I was watching Will And Grace in college.
I don't know if The Office will remain as worthwhile now that Michael Scott has gone, but I sure hope it does. The final two episodes of the last season (after Carell's farewell episode, entitled "Goodbye, Michael") seemed worthwhile enough to me. But let's face it: it will never be as good without Michael Scott.
And yeah, that's what she said. :))
P.S. To the show's writers: that one moment in Goodbye, Michael where Michael puts down his Dundie on his table as a nod to the opening credits = absolutely priceless. Thank you for that.
I am getting a new phone this year. I don't know when exactly, but I know that my new phone will land this year. That's all I know. I'm not even sure if it will be another Android, but it is highly likely. Only two things can change my mind (and even then, it's still a long shot): the rumored iPhone 4S (AKA the cheap iPhone) supposedly due next month, or Nokia's first Windows Phone, due before the end of the year. Until they materialize, however, I can't give them serious consideration. And so I am only looking at Android phones now.
Currently, I have four candidates. Today, I looked at them all, and I might have narrowed my choices down to two.
Current candidate #1: HTC Sensation
The current flagship of Taiwanese company HTC, the Sensation still underwhelms me. Today was probably the fourth time I sampled a working unit (at HTC's concept store at SM North EDSA), and, like in the previous encounters, I walked away unimpressed. I'm not sure what it is exactly. On paper, this phone should wow me: 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch screen with an impressive qHD resolution, a well-reviewed 8-megapixel camera, etc etc etc. In real life, however, it barely elicits a blip in my radar. Maybe it's the screen. Having seen the Super AMOLEDs on Samsung's Galaxy S and Galaxy S2, I can't help feeling like the Sensation's Super LCD screen is sort of a letdown. The colors just look sad on that screen; nothing pops.
Although the build quality is typical HTC (read: excellent), I have to say that the hardware feels pedestrian overall. Engadget liked how it was heavy and not wafer-thin, because it felt reassuring. They also liked how it felt small in the hand despite the large screen. I have to disagree on both counts. I wish it was thinner, because then it would feel like a feat of engineering like the Galaxy S2 does (despite all that plastic). I also wish it was bigger, because then it would feel less pedestrian and more substantial, more...super. In other words, I wish it was more like the Galaxy S2: humongous, unwieldy, and proud of it. (A phone as thin as the Galaxy S2 but made with the Sensation's materials would be a dream.)
Lastly, (and this is probably my biggest issue with it), I am sick of Sense. I know it was pretty when HTC debuted this interface on the Hero, but it was mostly because Android (probably in its Cupcake or Donut days then) looked really ugly then. At the time, Android looked cartoonish, unfinished, and undecided. But Android has achieved a more-than-acceptable level of polish now, especially with Gingerbread. Vanilla Gingerbread has a distinct futuristic feel, and there's no reason to skin it. Sense is too much eye-candy. It changes the interface in ways too many that it doesn't look/feel like Android anymore. I am not sure if I can live with that.
Considering the price, and all of these, I am now officially crossing out the Sensation.
Current candidate #2: Samsung Galaxy S2
Well, of course it was going to be on this list. This phone is on everybody's list, and it's easy to see why. It's a monster. Currently the top-rated smartphone on most technology websites, the S2 is Samsung's flagship for 2011, and I want it like everyone else does/should.
First of all, that screen. Wow. I'm running out of superlatives to describe it. Other screens might be better in terms of pixel density, but this Super AMOLED Plus panel on the S2 kills them in all other respects. It's huge, it's bright, it's beautiful. The colors pop so much that nothing looks real anymore. But it's beautiful. I want it.
And how thin it is! Its thinness, plus that huge screen, plus the class-leading innnards (1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1 Gb RAM, well-reviewed 8-megapixel camera, etc) = an absolute monster of a phone. Practically all reviews that I have read say the same thing: this is the fastest phone they've ever used, bar none. It's the flagship by which all other flagships are measured, and is the reason why the Sensation leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth. The S2 is just in a different league altogether, in my opinion.
It's the best Android phone on the market, and that's why I want it. So much so that I'm willing to live with Samsung's fugly TouchWiz interface. And speaking of TouchWiz, I realized something funny today: I might actually prefer TouchWiz over Sense, simply because it doesn't alter Android as much. The changes that TouchWiz brings are mostly skin-deep, and the TouchWiz'd S2 has a truer Android feel than the Sensation.
The only caveat? It's expensive. I won't cross it out yet, but a part of me (probably my conscience or my wallet or both) is telling me that a minimum wage earner like me has no business splurging on the best phone on the market. But I can dream, right? An unlikely dream for sure, but I won't cross this out...yet.
Current candidate #3: Samsung Galaxy S
I may not have enough cash for the current flagship, but last year's flagship sits right in the middle of my price range. Last year's Galaxy S can still hold its own against many of this year's releases, and it's way cheaper. At P17-18K (goes for as low as P16K in some stores), I think the Galaxy S is certainly a better proposition than the Xperia Arc, or the LG Optimus Black, or the HTC Desire S, all of which are 2011 models. Despite the single-core processor, it's still a decently-outfitted device, and making the deal sweeter is the Gingerbread update that Samsung has graciously rolled out for all Galaxy S phones. Honestly, I think that the only thing that makes this phone feel stale is its successor. And to be fair, everything on the market feels stale now because of the Galaxy S2.
The only problem with the Galaxy S? The units that they're selling now are of the Super LCD version, instead of the superior Super AMOLED version from last year. The screen on the unit I tried today was still beautiful though. Definitely richer than the screen on the Sensation, in my opinion.
Current candidate #4: Nexus S
This was the last phone I sampled today (at Globe SM North). And it's the one I really want the most. Fresh from seeing Sense and two versions of TouchWiz, I thought that the vanilla build of Android on the Nexus S felt like a breath of clean air.
All Android phones are created equal, but some are more equal than others. Nexus phones are definitely more equal than others, in many respects. For the uninitiated, Nexus phones are Google's babies. They're phones that were designed hand-in-hand with Google, and they're supposed to be the template against which other manufacturers should design their phones. They all run vanilla Android, and they're always the first phones in the Android empire to receive the next Android build. The first Nexus phone was the Nexus One, which was built by HTC. The second Nexus device was built by Samsung, and it's the Nexus S. (The next one is rumored to be the Nexus Prime, supposedly due for release later this year.)
Using the Nexus S feels like holding a vision in your hands. It is a pure expression of an idea. Running vanilla Gingerbread, the Nexus S's interface feels clean, unpolluted, and consistent. It is beautiful in its own right. There is something about using Android in its pure form that feels nice. It feels honest and original. It makes all the other skinned phones feel pretentious and superficial. All the little details --- the orange glow that appears at the edge of the screen when you reach the bottom of a list, the 3D scrolling effect in the app drawer, the deep blacks and neon greens splattered all over the interface, the colorful Nexus animation that appears when you turn on the device, the retro TV effect that it does when you turn the screen off --- they all contribute to one unified thing. This is Android, without the unnecessary and petty additions that Sense and TouchWiz bring.
The prospect of receiving Android updates first (like the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich) is a good enough reason to buy the Nexus S. I want updates on my Android phone, and I want them fast. A Nexus device is a safe ticket to a long life of updates.
The caveats? The Nexus S does not have a dual-core processor, an omission that was lamented by many reviewers. In terms of hardware, it is probably closest to last year's Galaxy S. And like currently available units of the Galaxy S, the version of the Nexus S that was released here in the Philippines uses a Super LCD screen instead of a Super AMOLED panel. The screen is fine, of course, but Super AMOLED would have been sweeter. Also, it is more expensive than the Galaxy S, based on the prices that I have been seeing. Just a few grands more and one could easily buy a Galaxy S2. For a phone with last year's specs, that's definitely not a good thing.
One final caveat: Globe is the only entity in the Philippines that sells it officially (Samsung probably does not want it to eat into the sales of their Galaxy line). And they only sell it with a plan. If I don't want a plan, I'll have to look for a second-hand unit, or buy it from outside the Philippines.
But of the four phones that I tried today, it's the one I really want. And if destiny drops the right deal on my doorstep, I will definitely take it.
(All photos from Slashgear)
I've always been the guy to steer people's money away from BlackBerries. When people come to me for advice about getting a new phone and they tell me that they're considering getting a BlackBerry, I often try to unsell the idea from them. I make them enumerate their reasons for wanting one and try to rip them apart, one by one (not a tough job, to be honest).
The hit smartphone from Canada may have had its heyday, but that day has definitely passed (I think I was still in my teens when it happened). The BlackBerry OS (now in its 7.0 iteration) has fallen behind the other smartphone operating systems in terms of functionality and usability. Based on the many times that I've sampled RIM's phones, I can say that the interface is really very dull and the experience feels very dated (go a few levels deeper into the interface and you'll discover plain text menus --- what's up with that?). There aren't many apps available for the platform, and developer interest will probably remain stagnant, at least for the foreseeable future.
Even RIM (the company that makes the BlackBerry) knows that the BlackBerry OS is obsolete. Plans to shift to their new OS, called QNX, are supposed to be in high gear right now (QNX actually debuted this year on the dismally-received PlayBook). But exactly when we'll see QNX on the Bolds and the Curves and the Torches of the world, no one really knows. I'm sure about one thing though: until RIM slaps QNX on its smartphones, I don't really see how BlackBerries can truly feel like devices from this modern age of iPhones, Androids, and Mangoes (that...is a Windows Phone reference).
However, as much as I try to sway potential BlackBerry owners away from RIM's direction, I do think that there are several good things about BlackBerries that (and this is the first time I will admit this) make me want to own one...sometimes.
First is the hardware. Even though I've never owned one, I am a fan of the classic BlackBerry form factor (think Bold and Curve). And of hardware keyboards, especially good ones. Say what you will about the OS, but RIM makes good hardware. There's a reason why BlackBerries still look the same more or less, a million releases later. The form factor works, and there is definitely a persistent market for it even in this age of touchscreens. Blackberries are well-made, ergonomic, and black. They're a good-looking lot --- I especially like the Bold line. (Although the new Curve, shown above, looks really nice too.)
Second is the battery life. One of the huge drawbacks of owning a smartphone is the abysmal battery situation. Smartphone OSes have advanced greatly in the past few years, but battery technology has had trouble keeping with their pace. RIM's OS may not have all the eye-candy of iOS, Android, or Windows Phone, but it is not as taxing on the battery as the latter ones.
The final (and the most important) reason is the BlackBerry service/RIM's servers. BlackBerry isn't just a phone. It's a service, a concept, an idea. Unlike other phones, BlackBerries (assuming they are used the way they were meant to be used, i.e. with BlackBerry service) are perpetually tethered to RIM's servers. This means that BlackBerries are always online, every second of every day, waiting for the mothership to unload the next email, the next BBM, the next Twitter update, or the next Facebook notification. You're never disconnected, unless you run out of battery, or (heavens forbid) RIM experiences a server outage.
But more importantly, this also means that BlackBerries are a data-efficient breed of devices, because the servers compress data for them. For the consumer, that can only mean one thing: cheaper data plans. BlackBerries consume far less data than iPhones and Android phones, and this is why telcos have BlackBerry-specific data plans that are cheaper compared to the traditional data plans for other phones. Ever wondered how Globe can give away unlimited internet, unlimited email, unlimited Facebook, unlimited Twitter, unlimited BBM, etc. for P599 a month? The magic lies in RIM's server farms, wherever they are.
So yeah, all these are good stuff that I often forget to recognize. Unsung glories, if you will. I just thought I finally had to give credit where credit was due, given how hard I bash RIM's phones every time I get the chance.
But I still wouldn't buy a BlackBerry because right now, the good things are far outweighed by the bad things. And also because I think that now is a terrible time to buy one. Rumors have it that the first QNX phones from RIM will be released next year (and they will allegedly be able to run Android apps, just like the Playbook), so picking up a BlackBerry now would be an almost sure ticket to buyer's remorse. QNX will blow all current BlackBerries out of the water. The fresh models that RIM unveiled last week? Those will be ancient the moment QNX arrives.
But I have to say, that new Curve 9360 is looking really, really good.
More and more people are pouring into Google+. I myself have invited a truckload of people, and interest in the service, at least among the people I know (meaning my Facebook friends), has been accelerating. Several people have asked me about the service (today alone, three people asked me about it), and even more have asked for invites. I now have twenty-eight people in my circles, and I expect the number to grow bigger by the day, for the next couple of weeks at least.
Less than two weeks after launch, the service has definitely already generated more widespread interest than Google Buzz or Google Wave did, which isn't really saying much, seeing how badly those two flopped.
But despite this early promise, I have to admit that I am still on the fence about Google+.
Yes, there is no questioning the design of the service. Google+ is intelligently-designed. It's better-designed than Facebook. Circles was the most talked-about feature at launch (in fact, when rumors about Google+ started circulating earlier this year, the service was referred to as "Google Circles"), and the hype is well-deserved. It is the easiest contacts management system I've seen in my life. Making it compulsary (ever noticed how every single contact has to be in at least one circle?) is genius. IMO, the biggest hurdle to lists management is beginning with it/overcoming the inertia. Why do I not organize the hundreds of friends I have on Facebook into groups/lists? Because of inertia. It is several hundreds of people, after all. A daunting task, to say the least. By requiring me to do it every single time I add a person on the network, Google+ easily eliminates this inertia. It subtly forces me to do it little by little. Making the system easy, quick and intuitive to use is just icing on an already awesome cake.
The entire interface is also very clean and very simple, which is another big plus. Acclimation time, for me at least, was very short. Definitely shorter than the time it took me to get past the "lost phase" when I started using Facebook, even Twitter (although to be fair, having used both Facebook and Twitter extensively before going in to Google+ might also be one of the reasons behind my short acclimation time).
There is nothing new to the Stream in itself. It takes a lot from the Facebook News Feed. You see people's posts, you can comment on them, you can mention people in your posts and in your comments (although by using the + button , which is a cute touch), and you can even +1 the posts (the Google reincarnation of Facebook's Like button). BUT when you add the functionality of Circles into the Stream, it becomes much clearer that Google's version of the stream is superior to Facebook's. Since virtually all of the contacts are grouped into circles, consuming the stream becomes a much less overwhelming experience. I can view posts from my Friends circle first, then move on to my Collegemates circle next, and so on. It's simple, easy, intuitive, and most importantly, effortless.
Still, I am on the fence. Because, as well-designed as it is, I still can't figure out what void Google+ is trying to fill. Right now, I don't see which posts should go to Google+, and Google+ alone. There are posts that I know can only go to Facebook, and there are posts that I know can only go to Twitter. I can't think of posts that can ONLY GO TO GOOGLE+. If I were to draw a Venn diagram, every part of Google+ would be overlapping with either Twitter or Facebook.
On one hand, it is a good thing. It can obviously replace both. On Google+, one can easily post private content (AKA would otherwise have gone to Facebook) or something that can be left out in the open for all the world to see (AKA would otherwise have gone to Twitter). Even the things in between can be handled by Google+. But the problem is....Facebook and Twitter. They exist. People already use them, have made up their minds about how to use them, and have grown roots in them.
Therefore, why Google+? This is one question that I can't figure out, and I am certain that many people can't figure it out either. Right now, it is yet just another social network. It is a Facebook/Twitter clone/hybrid. And good design is just not enough incentive for people to abandon Facebook/Twitter for Google+.
I hope I am wrong. It would be a shame to see the superior product die just because the inferior one got to the market first. I hope that Google+ carves a niche of its own and stays for good, I really do. It's just that right now, I don't see where that niche is, or where it could be, in the hypothethical future where such a niche does exist.
They say that every mass has gravity, and the greater the mass, the greater the gravitational force. Facebook is a network of 750 million people. If it were a country, it would be the third most populous in the world.
Google+ is fighting gravity. And while I wouldn't bet my money on Google+, I wish it well. I really, really do.
Due to unusual circumstances, I have been forced to extract my old Nokia E51 from mobile purgatory and use it as my primary phone. I admit, the thought terrified me. A lot. Until now, I never really realized how heavily dependent I have become on my Android phone, and how it has become my most-used possession over the course of the past eleven months. Throughout each day, I use it to send texts, make calls, listen to music, read books, do my social networking, and browse the web. It's the last thing I check before I go to bed every night, and it makes sure I wake up on time every morning with alarms that can only be dismissed after several math problems. Of course, many of these things are things that the E51 can actually do, although in a manner that is a hundred shades worse. The two main areas I was particularly worried about was music and books, two things that help me get through the emptier expanses of the day (I listen to music when I'm doing plans at the office and I read books when I'm in public transportation/about to go to bed/bored). Using the Nokia E51 for music is like drawing floor plans with a squill and a bottle of watered-down ink. The music player's interface is serviceable and uninspired at best, and it does not even have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. But those are little things. The biggest issue I have with this phone model is the rock hard tumor it has on the side for a volume rocker. That rocker is 100% unusable, and is the biggest hardware flaw on this otherwise well-built phone. I am always forced to use the D-pad to control the music volume, and it's annoying as hell. The other thing, books, has little to do with interface design and has more to do with typography (although typography is arguably one of the biggest parts of UI design). Symbian has the worst typography I have ever seen in any of the current operating systems in the market. In my opinion, Windows Phone 7 > Palm webOS > iOS > Android > BlackBerry > Symbian, in terms of typography. Nokia seems to have already realized this, and has already announced an overhaul of the typography in their operating systems, but the new font, called Nokia Pure, won't make it to many of the Finnish company's older devices, including this old E51 that I have. And it's the stupid font (it's called Nokia Sans, by the way) that breaks the reading experience on this phone (and this OS), among other smaller things. The app that I use, called MobiReader, is actually serviceable. But the app is only as good as the typography, and no app can ever be good if it is forced to render everything in Nokia Sans. Coming from Android (I use an app that allows me to use custom fonts, and I find Palatino to be best overall for ebook reading), the prospect of reading books in Nokia Sans was a tough, bitter pill to swallow. Thankfully, I found a way to get around this. Thanks to my frustration, I found out that MobiReader can actually use external font files (TrueType only) to render the books in. All I had to do was create a folder called "Fonts" in the Resource folder on my SD card, put my favorite TTF fonts in that folder, reboot my phone, and tell MobiReader to use those fonts. Instantly made reading a whole lot easier. I didn't try a lot of fonts but here are a couple of screenshots. Shown left: Nokia Sans. Shown right: Nokia Pure. (I used Pure because I wanted to see what it would look like on a mobile device, but other TTF fonts should work.)
Nokia Pure looks like a cross between Calibri and Myriad, but hey, it's much rounder and a million times more readable than Nokia Sans, so I'll definitely take it. Besides, my phone's screen isn't exactly pixel-dense, so the type might actually look better and more original on better screens.
I wish I had found out about this three years ago. I think I might have permanently damaged my sight from reading all those books in Nokia Sans (imagine reading The Fountainhead on a 2-inch screen and in that font). Being able to use external fonts in MobiReader makes Symbian phones more credible devices for reading books. The content is already out there (MobiReader, like the Kindle, reads mobi files, so all the Kindle books swimming out there in the deep torrent waters should be readable on Symbian phones), the only problem was the presentation. Now, it shouldn't be a problem anymore.
Still, I can't wait to be back on my Android phone.
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