Category: Technology
Following the Fair path
As a potential phone buyer, you’re never short of negative articles about the iPhone. Apple is a company that people in general love to hate. Even though I’m sure many of the articles are true, I’m just as sure that the articles could just as well have been about other phones. After all, most phones, regardless of brands, are made in the same factories.
And until now, you haven’t been able to buy a phone that doesn’t come with many negative issues regarding how it’s produced, the material used and how the workers are treated. No phone owner (until now) has had a completely clear conscience. It doesn’t matter if you’re using iOS or Android. The producers are using the same materials, the same suppliers and are treating their workers the same.
Since it hasn’t been possible to buy a fair phone, I’ve used iPhones (and a HTC) because it came down to two choices. Either living off grid with no phone or using “the best one” available. I have to admit, I love iPhones (and HTCs 😉 ). So until now, I’ve had a HTC Desire C and an iPhone 4s and I’ve been really happy with them. There’s just been one problem – a big one. I didn’t like how they were produced.
So my latest phone is a Fairphone, this wonderful little gadget that “has everything” you can wish for. The company is treating the workers better than any other phone company. The materials used for producing it are the best available for the environment. I’m starting to get used to the Android OS. It’s actually pretty cool. Of course I still miss my iPhone and the iOS. There are still things I can’t do with my Fairphone, but what I can do is pretty awesome. The best thing about it (apart from the obvious) is that because of the dual sim, I can actually manage with only one phone.
Many thanks to the Fairphone team for helping me keep my conscience clear and still get some of the “good stuff” in life.
The iPad mini as e-reader
I have had an iPad for a while now. It’s an iPad 2. That worked ok as an e-reader, but now I finally got my hands on an iPad mini.
The obvious difference between the bigger iPad and the mini version is the size and weight. The iPad 2 didn’t feel heavy at all until I started to play with this smaller one. There’s a really big difference. The reading experience is so much better and you can read for a longer time.
I can imagine that the smaller screen might be a problem for some people, but it’s easy enough to change the font size in your preferred app. I mostly read in iBooks (bought and free ebooks) and BlueFire (library books).
The variety of file formats is a great asset. You can read html, txt, pdf, mobi (with the kindle app), and of course epub, which is really important. I also have a Kindle which has e-ink and has a brilliant screen, but doesn’t use epub.
Battery time isn’t all that good compared to dedicated e-readers. I have to charge mine every day, but of course I use it for much more than just reading. And the fact that you can use it for other things like email, texting, chat, surfing, blogging etc makes it a very useful tool.
Summary:
+ size and weight
+ many formats especially epub
+ other functions except ebook reading
– battery time/+ excellent battery time for a backlit device though
My first impressions of HTC Desire C
This isn’t going to be one of those comparisons iOS/Android that focuses on pushing buttons and counting tenths of seconds. If you expect such a post, you might be a little disappointed. This is just going to be a description of my first impression of a fun toy.
On first sight, the box tells you this is a budget phone you’re dealing with. The box is made of styrofoam and there’s just a printed paper banner around the box to show which phone it is. Despite that, I’m as happy as a kid on Christmas, as always when I’m facing a new gadget. This time is no exeption.
The phone itself is surprisingly small and light. It almost seems as if the phone has been delivered without a battery. Obviously that’s not the case. The battery is there and the phone quickly begins to charge. 30 % from the start, the 40, 50 and so on. Impressively fast.
The phone is cute and the back has a silky smooth rubber-like surface. When you open it to remove the protective film from the battery, you’ll notice that it’s red, just like the inside of the phone. Cool idea. The protective film covering the battery, confused me at first. I’m not used to that. I even had to go find an online manual about how to start using the phone. There I also learned how to insert my fingernail to pry off the back cover and how to insert the sim card.
Once I’d managed to open up the phone, I was able to adjust the settings. Some I simply had to ignore, because I didn’t know where and how they’d be used, such as place settings. I wouldn’t want my photos to have info about where they’ve been taken. The phone is easy to use and doesn’t feel too strange to me.†
All in all, my first contact with HTC Desire C and also Android phones is a positive one.
I joined the club!
Ok, so I’m part of the club…
…when do I get to learn the secret handshake?
For a long time, I’ve been watching the iPhone crowd. Inside of me, there was this want, want, want. And now, I’ve finally bought one myself.
I had this, “kid at Christmas” feeling when I opened the little box for the first time. For some reason, I was a bit disappointed with the box even though that shouldn’t mean anything. Apple usually have boxes almost as thought out as the actual product.
But if the box wasn’t what I expected, the phone itself extended all my expectactions and more. I haven’t had it for more than a few weeks, but I’m already addicted. Has been from the first day actually.
Now that I’m part of the secret club I suppose I should do as all the other members, list my favorite apps. It’s a bit difficult, since I’m not only iPhone addicted, but even more app addicted.
Here are my top 5 apps:
5: Brizzly – if you have more than one twitter account is this the perfect app for you.
4: WordPress: If you have a wordpress blog, you really need this app to blog whenever you want.
3: Skype – call for free from your phone. Sadly I’ve heard that soon it won’t be free anymore. I hope they reconsider.
2: Dropbox – bring all your important files with you everywhere. You can also use it to transfer your files to your computer from your phone.
… and the winner is …
1: PingChat! Want to send text messages and mms for free? Then PingChat is what you want. They’re not real mms and texts, but it’s great for sending messages to other iPhone users. This app is actually the only one I’ve paid for. I’m a big spender when it comes to texting, so the upgrade has already been paid for if you calculate how much I usually pay for my communication.
From one phone provider to another, then back again
Phone providers, internet providers… providers of digital tv… For years now we struggled to switch away from one to another, and now suddenly, we’re going the other way. Twice in just a few months, salespeople from the provider we’re leaving, called and bullied mom, who is severely depressed, into signing up for new expensive services, that we might not even be able to use here, in my name or using my info, and her name. I’m surprised that’s even legal, quite apart from the lack of business ethics, not that people like that have morals.
So, my sister and I decided to move our phone subscriptions to the old provider. Back to them, you might say. In any case, we’re stuck with them for everything else – internet, digital tv, landline… So we thought why not move our mobile phone subscriptions to them too? When we left them they were more expensive than the ones we left them for, but now they’ve changed their prices.
I have to admit that I wanted this switch primarily to get back at the phone provider (the one we’re leaving). No one treats my mom that way, no one treats us that way and gets away with it. Besides, no matter who gets treated this way, it’s something that needs to be confronted.
Anyway, my sister called to give them a piece of her mind and fortunately, she was able to make them tear up the agreement, which probably wasn’t valid anyway.
I suppose that should make it alright, but grrr I’m so angry with them. That makes the third phone company we don’t like, for various reasons. Sigh. Maybe in a small country like ours, you can’t afford to be so picky, but at least so far, I don’t care. I’ll do as I like. (And don’t even get me started on salespeople in general…)
The iPad – a wonderful toy
The other day, I followed the Apple Keynote through Twitter and live blogs. I’ve never been really interested in following things, even though I’m a Mac girl since the first little MacPlus. This time though I got caught up in the general madness that surrounded the event.
Then when I saw the first pics of the new iPad I was amazed, but not very impressed. I’m poor and this would certainly be one of the fun toys for the rich kids. Then I started to read and the more I read the more hooked I got. I wanted to scream: “I want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. I read Stephen Fry’s great article about the iPad and agree with it, but I still feel there are a few things to add to the subject. I won’t go into the pad jokes or join in the chorus of negative thoughts about the name. I do think they could have chosen something better, but on the other hand, I’m not 12, I can say the word pad without giggling. There are other product names with the word pad in it that no one says anything about.
These are the main reasons for me to wanting to get one and those reasons are also why I think it will be a huge success:
1) The reasonable price – Not everyone can afford, for instance an iPhone or a laptop. So in this respect the iPad is better.
2) The size – It’s a lot more portable than a laptop.
3) The quality – Compared to a Netbook, the screen is a lot better if the ad videos can be trusted.
4) The programs – What other gadget can run both the iPhone apps and the wonderful Mac programs like the iWork and iLife packages?
5) Cuteness – Silly reason I know, but it’s a lot more beautiful and cute than other small devices like the ugly Kindle for instance, or the idiotic pink eees.
6) The productivity – Portability in combination with usability. Big keyboard but still easy to bring with you. Will be a must for journalists, bloggers and writers.
7 ) Practical – With the iBook program, you can read e-books just as easy as you can with a regular book on a device that is very portable.
Skype – a newfound love
I tried it years ago. Being a geek, there are few things online that I haven’t tried, but I didn’t like it. I’m talking about Skype. Skype was a very primitive ugly looking chat program, or so I thought. It also crashed all the time and the voice chat was very bad. My opinions about it might have several reasons. Of course it could be that it was a primitive ugly looking unstable program, but it could also have other reasons. I had a n old computer back then. The mac version might not have been so good back then. And since I didn’t like voice, I might have seen the interface with less than objective eyes.
A couple of weeks ago I thought it was time to give the program another chance. One of my close online friends used Skype only, these days and I wanted to keep in touch. So I downloaded it again. My first impression wasn’t much different from the last time I tried it. The interface still looks very old. I didn’t give up though, so I went on trying all the features and after a few minutes I was hooked. Here’s a few of the things I love about it:
– The sound quality is amazing. It sounds like I’m talking on the phone.
– You can “share” your desktop which means you can show it to those you talk to.
_ It’s really cheap calling to landlines, even in another continent.
– Computer to computer calls are free.
– You can have video chats
– You can keep your anonymity since your “phone number” could be your username.
– If you pay a small sum, you can have a “real” phone number.
– For a set amount of money you can have unlimited calls.
So far I’ve only tried the computer to computer voice chat, but I’m sure it works just as well as a regular phone. When I can afford it, I’ll buy this cool Skype phone too. It’s a phone that handles Skype and can be connected all the time. When I have that, I can replace my IP phone and be able to call very cheap all over the world. It will be great:)
Elevator to Space
When I first read about this idea (in a science fiction book) I loved it. Not that I’d ever want to go to the moon, but the idea in itself is so intriguing. Fancy being able to send material up into space, without needing to use a rocket or similar space craft. Just send it up. And now apparently, people are working on making the dream come true. The other day I read about it in this article. Then the day after, I found that someone actually had succeeded in the competition, not in sending anything to the moon. More about it here.
We live in scary times, but this sort of thing helps make up for it to some extent.
Oh no, beware of the robots!
Are we treating the poor robots badly? Have we pushed them too hard making them work in our factories? Or are then plotting to take over the world? Should we start fighting back?
Today is exactly 2 years since the first attack. What happened was that one of the employees in a factory based in Stockholm was called in to repair a faulty robotised machine. Before he went in, he cut the power so he could safly enter the area. When he got close to the robot it suddenly came to life and grabbed his head. He was able to fight it off and escaped with only four broken ribs.
The prosecuter on the case says the man was very lucky to get away from th encounter alive. “I’ve never before heard of a man being abused by a robot in that way”, he tells one of the biggest morning papers in Sweden, but he adds, “the man is partly to blame”. The article says nothing about what the man did to the robot and what happened to it after the incidence.
Fact: This incidence is actually true, at least according to one of the biggest morning papers in Sweden.