Technical Changes

[Yazata]

I'm back after being gone a week, and after some technical changes.

No more dial-up (it was free, though) and no more old 1990's laptop with a paleolithic browser. (I'm going to continue using it as an e-reader.)

Now we've finally gotten cable internet around my house and put in home wifi, so I grabbed a Chromebook for $79 yesterday at a 'black friday' sale.

I tried reading the board with my 7" tablet but found posting with a small tempermental on-screen keyboard almost as impossible as posting on a cell-phone. This chromebook has a fairly decent keyboard that I can actually type on and a big bright screen. It also displays my many pdf e-books very well, so it works as another e-reader too. Those are my main uses for it.

[elte]

Welcome back.   How did you survive on dial up so long.  About five years ago, I just couldn't stand it anymore since turning off images or animations in the browser settings was getting to feel pretty impractical.  

The US is still expensive as far as Internet goes.

I have been doing most browsing online on a 7" tablet since that saves wear on the PC.  I can hold it by hand with my arm supported.  I had thought about getting a Cromebook in the past, but the price was a lot higher than $80.

[C C]

Good to have you back with a contemporary OS and browser that doesn't get those irritating admonishments like "Please upgrade. Your ___ is incompatible with this website".

A Chromebook is what [MIA] Timmy got back when Webtv was going under. I guess the recent trend has been toward making them cheaper by giving them a limited solid-state drive (16 to 32 GB?). The Chrome OS has always been about storing files in the cloud and doing heavy and special tasks with online services, anyway. Former users from the old Webtv days would already be well familiar with that approach. Plus no antivirus needed (I guess).

It's fascinating how many people prefer small-screened pads, netbooks, and hybrids even when they're at home. For the latter, I'm a desktop-PC dinosaur that prefers a 24-inch+ monitor or flat-screen TV hooked-up to that bulkier machine with lots and lots of ports for plug-in devices. Even the larger, average laptop-size screen (still 14 to 15 inches?) seems eye-straining to me now, in comparison.

[elte]

For a long time I've worn reading glasses to view screens.  I began doing that back in the days I had a 15" CRT monitor.  I have an eye that seems very astigmatic, so I put black electrical tape over the corresponding lens. To clean the unblocked lens, I rub box sealing taped onto the lens and then peel it off. This has removed most of the difficulty of my lens cleaning.

I still use the PC for some things that can't be done easily on the tablet.  One of those things is the electronics simulator.  After the circuit gets built virtually, then it can simulate it as it hopefully will work for real, though some variance from reality is expected.

[Magical Realist]

[Image: oldcomputer674.jpg]

[C C]

I can put a graphic on a big screen with near the same resolution as a smaller screen and I never cease to be amazed at the details (especially the defects) that I completely missed when restricted to the 7 to 15.4 inch screens of tablets, netbooks, and ordinary laptops. Portable devices are indispensable on road and for common tasks and communications. But when it comes to work and design projects, running resource-hungry programs, a parade of USB gadgets, and just the recreation of viewing websites, images, and videos the way they were meant to be seen.... For me nothing beats large screens and re-vamped office computers.

[Yazata]

Welcome back.

Thanks.

How did you survive on dial up so long.  About five years ago, I just couldn't stand it anymore since turning off images or animations in the browser settings was getting to feel pretty impractical.

My dial-up was free. What's more, I was using it on a free computer, that a friend had given me. So there's that.

And to tell the truth, I much preferred websites in the 1990's when they were just html, with comprehensible layouts, everything easy to find, without animations, photographs and video clips embedded in them. In most cases, that stuff is superfluous to the reason why I go to the website in the first place, often just an advertisement or something. Do I really need to see an annoying little video of a car driving around in a car ad when I go to a webpage?   

In my opinion web-design has gotten way too busy, with stuff crammed onto pages just because high-speed internet makes it possible to do it. Nobody seems the least bit interested in the less-is-more approach or in elegant design. (There are exceptions, I was just admiring the design of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy the other day. Simple and to-the-point, it loads fast, doesn't freeze up and is easy to navigate.)

The US is still expensive as far as Internet goes.

Cost is the main reason why I held off getting cable internet. Now I'm gonna have to pay for it.

I have been doing most browsing online on a 7" tablet since that saves wear on the PC.  I can hold it by hand with my arm supported.

Yeah, my 7" tablet works great for looking at most webpages. It's too small for reading e-book style text though. I also find that it's difficult writing using its on-screen keyboard. I can't type naturally and there are too many mistakes when I type one letter and another appears.

Another big problem is that I don't know how to side-load my existing pdf e-books onto android devices. So I can't use my tablet as an e-reader. The only advice I can find tells me to download an Amazon or Barnes and Noble ap and buy e-books. But I already have hundreds of e-books on usb drives that I want to read!

I had thought about getting a Cromebook in the past, but the price was a lot higher than $80.

Mine is a cheap Acer 11" model that normally sells for about $150 at Bestbuy or Office Depot. I lucked out finding one for half off on 'black friday'. Despite it being a low-end model, it seems to work fine. Its battery-life is extraordinary. It's surprisingly rugged and may be intended for a school-kid market.

[elte]

Thanks.

You're welcome.

My dial-up was free. What's more, I was using it on a free computer, that a friend had given me. So there's that.

I had free dialup for many years from when I first got online.

And to tell the truth, I much preferred websites in the 1990's when they were just html, with comprehensible layouts, everything easy to find, without animations, photographs and video clips embedded in them. In most cases, that stuff is superfluous to the reason why I go to the website in the first place, often just an advertisement or something. Do I really need to see an annoying little video of a car driving around in a car ad when I go to a webpage?   

In my opinion web-design has gotten way too busy, with stuff crammed onto pages just because high-speed internet makes it possible to do it. Nobody seems the least bit interested in the less-is-more approach or in elegant design. (There are exceptions, I was just admiring the design of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy the other day. Simple and to-the-point, it loads fast, doesn't freeze up and is easy to navigate.)

I went to a Website today that a commenter said was poor quality.  It was very simple and I thought did its purpose very well.  It was only a single page that I scrolled down with numbered text sections with titles.  There weren't any links or images.  I thought it was kind of refreshing for a change.  Just go down and read for a few minutes for a quick and easy experience.

Cost is the main reason why I held off getting cable internet. Now I'm gonna have to pay for it.

I was putting off paying for ADSL for as long as possible.  Since I rarely watch television, I don't have cable service.

Yeah, my 7" tablet works great for looking at most webpages. It's too small for reading e-book style text though. I also find that it's difficult writing using its on-screen keyboard. I can't type naturally and there are too many mistakes when I type one letter and another appears.

Another big problem is that I don't know how to side-load my existing pdf e-books onto android devices. So I can't use my tablet as an e-reader. The only advice I can find tells me to download an Amazon or Barnes and Noble ap and buy e-books. But I already have hundreds of e-books on usb drives that I want to read!

This tablet doesn't have a USB port.  That Chromebook should do the task of displaying those ebooks!

Mine is a cheap Acer 11" model that normally sells for about $150 at Bestbuy or Office Depot. I lucked out finding one for half off on 'black friday'. Despite it being a low-end model, it seems to work fine. Its battery-life is extraordinary. It's surprisingly rugged and may be intended for a school-kid market.

That sounds good and plenty functional.  The battery on this tablet is good for about fifteen minutes before it is very advisable to plug it in.  I try not to let it discharge at all and try to keep it connected to the charger all the time.  One thing that is nice is that I start this thing up by cycling an outlet switch the charger is plugged into.  The outlet switch is on an extension cord within very easy reach.