12 Month Windows

While Apple frequently makes a big deal about paying attention to the small details, they miss some of the bigger ones. Last night, or technically very early this morning, I friend of mine in California was setting up a new laptop and asked for help. I simply had him open the Quick Assist App. I began a session and he joined it with the code that was produced. I was then able to help him directly on his system get things set up the way he wanted and in a way that would help streamline his use of the technology. Apple has nothing like this without having to pay for special software AND be on the same network. The more time I spend delving into Windows, the more I find how useful it really is, and how walled off Apple is, even from its own users. I sold my iPad Pro and instead bought a Surface Go 2. The machine, keyboard, and Surface Pen all cost significantly less than what I'd paid for the iPad Pro and the Magic Keyboard cover and was covered by the sale of my 2 year old iPad Pro. ...

My favorite phone ever was the Motorola Moto X 2nd generation from 2014. It allowed a plethora of customizations for a truly unique appearance that could be tailored to the individual - not to mention the various customization options available for Android. The problem was more with how Motorola at the time, having just been sold away from Google, was suddenly being run. I had some issues, met with terrible customer service and eventually returned the phone for a full refund. But that phone was pure gold. At the time, I went back to the iPhone and stayed there until I tried the Pixel XL. I ended up sending that back not because of the feature set, but simply because it didn't feel fully baked yet. I would probably have been much happier with the Pixel 3 XL from this year, but by the time that was announced, I had made the decision to stop hopping around in mobile space and just stick with Apple. A big part of that decision came from two experience I had with the company...

Seven days ago I opened up the package with my shiny new Moto X 64gb Pure edition and shut down my iPhone 6+ for the last time (Well, I still have to pull photos off it and wipe it, but I wanted that to sound dramatic). I haven't really looked back in those seven days. There are things I find I miss now and then, but nothing I miss more than what I've gained by switching to Android. Notifications are better, notification center is cleaner, I have access to widgets on my various home screens, Google Now is a swipe away instead of finding the app icon and launching it, the card view multitasking is far superior to the completely asinine multitasking view in iOS, and the system is seemingly more responsive. Going back to multitasking for a moment, maybe I have bad fingers, but on my iPhone I could never quit stuck apps easily, I'd think I was swiping up, but all the open apps would suddenly scroll across the screen instead of the app I was trying to quit simply going awa...

Some random tech thoughts... A few times I have attempted to leave the Apple Ecosystem and I've gone back. This shouldn't say anything about the products I gave up to return to Apple - this says that I was a little out of my comfort zone and went back to what I was familiar with. I'd like to stop doing that. I really wanted to give up on Apple for 12 months when I started my blog, 12monthwindows. I still do. I'm becoming less and less enamored with the company as time goes on. I stopped being a outright fanboy a few years ago, and since then I've been slowly losing my respect for them. Now, I don't believe them to be any more evil than any other tech company - that's not why I'm starting to like them less. I think on the evil front, Samsung is probably winning that crown (if you want to call it winning), but even then, not so evil that I wouldn't purchase one of their televisions (I still don't like TouchWiz for their Android UI). Par...

As much as I am an Apple fan, I often find myself excited by the ideas presented by other technology firms. For example, my previous post boasts the Moto X as being the best smartphone currently on the market. I continue to stand behind this claim even as I use an iPhone 6+. The technology that is included in the Moto X reminds me in many ways of the sort of direction Apple would have taken a number of years ago. At the same time, I’ve been very excited about the direction Microsoft has been taking with its Windows platform. Many people hated Windows 8, but I never did. I think it was flawed, but I think OS X is flawed as well. I think what’s coming with Windows 10 is beyond innovative and amazing and I think that its price tag is something very new for Microsoft. With the money they won’t be making off their Operating System, what revenue stream will fill that void? Then you’ve got Hololens - their augmented reality glasses that make Google Glass look like a Gobot Compared to a Tr...

As my few readers know, I used a Moto X for while - twice. The first time was the 1st gen Moto X which ended up going back to Motorola because AT&T was dumb. I then waited until the next release round as I discovered that they would be releasing a new Moto X sometime in the fall. It was released around the same time as the iPhone 6 and 6+. I got the 2nd Gen Moto X and I loved it, yet I still returned it and replaced it with the massive iPhone 6+, which is certainly no slouch. If you were just to compare the internals of the two devices you would think that the iPhone 6 and 6+ has quite an advantage over the Moto X - but as Apple liked to advertise with the release of the original iMac, specs aren't everything. It's what you do with the specs you have. So, if I'm using an iPhone 6+ why would I be saying that the Moto X is the best smartphone on the market currently? Why would I have sent that beautiful piece of technology back to Motorola instead of simply continui...

For the longest time we were fighting for the smallest, thinnest phones, laptops, and other pieces of technology. That trend appears to be reversing itself in recent years with the advent of "the phablet." When I first saw the gigantic Galaxy Note I almost lost the Coca-Cola I was drinking out my nose I thought it was so insanely huge. Now I have an iPhone 6+ and I'm officially a Phablet owner. What does this mean? For somebody who thought that the size of the Galaxy Note was obscenely over sized, I now find the size of my 6+ to be perfect for me. Perfect in ways my previous phones have been imperfect. First of all, I no longer feel as though I need to carry around a laptop and a tablet and a phone. I now have my phone, which is big enough to be a small tablet, and my laptop. It's easier to carry around than either an iPad Mini or Nexus 7 (or any of the other smaller form-factor tablets) and I find it's more useful than a tablet. I also ordered myself an iWerk...

While much is being said about the iPhone 6+ camera and it's strengths, the camera I have on my iPhone 6+ has failed spectacularly after only a week of use. Now, as with any piece of electronics, there will be failing units, my concern is that I was quickly able to find posts in various places of others having the same issues - which means there are likely others out there who are having yet even more issues who don't go onto blogs and post about their experiences. Specifically, the Vibration Reduction feature of the camera has failed so completely that it thinks the phone must be in constant motion even when it's still because it activates and creates a blurry, double image. You can even hold your ear up to the phone and listen to it click and whir inside - certainly not a good sign. I've been an Apple customer long enough that I have no doubt they will be wonderful when I take it to the genius bar later today and either repair the defective part or replace the w...

So as many of my friends predicted, I'm back on the iPhone. Twice. So let me elaborate - the first Moto X I wrote about I had to send back because I had purchased it with a two year contract on my AT&T Plan. Well, apparently if you contract yourself to AT&T now, you lose all your super-cool discounts. I had to the send it back and get my iPhone 5 reactivated. By this point I'd been hearing rumors about the new Moto X, so I decided to wait and see. When it came out, I went ahead and ordered it. I have no unkind words to say about it and Android has come a LONG WAY from it's crappy beginnings. I rather enjoyed using it. I ended up sending that one back, not because it wasn't a great phone, not because it didn't meet every one of my needs (almost), but because my entire family is on iPhones and uses iCloud and iMessages and Photo sharing through Photostream and I have a two year old that everybody wants to see pictures of all the time. Sounds li...

Since 2007 I have been carting around some version of the iPhone. Somewhere around August 7th, that won't be happening anymore. After much deliberation, window shopping, hands on testing, research, and thought I have purchased a fully customized Motorola Moto X phone. If you're interested, it's got a natural ebony back, black front and Red buttons and highlights. The screen will actually say "Welcome, Micah" whenever I turn it on. Beyond the ability to customize the look of the device and have my name engraved on it (which is possible with the iPhone as well), Android gives me features I've been waiting for on the iPhone. While iOS 8 promises to catch up in some areas, namely the ability to swipe in text as opposed to tap typing, it's still lacking in others that I have made heavy use of in my work provided HTC One. While I did consider the HTC One (M8), when I starting toying around with it, it had gotten too big. As much as I loved the one work pro...

I've spent quite a bit of money over the course of my life playing with various technologies and trying to find something that was the "Perfect Tool." I recently came to the conclusion that in searching for the perfect tool, we forget to make use of the tools that we have. I started  this blog with the idea that we cannot make a decision about whether or not we like something or hate it without first knowing all sides of the equation. That said, I think there were too many failures and unrealized potential within the Windows 8 package. Windows 7 is a far superior product that is not attempting to be more than what it is. Because of that, I moved back to the Mac ecosystem. Over the past six months or so I've been using an android phone and an iPhone. I've made a few comments in the past about my thoughts on Android vs. iPhone. This is more about Tablets. While I feel that Android Phones (the good ones that update quickly and don't come loaded with 2.1) ar...

There's all this noise about who hates who and why they hate them and why the other OS sucks. Well, I have an HTC One and an iPhone 5. The HTC One is through work and the iPhone is my personal device. I love both of them. I hate both of them. Here's why... In terms of simplicity and ease of use, the iPhone kills Android. I don't the word of other techies like me on this - in that instance, either one is pretty easy to figure out. What I've done is talk to people as well as attempt to look at both systems from the perspective of a non-techie. The reason that many tinkerer types don't like iOS is the reason that I would recommend it to many people of a non-tech inclination. It's easy. It really is "Point and touch." The settings are laid out in an easy to understand pattern and everything is easily explained. Barring that, you can go to your local Apple Store and receive free training on your device. Android, on the other hand, is a little ...

I lasted about 2.5 months, give or take, on the experiment that was supposed to last 12. As of this moment, I am typing this entry on my MacBook Air which replaces the Lenovo I had purchased for the experiment. Now let me say here that I'm not dissing Lenovo in any way. The system was everything it was advertised to be, but it couldn't be what I needed it to be and when I upgraded to Windows 8.1, it failed. I honestly don't have the time to deal with attempting to fix issues, hunt down drivers and manually patch things up that seems to be par for the course with Windows Machines. I'm retracting anything I said regarding Windows when I started out on this experiment, but I am going to provide some further insights I've had since my last post. I went into this experiment because people hated Windows 8 with such a passion I wanted to see what all the hate was about. Jumping from Mac to Windows 8 wasn't that difficult in most regards. The interface found on ...

Today has been really been the first time I’ve been frustrated with my decision to jump from Mac to Windows, and I’m not sure where to point the blame for it. The biggest issue I have both with Windows 8 and Android is the lack of quality apps. I know the Android lovers and Windows fans will decry me being a blind Apple Fanboy, and anybody who is that close-minded is just a waste of my time. They can live in their happy little bubble the way I used to live in my happy little Apple bubble. The fact that Apple OS X and iOS have a better selection of Apps available isn’t Apple’s fault, per se. I’m not saying that the Apple Branded Apps are better than the Windows branded apps of the same vein, I’m talking strictly 3rd party developers. I would imagine that with Android having more market share than Apple at this point there would be a better selection of Apps available for the platform and more high quality apps. The issue here is 3rd party developers. I’m not a part of any developer p...

And the iPhone 5c is REALLY Dumb This post is in no way meant to negate my previous post titled iOS 7 is Dumb. This is merely meant point out the parts of iOS 7 that really aren’t dumb at all, and are actually brilliant. The iPhone 5c feels like Apple is trying to jump back in time. First, iOS 7 Anybody who knows anything about computer programming or engineering understands that iOS 7 isn’t dumb in the least. The underpinnings of the OS are quite sound and incredibly stable, more-so than Android and Windows Phone. What is dumb about iOS 7 is the feel and look of the interface, but that’s not to say that there isn’t brilliance there. While Notification Center has gotten better, it’s still more annoying than it is useful. On the other hand, the swipe up from the bottom to get to some quick-action controls that are frequently used is brilliant. So is the addition of a flashlight button available from the lock screen that also stays on when you lock the device, unlike the 3rd part...

When I first held the iPhone in my hand back in 2007 it never felt cheap to me. It was solid, it was aluminum and, despite people’s grouch regarding a lack of customizability, it felt like a professional, slick device. I was proud to own one and I felt like, to use a Maine saying with a wee bit of profanity, King Shit of Turd Island. I never fully understood the switch from the aluminum back to plastic with the 3G and 3GS, but they were still solid phones. I had two at the time – for work and home – and the one I used for work took a beating. I dropped it on cement, I kicked I across marble floors, I dropped it down some stairs. It never broke, though I’m certain that it should have about twenty or so times. I was impressed. Then there was the app store. Prior to that, I admit, I had done the whole jailbreak thing on my phone until the app store appeared. At that point, I didn’t really feel a need to jailbreak. I could get anything I wanted and I felt that the people who designed the...

I would be remiss if I didn’t address the Apple Keynote for the new iPhones that was held last week. While I should have posted sooner, I needed time to digest it all and form an opinion I was more or less certain of. When Steve Jobs passed away there was a camp of people who were worried that Apple would lose its direction in the absence of the man behind Apple. I had hope that things wouldn’t change much in his absence. I had hoped that he had created a company that was self sustaining with creativity and innovation and would just keep going. As it turns out, I fear that that group of people may have been correct. I’m not seeing anything exciting from Apple. There have been no game changers since Steve Jobs passed away, merely incremental updates to existing hardware. Perhaps the ONLY exception to that is the Mac Pro, but it holds the moniker of its predecessor, even if it doesn’t hold the same form factor. The hardware in the new Mac Pro is very innovative, but it’s being used to...