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How many radios do you have?

Quote:

Why the obsession to make the Internet Tablet be a computer (see, for example, Trusted Reviews)? Or a PDA? Or a cellphone? Allegedly this is because people want to carry fewer devices, hence the upswing in convergence.

But is that really where we are headed?

If you go back a couple generations, there was a time when every family had one television, and before that one radio. And then as they became less expensive, more were added and maybe you even had one per person. Radios are now so cheap, we have one for each possible use -- one in each car, one in each bedroom (attached to a clock) and in the kitchen, one in the home stereo system, one in each boombox and in each portable tape or CD player, special ones built on a clip just for going jogging.

In my own household -- two adults, two children -- we have ten radios. They're all optimized to a single situation, and we think that's right. We don't see this as violating some principle of multiple use (or minimum use either -- how many minutes a week is a shower radio on, anyway? Or the guestroom clock-radio?). We follow the "specific devices for specific needs" principle.

And that applies to computers too. To tablets.

You know, if I can access my files on the network, and I use web-apps, why do I care about "synching" my internet tablet with a PC? Just as I want that clip-radio for jogging, I want to carry a small but suitable device for surfing, reading and, you know, anything that might come up -- a see-me voip call, some work, some music, a game. But, heck, at other times, I want that laptop. And at still other times, I carry some index cards and a one-dollar Optiflow pen and leave the tablet at home.

Soon enough today's internet tablets will sell for $50 - $100, and we'll have a slew of them. (Yes, we'll have some extraordinary $400 devices then, too.) It'll be access to the network that they each provide, so it won't matter which one I pick up: my information won't be quarantined in separate devices constantly falling out-of-synch with every other device I use. And, likely as not, the capabilities will be downloaded from the network too, or on the network entirely.

Our cellphones and our internet tablets are just the first devices to be pocketable and derive their worth from the network -- no connect, no use -- and our expectations are driven by the old-paradigm devices of yesteryear (eg, 2005). I mean, after all, would you have even considered buying a PDA back in the day if it didn't work offline? And, in the end, isn't that pretty much the way the internet tablet is?

That's where we're headed, I think. Not there yet, by any stretch of the imagination, and I yield to no man in counting on the off-network apps in my own 770. But I can feel it coming, every time I reach over to check the alarm on my clock-radio and see the internet tablet resting on the bedside table. Soon enough I'll have a bedside tablet, and a breakfast table tablet and a tablet in the car that always lives there, like the radio.

Read the full article.

Re: How many radios do you have?

I totally agree with RS here.
;)
I do not know if I am going to say it right. I think the main reason for all this gripe that people have about Nokia 770 and N800 is that, Nokia made it for a single purpose, to surf the Web (perhaps I am repeating myself) and these two Tablets does that. How good does these Tablets do what they are supposed to do, is a moot point. Then people started to gripe about the fact that it did not play Audio files well. Well, these tablets were never MP3 players in the first place. People started complaining about the fact that the Tablets do not play Media (movie) Files well. Well, the Tablets were never said to be similar to Archos Devices. People started to complain about the fact that tablets did not behave like Computers (doing Office Stuff) Well, Nokia never said that they were PDAs. Then people started complaining about the fact that there was not enough Storage capacity. Well, the Storage capacity provided in both the Tablets are just enough to do what they were made to do. So essentially the people are pushing the limits of what these Tablets can do and surely there will be a limit to what they it can be pushed to. When that limit is reached and the Tablets can no longer do more then the gripe grows and people say all sorts of things. I totally agree to the fact that the baby that cries gets the milk and indeed, griping is good to get various newer Software for the Tablets. But can we not do that within the limits of sanity ? Would griping about anything and everything about the Tablets give us more peace of mind ?

:)
I own a Nokia 770 and it is loaded with the most recent OS. It serves my purpose because I was totally sure why I bought it. To surf the Web. Period !!. The availability of Bluetooth Phones made is possible to use the Nokia Tablets to surf the Web when there were no nearby APs available. Is this not a lot more than one could do, say 3 years back without building up ones muscles (having to lug a huge laptop around). Can’t we be grateful for small wonders? Let us appreciate these little Tablets, using them to do what they can do well. I am sure that there are great Software Developers here who have given us very useful Mapping Software, Gaim, Weather Software, Media Converters etc. Lets appreciate their work, done so selflessly, without bothering them without a continuous stream of nonstop gripe.:)

Re: How many radios do you have?

We do appreciate our Internet Tablets, but 2 important points to consider:

1- 770/N800 are Internet Tablets, and despite improvements, they can't adequately support a lot of current Internet features (e.g. Flash, AJAX, poor email client...).

2- Most people don't want to carry around a bunch of special purpose devices, and that's why they want their 770/N800 to play media, have PIM and so on, in addition to surfing web.

I also don't think most people consider these as laptop replacements, so they have device limitations in mind, but it's always fun to push the boundaries, a little more; that's how technology moves forward.

My 2¢...

Re: How many radios do you have?

Arjun,
Why the silly fonts and even sillier color? It's pretty much unreadable, particularly for those of us using a different skin.

Re: How many radios do you have?

:) TA-t3, the fonts are just ' bold ' thats all, the color is ' Medium Turquoise ' and both are made available here. Just like you can't read it because you use a different skin I can't read it properly in the default background, font and color here.:)

Re: How many radios do you have?

My main gripe with the OP is that, while indeed it may be possible to access my files on the network, I cannot do anything useful with the majority of them on that famous "Internet Tablet": the 770/N800's browser barfs at just about any "web-app" I throw at it; the video files I store on my network will only play (sort of: Nokia chose to not use the hardware's capabilities and make us settle with choppy, low-res video) on the included media player if I convert them manually on a desktop (there is an online conversion service, but lets be honest: Nobody expects it to convert a DVD, or even a DivX file for you, right?); admitted, audio works, but only as long as you stay far away from the best known open format, Ogg-Vorbis (really cool move there, Open Source-buddy Nokia!).

So, while this blogarticle may score points in the happy-fuzzy-pink-future field, it does so only by comfortably ignoring the harsh reality of today's Nokia Internet Tablet: It just doesn't do Internet very well, and certainly not well enough to be a thin client.

(BTW, that's exactly what he's describing in this article: the Larry Ellison Thin Client. I'd suggest a phone call to Mr Ellison to ask him how he thinks about that baby these days)

Re: How many radios do you have?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arjun (Post 32241)

:)TA-t3, the fonts are just ' bold ' thats all, the color is ' Medium Turquoise ' and both are made available here. Just like you can't read it because you use a different skin I can't read it properly in the default background, font and color here.:)

The colours, I'm sure, are for occasional differences to highlight key bits. Written communication is about making it as easy as possible for the reader: your posts are jarring.

Please stop using such disgusting colours - it shows you consider your own individuality more important than your readers' comfort; this does not incline me to read your posts.

Re: How many radios do you have?

The OP's radio analagy actually counters part of the post's point.

AM/FM Radios are everywhere today directly because of convergence. Radios are stuffed wherever there is electricity to run them, because they are cheap, because everyone like music, and because listening to music is something you can do under almost any circumstance. The integration of radios into clocks, cars, TV's, CD/MP3 players, etc., was a precursor to (and perhaps inspiration for) this recent "upswing in convergence."

And, ironically, the Nokia 770/n800 doesn't have an AM/FM radio. :)

Now, as a linux guru, of course I'm all about the "perform a single function really well" mantra. And while that still makes a lot of sense for individual pieces of software, it makes less sense for software platforms (like an operating system), and it makes almost no sense for hardware.

Cell phones are practically ubiquitous (even though I myself still don't have one :)), and they're basically computers, so why not use their hardware for things like storing phone numbers and appointments? And look, they have microphones and speakers, so why not use that hardware for recording memos or for listening to music? Similarly, the Nokia 770 would make a great PIM - Nokia just doesn't want to spend the money necessary to write a good PIM for it. They're not marketing it that way. And while I wish they would, I'm not holding my breath.

Yes, some day everyone will have cheap, ubiquitous access to the internet, and they'll always have access to it on things like an Internet Tablet. But (for me, at least) that day is not yet here. Not everyone has a cell phone, and many people do not have data plans. And free, public Wifi hotspots are lacking in all rural areas, most suburban areas, and even some urban areas. So how do I gain access to my data without access to the internet? With a "pure" Internet Tablet, I can't. I would need service-specific offline clients (like, for example, Nokia's email client). And those offline clients aren't cheap, so Nokia has brushed them aside in favor of focusing their hardware on doing one thing and doing it well: surfing the web. And it doesn't even do that very well!

No, I didn't buy the Nokia 770 because I needed an Internet Tablet. I bought the Nokia 770 because, if I wanted, I could write my own offline clients. I don't have access to Google Maps wherever I go, so poof, enter Maemo Mapper. I don't have access to my Google Calendar wherever I go, so maybe someday I'll write a Google Calendar client (difficult without Java or C#, but possible).

Nokia can try to sell an Internet Tablet all they want, but it won't stop me from trying to replace my Palm-based device for the sake of convergence.

Re: How many radios do you have?

I think it's worth noting that most radios are based in your home and mains operated, or if they are portable have long battery life (months on "standby", days in use). Portable FM radios are also extremely small.

PDAS, cellphones, cameras and internet tablets are all things that you need outside your home, and they are all power hungry and require frequent charging. Therefore there is a desire for combinatorial devices that reduce the amount you have to carry and the maintenance requirements of charging etc.

Also, what technological functionality does the N800 lack to be a (n amazing) PDA? Answer = none. It just needs the software. Hence the desire to see that functionality integrated in. And the more it can push the boundaries with a laptop / tablet PC, the better.

Still, I am the proud orderer of an N800 and I hope I can use it as a replacement for my old Palm. But I'd just love it if Nokia went all out to make it a PDA replacement for one thing, because no hardware in it would have to change.

Oh, and hi all :)

F_P

Re: How many radios do you have?

Quote:

Originally Posted by aflegg (Post 32257)

Thank you Mr Flegg, I do not usually have to say anything great here as most of you clever guys do. In fact I only learn from here. Now, understanding that, I am sure the Forum Moderators have put in the option, in here, for a user ( like me ) to be ignored. Please use that when you see any post from me. Did I mention that I never did like your crazy Sign but it surely did not bother me. It is simply the idea of living and letting live which probably you will not understand.

Ahh, I am but sure that your sign does not show your individuality.

:) If my use of fonts and color bother you, then simply ignore me. Or perhaps you being a Senior member can have a Forum Moderator kick me out. Please Try anyway. Thanks