It should come as no surprise to anyone that reads this blog that I suffer from Technolust. I certainly won’t die from it (that is unless my wife discovers how much I paid for my latest video card). This means that although I can’t always afford it, I always want the latest and greatest in technology. This affliction certainly explains, in part, why I got my iPad.
I’ve had my iPad for 3 months now and I really enjoy it but there are some small things that are starting to gnaw at me. Flash is a good example, I get that Adobe is evil. I haven’t trusted Adobe since they forced me to install their Air program with an update. I can’t stand the way they constantly try to tie McAfee to their downloads. I no longer trust them when they try to serve me an update. Even with all that, it’s still on my PC. If I want to watch my Amazon Prime, I need to use Flash. On my PC, I have the choice of Flash or no Flash. On my iPad no such choice exists. Apple is protecting me from myself and dictated that Flash will not run on my iPad.
When I got my iPad, I found out that my current Wi-Fi system could not reach all the rooms in the house. I looked around and decided on a Wi-Fi repeater (a small box that receives the WiFi from a master and retransmits it to give more range). The manufacturer provides a small app that allows me to see the relative signal strength of both transmitters. This was very important because I had to verify I had full coverage throughout the house. Placement of both the master and repeater was critical. Only one problem, Apple has decided that such utilities are not allowed on their devices. I had to use my Android phone to determine where to place the two transmitters. Anyone else see the irony of having to use an Android phone to set up a Wi-Fi network for the iPad.
If I want to move a picture or a video to my iPad, I’m required to go through the Gatekeeper, iTunes. It’s not that I hate iTunes, I just find it cumbersome. On an Android system, I connect the USB, move the video into a directory of my choosing and then play it. With my iPad, I connect up USB, wait for iTunes to load, say no to a whole bunch of software that iTunes always seems to want to load on my system, import my video into iTunes and finally import it into my iPad. If I’m only doing one video, I’m lucky if it only takes four times longer.
Because of these issues, I feel it’s only natural that I’m looking harder and harder at all the new Android tablets coming out. My phone has already taught me that I like the Android operating system. I like it that Google is not trying to protect me from Flash. I like the idea that I can connect a USB cable and move files the way I want. The hardware specs look good. Samsung is offering some really nice tablets at good prices. The Asus Transformer Prime series seems like it offers almost everything I could want. When I talk to my wife about this, she just sighs, looks at me, and says “Technolust again?”
So I ask, am I being unfaithful to my iPad by looking? Do I have a legitimate complaint? Should I go with a high end Asus or an entry level Samsung? Is this only technolust?
© 2012 – 2019, Byron Seastrunk. All rights reserved.
Yep, no doubt you are a Teckno-Nerd but in this current economy, and risks of losing even long term jobs, being a Techno-Nerd could be very beneficial. ANY skills that could help you sustain yourself and increase your IT abilities is likely more beneficial than costs involved. Likely your wife thinks you are addicted to TechnoLust, I’d point out to her this area could lead to a neww career.
I’m a “Tool Nut”, my wife used to make negative comments on my expenditures for tools, especially those that don’t fit an immediate need/use. We’re taking a mere $20 per week for my “tool budget/habit”. She finally realized that was a pitance spent compared to a husband the drinks, frequents titie bars, plays golf, attends Pro-Sports games or hot rod cars.
You might point this out to your wife, to put things in a different prospective. What did that latest and greatest video card cost? How long will it be before you’ll “NEED” to repace it? Are you able to resell the used cards or other hardware?
What are the costs of your wife’s hobbies/interests?