Microsoft Reader???

A Windows 8 e-reader: If someone builds it, will they come?

This article got me thinking.  One reason was the picture below.

Note that each device on the slide is distinct, not just by name, but also by form factor. 

 

Traditional Desktop, with monitor, CPU box, keyboard and mouse.  Laptop, with keyboard and touchpad.  Tablet, now this has generally been used to mean a keyboard-less device like the iPad, but here, Microsoft is using it to mean a convertible, basically, a laptop with a touch scene that can be turned to become a tablet.  Next of course, is the Slate, which most everyone else calls a tablet, no keyboard and obviously it would have a touch screen.  Next is a Reader, and I am going to gloss over that for the moment, other than to note that it appears to be smaller than a slate, and used in portrait orientation, rather than landscape orientation, like the slate.  Then we continue down the size spectrum to the smart phone, and finally finish up with a TV, which is already an important device for Microsoft when used with the XBox, though I and probably many others use our TVs as a second big screen monitor for watching Netflix, Hulu and movies. 

 

What if Reader is just Microsoft-speak for 7" tablet?   

 

Walk with me as we take a trip to Redmond.  You are part of the Microsoft team, and you are planning for Microsoft's dominance across all platforms.  You want Windows on everything, but there are going to be differences depending on hardware.  We know that Windows 8 is going to run on a lot of this, and Metro on all of it.  The TV will run Metro (that's the Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 UI, by the way) either through an XBox, or some other TV box, or possibly even on the TV itself.  Everything else is going to run Windows 8, or something based on the kernel, since Microsoft has already said that Windows Phone 8 will be based on the Windows 8 kernel and not on a Windows CE kernel. 

 

Desktops, Laptops and convertible tablets will all run Windows 8, at least if they are Intel based, and if they are based on ARM, then they run Windows on ARM (WOA).  So, why separate Slates from Readers?  Well, one reason could be usage, and that is what is discussed in the original article.  Windows on dedicated eReaders.   

 

But, I have another idea.  What if Readers are just small tablets, say tablets with screens 7" and smaller?  If they are going to run a different variant of Windows, then they would need to be differentiated on the slide.  We already know there will be two versions of Windows 8, one for Intel and one for ARM, so why not a potential third variant, Windows Reader (because of the name on the slide and for want of a better name for the moment).  Maybe, it would be a version of Windows Phone 8 optimized for the larger screen.  Or maybe it could be WOA with a few features stripped out. 

 

Will the legacy desktop be any real use on a 7" screen?  What about a Reader version of WOA with the legacy desktop stripped out of it?  So far, there are at least two Reader apps in the Windows 8 store, Kindle and Kobo.  What if the "Reader" won't be a dedicated eReader, but just a small tablet?  Maybe Microsoft will let OEMs tweak the UI to focus in on their reader app, but maybe Microsoft just sees 7" tablets as being something that doesn't need the full power of legacy Windows. 

 

I don't have any special insights or sources at Microsoft, and I doubt that any of them are going to be talking at the moment, so this is just speculation...but it does make for interesting thinking. 

Sad Gadget Head

I am a sad gadget head.

I am a huge gadget head, I love to read about all the latest phones, and tablets. I love to debate whether we are in the Post-PC world or not (I still sit with not). I read gadget blogs, and subscribe to gadget newsletters and I can bore most normal people to tear with gadget ramblings...but, there's a problem.

I don't make enough to buy the latest gadgets. I bought an original Razr when they were well past their primetime of coolness. I bought my last feature phone when everyone was going to smartphones, and a Windows Mobile phone on the eve of the release of Windows Phone 7. Now, here is the one place where I caught the curve. Thanks to Microsoft, I got Windows Phone 7 before it was officially released, but because I am on Verizon, I then had to wait many months before I could get Windows Phone 7 and use it as a phone.

Now, my geek-gadget-headed-ness is pushing me towards a tablet, but I cannot afford one of the latest models, with Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich (those are Android flavors for you tech cretins), no, the only thing I can afford runs lowly Froyo, the old version of Android.

I'd love to have a nice shiny Asus Transformer Prime, but I simply cannot afford it...or at least I cannot justify the expense with so many other things that need doing. I can barely afford a Samsung Galaxy Tab...and I don't mean the Galaxy Tab 10.1, or 7.7, but the old original 7 inch version of the Tab. I am having trouble pulling the trigger on the sale, because...it is such an old version, and I am tired of being behind the curve.

I need to win the lottery, just to fuel my gadget addiction....well, actually...I need to win the lottery to START a gadget addiction.

Windows 8 First Impressions

So, I finally got Windows 8 installed. It is the Consumer Preview, but that is all I can get for now. This is just some first impressions.

First, the computer I installed it on. I have a tablet, a Samsung Q1U, but it doesn't support multi-touch, so I didn't install it there. I may try it just to see how it runs Windows 8, but it is a little under powered for Windows 7, so I doubt it is going to be a fun experience.

I installed Windows 8 on my XPS M1530. In my opinion, this is an excellent system to test Windows 8 on, because it is right at the edge of what might be considered for an upgrade. It is unlikely that I will pay to put Windows 8 on this old a machine when the time finally comes to pay for it. But, it is a good test, because it doesn't have a touch screen, and no special hardware (buttons, etc.) intended for Windows 8. The question that Windows 8 must answer is how well it handles backwards compatibility, which has always been a Windows strength.

Windows 8 is very different. It is the first thing you will notice from the moment you install it. The start screen and Metro desktop remind me of Windows Phone 7, and yet it isn't the same. I've been using Windows Phone 7 for nearly 18 months, and this is not quite Windows Phone 7, but using Windows Phone 7 has made this seem more familiar.

It's been a long time since Windows made a change this big. It was probably the release of Windows 95, more than 15 years ago.

The above was written ten days ago. Now, I have lived with Windows 8 for about 3 weeks, and I still like it. I keep reading reviews that Windows 8 is terrible for keyboard and mouse, but I don't think so. It is a change, and a big one, but it still works. It is obvious that touch was the first consideration for Windows 8, and that keyboard and mouse came second, but I do not think that keyboard and mouse were given short shift.

In most of the OS, the right-click context menu is gone, well almost. One click is the new double click, and right-click is how you get other commands, but it is usually only a few, and often one. When you go to the upper left corner you get your list of open apps. Left-clicking switches to that app. Right-clicking opens a one item menu...close. In Internet Explorer the address bar will disappear, but right-clicking will bring back the address bar and open up a list of your open pages across the top.

I do find a few things disconcerting. Windows 8 is a horizontal OS, and the mouse wheel has changed. In most apps, the app extends to the right off the screen, and when you want to go to scroll right, you use the mouse wheel. In Internet Explorer, the wheel still takes you up and down, but in many apps, like the store, up takes you to the right, and down takes you to the left. It can be a little disconcerting at first, but I got used to it really quick.

I don't like that they have made it more difficult to close apps. They keep running and there is no X in the upper right corner. It is a bit to easy to get a lot of apps open. I don't know how well tombstoning is working in Windows 8 and it gives me a little concern.

But, my biggest problem with Windows 8 is more of a question mark, but it isn't the one that most of the tech writers are complaining about. I am not concerned with whether or not Windows 8 offers any important advantages over Windows 7. Windows 7 does not really offer any important usability advantages over Windows XP. It doesn't really help me get things done any faster, or any more efficiently. Windows 8 may not be better, but I don't think it is worse, just different....very different. Most users will be switching to Windows 8 when they buy a new computer. A few will be intimidated by that, but I think most will adapt easily enough.

No, my concern has to do with those of us who shelled out big bucks for big monitors. One of the reasons for doing that is having lots of screen real estate for lots of open windows. I have gotten good at parking lots of apps around my screen where I can just see an edge of each one...or a bit more, and then click, click, click to switch from one app to another or back to the first. The biggest change in Windows 8, is that it really isn't windows. Your apps do not open in Windows, your apps fill the entire screen. Yes, Windows 8 has the snap feature, but it still isn't Windows. That isn't a very efficient way to use the 21 inch monitor on my desktop PC, and a lot of the people I know have even bigger monitors. On my 15" portable it is a lot more reasonable, though even it is a bit big for always running full screen.

A few tech writers have suggested that Microsoft made a mistake calling their new phone OS, Windows Phone 7. As I stated above, it really isn't Windows, though to be honest, nothing based on Windows CE ever was. I doubt they are, but I think Microsoft should be seriously considering dropping the name Windows. Though the vast majority of PCs run Windows, and the name has tremendous brand recognition, I don't think that it has quite the brand loyalty that Microsoft would like to believe. I think that Windows Phone 7 might be doing better if it wasn't called Windows. I like the sound of Microsoft Metro, which they are already using as the name for the interface. It is building brand recognition, and it is associated with the live tiles that are used on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7.

Just something to think about.

Wow, Almost a Month

I suppose that I could wait until next month and actually make it a month, but that isn't the point.  I have been neglectful of this blog.  Now, I could claim that I have been sick, and that is true, but again....well, it is sort of beside the point.  I haven't been so sick that I could not have taken a few minutes to post something.  I just haven't.  In fact, I have a number of things already written that would require little more than a quick rewrite before posting, but I just didn't.

Soon, I will have some thoughts on Android.  Recently, I had the opportunity to play with an Android phone for an extended period.  It is a little like about 18 months ago, when I got my first chance to play with Windows Phone 7.  I have an Android Phone, but at the moment, it isn't a phone, at least it isn't activated for service on a carrier.  In fact, it is my wife's old Android phone.  It was giving her problems, so she went out and got a more reliable one, and I have the old one to play with.  I will save my comments for another time.

I really have been sick, and I am getting really tired of it.  I spent most of a week coughing, and now my voice is gone, which makes it really hard to do your job when your job is answering phones.  Fortunately, I have some great people at my job and they covered for me for a couple of days.  And also fortunately, those couple of days led directly into a long weekend, when I hope my voice will recover.  And again fortunately, that will lead into the week when I am going out of town, and talking on the phone will not be required.  So maybe I'll survive.

I am also committed to getting back to my writing and getting both of my blogs updated on a more regular basis.

Unbiased Tablet Usage Survey

Examine the Two Schools of Thought for Tablet Computing

The article above is from a Tech Republic Blog called Tablets in the Enterprise.

I'd like to see a real study, a good one, not one run by Apple, or Google or anyone else connected with the industry. I would like to see a study to determine how, or even if all those people really use their iPads. I have read reports that suggest that a lot of iPads sold in Britain are not even being used. I would like to know how many iPad users consider their iPad a waste of money.
I single out the iPad, because Android tablets don't have the same cool factor as the iPad. Apple produces good products, and I would not want to discount that as a factor in their success, but I think there is another factor in Apple's success that not many people think of.
Apple has developed cachet. iPhones and iPads are cool, and having one is seen as giving a certain amount of cool. This is why a lot of Apple advertising isn't about the product at all, but about how cool it would be to own one. If you couple that type of advertising with something that doesn't suck, you have a winner. Once again, I am not trying to say that Apple products aren't good, but people aren't buying them because they are good, they are buying them because they are cool, and after buying them, they find they don't suck, they aren't an annoyance. Maybe they aren't perfect, though some think they are, but they are good, and when you combine that with cool factor, you have a run away hit.
But, how many people really use them. I know some of the readers of Tech Republic will probably reply that they use theirs a lot, and several of the writers have already done that, but that is not a significant statistical cross section. Both readers and writers at Tech Republic are more likely, by their very nature, to be among those who embrace new technology.
How many of the grandmas we heard about early on still use their iPads? How many people actually replaced their laptop with an iPad and don't regret it at all? How many iPads sit in a corner gathering dust?
I have singled out the iPad because, IMO, persons who choose Android tablets are more likely to have really looked at what they would use a tablet for, before they bought one. Lots of iPad owners did too, and they are probably still using their iPads, but a lot of people bought iPads because they were the cool new gadget, and it is my guess, and only a guess, that a lot of those millions of purchasers found that an iPad doesn't really do what they want, or simply found that they don't need an iPad.
I would like the study done across the whole tablet market, but I would like it broken out into iOS, Android and Windows....and convertibles don't count as tablets....well, I might like to have them included, but with the first question for convertible owners being....
What percentage of the time do you use your convertible like a tablet (keyboard unavailable) and what percentage in standard laptop configuration?
So, where is the unbiased survey of tablet usage?

Wanted: Motivation

If you are expecting a post about New Years Resolutions and starting a new year and turning over a leaf....well, fugettaboutit.
I am starting off this new year with a total lack of motivation. As if that wasn't obvious from the brilliance and volume of my posts. This wasn't my first choice for how I wanted to start the year, but there you are. I just cannot seem to get excited about anything. I was in a bit of a funk before Christmas, and now, after New Years...I still got it. I'm tired, and what's usually important is what I am tired off, but right now, I am tired of...everything.
So, here's to the New Year.....whoopie....
I'm gonna go take a nap.

Skyrim

Before getting into what I think of Skyrim, I think you should have a little of my history with The Elder Scrolls series.


I first discovered The Elder Scrolls with volume 3, Morrowind. A friend loaned me a copy after learning how much I liked Neverwinter Nights. In many ways, I would say that Morrowind is my favorite game of all time. Only Mass Effect has come close for me.

I played Morrowind until my character was level 80. I had done pretty much everything. I beat the main quest and continued on. I played so long that I was running out of things to do. I finally decided to try one of the vampire lairs. I had avoided them to that point because of the warnings in a couple of player guides. I walked in, and none of the vampires were even a challenge. That is when I stopped playing Morrowind.

When The Elder Scrolls 4, Oblivion came out I bought a copy the first week. Then, a couple of weeks later I built myself a new system, because the old one didn't play it well enough. I was hooked at the moment when the game intro finished and the music swelled up. It was a moment that gives you goose pimples. In Oblivion I went through each of the four major side quest lines, but for a long time I didn't bother with finishing the main quest. I figured out how to be virtually invisible, and that made a lot of things way too easy, though they were still fun.

When Bethesda announced that Oblivion would be the last segment of The Elder Scrolls, I was heart broken. It was like having an old friend die before you got to see him one more time.

I don't know when Bethesda changed their minds, but eventually, there was Skyrim, and I looked forward to it. Money was tight, so I didn't get it the first week, and I don't have the money to buy a new PC, even though I need one, but I finally got the game.

First, I have to admit that I am not playing on the highest video settings, so that might be coloring my judgment a little. The Elder Scrolls has been, at least for three versions, a game that draws you into the game world. It makes the game seem real, to the point where the sound of a cold breeze and a snowy landscape will send a shiver through you and have you looking for a blanket to throw over your shoulders.

Also, Skyrim is the frozen north part of Tamriel, the continent and empire that has been the been the setting for all The Elder Scrolls games. It is populated by Nords, who are in a word...Nordic. But the problem that I am leading to is that the game seems a bit grey, almost monotone. There isn't a lot of color. There are a few bright flowers, but small ones, and a few green trees, but they seem faded somehow. All the people dress in subdued colors, which might be part of the belief that no one wore bright colors in the past, which we know to be false.

The only other problem I have seen with Skyrim is that isn't quite grabbing me the way Morrowind and Oblivion did. I am enjoying it, but I don't feel as involved. I am not sure I can adequately describe it.

The leveling system is still better than anything else. You level by improving skills, and many of the skills can only be improved by really using them. They have eliminated a few of the more exploited skills from Oblivion, which makes leveling a little more difficult, though admitted not much.
The world is huge. I have been playing for about two weeks now, and I haven't explored more than a quarter of it. I have reached the end of two of the major side quest lines, Assassins and Thieves, and still have two go to, as well as having about half of the main quest line to finish. There are still many side quests, there are ones in each of the major cities and several of the smaller ones to do, and much much more.
But, I am beginning to feel that this series has run out its time. There is too little that's new. Yes, there's dragons, but your only interaction with them, is killing them. They attack somewhere near you, and you kill it. I haven't reached the point where I learn why they are back, and maybe that will change things, but I have not going to hold my breath.

I'd give it 7.5 out of ten. It's better than Fallout 3, which isn't too surprising, though they borrowed a numbers of things from Fallout 3. Of course, then again, Fallout 3 had the same greyness problem. It's worth checking out, but don't expect too much. If you liked Oblivion or Morrowind, you'll like it.