GearWERKZ TechBlog

Things are rough. Changes at work. Looking at a 2nd Masters. Closing. Moving. Packing. Trading out cars. It is almost too much. And all of this iPad hype has not helped. I am in an almost constant daily soul-search for determining an altruistic means of defining my own tablet needs. My own use of TabletPCs, UMPCs, and Smartphones muddy these waters. Combined with my past experience with handtop PCs way back. Uggggghhhh!!!

I've also been trying to decide whether or not the Palm Pre stays or goes. I've at least resolved that it is staying for a while. Long enough to justify the purchase of some additional accessories, most of which will just be copies of some of the ones I already own. That will be in March. But the question of whether or not it is a "good" smartphone for me has not been answered. I am concocting a sort of Smartphone Olympics; 3 sets of exercises in groups of 12 to 15 tasks to be timed and run on smartphones of different OS'. My plan is to run these myself and parse them out to others for some analysis of the time deltas.

Tablets. I've been through the full gamit on this philosophical train. First I said the iPad was insufficient because it did not run a full OS. I started looking for a comparitively priced UMPC. Then I realised I already have one; my Fujitsu U820, which I rarely use as a Tablet. Then I started asking myself questions about companion computing devices (CCDs) in general, and asking myself how I use them, and why I do not use some as much. So, I have taken my four CCDs (HP 2730p TabletPC, Fujitsu U820, HTC TouchPro, and Palm Pre), and paired them with larger computing platforms. I've also designated a specific app to primarily use on each platform for daily computing. most of the effort on these devices is to manage my numerous thought bubbles; the creative ideas, hobby tasks, and real-life stuff, that pops into my head dozens of times a day.

Right now, my Gateway P-6860FX 17" laptop is my primary project PC for the week. This month it is paired with the Fujitsu U820, where I use Windows Journal as my primary Thought-Bubble app. I keep a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet on each of my CCDs with my projects and tasks for the week. This works well on the Fuji where I can ink on the spreadsheet once I have finished the baseline typed entries. I have also been using the Barnes and Noble Desktop eReader on the Fuji this week to read the first in the Dragonlance Lost Chronicles Series, Dragons of the Dwarven Depths.

Despite putting all of these tablet devices (all of which support digital inking) to more use, I still am on the lookout for true Tablets (which I now believe should NOT run a full OS). If yout take a look around the 'WERKz, you might notice the new skinning of the site. In the past, I would have called this a facelift, but since it was simply selecting a new skin, I can't sound all high falutin' anymore.

My latest Firefox Plugin of choice is CoolPreviews. That's it for the Status Update this week. Check back for more content on some random day of the week. Late.

- Vr/Zeux..>>