Month: June 2016

iPad Only?

I’ve been using Michael Sliwinski’s application Nozbe for a couple of years. It’s not perfect, but what is? Wired had an article a while back about how it’s 2016 and why can’t we have a decent productivity app? There are tons and tons of productivity apps. Those that are powerful on the desktop either aren’t present or are pathetic on mobile. (MyLifeOrganized is an example). Those that are good on mobile don’t work well on a desktop type system (I consider laptops on that category- a full fledged Windows or Mac system). Nozbe seems to hit the high points and has a consistent user experience across all platforms.

Michael and a co-author wrote a book called iPad Only. I haven’t bought the book yet. Based on user reviews, I do not perceive it to be worth $10.

I have tried over the years to figure out a true mobile experience. That’s not easy for me though. I took a class a while back where I didn’t have much desk space. I brought my MacBook Pro the first day, but after that I used my iPad Mini with a BlueTooth keyboard the rest of the week due to desk space. It got the job done all right. Thanks to the integration of cloud storage, this helps, assuming you have a consistent Internet connection.

The iPad has definitely come a long way since the beginning. At first, it was pretty much a media consumption device and still very limited at that. Along the way, better apps and technology were integrated into the platform. Now it has Microsoft Office and other productivity apps.

I think the biggest limitation on the iPad at present is the fact that it is STILL run by a mobile operating system. While Microsoft has Windows 10, which even on their phones is a full fledged OS, Apple is still running mobile.

I’m convinced that the biggest revolution in mobility is a phone sized device that is a full-fledged computer. It has a full operating system, plenty of storage (at least 1TB), and is capable of docking to a laptop sized device or a keyboard and monitor for heavier duty tasks. And it appears such as device is here, or almost here: the HP Elite X3. The Lumina 950 and 950 XL have a similar capability, but not as much on board storage. No way you could keep your music library on it.

Not Quite A Book Review: The Confessions of Congressman X

A friend told me about the Confessions of Congressman X. I figured it was inexpensive, so I ordered the Kindle version.

Had some downtime at work, so I read it. It was a VERY quick read. Maybe too quick, especially for $5.

This “book” was billed as confessions of an inside Congressman. Supposedly, he’s a Democrat. He “tells it like it is”. I didn’t think so.

Some background: the book was compiled by a man named Robert Atkinson based on conversations he’s had over the years with a Demoncrat Congressman. He became friends with this Congressman, and would meet up when he was in DC. Over the years, he made notes of the things the Congressman said. At one point, he figured he had enough notes to make a book. The Congressman was pissed off at him for making notes, but eventually relented and told him to put a book together. He also edited the notes so the quotes are accurate. This is all detailed in the introduction to the book, written by Mr. Atkinson.

One of the newsletters I read took the book on a few weeks ago, before I read it. They couldn’t identify the Congressman, but speculated that it could have been anybody. I agree; the book is a selection of quotes centered around “chapter” themes. It’s more like a book of wisdom; proverbs of an asshole is a better description.

Confessions of Congressman X didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. Voters are stupid. Congressmen are more obsessed with fundraising and getting reelected than anything else, and don’t give a crap about the voters. Bills are written in secret by unaccountable committees, etc. He didn’t even touch on how lobbyists basically write the bills, although he did say Congressmen don’t read occurred

t occured to me while I was reading that this book would have been a lot better if it were written in a fake persona, like Dan Lyons’ “Fake Steve Jobs”. Now THAT was funny, but also informative.

If I haven’t bored you with the idea too much, you can buy “Confessions of Congressman X” here, from my affiliate link.

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