The Social Networking dilemma

Right, so now I have a blog, and active Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ accounts. There’s also Linkedin, Friendster, and god knows how many other networks out there. So what do we do with them all?

The blog is fairly obvious – it is for longer posts like this where I want to outline my thoughts on a subject in more than just a few words – that’s clear.

Twitter is great for simple observations that don’t need any depth, though the 140 character limit can be just that – limiting,and I am increasingly using services like Twitlonger to get around that if I need just those few extra words.

Facebook is Facebook – a bloated awkward means of maintain a link with people you haven’t seen in 20+ years, workmates you see almost every day anyway, and friends who you should be trying to maintain a more than virtual link with.

Google+ feels to be a lot of Facebook, with a hint of Twitter thrown in. The best part of it is circles – being able to easily define groups of people, and post to the groups of your choice. Nonetheless it is really just a sleeker version of Facebook, and so the same root issues of types of relationships prevail, and may even be more highlighted by said circles.

So none of this is really news, as everyone pretty much knows all this anyway. Why then the blog post? My problems are as follows:
– no one “follows” the blog, so my more in depth ramblings go unnoticed in the wider world – I ironically need the other social media to advertise said ramblings, causing immediate cross-postings.
– I prefer Twitter as a means of putting stuff out there, but only a handful of friends use it, so to share with those I know, it isn’t sufficient – it does however provide a limited extra audience of those sick puppies who consider me worth following even though I don’t know them
– Facebook is Facebook – almost everyone seems to use it, but most don’t really know why. It is full of bugs and privacy issues, so I don’t like using it, but it is the most comprehensive means of sharing stuff.
– Google+ is new, and not many people I know are on it yet. It too seems to be showing some privacy issues, and being new has some kinks to iron out, but I feel compelled to give it a chance.

So where does that leave me? When should I post what where? I find myself often cross-posting on all three, but for what purpose? Anyone linked to me on all three must be sick of it surely? Unfortunately I have no answers on this one, and am actually keen to hear some feedback. I can distinguish the concept of Twitter against the others, but my friends increasingly use FB in a Twitter-like manner despite maintaining they don’t like or understand the concept of Twitter. Ideally I would drop FB altogether, but until people of genuine interest to me (ie friends) switch elsewhere, it seems it will stay. I would like to use G+ just for more personal sharing with friends, but again most of them simply aren’t there yet, and may not see the need to switch from FB.

And so I come back to the question of what should I post where …

Apple vs Samsung vs Google vs the world

So Apple are taking legal action to try and prevent Samsung releasing their new Honeycomb tablet in Australia, and now in Europe also, on the basis of breaching patents. Some of the patents seems questionable at best (such as using a gesture to unlock the screen) and in my view it is ridiculous that such things are allowed to be patented in the first place. Needless to say Samsung are taking action against Apple for other things, Apple against other manufacturers also, and just about everyone else in the mobile industry seems to be taking action against each other for just existing. Meanwhile Google are spending a ridiculous sum for Motorola Mobility seemingly primarily for 25,000 odd mobile technology patents as a bit of future protection against such actions.

Now, I fully appreciate that some ideas are truely innovative and need protecting, but the extent to which all this sort of thing is happening all seems a tad fucking pathetic. Honestly, if company X thinks they have the superior product to company Y, why not fight it out in the shops rather than the courts?

On a side note the purchase of Moto by the big G is interesting – Google say they are out to protect Android against certain legal action, but it gives them the hardware to become an all stop shop like Apple. I’ve not been a big fan of Motorola in the past, but the Xoom is a seriously nice piece of kit (see earlier blog post) showing they have potential to compete in the hardware stakes. If Google do start giving Motorola an advantage, then (as has been mentioned on a few news websites) other Android players may “up shop” and switch to a new platform. Given how quick Motorola were in releasing Honeycomb 3.2 compared to others, who’s to say it isn’t already happening?

Google need to be very careful here – there’s already the threat of paying a per handset fee to Apple for alleged patent violations, and now there’s a chance they could alienate their biggest allies. They need companies like Samsung and HTC on side, and to do it they need to show Motorola won’t get any advantage in earlier releases or extra OS features. Motorola’s market share is currently too small for Google to stand alone with. Then again if Google and Samsung were to merge …

Could Ice Cream Sandwich be the last version of Android? I hope not, even if it’s only because it’s too stupid a name to go down in history as the end of a technological era.

Motorola Xoom wifi – first impressions

A couple of days ago I excitedly received in the mail my Motorola Xoom wifi tablet. In the box itself is the tablet, a charger, and a USB cable, along with the usual paperwork. The tablet came fully charged, and I was immediately able to upgrade to Android 3.1.

The hardware:
The tablet itself seems well built, feeling solid and slick – the specs say a lot, with plenty of storage (also further expandable with a micro SD card), two cameras, and an HDMI output amongst other things. The sound quality is quite good for a portable device using the built in speakers. The only complaints on the hardware side are the cameras need good lighting to make the most of them, the USB interface is data only (no charging), and the charger can easily come out with a slight bump. On the plus side the battery life seems very good indeed. The screen works nicely, though occassionally feels imprecise – I have hit the wrong key quite a bit in typing this post.
The OS (Android Honeycomb) and bundled software:
Again very slick. Google have clearly put a lot of work into Honeycomb – it is my first Android experience, but I am adapting to it quickly, and I definitely prefer it to Apple’s offering, though I admit to being more than a little anti-Apple. There is much integration with Google accounts for things – for instance I didn’t even have to log in to post this as my Google account details are kept in memory, and this blog service is part of the Google family. Youtube is beautifully presented on the first screen, but unfortunately the remaining screens look (whilst very tidy and usable) somewhat old fashioned by comparison.
Despite the overall feeling of slickness though, the bundled software and features are still a little rough around the edges. Icons are present for Google Books and Movie Studio though trying to run either gets you a message that they are not installed. Movie Studio can be found under apps but is somewhat unintuitive to use – you also need to keep the screen on whilst exporting, which is a hassle if working with a video if more than a few minutes. Similarly uploading to youtube requires the screen to be on.
I used a third party app (Funamol) to sync my contacts from my aging iphone to the web, and then the web to the Xoom – worked well. I then could easily merge Skype and other contacts into existing ones, though which name remained as the main name seemed somewhat random. Sadly attempting to edit any contacts now results in the contacts ‘app’ crashing.
Another gripe is in writing this blog entry, each time I press enter to try and start a new paragraph, the keyboard disappears – a minor thing, but the sort of refinement Google needs to make Honeycomb a truely awesome OS.

Extra note – I had to complete this entry on the PC, as I could not select the correct words to fix spelling mistakes – it would instead jump multiple lines up. Could be the blog, or the Android browser – either way, something Google need to fix.

Third party software:
The price of being an early adopter, third party Android software on the Xoom is a bit hit and miss. The Google Market selection is obviously less than Apple’s app store, and some apps will be missed when I switch to an Android phone in a month or so. Tablet specific problems arise when many apps are made for smaller phone screens – they either don’t make proper use of the bigger screen, or auto-rotate to a portrait view when a tablet is usually best used in landscape – some apps sadly suffer both these problems. A classic example is Tweetdeck – I love it on the PC with its multiple colums, but it is clearly a phone app here with one ultra big column, and a need to sweep left and right to view the other columns – the bigger screen could comfortably hold two or three columns.
Another surprise was Skype – no video chat. Yahoo messenger for Android allegedly does, however won’t show in the marketplace as it’s apparently not compatibe with Honeycomb. As said before, the price of being an early adopter …Flash 10.3 seems to work ok, though some sites are still a bit iffy. Facebook photos (not sure if it is flash or not) is dodgy as, and even managed to crash the Xoom outright (it rebooted itself). Still, dodgy flash is better than no flash, something Apple will never convince me otherwise.
Conclusions:
Am I happy I got the Xoom instead of an iPad? Yes as it feels less restricted, and that it will have more to offer in the future, but Google still have a bit of work to do to make it a no-brainer for most people.

Christchurch part three – the end

The next day saw us return to Christchurch for our last couple of days on the mainland, before heading back to the West Island. It was also the missus’s birthday – nice way to spend it sitting in a car for close to 6 hours!

On the way back we also stopped at one end of the St James walkway, where Jing was up to her usual tricks:

Then it was a birthday dinner with the fam (including delicious home made brownies courtesy of our niece).

Sadly we had to return to Sydney – thankfully on something a little bigger than this.

Needless to say overall it was a fantastic holiday, and a massive thanks to everyone.

Hopefully next time it won’t be so long between visits …