A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch
A couple of years ago, I gave a demonstration at both computer clubs on replacing your computer using your Android phone. At the time, I was using a Samsung Galaxy Note 2. I connected a powered USB hub and was able to run USB drives, flash drives, mouse, keyboard, etc. Everything worked fine. I opened and edited several word files, spreadsheets, images and others. Two years later, there’s quite a few reasons I don’t do those things much anymore.
Samsung has just released the Galaxy S8 for around $800. Of course that is the minimum price. The price will be much higher with more memory and needed accessories. Many reliable rumors indicate that later this year, Apple will release the iPhone 8 for $1000 or more. It seems that every year, smart phone prices increase much more than specifications.
In another year or so, I’ll be looking for a replacement for my Moto X Pure. I’ve been thinking that when the time comes, my next phone isn’t going to be as “smart”. One of the reasons is security updates. Although Motorola promised timely security updates, they haven’t been reliable. As I write this, my last monthly security update was December, more than four months ago. They promised an Operating System update to Nougat. After almost nine months, there is still no affirmation when or if I’ll get it. I believe that is unsatisfactory for a phone that is only about two years old.
This is not just a Motorola problem. All of the Android manufacturers do the same. For a year or so, updates are frequent when you buy an unlocked phone. If you buy through a carrier, your chances for needed updates are even worse.
Another big problem with using your smart phone is the applications situation. Although there are mobile applications that work well, they don’t seem to be updated with new and useful features. Many of them tend to be stripped down versions of their PC counterparts. With the ever increasing power of mobile processors and graphics cards, this is unsatisfactory. Part of the problem may be due to the different mobile app pricing process. If an app is priced more than two or three dollars, it is often perceived as unacceptable. These lower prices are often offset by “data mining” our private information. Although this also happens with PCs, it is definitely more ubiquitous on mobile devices.
In the past year, I’ve been using my phone less and less for real production work. Although I can readily edit word documents, there are many things that I just can’t easily do. An example is scanning and editing old club Newsletters. There’s a good possibility that my next “smart” phone will be a little dumber than my Moto X.
Thanks for reading.