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Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

jonny_eh 14y ago
That's actually a really well done short review. It was well paced, and he did a good job of not just sharing his opinions, but explaining them so that I could tell if they would apply to me or not.
- klawed 14y ago
  This is a actually a great, succinct review of Linus' short review. Short, compact and does a nice job explaining the components that will make the review helpful to readers.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - Proleps 14y ago
    This is a actually a great, succinct review of jonny_eh's short review. Short, compact and does a nice job explaining the components that will make the review helpful to readers.
  - jonny_eh 14y ago
    For some reason, my lame throwaway comment got more karma than any of my other brilliant and insightful comments on HN. Maybe I just said something that lots of people were thinking?
zem 14y ago
my kindle has kind of spoilt me - i know it's unreasonable for a tablet to feel as light in my hand as a kindle, but subconsciously i'm noticing the weight all the time.
- progrock 14y ago
  To be fair, some books can be difficult to hold aloft. The tech will miniturise in time (probably not long either.)
fsckin 14y ago
Quick Google+ comment - it crashes Mobile Safari like nothing else. I can't even get to the content here.
- spicyj 14y ago
  The complete text: Quick Nexus 7 comments.. So far: very positive. Yes, the camera is front-facing only, and there's a good reason there's not even a camera app on the thing by default: it's pretty nasty. But does anybody really care? You'd look like a complete dork trying to take photos with a tablet anyway. It's probably fine enough for some video conferencing, but since that's not my thing let's just say "whatever". Software: I prefer the plain android look, and dislike the various skins manufacturers have used (I really don't understand the "pee in the snow" model of skinning android to look and act horrible just so that the different manufacturers can make their mark on it - I'm pretty sure the majority of people tend to prefer plain android). So being a "Nexus" device I'm already fairly happy with it. And yes, it's smoother, and "plain android" is picking up some of the best extensions (like app folder shortcuts). Yes, resizable widgets etc. And a lot of small improvement just in general. The gmail app has "Mark unread" as a button (although the icon wasn't totally obvious to me), which I like. But the %^$ thing still cannot be set to send just plain-text emails. Why, google, why? Good technical mailing lists all know that html email is just spam or marketing people, and auto-delete html crap. Just give me the option to send text-only, ok? * The size: I think the 10" tablets are too big. The 8.9" form factor is better. And I think the 7" one is better yet, although I wouldn't dismiss something in between those two (ie the rumored apple mini-tablet size of 7.85" doesn't sound bad either). And it has enough pixels to make small text readable. I had to change the font-sizes to be smaller, but I can understand why the default would be the medium-sized text. I prefer my text small, so that I see more of it at a time. That said, I've used it as a kindle replacement for a few evenings, and for pure reading, the kindle still beats it handily for that (although when I want a light, the Nexus 7 comes close). They are comparable in size, but e-Ink really is nicer for reading. And the kindle is lighter, which to me is a big deal while reading. I've got the Kindle Touch, but I think I'll switch to the even lighter Kindle 4 ("Kindle 5"?) if it gets a front-light. But the Nexus 7 is a perfectly fine reader, and with color, magazines etc work. That's when you notice the smoothness, apparently. At least Tove says that the difference between the Nexus 7 and her Galaxy Tab 8.9 is quite noticeable. And quite frankly, I could never use the Motorola Xoom for reading - too big, too heavy, but the Nexus 7 I had no trouble with. Verdict: it's solid. If you simply don't like tablets (or android), I doubt the Nexus 7 will really change your mind, but if you were borderline, the new price-point (for a quality device - there's been cheap tablets before, but they've really been pretty bad) and the incremental improvements might be enough to push people over the line.
Danieru 14y ago
> You'd look like a complete dork trying to take photos with a tablet anyway. Wow, I just got called a dork by linus. This is going on my resume.
rwmj 14y ago
Here's my very quick, nitpicking Nexus 7 review (had mine delivered last Wednesday): - It's a tiny tiny bit too heavy to hold comfortably. It feels like just a few grams would make the difference. - The battery life is fantastic. I've used it for hours and hours and it's still on 80-90%. - Android 4.1 is fast and efficient. I don't notice any difference in speed or usability from an iPad 2. - The screen has an incredible resolution. Some text is slightly too small to read comfortably. - (Not that it matters at all but ...) the box it came in was as hard to open as many people have said. - I bought GTA III with part of the "free" £15 credit and it's a piece of crap. I haven't even managed to play the game yet because it keeps crashing while downloading half a gig of data files. So I'll be finding out how well refunds work in the Google Play store. Overall: well worth the money.
- roopeshv 14y ago
  i am not sure why everyone is feeling that it is hard to open the box. there were 2 tapes on the box, which I cut with my room keys and everything was fine, it wasn't hard. Is it just me that feels everyone is just too idiotic when it comes to opening boxes?
  - rwmj 14y ago
    There was also a sleeve which I had to attack with scissors to get it off. As I said, it doesn't matter because you only open the box the one time. But there is a noticable difference between this and Apple hardware which really concentrates on the "[getting it] out of the box experience".
    - roopeshv 14y ago
      what? i pushed it from one side and the box slid from the other side. I have no idea why anyone would use a scissors to take off sleeve. And no matter how you concentrate on getting out of box experience, people should really use common sense when it comes to opening boxes.
      - 14y ago
drivebyacct2 14y ago
I'm a long time Linux and Android fan, but had no interest in a tablet. I recently had not one, but two Android disliking friends buy a Nexus 7 and one even sold his iPad shortly thereafter. Needless to say, I wound up pulling the trigger. It's really quite nice how well Android 4 and up work n multiple form factors. This just reconvinces me that there are a host of people that would adopt Android if they gave a more modern version a chance. I took the night off for some drinks and some TV shows and this has been nice to have over my Macbook Air for casual chatting.
- Andrenid 14y ago
  I'm another linux fan that just did NOT see the appeal to an "oversized phone", and also got burned by how crappy earlier versions of Android were. I've ignored all the tablets that came out, iPads, Android tablets, all of them... then when I saw this one, I figured "at that price, i'll give it a shot"... I'm SO glad I did. Absolutely loving my Nexus 7, and it has 100% converted me to being a tablet fan.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    Just curious, what about the functionality changed your mind?
  - progrock 14y ago
    I'd almost buy one. No HDMI out, no SDMicro slot, and no USB support, has put me off until the next thing better comes along. I'm annoyed that Google has crippled this device.
    - jebblue 14y ago
      Same here, I wanted to buy one then found out it had no USB device support.
      - ars 14y ago
        Hu? It has USB support - get an OTG adapter. It won't mount USB Flash drives out of the box, but that's why you root it and install stickmount.
mjfern 14y ago
> I prefer the plain android look, and dislike the various skins manufacturers have used (I really don't understand the "pee in the snow" model of skinning android to look and act horrible just so that the different manufacturers can make their mark on it - I'm pretty sure the majority of people tend to prefer plain android). Tablet and smartphone manufacturers are doing this because they are trying to differentiate their devices. With the Android OS (along with Android apps) and the hardware converging to a dominant design (ARM-based processors, similar form factor), tablets will become commodities (Armdroid). Competitors will be forced to compete on price. Their margins will collapse. This is what happened in the PC market. With the Wintel standard, PC manufacturers had little opportunity to differentiate their products. The OS and CPU are identical, as are the internal components and peripherals. What's left? The color of the case? Fingerprint readers? Ultimately, PC manufacturers were all forced to compete on price. As a result, while Intel and Microsoft earned margins in the double digits, PC manufacturers' margins were squeezed to the low single digits.
- charliesome 14y ago
  Why don't manufacturers compete on quality instead? I can walk into a store and see the Apple computers on one side and the Windows computers on the other. All the Apple computers look and feel beautiful, but the Windows computers are plastered with stickers and 'Beats by Dr Dre' branding. They're made out of what looks like the cheapest plastic ever. I can understand why Apple is absolutely killing it at the moment - it's because everything else is shit.
  - Steko 14y ago
    From what I see they do differentiate on quality. There's a huge range of android devices and they are going to stand out in any way they can -- software is just one more way of doing that.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    This is kind of a chicken/egg perception problem. The perception is that if you want to buy a "posh" computer you should get a Mac. Therefor Mac=Expensive , PC=Cheap. This is I guess part of the reason that auto manufacturers will use different brand names for different market segments. Because it's difficult to signal "I am successful and buy nice cars" with a Skoda badge. An example of a "high end" PC would be Alienware, which whilst they have some nice hardware they just look horrendously tacky. Basically the equivalent of sticking florescent lighting all over your Subaru. There is also the potential patent minefield if you want to start manufacturing things that look like or use similar materials to Apple devices.
scorpioxy 14y ago
His comment about 10-inch tablets being too big got my attention. I am in the market for a tablet that I am going to replace my dead Sony e-reader(6 inch I think). But i think the 7-inch ones are just too small for reading. Has anyone tried to compare both sizes? I am mainly interested in using it for reading tech books and the occasional email. Currently leaning towards a transformer.
- progrock 14y ago
  You don't need to have a large screen for reading. It's more important that it's easy to page back and forth through the text - and that it reflows well and is easy on the eyes. I watched someone trying to read Hacker news on their Android phone's web browser and it looked like the most horrific experience. Doesn't seem to put people off of smartphones though.
- mahmud 14y ago
  I had a Kindle and a 7" Galaxy Tablet. Sold the kindle within the first week and got myself the larger Kindle DX. If you're a heavy reader, don't compromise: just get a DX or something that size. I don't even try to read more than a page on my Galaxy Tablet.
- notatoad 14y ago
  for reading fiction, ~7" tablets or e-readers are the sweet spot. if you're reading technical stuff with diagrams, the ipad really is the best option. a 10" 16:9 screen sucks for anything but movies, you really will appreciate the 4:3 screen.
  - ableal 14y ago
    Right on all counts. Fiction on 6 inch e-ink works well - think paperbacks. Technical PDFs need more, and even at the same screen size, really work better on the iPad than on the old Kindle DX. I also much prefer the 4:3 ratio - the narrow 16:9 devices give you much less area for the same diagonal measure, as this chart accurately points out: https://twitter.com/trojankitten/status/221270669273468930 https://twitter.com/trojankitten/status/221270669273468930 (or http://a.yfrog.com/img615/4234/6j2n.png http://a.yfrog.com/img615/4234/6j2n.png for just the image). Incidentally, the Archos G9-80 is a nice 8 inch Android tablet sporting a 1024x768 screen, currently selling for around 200 euros. I think the rumored mini iPad will be the same form factor.
bicknergseng 14y ago
Linus, man... the number of people who auto delete html emails is on the same order as the number of people who disable javascript or run desktop linux and don't know how to program.
- Despite 14y ago
  He's talking about mailing lists where people submit patches and such, so 90% of the email is text only. And (here I'm guessing) he's talking about replying to, say, a patch email and having it html-fied.
- 4ad 14y ago
  Usually mailing list software, not people, deletes HTML email.
- antidoh 14y ago
  He has a good technical reason for not liking html mail, but the number of people who care about this are vanishingly small and a device maker doesn't really need to care about them. There'll be an app to come along soon I imagine.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
    It's not the device-maker, it's a fault of the GMail app. Ironic. The people who would know and care about this stuff are exactly the kind of people who would have wrote the app: programmers.
guelo 14y ago
My main disappointment is with the lack of Flash. Flash is still needed on a lot of websites and every time I've needed it it's a reminder that Adobe has cost Android one of its big advantages over iOS.
- Zirro 14y ago
  This just made me realize that Android-users of newer devices may currently be in a worse spot than iOS-users when it comes to lack of Flash-support. Since iOS has always been shipped without Flash-support, many popular sites target iOS specifically with HTML5-video. Android however, only recently lost support for Flash and is still likely getting the Flash-versions of videos instead of the HTML5 ones.
  - Andrex 14y ago
    I doubt this is the case since Flash hasn't been bundled with the stock browser in quite some time (if ever, I'm having trouble remembering.) The real world websites I've seen and even worked on just serve HTML5 to both Android and iOS since you can't count on Flash being there for the former, and of course the latter doesn't have it.
- padenot 14y ago
  Firefox for Android supports Flash, fwiw.
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  Personally, I'm glad Adobe are dropping Flash support on Android. Flash screws up page rendering on my PC, requires me to use Chrome just to be able to view net videos, is relied on by advertisers, is slow, crashes, etc. I'm just sad Microsoft back-peddled on no plugins in IE10.
- orangecat 14y ago
  Easily remedied: http://www.geardiary.com/2012/07/20/how-to-get-amazon-prime-streaming-media-and-flash-content-to-play-on-your-nexus-7/ http://www.geardiary.com/2012/07/20/how-to-get-amazon-prime-.... Just installed it today on my N7 and Amazon Prime video works surprisingly well.
zdfsf 14y ago
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redthrowaway 14y ago
Completely OT, but I'm really starting to like G+. I deactivated my FB account (reactivated because of a girl--go figure), and found myself browsing G+ for the first time in months. I was shocked by the difference in content quality. My FB newsfeed is full of inane posts by family and a few friends, whereas my G+ feed is almost a reddit/HN replacement. Quite impressed, although I don't see it replacing FB simply due to the family and distant friend aspect.
- maayank 14y ago
  "whereas my G+ feed is almost a reddit/HN replacement" any suggestions for people like Linus who post well and often to G+ publicly?
  - mtgx 14y ago
    You should probably do a Google search for what you have in mind. Since Google allowed "sharing circles", much like sharing lists on Twitter, a lot of people have shared their "tech circles" or whatever.
  - progrock 14y ago
    Glyn Moody, does a lovely wrap up of tech news.
  - jonah 14y ago
    Tim O'Reilly: https://plus.google.com/107033731246200681024/ https://plus.google.com/107033731246200681024/
- darklajid 14y ago
  Ah, but if I'd just be able to read and post as throwaway over there..
- progrock 14y ago
  > My FB newsfeed is full of inane posts by family and a few friends You can't really blame that on Facebook.
hrktb 14y ago
> You'd look like a complete dork trying to take photos with a tablet anyway "The best camera is the one you have with you" as we say, looking like a dork is irrelevant. The ipad camera is actually usable and if that's what you have in your hand you just take the photo with it. Now I agree at 200$ a super good camera would be asking to much for what seems to be an already very good device.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- progrock 14y ago
  My Aunt is in love with her iPad, and mainly uses it as a camera, and image viewer. I personally think people look more like dorks trying to thumb text into their phones and tablets.
- Kilimanjaro 14y ago
  A thousand times my sister has facetimed me from New Zealand laying in her bed, chatting incessantly about her new life as a mother, then all of the sudden she flips the camera (not the iPad) to show me her little angel sleeping in her cradle. Thanks Apple.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  I guess his point is you're more likely to have a phone 'always with you' therefor a tablet camera is sort of superfluous apart from in a few instances.
- patrickod 14y ago
  I'd imagine that most phone cameras would beat whatever Asus would most likely have used in this. Given I always have my phone on my I'm happy they left it out and hit the $200 price point.
bconway 14y ago
But the %^$ thing still cannot be set to send just plain-text emails. Why, google, why? Good technical mailing lists all know that html email is just spam or marketing people, and auto-delete html crap. Just give me the option to send text-only, ok?* I have the opposite problem: My Gmail app only sends in plain text, and I have no way to change that on my Galaxy Nexus. Perhaps it's taking the default from my web Gmail sessions?
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  I don't have a problem, I never need to send HTML emails on my 2.3.6 Gingerbread phone with atrocious battery life (thanks, Samsung!)
TechNewb 14y ago
Taking photo and video on a retina iPad is an awesome experience. It is literly the best evf in the world. Being able to see a 1:1 live view of the resolution is amazing for video, and is equally impressive with photos.

That's actually a really well done short review. It was well paced, and he did a good job of not just sharing his opinions, but explaining them so that I could tell if they would apply to me or not.

klawed 14y ago
This is a actually a great, succinct review of Linus' short review. Short, compact and does a nice job explaining the components that will make the review helpful to readers.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- Proleps 14y ago
  This is a actually a great, succinct review of jonny_eh's short review. Short, compact and does a nice job explaining the components that will make the review helpful to readers.
- jonny_eh 14y ago
  For some reason, my lame throwaway comment got more karma than any of my other brilliant and insightful comments on HN. Maybe I just said something that lots of people were thinking?

zem 14y ago

my kindle has kind of spoilt me - i know it's unreasonable for a tablet to feel as light in my hand as a kindle, but subconsciously i'm noticing the weight all the time.

progrock 14y ago
To be fair, some books can be difficult to hold aloft. The tech will miniturise in time (probably not long either.)

fsckin 14y ago

Quick Google+ comment - it crashes Mobile Safari like nothing else. I can't even get to the content here.

spicyj 14y ago
The complete text: Quick Nexus 7 comments.. So far: very positive. Yes, the camera is front-facing only, and there's a good reason there's not even a camera app on the thing by default: it's pretty nasty. But does anybody really care? You'd look like a complete dork trying to take photos with a tablet anyway. It's probably fine enough for some video conferencing, but since that's not my thing let's just say "whatever". Software: I prefer the plain android look, and dislike the various skins manufacturers have used (I really don't understand the "pee in the snow" model of skinning android to look and act horrible just so that the different manufacturers can make their mark on it - I'm pretty sure the majority of people tend to prefer plain android). So being a "Nexus" device I'm already fairly happy with it. And yes, it's smoother, and "plain android" is picking up some of the best extensions (like app folder shortcuts). Yes, resizable widgets etc. And a lot of small improvement just in general. The gmail app has "Mark unread" as a button (although the icon wasn't totally obvious to me), which I like. But the %^$ thing still cannot be set to send just plain-text emails. Why, google, why? Good technical mailing lists all know that html email is just spam or marketing people, and auto-delete html crap. Just give me the option to send text-only, ok? * The size: I think the 10" tablets are too big. The 8.9" form factor is better. And I think the 7" one is better yet, although I wouldn't dismiss something in between those two (ie the rumored apple mini-tablet size of 7.85" doesn't sound bad either). And it has enough pixels to make small text readable. I had to change the font-sizes to be smaller, but I can understand why the default would be the medium-sized text. I prefer my text small, so that I see more of it at a time. That said, I've used it as a kindle replacement for a few evenings, and for pure reading, the kindle still beats it handily for that (although when I want a light, the Nexus 7 comes close). They are comparable in size, but e-Ink really is nicer for reading. And the kindle is lighter, which to me is a big deal while reading. I've got the Kindle Touch, but I think I'll switch to the even lighter Kindle 4 ("Kindle 5"?) if it gets a front-light. But the Nexus 7 is a perfectly fine reader, and with color, magazines etc work. That's when you notice the smoothness, apparently. At least Tove says that the difference between the Nexus 7 and her Galaxy Tab 8.9 is quite noticeable. And quite frankly, I could never use the Motorola Xoom for reading - too big, too heavy, but the Nexus 7 I had no trouble with. Verdict: it's solid. If you simply don't like tablets (or android), I doubt the Nexus 7 will really change your mind, but if you were borderline, the new price-point (for a quality device - there's been cheap tablets before, but they've really been pretty bad) and the incremental improvements might be enough to push people over the line.

Danieru 14y ago

> You'd look like a complete dork trying to take photos with a tablet anyway. Wow, I just got called a dork by linus. This is going on my resume.

rwmj 14y ago

Here's my very quick, nitpicking Nexus 7 review (had mine delivered last Wednesday): - It's a tiny tiny bit too heavy to hold comfortably. It feels like just a few grams would make the difference. - The battery life is fantastic. I've used it for hours and hours and it's still on 80-90%. - Android 4.1 is fast and efficient. I don't notice any difference in speed or usability from an iPad 2. - The screen has an incredible resolution. Some text is slightly too small to read comfortably. - (Not that it matters at all but ...) the box it came in was as hard to open as many people have said. - I bought GTA III with part of the "free" £15 credit and it's a piece of crap. I haven't even managed to play the game yet because it keeps crashing while downloading half a gig of data files. So I'll be finding out how well refunds work in the Google Play store. Overall: well worth the money.

roopeshv 14y ago
i am not sure why everyone is feeling that it is hard to open the box. there were 2 tapes on the box, which I cut with my room keys and everything was fine, it wasn't hard. Is it just me that feels everyone is just too idiotic when it comes to opening boxes?
- rwmj 14y ago
  There was also a sleeve which I had to attack with scissors to get it off. As I said, it doesn't matter because you only open the box the one time. But there is a noticable difference between this and Apple hardware which really concentrates on the "[getting it] out of the box experience".
  - roopeshv 14y ago
    what? i pushed it from one side and the box slid from the other side. I have no idea why anyone would use a scissors to take off sleeve. And no matter how you concentrate on getting out of box experience, people should really use common sense when it comes to opening boxes.
    - 14y ago

drivebyacct2 14y ago

I'm a long time Linux and Android fan, but had no interest in a tablet. I recently had not one, but two Android disliking friends buy a Nexus 7 and one even sold his iPad shortly thereafter. Needless to say, I wound up pulling the trigger. It's really quite nice how well Android 4 and up work n multiple form factors. This just reconvinces me that there are a host of people that would adopt Android if they gave a more modern version a chance. I took the night off for some drinks and some TV shows and this has been nice to have over my Macbook Air for casual chatting.

Andrenid 14y ago
I'm another linux fan that just did NOT see the appeal to an "oversized phone", and also got burned by how crappy earlier versions of Android were. I've ignored all the tablets that came out, iPads, Android tablets, all of them... then when I saw this one, I figured "at that price, i'll give it a shot"... I'm SO glad I did. Absolutely loving my Nexus 7, and it has 100% converted me to being a tablet fan.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  Just curious, what about the functionality changed your mind?
- progrock 14y ago
  I'd almost buy one. No HDMI out, no SDMicro slot, and no USB support, has put me off until the next thing better comes along. I'm annoyed that Google has crippled this device.
  - jebblue 14y ago
    Same here, I wanted to buy one then found out it had no USB device support.
    - ars 14y ago
      Hu? It has USB support - get an OTG adapter. It won't mount USB Flash drives out of the box, but that's why you root it and install stickmount.

mjfern 14y ago

> I prefer the plain android look, and dislike the various skins manufacturers have used (I really don't understand the "pee in the snow" model of skinning android to look and act horrible just so that the different manufacturers can make their mark on it - I'm pretty sure the majority of people tend to prefer plain android). Tablet and smartphone manufacturers are doing this because they are trying to differentiate their devices. With the Android OS (along with Android apps) and the hardware converging to a dominant design (ARM-based processors, similar form factor), tablets will become commodities (Armdroid). Competitors will be forced to compete on price. Their margins will collapse. This is what happened in the PC market. With the Wintel standard, PC manufacturers had little opportunity to differentiate their products. The OS and CPU are identical, as are the internal components and peripherals. What's left? The color of the case? Fingerprint readers? Ultimately, PC manufacturers were all forced to compete on price. As a result, while Intel and Microsoft earned margins in the double digits, PC manufacturers' margins were squeezed to the low single digits.

charliesome 14y ago
Why don't manufacturers compete on quality instead? I can walk into a store and see the Apple computers on one side and the Windows computers on the other. All the Apple computers look and feel beautiful, but the Windows computers are plastered with stickers and 'Beats by Dr Dre' branding. They're made out of what looks like the cheapest plastic ever. I can understand why Apple is absolutely killing it at the moment - it's because everything else is shit.
- Steko 14y ago
  From what I see they do differentiate on quality. There's a huge range of android devices and they are going to stand out in any way they can -- software is just one more way of doing that.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  This is kind of a chicken/egg perception problem. The perception is that if you want to buy a "posh" computer you should get a Mac. Therefor Mac=Expensive , PC=Cheap. This is I guess part of the reason that auto manufacturers will use different brand names for different market segments. Because it's difficult to signal "I am successful and buy nice cars" with a Skoda badge. An example of a "high end" PC would be Alienware, which whilst they have some nice hardware they just look horrendously tacky. Basically the equivalent of sticking florescent lighting all over your Subaru. There is also the potential patent minefield if you want to start manufacturing things that look like or use similar materials to Apple devices.

scorpioxy 14y ago

His comment about 10-inch tablets being too big got my attention. I am in the market for a tablet that I am going to replace my dead Sony e-reader(6 inch I think). But i think the 7-inch ones are just too small for reading. Has anyone tried to compare both sizes? I am mainly interested in using it for reading tech books and the occasional email. Currently leaning towards a transformer.

progrock 14y ago
You don't need to have a large screen for reading. It's more important that it's easy to page back and forth through the text - and that it reflows well and is easy on the eyes. I watched someone trying to read Hacker news on their Android phone's web browser and it looked like the most horrific experience. Doesn't seem to put people off of smartphones though.
mahmud 14y ago
I had a Kindle and a 7" Galaxy Tablet. Sold the kindle within the first week and got myself the larger Kindle DX. If you're a heavy reader, don't compromise: just get a DX or something that size. I don't even try to read more than a page on my Galaxy Tablet.
notatoad 14y ago
for reading fiction, ~7" tablets or e-readers are the sweet spot. if you're reading technical stuff with diagrams, the ipad really is the best option. a 10" 16:9 screen sucks for anything but movies, you really will appreciate the 4:3 screen.
- ableal 14y ago
  Right on all counts. Fiction on 6 inch e-ink works well - think paperbacks. Technical PDFs need more, and even at the same screen size, really work better on the iPad than on the old Kindle DX. I also much prefer the 4:3 ratio - the narrow 16:9 devices give you much less area for the same diagonal measure, as this chart accurately points out: https://twitter.com/trojankitten/status/221270669273468930 https://twitter.com/trojankitten/status/221270669273468930 (or http://a.yfrog.com/img615/4234/6j2n.png http://a.yfrog.com/img615/4234/6j2n.png for just the image). Incidentally, the Archos G9-80 is a nice 8 inch Android tablet sporting a 1024x768 screen, currently selling for around 200 euros. I think the rumored mini iPad will be the same form factor.

bicknergseng 14y ago

Linus, man... the number of people who auto delete html emails is on the same order as the number of people who disable javascript or run desktop linux and don't know how to program.

Despite 14y ago
He's talking about mailing lists where people submit patches and such, so 90% of the email is text only. And (here I'm guessing) he's talking about replying to, say, a patch email and having it html-fied.
4ad 14y ago
Usually mailing list software, not people, deletes HTML email.
antidoh 14y ago
He has a good technical reason for not liking html mail, but the number of people who care about this are vanishingly small and a device maker doesn't really need to care about them. There'll be an app to come along soon I imagine.
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  It's not the device-maker, it's a fault of the GMail app. Ironic. The people who would know and care about this stuff are exactly the kind of people who would have wrote the app: programmers.

guelo 14y ago

My main disappointment is with the lack of Flash. Flash is still needed on a lot of websites and every time I've needed it it's a reminder that Adobe has cost Android one of its big advantages over iOS.

Zirro 14y ago
This just made me realize that Android-users of newer devices may currently be in a worse spot than iOS-users when it comes to lack of Flash-support. Since iOS has always been shipped without Flash-support, many popular sites target iOS specifically with HTML5-video. Android however, only recently lost support for Flash and is still likely getting the Flash-versions of videos instead of the HTML5 ones.
- Andrex 14y ago
  I doubt this is the case since Flash hasn't been bundled with the stock browser in quite some time (if ever, I'm having trouble remembering.) The real world websites I've seen and even worked on just serve HTML5 to both Android and iOS since you can't count on Flash being there for the former, and of course the latter doesn't have it.
padenot 14y ago
Firefox for Android supports Flash, fwiw.
TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
Personally, I'm glad Adobe are dropping Flash support on Android. Flash screws up page rendering on my PC, requires me to use Chrome just to be able to view net videos, is relied on by advertisers, is slow, crashes, etc. I'm just sad Microsoft back-peddled on no plugins in IE10.
orangecat 14y ago
Easily remedied: http://www.geardiary.com/2012/07/20/how-to-get-amazon-prime-streaming-media-and-flash-content-to-play-on-your-nexus-7/ http://www.geardiary.com/2012/07/20/how-to-get-amazon-prime-.... Just installed it today on my N7 and Amazon Prime video works surprisingly well.

zdfsf 14y ago

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redthrowaway 14y ago

Completely OT, but I'm really starting to like G+. I deactivated my FB account (reactivated because of a girl--go figure), and found myself browsing G+ for the first time in months. I was shocked by the difference in content quality. My FB newsfeed is full of inane posts by family and a few friends, whereas my G+ feed is almost a reddit/HN replacement. Quite impressed, although I don't see it replacing FB simply due to the family and distant friend aspect.

maayank 14y ago
"whereas my G+ feed is almost a reddit/HN replacement" any suggestions for people like Linus who post well and often to G+ publicly?
- mtgx 14y ago
  You should probably do a Google search for what you have in mind. Since Google allowed "sharing circles", much like sharing lists on Twitter, a lot of people have shared their "tech circles" or whatever.
- progrock 14y ago
  Glyn Moody, does a lovely wrap up of tech news.
- jonah 14y ago
  Tim O'Reilly: https://plus.google.com/107033731246200681024/ https://plus.google.com/107033731246200681024/
darklajid 14y ago
Ah, but if I'd just be able to read and post as throwaway over there..
progrock 14y ago
> My FB newsfeed is full of inane posts by family and a few friends You can't really blame that on Facebook.

hrktb 14y ago

> You'd look like a complete dork trying to take photos with a tablet anyway "The best camera is the one you have with you" as we say, looking like a dork is irrelevant. The ipad camera is actually usable and if that's what you have in your hand you just take the photo with it. Now I agree at 200$ a super good camera would be asking to much for what seems to be an already very good device.

deleted 14y ago
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progrock 14y ago
My Aunt is in love with her iPad, and mainly uses it as a camera, and image viewer. I personally think people look more like dorks trying to thumb text into their phones and tablets.
Kilimanjaro 14y ago
A thousand times my sister has facetimed me from New Zealand laying in her bed, chatting incessantly about her new life as a mother, then all of the sudden she flips the camera (not the iPad) to show me her little angel sleeping in her cradle. Thanks Apple.
jiggy2011 14y ago
I guess his point is you're more likely to have a phone 'always with you' therefor a tablet camera is sort of superfluous apart from in a few instances.
patrickod 14y ago
I'd imagine that most phone cameras would beat whatever Asus would most likely have used in this. Given I always have my phone on my I'm happy they left it out and hit the $200 price point.

bconway 14y ago

But the %^$ thing still cannot be set to send just plain-text emails. Why, google, why? Good technical mailing lists all know that html email is just spam or marketing people, and auto-delete html crap. Just give me the option to send text-only, ok?* I have the opposite problem: My Gmail app only sends in plain text, and I have no way to change that on my Galaxy Nexus. Perhaps it's taking the default from my web Gmail sessions?

TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
I don't have a problem, I never need to send HTML emails on my 2.3.6 Gingerbread phone with atrocious battery life (thanks, Samsung!)

TechNewb 14y ago

Taking photo and video on a retina iPad is an awesome experience. It is literly the best evf in the world. Being able to see a 1:1 live view of the resolution is amazing for video, and is equally impressive with photos.