The History of Tablets

Apple did not create the tablet. Just saying.

      Picture above shows Steve Ballmer now CEO of Microsoft holding up an old resistive screen tablet that ran on Windows XP which get this: came out before the iPad. Okay so I am not saying this looks like the iPad in any way or am I saying this tablet was successful because it wasn't, but I am saying the iPad only revolutionized the market not made it. At the time tablets were used strictly for business not play. But the iPad made a consumer friendly tablet albeit at low specs and high price so you could play Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, or whatever else you do on your iPad. Then came along Google with Android which at first barely slowed down the iPad advance. Now iOS, Android, and Windows 8/RT tablets are all in a mud slinging fight for market share with no clear winner, but today I will take you on a trip down the proverbial memory lane from the days where the tablets of today would be pure science fiction.

The First Slow tablets

   Today modern tablets even cheap ones could easily outrun laptops of 2004. In the beginning, the first original tablet was developed by Acorn Computers called the Newspad in 1994. The pilot/trials for the tablet ended in Barcelona, 1997 killing the tablet and a dream, but that dream was relived by Microsoft as a bulky tablet PC made primarily for work places like hospitals. The tablet PC's running full Windows XP tablet edition were expensive, ugly, and had terrible sales. The cycle went on with Vista even debuting mini tablet PC's that no one ever remembered. Then along came Android with Android 1.4 debuting on the Archos 5. Obviously the device really was a lagfest compared to the quad core Androids of today. The OS was unheard of and untested before Google bought it. Now it did have a big hard drive for storing a lot of stuff and was powered by a 800 Mhz processor that let you play 720p at 24fps which today wouldn't be acceptable on a high end device.

A slew of other tablets came but in 2010 the Apple iPad featuring iOS catapulting tablets into mainstream popularity. The iPad made the tablet cool essentially even if it was critically received. The app store grew changing the way software was bought permanently from in stores to online breathing life into companies like: Zygna, Betaworks, and other app makers. iOS completely dominated the market despite pushback from Google with Honeycomb in 2011 which was like a fly on the wall compared to the Apple monopoly. Recently Google has made the "halo" brand of Nexus products that have helped lead the charge in taking back marketshare from the iOS juggernaut which has slowed it down to a point but the iPad still has the mindshare advantage. 

  

Surface Pro

Then along came Windows 8. Microsoft launched Windows 8/Windows RT on October 26th, 2012 officially jumping into the death ring known as the tablet market with the new touch friendly OS. Windows 8 did offer many improvements over Windows 7 but the Metro/Modern start screen was received with mixed reviews. The Surface RT/Pro was Microsoft's attempt at their own "halo" device as an example to other OEM's to make high quality hardware. The saga continues as Windows 8.1 a much better and more polished version of Windows 8 has been released to test and is supposed to hit RTM by August. 

The Future?

 That is a hard one to envision. Most likely can see tablets being thin, fast, replacing laptops, and possibly docakble to TV's. 

Charles Ramsey Live

      Instant internet superstar since Sweet Brown, Charles Ramsey gained instant notoriety for saving three young ladies who had been kidnapped by Uriel Castro in his suburban home in Cleveland, Ohio. Reports have come out that recently even after much money was donated Charles Ramsey was broke and homeless. Recently Mr. Ramsey made a statement saying he wasn't homeless but was broke because his former employer fired him due to his fame. Now Charles Ramsey has to live on donations given by fellow good Samaritans. So in a way to make money shall we say a bit more "legitimately" he has decided to open a website to sell what is poised to be uber popular merchandise. So hit up the source link and go sign up to hear when the website is live!

Source:  http://www.charlesramseylive.com/

Good ol' HTML 5

     Good day to you reader. How you doing mate? Here is some good example of the use of HTML 5. I prefer the video tags but the url is required to end with the video type. But the video interface just looks great like it was made by Microsoft themselves. I don't know the story but it looks good and clean. I personally like this video every time I watch it. Courtesy of Big Buck Bunny.

As you can see, I like html. So if you feel the same, just contact @Slichenmyer and put #gohtml5. Thanks for reading and good day to you reader. And be sure to take a peak at our Web Dev for more cool stuff. It isn't finished yet but oh well.

Let's Go>

The sad and timely death of Flash

                          
Everyone remembers Adobe's largely popular media player that used to be the de facto service for just about anything. Now Flash is laughed at with the onslaught of the faster and much better HTML 5. YouTube the last bastion of Flash powered videos has launched an HTML pilot program to wean its users slowly off of Flash before Adobe completely kills it. Now I know a lot of people have memories of playing flash powered games that were slow and had mediocre graphics in grade school like Oregon Trail. I must say goodbye to a friend who has been there for me for a long long time.
#RIPFLASH

First Book Review! (The Moon and More)

I obviously dislike the manliness of this blog. To show my dislike, I will be discussing the novel The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen. It's my first novel this summer (read), and worthy of this blog. Because, honestly, this place needs to be less machine-y and more read-y.

WHICH IS WHY I SOLEMNLY SWEAR TO NEVER ATTACH AN ADD TO ANY OF MY POSTS EAT THAT YOU CO-BROS!

*leaves to make some Mexican hot cocoa, because, I'm Mexican an' stuff*

Okay, well, that took about fifteen minutes and WE GOOD. Mmm, bet you white boys are jelly, huh? (okay, just kidding. To my knowledge, none of my co-bros are actually albino, and we do not discriminate against albinos! Live long, well, and respected.)(I once dated an albino... he was, like, white-white. Could see his--



RIGHT. Book. Blogging. NOW!

So, here's the book synopsis as according to Goodreads.com:

"Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.
Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer."

*nods head to Goodreads* What would I do without them? 

Well, let's begin at the very beginning! 

I love Sarah Dessen, first of all. But this novel--like her last one--didn't appeal very much so to me. I don't know if it's because I'm growing up or because the books weren't as appealing as I hoped they would be. But, I have a few very pure points before diving into this (and if you haven't read the book, I SO URGE YOU to go read it before reading this! But... you can read this if you have no interest in reading the books.)

First, the writing style was good. I did like that--while I wasn't as captivated as I have been by some of her other books, it was still very good. Score: 4/5 

Second, the plot. Most of her other books have good plots--but this one was the perfect summer read in the way that it had no plot. If you are a reader who has to have an incentive at the end, this may not be the read for you. But, if you have a busy life and want an easy, still mature read, this is the books for you! Score: 2/5 for average readers, 5/5 for busy readers. 

Third, characters. I actually had a hard time connecting to the main character, Emaline. But while I couldn't connect, she was amazingly thought-out. Emaline was brilliantly written in the way that she avoided her situations and faced them in the exact way that any teenager would. A high-five to Mrs. Dessen for not being a teenager, but portraying one perfectly! The other characters? Very well done. Though Dessen has over-used some traits, she has managed to make them real and as human as possible--much like people I know! Score: 4/5 

Fourth, conflict. There was, amazingly, a conflict. And while the conflict had a place--there was about half a chapter dedicated to it. No real rising action, and not much meat to it. It was disheartening, and a little sad that there was no better conflict--especially because there was meat for the conflict! I didn't dig it as much as I would have liked to. Score: 1/5 

Fifth, wrap-up. The ending was so short! And while I would have liked to say that all of her endings are short so it was okay, it was about five pages of actual happiness. For the first time in the world, I will say: I'd rather be forced to read Percy and Annabeth fall into Tartarus than read that ending again. I was disappointed in Dessen. Just this once. Score: 1/5 

Finaly Score (for average reader): 14/25 

I hope Dessen's next book will bring her up! :) I really, really love her writing and style, and this review makes me sad--but I'd rather not lie. 

Cheers! 

Jenn

Book N Tech Web Dev

     I want to say sorry if you guys visited http://slichenmyer.blogspot.com early. The site is not ready yet but it will be very soon. I will make a post when it is ready. This is the official Book N Tech Web Dev community for web coders on html and more. Please visit it later!