[OT] Extra time spent

[Nick Sabalausky via Digitalmars-d]

On 6/1/2014 5:01 PM, Adam D. Ruppe wrote:
>
> I don't have a smartphone, don't use an ipad or whatever (though I
> do actually own one, it was given to me for a job a while ago, only
> thing I've ever used it for is to watch sports I can't get on my tv
> antenna).
>

I finally got a smartphone late last year (I had a couple through much 
of 2012, but those were just loaners for a job - I was *glad* to get rid 
of them at the end).

I'll admit, the (horribly-named) "shazam" program is pretty nice to have 
on hand. But mostly, this smartphone has just been a royal PITA. I did 
grab an incredibly overpriced $4 stylus (anything more than $1 for a 
thin-tipped **stylus** is an outright scam - and this one isn't even 
thin-tipped). That makes it *slightly* less horrible to put up with, but 
that's about it.

One of the main reasons I had gotten this thing was to have internet 
access on the go, but regardless of connection speed, I find it's 
usually *FAR* quicker to just wait until I get home and use a REAL computer.

It's really too bad though, I know for a fact pocket computers CAN work 
very well - my PalmOS devices back in college were a testament to that. 
But these modern Android/iOS smartphones are just utterly useless. 
You're better off with just a flipphone (if not landline) and way to get 
back home to your own real computer.

Something like the Surface Pro could actually be good though, if it 
wasn't running Win8, cost less, had sufficient IO ports (with no idiotic 
connector dongles), and actually had a keyboard available that didn't 
suck. (There seems to be a rule that all mobile keyboards manufactured 
after about 2005 MUST be terrible. Heck, you can barely find ones with 
halfway-decent *arrow keys* anymore, let alone realistically usable 
home/end/etc (which mobiles have never had). Screw number pads, I just 
want a proper "middle" keyboard section.)