All the stuff from CES is starting to hit the stores. And now Best Buy is starting to look like Babies R Us with all their internet enabled smart app products.
The problem with Silicon Valley right now is everyone has Steve Jobs syndrome. "Everybody wants to change the world" instead of just making fun stuff for us to play with. Now every stupid thing has a smart app applied to it.
You have been warned. It's going to be bitchy around here.
I was complaining to Mr S. about how small this market must be. I mean, babies are only babies for a baby amount of time. He said - yeah .... this is clever marketing because technology doesn't really get handed down. So these products are really only useful for a few months.
The other thing that is sort of pissing me off is - Silicon Valley used to be able to do multiple product cycles at once. But since the Obama Administration tried to strangle the economy - now there is really only product cycle at a time. Meaning if they think anything at all will sell - that is what EVERYONE is going to do. And it just makes these product cycles crazy short.
So for instance, bitcoin is cannibalising tech because that's the only game in town right now. And it's stupid and I'm lashing out.
It's the same here about all of the things I should be able to buy, but can't ...
ReplyDeleteHow about a Samsung Galaxy Tab S-Whatever with a 512 GB eMMC in it, or even a 128 GB eMMC just for starters?
How about a mid-range "gaming" laptop that has a real keyboard for older touch typists, as in taller keys, beveled rounded square keys, no "key islands", and some kind of decent quasi-mechanical feel, but also with a 64 GB max RAM option?
This is a typical "industry standard keyboard" that I hate: HP Envy 6 keyboard
It's also backlit in the same industry standard obnoxious way for people who didn't learn how to type without looking at the keyboard. *grumble*
This kind of crap keyboard is being sold on $3k+ laptops, which is absurd.
Thanks to Apple for streamlining the IBM PCJr keyboard, it's a blast from the past. *grumble*
Right now you can buy any tablet you want as long as it has only a 32 GB eMMC wave soldered onto the main board, meaning that you can't get frisky with it and easily mod the hardware yourself, and you can buy any laptop you want as long as you can stand typing on something with flattened keys and "key islands".
That's because most tablets are on the same stupid product cycle, and because most laptops are on the same stupid product cycle, much of which has been driven by trying to "look cool" instead of actually doing useful and helpful stuff.
As absurd as "the notch" is on the latest iPhone, there will be some idiot manufacturer who thinks they have to emulate that particular poor design choice, and new phones will suck for a while. Suspecting that this would eventually be the case, I plonked down money last month on a decent world travel phone that also happens to work on Sprint LTE as well as on the other major US carriers.
Now I just want a tablet where I'm not pushing against 2 GB free all the time and a laptop where I can type with my eyes closed without having to invest in some niche product that's absurdly expensive.
Like this, for instance: Getac X500 server
It's a deal and a steal at around $14k "nicely loaded", but with the RAM topped out at 32 GB instead of 64 GB, somewhat dated CPU and GPU specs, and with sufficient system height that it's guaranteed to give you carpal tunnel syndrome as well ... what a bargain!
They don't make backpacks for that one, you know, because you're supposed to roll it around in a custom Kevlar-armored Pelican case. :-)
So yes, I feel your pain: most of the current tech products are just a bit stupid and need to grow up, but in the case of your example, it's actually that they literally need to grow up ...