Knee Jerk Tablet Review

For the record, I am a Mac-hater. But I have to clarify, I hate them in the same way I hate the Cooper Mini. Both are beautiful machines and the epitome of sublime engineering, but they both seem to come with an overwhelming air of…well…douchey-ness.

To clarify, the hubris of Steve Jobs and incessant need for Mac owners to remind you how their machine never crashes while you re-boot your PC for the 5th time; is what chaps my hide.

That said I’ve spent some quality time with both the iPad and the Galaxy Tablet (Android).

Here’s my review.

The iPad is an elegant, intuitive machine. When it was in my house I didn’t reach for my laptop once. It quickly flipped to landscape like an Olympic gymnast. It was so easy to use I could have updated my Facebook status, while skydiving, during a death spiral. “Adam is….going to hit a barn at terminal velocity.”

Then I went to watch a TV Show on Hulu and was reminded that it doesn’t support Flash. Seriously. Flash. Deal-breaker my friends. Not lying, had that episode of Community opened up I would have promptly swallowed my pride, then raced to the nearest consumer electronics store to purchase an iPad.

Now to the Galaxy Tablet, I was positive that Google, my saviors of the open-web, would have created a tablet OS that would run laps around the evil Mac. I expected at least equal performance levels and Flash support. After about ten minutes of unsuccessfully watching this device fail to connect to my home network – I decided to use the 3G network to go online. Once online, I went to Hulu so I could laugh maniacally while streaming video fed my appetite for SNL Digital Shorts; only to find a message that said, “apologies, this device doesn’t support Hulu.” Sigh.

I decided to check my work email over wireless access – after fumbling with the touch keyboard and trying to login, it went on stand-by and kicked me off the internet. Also, every time I clicked a link on a web page the Galaxy would ask me if I wanted to use “Browser” or “Firefox” to continue. No, Galaxy, I would like to use Angry Birds to visit this website. WTF.

Final Summary, if you absolutely have to get a tablet – get an iPad. If you want to experience all the web has to offer and you don’t mind “booting up” then get a netbook with Windows 7. Also, in case you couldn’t tell from this blog post, the Galaxy is a colossal let-down. As far as the Android OS – keep your fingers crossed that 3.0 works as well as…ahem…a Mac.

Sumtin' Purty.

I want a pretty interface! I want it to look beautiful no matter device or browser I am using. I want to click and have the video work instantly, the slide show to work, the picture to open.

What astounds me is how far we’ve come and yet how far we still have yet to go when it comes to being able to read, watch, and view content on mobile devices.

I know tablets are going to be huge this year, but you know what? I won’t carry it everywhere like I carry my smartphone. I like to get my content on the go – at the grocery store line, waiting for my tires to be rotated, and in the line for my latte. I want my it on my smartphone. If you want your content to be viewed or read, you’ve got to make it easy and pretty for the end-user who is using a small-screen device.

So, I found a RSS reader for Android that I love it's called, “Pulse.” It is the closest thing I have seen to the future. It has a beautiful interface and does a great job of reducing the content for the small screen. The problem is that some of the content providers still don’t get it. Yeah, I am talking about you Salon.com, Cracked.com, and Atlantic Monthly. Why doesn’t the slide show in Salon work in the mobile view? Why doesn’t Atlantic Monthly have an elegant mobile interface? I want to read Andrew Sullivan, not slog through everything, and why must you ignore the millions of Android users? Seriously. I end up reading the Huffington Post because they get it. iPhone app? Check. Android App? Check. Pretty good interface? Check.

What applications for reading, watching, and viewing content give you the best experience on a mobile device? What online magazine has wowed you? Do you have Sumtin' purty? Share!

Check out the pretty RSS Reader, Pulse: http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/26/pulse-android/