May 6, 2011
The meeting was called to order at 7:31 pm by President Chuck Horner. Explained building logistics and internet access. Harold Smith at the ticket table has 3” x 5” cards to write questions for discussion/answers at the end of the Meeting.
Michael Wong brought in two new potential members. Josie Solis and Emily Kelly. Others are encouraged to note the date of membership on the Newsletter mailing label. The information is also inside the Newsletter.
Chuck then presented the raffle prize, a 1 TB external hard drive. Clubhouse hours are (some) Saturdays 8:30-1 and Wednesdays 4 to 7 pm. The phone number is 510 537-4138.
PCC needs people to help out with programs and with publicity. We need to diversify the fun of helping organize presentations and getting the word out around town. If you want to know more, talk to Jan, Chuck, or Bayle.
SIG Announcements:
The Windows 7 SIG will not meet in May. In June, they should meet again, on the 11th.
Jan Fagerholm runs the Spectacular Linux SIG looked which takes place on the last Saturday of the month. That will be the 28h of May this month. It looks like a new version of Linux Mint is following on the heels of the new Ubuntu release. (Bud reported that he encountered a Brother HL series printer that didn’t work in Ubuntu 11.04 without an extensive driver search. Jan noted that several Epson printers also have problems.)
The Hardware SIG really a fixit SIG for both hardware and software, since most hardware problems turn out to be software problems. The SIG takes place the night after the main meeting at 8 pm at the Smiths’. If you’ve got a computer problem, bring it in and it will likely get fixed. More importantly, you’ll learn about fixing it yourself. And please bring all the documentation you can find. If you don’t have any immediate problems, come and enjoy learning how to fix someone else’s.
Presentation:
Member Jan Fagerholm talked about “How Small Is Your Computer?”
Chuck has has an Android Atrix phone from Motorola, he increased the storage to 48 GB, upgraded via SD card from 16 GB. Google partnered with Motorola to create the Android 3.0 operating system.
The platforms are Apple, Android, and Windows 7. Windows 7 has very low market penetration. There is very little print information out on any of these devices. Most information is video, which is the way younger people operate and is also more appropriate to platforms that are so visual.
Looking (literally) at the iPhone 4 which was released in 2010, you get face talk with picture in picture. However, it takes 2 iPhones to complete this operation. The way the iPod2 case is used as an antenna defeats its own purpose if you hold it in your right hand, which many right-handed people do. Using a skin often handles the problem.
Diane reported that her Samsung Focus Windows 7 phone has a clear display and seems responsive. It provides good access to Office storage.
The Linux-based OLPC has a small plastic add-on that functions as a view finder; it fits into the USB port. Android has made remarkable market penetration in the time
the devices have been out and has now surpassed iOS devices in market penetration and number of devices in the marketplace. In contrast to Apple, which operates a closed system of hardware and software, Android is open source.
Samsung is close to releasing a 7” Android tablet. One of the selling points for the Samsung Galaxy S is aggregation of social media sites. Swype technology allows Android users to enter letters or numbers without lifting a finger off the keyboard. The Super AMOLED screen is bright, clear, and sharp enough to watch a movie outdoors.
Blackberry is favored by businesses because of the intense security. The interface is not as pretty or social as the other platforms; that’s not the audience.
Bill George has one of the original iPads. He appreciated that it was a large version of the iPhone, which he already had. So for him, there was no learning curve. He thinks that detailed work such as spreadsheet might not be a whole lot of fun. He likes to have it nearby while watching TV so that he can look up background detail. There are plenty of games and they’re easier than on the small iPhone screen. He noted the Apple marketing strategy of creating desire for things that never existed before and then upgrading frequently with lots of showmanship.
iPad2 is thinner and lighter than the original, with both front and rear facing cameras, including a video camera. GarageBand is built in and with the additition of an HDMI cable, users can display the videos they’ve created and edited, or downloaded, on a HD TV screen. It does not have a USB port, nor does it multi-task except in limited instances allowed by Apple; the iPhone will multi-task with some providers but not others. While
it does not run true Flash, a work-around has been developed. Multi-touch zoom is the technology that allows the user to zoom in and out and use more than one finger to control the screen display. Be careful when shopping to look for “multi-touch” if that is what you want.
The Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) Xoom announcement by Google was entirely visual—not a spoken word in the clip. There isn’t much performance difference between the Xoom (the Android 3.0 device that is available) and the iPad. The Apple screen is slightly brighter but the Xoom has a higher resolution. There are a lot of free Android apps to try. Delete them if you don’t like them.
After the break, winners of the door prizes were selected. Congratulations to each of them.
Thanks to George Kornbluth for taking care of refreshments.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:43 pm.
The next meeting will take place at the same location on June 3, 2011.
Respectfully submitted,
Bayle Emlein, Secretary
