Making it Cheaper and Better

I am always looking for the cheapest and best tools for seniors.

For example,  I bought the $30 Moto G smartphone from FreedomPop (with free phone service) a while ago just to see if it was all it was trumped up to be.

Though it has somewhat limited memory, I've been able to make the best of it by using some new software tools (apps), notably Hermit.

Recently, however, I found that there are additional tools to make it do even more.   I recommend MX Player, Clean Master, and setting your location strictly to Wi-Fi, as recommended in a book entitled: 70 Must-Have Essential Android Apps by Saqib Khan.     These last apps make better use of storage space and extend battery life.

I have long half intended to write a short book on apps myself.   My long posting several years ago is still the most widely read posting on my website.    I don't agree with everything in the above book, but I think it's one of the best yet ($.99).

I continue to use a large variety of devices to find out which ones I really like best.    it's very easy for seniors to go overboard and unnecessary to spend a lot..

For example,for just plain reading,  the Kindle Paperwhite rules.     It is easier to use and cheaper than alternatives     I don't use it half enough myself,  but everybody else seems to make the most of it.     I have about 700 books on mined and am always engaged in reading multiple books at the same time.

Some residents here who do not use other computers at all, do use their Kindles heavily, so that the Kindle Paperwhite rules in more ways than one.

I just use a smartphone more often because of the many more things it can do, such as fast OCR scanning of documents and fast scanning of pictures.     I do like the big screen at times, of course,   It is just not always at hand.

Some other new tools are now coming to make things even less expensive and better.

Microsoft is bringing out a cloud laptop in competition with the Chromebook.    It should certainly be fast, although preliminary specifications do not indicate so.  Bbut using solid state memory, and the cloud, it should be an improvement over the sluggishness of older Windows computers.

Also, this is a cloud device and should bring prices down even lower.     Finally, and hopefully, it will be possible to use such a device to print directly without using a network as with the Chromebook.

I find the latest Windows update, called Windows Creator,  the best update yet.   Apps are installed just as they are installed on Windows smartphones.    That is a big Improvement.

Additionally,  NBC is now going into online TV, the last of the networks to do so.   That is a big change.     For those without the inexpensive service we have here at  Happy Valley,  prices will fall for cable channels moving to online.     

Separately, Reuters now has Reuters Now video online.     With it you can keep up-to-date with all that's going on in a very short time.      Beats cable.  CBS News Was the first to offer such a service.

Keep tuned.

(Forgive any typos---I dictate these these postings in about 10 minutes.)