Nook Tablet Revisited

Update: I now recommend adding a Micro SD card as internal memory to allow more space for apps.

The Nook tablet is just about the biggest tablet you can slide into a pants pocket and also hold comfortably in your hand to read a book.    That is its biggest merit.

At $30 on sale,  it is a lot cheaper than a phone, and it can actually phone with Hangouts when near Wi-Fi.

The Kindle Fire 7-inch tablet is bulkier and not as good a buy as the Fire 8-inch tablet.    

The Nook tablet comes with the essential Google apps,  whereas the Kindle Fires require that you load four files to be able to run the Google apps.

The Nook is slow to navigate but plenty fast enough to read a book.

The Nook also has very limited memory,  so that you really need to add a Micro SD card to it to run the basic apps you will need. Configure the card as portable storage.

Here there is a caution.   It is too easy to push the SD card over the slot, and lose it inside the device, instead of into the slot.

However,  once even a very limited memory card is inserted,  it is possible to load apps onto it. Updates need to be disabled. Use Hermit to conserve space.

I have the Kindle app,  Libby, LibriVox, Google Books, and Kobo,  plus Spotify, Pandora. and Amazon music.

No Computers for Me!!

 When I was hired for converting Pennsylvania and Delaware state facilities from paper to computer,  under a non-profit called NET, one day the our chief came in and advised me that I needed to meet with a woman who  refused to change from paperwork. She would rather resign, and she was a valuable professional employee.

I was to meet with her for five hour-long early morning sessions over a week.

When she first came in she looked distraught.   

I asked her what the problem might be,  and she quickly asserted that it was not a work problem at all.     She had a child with a rare disease, Local doctors could not deal with it.

I suggested that we try internet.       It was only a matter of minutes until we had reached authorities on the disease and contacted them directly.     One doctor phoned us back Immediately.   She was immensely relieved that she finally could get help.

The next morning she came in and told me that it would not be necessary for us to have any more sessions.      She was going with our program.

Windows on Your Android Phone

Tap or click for Windows on Your Android Phone

Happy Valley Site

I will be busy for a time developing a Happy Valley internal website to serve as a temporary clearing house for local resident concerns, including your wellness and safety, but much more general.   (There is no such official Happy Valley intra-community newspaper with input from you as at other such communities nearby.) 

Your initial input for it can be submitted to me by EMail. 

That also means that I may not be able to address your WiFi issues.    Ninety per cent of these are not issues with your equipment, anyway, but are issues with Happy Valley.    If you are having WiFi issues, you can always switch to Comcast or cell service.    As apartments are being renovated, obsolete cabling is being replaced. 

Access is currently being limited to those who enroll by contacting me.

Choosing the Best Smartphone

 Normally,  when asked for advice on buying a smartphone,  I like to lay out the various considerations a buyer should have.

Recently, however, I find myself recommending specifically the iPhone SE along with Consumer Cellular coverage.

That does not mean that an Android phone is not a perfectly fine choice.

The iPhone benefits from recent improvements in navigation and the fact that it is essentially a little iPad when many seniors are now, or will be, using iPads.

The iPhone SE  from Consumer Cellular can be had for $170 with a monthly plan of about $25 without being locked in.    

The iPhone Is not perfect.      Siri voice is not as good as Google Assistant,  and the iCloud is not as good as Dropbox, but both Google assistant and Dropbox do run on the iPhone.

If you need a larger phone,  the extra cost of such an iPhone may outweigh these benefits.

All this, can change and I will change with it.

iPhone Text Too Small?

 Let's say you have an iPhone,  such as an inexpensive iPhone SE,  but no iPad.

There will be times when the print is just too small, but there is an easy fix.

Using an Android app,  the iPhone can be mirrored to any other tablet,  such as a Nook or Kindle tablet.

Tap or click for such an  app.

Then,  making sure that both devices are on the same network,  start up the app and then activate iPhone mirroring From the main navigation screen.     Simple.

Install Google Play Apps on Kindle Fire Tablets (2017+)

Tap or click for the easy way to bring Google apps to your Kindle Fire and greatly increase its functionality.

You DO Need a Smartphone

What!!   You don't do that much phoning?    You don't need a smartphone?

But a smartphone is not mainly for phoning.    (Of course, you might text with it, but who actually phones with a smartphone, anyway?}

The iPhone is really just tiny tablet, a small iPad.    And you need it as such.   Same with Android.