This Thanksgiving we are spending a few days with family in Utah. I really do enjoy spending time up here in the cold air with wonderful people. There is one issue however. They have DirecTV as their service provider. Fare enough you'd think, lots of channels to choose from. Surely we can find something to watch, right? Wrong! I truly miss our Roku streaming Netflix, Hulu & Amazon Instant Video! I've become accustomed to watching my favorite shows and movies on my schedule, not DirecTV's schedule.
The biggest bummer, there is absolutely nothing on satellite TV when I want to watch it. Sure you can watch Nanny McPhee for the 800th time, but really how much can you take! I want to catch up on The Walking Dead or watch old episodes of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Sifting through 600 channels of crap, 8 of which are ESPN with reruns of highlights from games I could care less about is not my idea of entertainment.
I can truly say that cutting the cord a few years back was the best thing we ever did. You quickly realize that cable and satellite have made you believe that you need their products. I can attest that is all a myth. Cutting the cord is easy and it saves you a TON of money. Just my 2 cents.....
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Windows 8, Why Microsoft Why?
Three weeks ago I got this great idea to upgrade my perfectly functioning Windows 7 laptop to Windows 8. I'm the type of person that likes to jump right in on OS upgrades, after all I loved Windows 7.
I've been kicking myself ever since this decision. Windows 8 to me is a major step backward. It's difficult to understand what Microsoft's vision for this upgrade was. To be fair I haven't used Windows 8 on a touchscreen interface. For all I know it may be wonderful. I can however speak to my experience with a mouse and keyboard.
To say everything is different would be a major understatement. The new tile interface is attractive, but for me completely non-functional. Finding your favorite applications is very very difficult. Even for a seasoned user of Microsoft products finding your way around is cumbersome and confusing. I thought after a week or two I would be used to the new interface. I was wrong. I'm still confused where to find things and how to make simple changes to my user experience. The start button and menu are also gone. This has a been a feature of Windows since Windows 95. Why fix what isn't broken? The start menu is the one location where you could find all of your programs and settings. To go away from that thought process seems ludicrous.
To be honest I can't find many positives about Windows 8. I'm a Microsoft fan boy and often find myself defending their sometimes illogical decisions. I can't defend this decision. Windows 8 is a major step backward and I wish Microsoft would stop shoving it down our throats. You can't buy a new laptop or desktop without it. So I just won't buy one. Microsoft is blaming the PC makers for the slow adaptation of Windows 8. This is a deflection of the truth. The slow adaptation is due to the poor design of the OS.
I've been kicking myself ever since this decision. Windows 8 to me is a major step backward. It's difficult to understand what Microsoft's vision for this upgrade was. To be fair I haven't used Windows 8 on a touchscreen interface. For all I know it may be wonderful. I can however speak to my experience with a mouse and keyboard.
To say everything is different would be a major understatement. The new tile interface is attractive, but for me completely non-functional. Finding your favorite applications is very very difficult. Even for a seasoned user of Microsoft products finding your way around is cumbersome and confusing. I thought after a week or two I would be used to the new interface. I was wrong. I'm still confused where to find things and how to make simple changes to my user experience. The start button and menu are also gone. This has a been a feature of Windows since Windows 95. Why fix what isn't broken? The start menu is the one location where you could find all of your programs and settings. To go away from that thought process seems ludicrous.
To be honest I can't find many positives about Windows 8. I'm a Microsoft fan boy and often find myself defending their sometimes illogical decisions. I can't defend this decision. Windows 8 is a major step backward and I wish Microsoft would stop shoving it down our throats. You can't buy a new laptop or desktop without it. So I just won't buy one. Microsoft is blaming the PC makers for the slow adaptation of Windows 8. This is a deflection of the truth. The slow adaptation is due to the poor design of the OS.
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