One thing I'd like to see tech journalists declare independence from is their blatant pro-Apple bias.
I'm going to review this iPad pro review to show you what I mean, and why most tech sites' star ratings are utterly worthless laptopmag.com/reviews/ipad-p…
The iPad Pro 12.9 has some nice aspects, but it has a lot of negatives. But you never see tech sites ding Apple for the negatives.
The biggest negative of iPads is that they are drastically overpriced for what they can do. You have to pay a minimum of $1,000 US for...
A tablet that comes with none of the following:
-Storage card slots
-Upgradeable internal storage
-Keyboard
-Stylus
-A headphone jack
-More than a single port
-An OS that can actually open files
-An ability to boot third-party OSes
Tech website reviews of the iPad never subtract stars from iPads for these drastic failings. They need to if they want credibility, especially because every single one of them is a deliberate choice by Apple to screw customers over.
Now you can buy an Apple keyboard for an iPad but if you do, your options are pathetic. You could buy the so-called "Smart Keyboard" for $200. That name is a lie though because the supposedly smart keyboard doesn't even have a trackpad
Your other option is the "Magic Keyboard." This keyboard costs $350, wtf!
And it has major flaws: You get a trackpad but bc iPadOS sucks, you don't get an arrow to move around. Instead, you get an imprecise blob.
You also can't use the iPad as a tablet if it's attached.
Then we have the Apple Pencil stylus. It's a nice device, much better by comparison than the keyboards (still not as good as Wacom stuff though).
But it costs $129. More expensive than anyone else's. And it has no safe storage place. So easy to lose.
Whenever you read a tech website's review of the Microsoft Surface Pro 7or Pro X, they always, always, always whine that the tablets never come with the keyboard or stylus.
They never say this about the iPads. Even though the kbd and stylus are more expensive and worse.
Literally the only advantage of iPads over a PC tablet is the processor, which also gives better battery life. That's it.
If you want sexy design, the HP Elite Folio just destroys the iPad
If you want value and portability, the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet X12 gives you the best tablet keyboard ever plus a stylus and a place to safely store it
And if you want sexy design plus expandability and are willing to pay more, then the Surface Pro 7 gives you upgradeable SSD, three fast data ports, magnetic cable charging, and a headphone jack:
There are plenty of other interesting and innovative PC tablets out there. With the exception of the HP Elite Folio, they all cost significantly less than the iPad. You can get a Surface Pro 7 with keyboard and stylus for $1,100. I just checked.
Unless you've purchased a lot of iPadOS software, there's no reason to buy a new iPad. Beyond the deliberately bad and expensive hardware, the OS sucks massively. It's restrictive.
Big thumbs down to @laptopmag for such a biased and terrible review /end
PS: While the iPad Pro is a complete ripoff, I do think the cheaper iPads are fairly good as consumption devices. And since the Apple stylus now works with some of them, they can be nice sketch devices for artists. They're still overpriced, however.
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Since Joe Biden became the president, Republicans consultants and politicians have been desperate to find a way to attack him. But nothing has worked, his approval rating has consistently been above 50%. So instead, right-wing elites have decided to completely embrace trolling.
The important thing to realize is that GOP elites are trolling everyone, including their own supporters. This is vital because as Biden has embraced stimulus spending and family support, he's forced the right to defend its greatest weakness: their anti-government views
1/x If you really want to see how things are in GOP politics, don't listen to talking head shows, just read the articles at Townhall written by party loyalists who want sore loser Trump to go away & then scroll down to the comments.
The article in question, by @RebeccaRoseGold, is a fairly neutral writeup for the crybaby speech the exprez delivered. It was massively triggering to the supposedly "tough" and "manly" Townhall audience.
The #1 voted comment whines that she invaded his safe space
"Douglas" gets some pushback but doubles down by implying that anything Trump claims is a "hoax" or a "crime" should be assumed to be so. No quotation marks allowed according to little Douglas.
Right-wing media audiences expect total devotion to the great leader
@DiscoverFlux As many political observers have noted, the filibuster tactic in the U.S. Senate has blocked many progressive bills from becoming laws.
Its institutional effect is even more pronounced, however, because it's enabled Mitch McConnell to create his own form of "triangulation"
In politics, triangulation means manufacturing a new political position that makes your own look more moderate or reasonable. This is exactly what McConnell's done w/the filibuster. He's convinced many people (incl Kyrsten Sinema) that it keeps the Senate centrist.
1/x I haven't published anything about growing up in fundamentalist Mormonism until today.
Most people outside the sect have no idea how weird it really is. Here's a story of the day I almost sold my soul--to God flux.community/matthew-sheffi…
In the LDS religion, adherents are forced to give everything they have to the church. My father took things several steps further and made his kids promise to become perfect or be cast into hell. It was a very disturbing experience and the first time I didn't believe.
The idea came to my father on a trip we took to a field in northwest Missouri where Mormons believe that Adam from the Bible lived after being cast out of the Garden of Eden, which was also in Missouri, dontcha know
Lots of people outside of the white evangelical subculture couldn't believe that the "family values" crowd would be so loyal to a casino owner and habitual adulterer like Donald Trump.