Archive for the ‘Gripes’ Category

I HATE HATE HATE 3D Movies

Monday, December 27th, 2010

So today we had planned to see Megamind since it FINALLY came out in Hong Kong on December 23rd, my birthday. We looked at the times and there was a showing a 9:10 and it was not in 3D! So we woke up this morning, fearing that we would miss it we looked up the times to find that online it showed the movie as being in Cantonese. I can’t complain about that, I’m in Hong Kong. So then we went over to the AMC website, yes there are AMC theaters in Hong Kong, only to find out that AMC only had 3D versions of Megamind. So I just said forget it.

I HATE 3D movies. I have to be really bored and desperate to want to see a 3D movie. First of all I really don’t think it adds anything positive to the movie experience. I think the only time where I thought “this is not totally stupid” was when there was some dust floating around on screen after that huge tree got bombed to oblivion in Avatar. The dust actually seemed like it was in my face. This, although somewhat interesting, is quite a stupid thing to add to a movie since nobody wants to think there is a crap load of dust in their face. Second, on my California Drivers License it says “RSTR:CORR LENS,” which means I need glasses. This means that I look like one hell of an idiot wearing 3D glasses on top of my real glasses. Yes I could wear contacts but I hate those too, they make my eyes all dry. Third, when I wear the 3D glasses I get this weird indescribably odd feeling in the middle of my forehead. An hour and a half of this gets mighty annoying (over 2 hours for avatar).

But the biggest reason why I hate 3D movies is because it is just another way to get more money out of movie goers while adding very little, if anything, to the experience. In most of the 3D movies that I have seen, very few of the scenes would have even benefitted from the “3D” effect. So really, in the US you are adding $5 on top of your already expensive movie ticket to put on some stupid looking glasses and see some minor 3D effect on a few action scenes out of the 2 hours of that particular movie experience.

This, in my humble opinion, is just wrong.

So anyways, back to Megamind, now I will not be seeing this movie in the theaters because it will probably be out of the theaters by the time I get back to the US in January. So now I have to wait until it is out on Netflix or something. gah, how stupid is that? I can only hope that there are more people like me doing the same thing and that by “voting” with our dollars we will be able to stop this 3D fad in it tracks.

Edit (10 minutes later): I am now bored, desperate, and heading to watch 3D Megamind… Fmylife

Google’s Nexus S

Monday, December 13th, 2010

So about 8 days ago Google finally announced the Samsung Nexus S. And for those of you who have not been reading up on this it will be available in the US three days from now on December 16th, 2010. This is really, really great…. for people on T-Mobile. Gah why does google to this to me!? They should have made Samsung make it into a Penta-band HSPA phone so that it would work on all carriers! But what do I know? That might have dramatically increased the price or something…. Whatever, its still a gripe!

But anyways I am still holding out hope that it will magically work on AT&T 3G just like I have read that the T-Mobile Vibrant, another Galaxy S Phone, happens to work on both AT&T and T-Mobile 3G. But we shall see…

Never in my life have I wished I was on T-Mobile more than right now. But alas it is not possible for me to switch. When I get back to the US I will not  be able to march into a Best Buy and buy my very own Nexus S. But the differences between the Nexus S and my Nexus One do not warrant a change from AT&T to T-Mobile and the termination fees that would accompany it.

I mean really, what’s the difference between the Nexus S and the Nexus One (N1)? Nearly all of the differences come down to the software.  And very soon after the Nexus S is released the Nexus One will have the same Gingery goodness that is Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Hopefully the Nexus S, as with the N1, will be released in a form that can take advantage of AT&T’s 3G will be released in March or April. Then I will be able to enjoy a 4″ Super AMOLED display, and the blazing fast hummingbird processor. I don’t think the Gyroscope, front facing camera, and NFC chip will matter too much to me.

The main reason why I even want the Nexus S is Samsung’s claim that the Super AMOLED display performs 75% better in direct sunlight than the un-Super AMOLED in my N1.

Also I am hoping that there are no issues with the touch screen on this new Nexus  phone. It is sort of ridiculous that there is a publicly known problem with the ONLY interface available on the N1. But hopefully when I get back to the United States I can exchange it for another N1 that has a properly functioning touch screen.

But yeah, if you haven’t seen the review yet head over to engadget and read up!

The Nexus S hmm…..

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

The Nexus One is the first HTC phone I have ever owned and as far ass hardware is concerned it is by far the worst phone I have ever owned. Two weeks after I got my first phone the speaker broke and it had to be exchanged. In both of my Nexus One’s the touch screen was absolutely abysmal. But I stuck with it because I LOVED the software. And I still do love the software.

After reading that there would never be a Nexus 2 I thought all was lost and that I would be stuck with a crappy touch screen for another year. I really don’t like those user interfaces that cell phone manufacturers add on to the Android Experience. I just want the plain vanilla android. And after having to exchange my phone after two weeks I wasn’t about to void my warranty by rooting the phone to get the experience that I wanted. So I resigned myself to dealing with crappy HTC hardware. And after trying to get it exchanged for the touch screen, I now know I will NEVER buy an HTC cell phone again.

Then on November 16th, 5 days late, I found out about the Nexus S. The Nexus S is really the Nexus 2 with a mirrored 2 according to Eric Schmidt. When I heard about it I though “OMFG, FINALLY! I no longer have to feel all crappy about my phone!” Then it just keeps getting better! It’s going to have Gingerbread (Android 2.3), It will have NFC (Near Field Communication), it’s going to be coming out soon (more on the “soon” later), It will be sold at Brick and Mortar stores (Best Buy), and most importantly it is NOT going to be made by HTC! I was instantly in love.

nexus-s

I know that as soon as I get back from Hong Kong I am going to throw down 600 dollars and buy that phone and junk my Nexus One on Ebay. The Samsung Nexus S with the “pure google experience” is where it’s gonna be.

So in my excitement I sat down and watched the entire talk with Eric Schmidt at the Web 2.0 Summit and actually say the bad ass phone! But then came the downer. When Eric Schmidt said that Gingerbread will be coming out in the “next few weeks” I was very sad. This reminded me of the Froyo debacle from earlier this year. Google said Froyo would be coming out in a few weeks, or soon, or when it is ready, and it took months after that announcement.

 schmidt_nexus_sNexusS

Then I started hearing about hardware issues, and dual core optimized software. Supposedly at the last minute they decided to add a dual core processor to the device but the software is not optimized for dual core. For these reasons they delayed the November 16th release date. But in any case I hope that this phone comes out in time for the Christmas holidays. But with Google’s track record, I am starting to think that it won’t.

I really want the Nexus line of phones to continue because I enjoy the pure Google experience with tethering, no crappy UI’s, no AT&T telling me I can’t install outside applications, the ability to travel outside of the US and use my phone without having to figure out Black Snow and Cydia, and no Man with his foot on my neck! So please, please, please, do this right Google and Samsung. Please get the holiday sales so that this Nexus phone will be both a success both financially and in  terms of getting android out there to the public. I know that people like me will buy the phone no matter when it comes out because that’s how we do things. We are Android fan boys and girls haha. But you have to get the normal people on the bandwagon too!

Whenever the Nexus S does come out I will be buying it if I am in the US at the time. I won’t be back from Hong Kong until December 31st!

For all those people who think that “Samsung sucks and they shouldn’t have been chosen to make the phone and HTC makes good quality phones” you obviously haven’t suffered with the Nexus One’s abysmal touchscreen. the touch screen issue on the Nexus One is well documented and all over the internets. And HTC has done what? Zip, Zilch, Nada. In fact they make a big deal about how impossible it is to exchange the phone when you call them about problems. Then when they finally transfer you to the warranty exchange department, the warranty exchange department transfers you back to the tech support as soon as they find out you have a Nexus One. So yeah I am EAGER to get off of HTC.

Even if 99% of your products are great, how you handle that last 1% says volumes about your company. And those volumes about HTC are full of bad tech support and not taking care of their customers.

So anyways, that’s all folks I’ll write something else later!