Your closest Apple Store is never that far away. As you stare, it calls out like the Sirens…”Buy our new iPhone 7. What’s your move? Well, I’ll tell you what I did… I wrote another poem!
You are simply the best
Your frame so cool and sleek
The magic in your guts
You’re now the one to beat
The camera’s the thing
Plus has even got two
I think it may be time
To send Elph* to the zoo
Old earphone jack is gone
Who cares that it’s lightning
Except when you’re charging
And tunes blare frightening
Still, here’s the solution
AirPods are invented
You can listen and charge
No looking demented
Now water-resistant
That would be great in rain
But don’t test the toilet
That could drive you insane
Jet black is cool and hip
Yet now you’ll have to wait
It may be Thanksgiving
Until it’s near your plate
I really love the Plus
It’s size giant and bold
All should own big phablets
(Be sure your hand can hold)
I am two steps behind
Just the iPhone 6 Plus
Should I buy the 7?
Is it really a must?
A thousand is a lot
Full RAM and Plus for me
Dollars don’t grow on trees
No tech in life is free
A trade-in program, wow!
Apple will give some bucks
To take your old iPhone
You cannot say that sucks
My old iPhone 6 Plus
Can fetch me some* smackers
To help me feel better
When eating my crackers
But I don’t feel the pull
There’s other gear I want
A DSLR lens
That can snap pics to flaunt
Hey, a new Apple Watch!
Don’t have one of them yet
And it’s waterproof too
I would not be upset
What a difference a week makes! If you think this is the same photo as last time, look again. This new GPS interface is sweet…
Yes, I’ve apparently gone against the general flow of the rest of the planet, and I’ve decided to buy another car GPS to replace my old Garmin. Sure, a smartphone can often handle your navigation. (But not always)
And with social-enhanced traffic and navigation apps like Waze, your phone can suddenly possess a ‘Borg’-like awareness from the “Star Trek” universe.
I know many of you may already have a GPS bolted into your car’s dashboard. So you’re essentially stuck with what you’ve got.
For the rest of you, let’s go shopping!
Go Garmin
Acknowledging the “Better with the Devil You Know” strategy, I decided to focus on another Garmin…
(By most accounts, Garmin is the leader in this category… so you really can’t go wrong.)
The current Garmin choices divide up mostly between the “DriveSmart” and “Drive” model lines. And then you’ve got to choose between 5, 6 or 7” screens.
DriveSmart
Though this is not Garmin’s top of the line, it’s more expensive than the Drive models. For sixty dollars more, you’re essentially getting:
Bluetooth hands-free calling
Voice Activate navigation
Pinch to zoom display
For my needs…
I already have a Bluetooth connection from my iPhone to my RAV4’s sound system.
Voice navigation sounds exceptionally cool, but I don’t believe it’s so agile that you can speak an entire address. I think it’s more like saying… “Gas Station!”
(If I’m wrong on that, someone please let me know…)
And pinch to zoom is also not a ‘must.’
Drive
The Drive model line hits the sweet spot for me.
The base 5” model is a ‘reasonable’ $129.99. For that…you’re getting all that you really need to get you where you’re going. You don’t have to ask it where the nearest cappuccino is!
(Though you can still tap in your restaurant urges.)
Lifetime Map and Traffic Alert Updates
Garmin also packages in some after-purchase subscription services into the pricing of their units. Where as once upon a time you had to buy your map updates or shell out more money each year for Garmin’s traffic-alert service, now you only have to pay a ‘little’ more when you buy the GPS.
I highly recommend you take advantage of this packaging.
The hard part is figuring out the acronyms attached to the model names.
Here’s how it works…
It’s Lifetime Maps and Traffic.
So LM = Lifetime Maps
And LMT = Lifetime Maps and Traffic
Okay, maybe that’s not so complicated!
Garmin Drive 50LMT
The last time around, I was wooed by some of the optional features and then didn’t end up using them.
So think about what you’ll actually use…
Considering all of above, the Garmin Drive 50LMT really stood out for me.
It doesn’t have the extras that may be ‘cutting edge,’ but I probably won’t use.
And it does come with the lifetime maps map updates and traffic.
Plus it’s got Foursquare functionality baked in to help my wife and me find a good restaurant for dinner when we’re driving back from a day trip.
This Garmin Drive sports a 5” screen, which is actually a tad larger than my old Nuvi’s 4.3” screen.
For an extra ten bucks, you can also get Canadian maps integrated into the unit’s memory.
(Can you say family road trip?!)
What’s not to like?
Click.
The Right Choice for Me
For those of you out there who still think I’m crazy for spending so much, remember the base Garmin Drive 50 model goes for only $129.99 on Amazon. No you don’t get any lifetime updates… but you’re if you’re into living in the moment, you’ll be in really good shape… for a while.
And don’t forget…“Lifetime” is a relative term in the technology world. It’s certainly not forever, but if you get three to four years out of it, I say you’re doing okay…
(My old Garmin lasted a lot longer than that.)
But other than the “LMT” upgrade, I think I held the line pretty well this time around.
“Best” doesn’t always mean having the “most.”
For me, this is the best Garmin GPS unit available today.
There’s a new teaser trailer online for the upcoming “Star Trek: Discovery” series. Over a million fans have already checked it out. Is the show ready for prime time? Uhhhh….
I’m a Star Trek fan, and I have been since I was seven years old. So it really pains me to say this…
But as a ‘Trekie,’ I think the first trailer for the new Star Trek series, “Star Trek: Discovery” is simply…well…
Granted, this first teaser trailer doesn’t reveal much except the new starship itself. So what could be so bad?
Here… take a look…
Where’s Scotty When You Need Him?
Yes… my problem is with the U.S.S. Discovery.
The new starship.
It looks like an ambitious fifth grader designed it on a Mac. All of the right parts are there, but the design is… well, kind of odd.
(I know… geek alert!!)
Sure the ship has the familiar saucer and two nacell warp-engine design. But it looks… rather boxy. Not sleek or elegant the way all of the ships in the Federation’s Starfleet have always looked.
(Both in the original ‘Prime’ universe as well as in J.J. Abram’s alternate timeline)
If this is a pre-Kirk era starship, (note the NCC-1031 on the saucer) that doesn’t mean the ship has to look like an old Volvo. The NX-01 starship of the doomed “Enterprise” UPN series (2001-2005) still looked pretty cool…
A Teaser is Supposed to Generate Excitement
Also, the footage looks like something out of a Star Trek fan film you can find on YouTube. It approximates the quality of a Hollywood-created starship, but the ship doesn’t feel ‘real’ at all. It’s clearly stuck in an animated universe.
Which isn’t so good considering the best-in-class special effects we’ve just been exposed to in Justin Lin’s “Star Trek Beyond.”
Granted, “Beyond” is a big budget movie, and we’re comparing it to something out of a TV series.
But for one minute, the special effects department can’t do a little better?!
(You only get one chance to make a first impression.)
Look… I get that the producers can’t give too much away, with “Beyond” being front and center right now.
But if you’re going to give up anything, please make it great!
Live Long and Prosper
I really don’t mean to bash “Star Trek: Discovery.” I want Star Trek in all its forms to succeed, and the truth is I’ve stuck with all of the incarnations my entire life.
Perhaps I’m smarting a little bit, because “Star Trek Beyond” isn’t doing that well at the box office. And I have to admit that (Spoiler Alert) there’s so much frenetic and confusing action, the film sometimes forgets it’s a Star Trek movie. Even with all the great special effects and Simon Pegg’s witty lines, you leave the theater feeling hungry for more.
So now that “Beyond” is behind us, the attention turns to “Discovery,” which premieres in January.
The Band’s Back Together
I’m thinking, “Guys, you’d better get this right!”
(The failure of “Enterprise” over ten years ago is still fresh in my mind.)
That said, I’m excited to see so many Star Trek A-List production alumni attached to the project….
Alex Kurtzman (co-writer of 2009’s “Star Trek” and “Into Darkness”), Bryan Fuller (“Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” writer), and Nicholas Meyer
(“The Wrath of Khan” writer and director)
That’s pretty exciting, right?
So why am I so cranky?
Because of a silly teaser trailer?
Exactly.
Discovery Will Not Be Free
Plus, I’m going to have to pay for the pleasure of watching this new series, as it will only be available on CBS All Access streaming at $5.99/month.
(Except for the series premiere, which will be distributed old school.)
So now if I’ve got to pay to watch your Star Trek series… then you’ve also got to show me the money!
This is Just a Test?!
All we really know about “Star Trek: Discovery” so far is that a poorly-designed starship likes to hang out in the middle of an asteroid space station. I’m hoping that it was just a concept piece to get the fans excited at Comic-Con.
There is one other little detail to pay attention to…
The title of the trailer
It’s “First Look – Test Flight of Star Trek’s U.S.S. Discovery.”
Test flight?
Huh.
Does that mean these are just test shots. Not the real deal?
Huh.
Does that mean I set my phaser to ‘severely angry’ for nothing?
I hope so.
Okay.
Red alert cancelled.
Deep down, I’m a believer.
Always have been.
I’ll try to be more patient as I wait again to “boldly go….”
At Home with Tech 