While I’m the CTO of the Zatz household, my wife Melissa is also capable of making tech purchasing decisions… and living with the consequences. What follows is her realization that one gadget doesn’t fit all.
Dave’s pattern of flipping gadgets must be contagious because I’ve caught the bug! More importantly, I’ve inherited his appreciation (or lack thereof) of a gadget’s usability and functionality. As such, technology is frequently coming and going in our home.
A year ago I wrote about swapping my iPad 3 for the new iPad Mini. At the time I wanted a smaller device that I could more comfortably handle when lounging around; a gadget I could use for mundane web browsing and video streaming. But, the Mini and I had a short lived love affair as I quickly starting yearning for something sexier. The lack of retina display was hard to get used to and I never adjusted to the fonts. Having to constantly pinch and zoom the screen became annoying. My $330 toy started collecting dust.
My iPhone became my “go to” device when doing non work-related web browsing. But as close to perfect as the iPhone is, size does matter! I was missing a larger screen. A larger screen that I could still easily hold without needing a stand or case. When the iPad Mini retina display launched earlier this year I was tempted to buy one. I’m a loyal Apple fan who loves their sleekness and simplicity. But, I didn’t want to indulge myself by purchasing the new model knowing that I would likely want something new sometime soon! Yup, I’m a true Zatz!
When we got up Sunday morning, Dave read that the Kindle Fire HDX was on sale at Best Buy for $200 and convinced me I needed one (this man spoils me rotten!). A few hours later I became a happy first time Kindle owner. At the reasonable price point I know I won’t feel guilty when I decide to flip it….sooner or later
And that is the main point here. There is an abundance of tech options to meet different budgets and user experience preferences for novices like myself or the brilliant minded gadget gurus like Dave. Getting a lower priced tablet made sense for me considering it is a toy. A toy I casually and sporadically play with throughout the week (unlike my $650 iPhone 5s which serves as my phone, GPS, internet-on-the-go, and camera on a daily basis).
I’ve played with the HDX for about 48 hours now and it has been a fun user experience thus far. Although I feel like I’m cheating on a spouse, I’m kind of enjoying becoming familiar with a new ecosystem. The HDX is sized similarly to my previous first gen Mini; however, the font and overall display seem friendlier on my eyes. I’m enjoying the 7” screen once again and don’t miss the text-message interruptions I frequently experienced when using my phone to browse the web. Dave and I briefly checked out video streaming which looked crisp and sharp. I’m looking forward to actually using the HDX as an e-reader instead of the Kindle app on my iPhone during some upcoming trips.
Thanks to Dave I’ve definitely gained a deeper appreciation for technology. This also means my frustration levels and desire for that perfect product have increased as well. Until and if that time comes, when that perfectly spec-ed and sized gadget appears, I’m going to continue having fun flipping them!