Make sure your new tech purchase fits in your plan
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[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]By Laura Haight, president, portfoliosc.com[/ezcol_2third_end]
Just how much computing power does any one person need? I ask this because I’m in the throes of trying to decide on either the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. The conversation I’m having with myself is somewhat similar to one I’ve had frequently over the last year about whether to buy an iPad Mini.
Although Apple devices are my preference, you could be struggling with this same quandary if you owned a Samsung, HTC or Fire Phone. OK, maybe not a Fire Phone.
To help frame this discussion, I took a fearless and honest inventory of my technology. I have a MacBook Air (13 inch), a Microsoft Surface Pro 3, a 13-inch Chromebook, an iPad Air and an iPhone 5. I’ve also got a 27-inch wide-screen monitor and a Bluetooth keyboard, so I can hook up any and all of these devices to “the big screen” and I can use a full keyboard with all of them.
Any of these computing devices – including my iPhone 5 – are more powerful than the supercomputers that enabled us to put a man on the moon and return him safely home. The computing power it takes to play a rousing game of Angry Birds would have been far beyond the reach of either the Apollo Guidance Computer or the Cray Supercomputer.
So how much is enough?
Obviously, you need a phone. But if you already have a mini tablet, buying an iPhone 6 Plus may be overkill. The difference in size between this new “phablet” and the iPad Mini is 2.4 inches and a modest increase in screen resolution (the 6 Plus is 1920 x 1080, the mini retina display is 2048 x 1536). And how many devices can you honestly expect to carry around?
What about the new “laplet”? Microsoft is trying to position the Surface Pro 3 as a legitimate alternative to the MacBook Air. Can an iPad Air make that same claim? I don’t think so. The iPad is definitely a tool for work as well as a great entertainment device, but it can’t do everything. Some really basic business functions aren’t intuitively possible on the iPad – like attaching a document to an email, for example.
Although Microsoft’s claims aren’t really apples to apples (that keyboard touch cover that you see in the commercials is an add-on), it does seem to fulfill the dual role better than the iPad or the Air can.
For ultimate mobility with minimal heft, the laplet coupled with a well-appointed, app-loaded phablet seem to cover all the bases. And save you room in your purse or briefbag.
With new devices in constant release, it is hard to resist the temptation to buy the coolest new tech. But it is important to make sure that new devices fill a void or bridge a gap in your tech plan – whether it is personal or professional.
Does size really matter? You bet it does. Applications are bigger and more complex; major OS releases can be huge, so you definitely want enough to keep your phone humming at least until the next major release. New data shows that fewer than 25 percent of potential iPhone 6 buyers will buy the 16 GB version. Most want the 64 GB variety. It’s not surprising since the new 6’s don’t come in a 32 GB version. You probably won’t keep your phone long enough to run out of space on the 64 GB version unless you store a lot of offline video and a pretty large music library.
