Technofail

[darkemeralds]

OMG

I was just writing up a rant about the complete technofail of my Android tablet-for-which-I-paid-too-much. I was gonna rage against T-Mobile, and Google, and Android, and the stupid fucking DRM fail that makes it impossible for me to use streaming Netflix on this otherwise perfect-for-lying-in-bed-and-watching-shows device.

(That part's still true. And also? Netflix's streaming TV show selection sucks. Really a lot.)

But that was then. And now: TV show! On my tablet!

Here's what I had to do:

1. Install an FTP client app (SwiFTP) on my tablet
2. Install an FTP client on my Ubuntu laptop
3. Acquire the TV show from sources that stupid fucking DRM limitations will drive me to despite not only my willingness to pay Netflix money, but my actually paying Netflix money, speaking of wasting money
4. Transfer the acquisition, with a vast amount of fiddle-farting around, to my tablet, via FTP
5. Get an app on my tablet that can play said .avi file

This was after trying all kinds of tricks to get my laptop to recognize and give me access to my tablet via a regular old USB cable. Total fail. I overtaxed my geek limitations after about an hour of command-line mumbo-jumbo that didn't work.

Why didn't it work? As far as I can tell because either T-Mobile or LG sent out an un-refusable system update that broke that functionality.

But hey. TV show. On my tablet! Via a workaround that was time-consuming, extremely annoying, mentally taxing, and mostly not very legal.

PS: The show is "Community," which was highly recommended by ravurian. He said it was LOL funny, and let me tell you, after an evening of utterly frustrating geekery, I could use a laugh.

Comments

[darkemeralds]

It made me kind of twitchy to think about a table-style device that can't connect to Google Maps (for instance), and is probably significantly blocked from other things on the wider web.

From the first time I used a PDA, I've had this dream of a full-service computer with a phone in it, that can fit in a purse or large pocket. (That, or a body-mounted one with a micro-screen on an eyepiece--you known, whatever.) It's not that I mind paying for what I get--obviously, I'm a bit profligate that way--it's that I don't want to carry multiple devices around.

I think I'm beginning to accept and realize that multiple devices will be the future, however. And I guess if they're thin enough, light enough, and cheap enough, I'll get over it.

[writerscramp]

The new Kobo Vox is coming out and might be a good alternative to the Kindle Fire. Dear Author has a nice side-by-side comparison of the two, as well as the Nook Color:

http://dearauthor-com.livejournal.com/1570151.html

I don't like that the Kindle Fire is locked into Amazon; having the Vox as a fully open Android OS is smart, smart, smart.

[darkemeralds]

Wow, the Vox compares very favorably, doesn't it? I'll keep an eye on that one.

Thanks for the tip!