the samsung galaxy s7 – it may be pretty, but i’ll stick with apple

Just like all their competitors, including Apple, Samsung released the next iteration in their Galaxy series, the S7 and S7 Edge. There’s so much hype surrounding this release I’ll let you use Google to read all about it, if you haven’t been overwhelmed at whatever news source you frequent already. Although I switched to an Apple iPhone 6S Plus back in November, the Galaxy is still interesting enough to pay attention to. Here’s what I’ve noticed so far.

• The S7/S7 Edge have micro SDHC card capability again. My Galaxy S4 had it and I used it as well as Android 4.4 and Android 5 would allow, which wasn’t much. Google really screwed over users when they restricted external SDHC card usage as much as they did. That negative change was the first big push away from Android and Samsung and towards Apple. Fortunately for those who’ve stuck it out, Android 6 is supposed to make external storage devices like micro SDHC cards look like part of the overall storage pool. I have no details how that works as the only Android 6 devices I still own and use are a pair of 2013 Nexus 7 tablets. Of course, with the 128GB of device storage on my iPhone 6S Plus, the need for a piddly external micro SDHC device is pretty much eliminated. I’ve yet to read of an S7 being offered with 128GB.
• The S7/S7 Edge are dust and water proof – again. The S5 (or at least the S5 Active) was dust and water proof, but the S6 wasn’t. No explanation about why that critical feature was dropped when the S6/S6 Edge were released, except perhaps Samsung spent so much time on making the S6 pretty they must have run out of time making it physically robust. The iPhone 6s Plus is reasonably water resistant (as reported here by Wired), so that was a big fat positive feature for me. Another reason to move to Apple.
• The S7/S7 Edge are coming out of the chute with the latest version of Android, 6.0.1. That’s nice, considering that past Galaxies have been first released with older Android releases, and it took Samsung a very long time to release more up-to-date versions of their cooked version of Android. I have no idea how quickly Samsung will now follow Google when Google releases newer versions of Android going forward. Ideally Samsung’s release would be the same day as an Android update is announced, much as what Apple does when it announces a new release of iOS. I got tired of waiting not for major feature releases of Android on my Galaxy S4, but critical bug fixes that Google would announce. Part of the problem of timely updates is Samsung itself, part of the problem is AT&T. When I finally bought my iPhone, I did so knowing full well that even though AT&T is my provider, they don’t get in the way of Apple pushing out iOS updates.

The S7/S7 Edge look very pretty to be sure. And with the latest processor and support for even faster graphics, the S7 appears poised to make some spectacular mobile gaming possible. They even have a tie-in with virtual reality via Oculus; that’s one reason why pre-orders will get free VR headgear.

All exciting to be sure. But there’s one feature that nobody is mentioning that has my attention at the moment, and that’s on-device encryption. Apple is in a brutal battle with the DoJ, where the D0J wants Apple to create a backdoor into iOS in order to get the contents of a specific iPhone 5C used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. I believe in what Apple has done so far with iOS encryption on all its mobile devices, especially fighting incredible government overreach, enough to put my hard-earned money into buying Apple hardware. And it will stay that way, regardless of how pretty the latest Samsung phones are (or any other Android phone for that matter). Hopefully I won’t have to eat these words later, but I trust Apple to do the right thing on this important issue. That same level of trust is totally lacking with all Android handset providers, especially where AT&T is directly involved.

I made my switch to Apple back in November. I have no intentions of switching away.

the little things you miss, like easily getting into a car

I own a perl white 2012 Prius. You know, the Real Prius, not not one of the newer designs Toyota came out with that same model year. Since my operation I’ve been totally dependent upon my wife to drive me around in my Prius to where-ever I need to be. Driving for me is out of the question because I can’t yet flex my right leg enough to handle both the brake and accelerator pedals. So I’m forced by circumstances to ride shotgun.

Before this I never thought twice about getting into a car on either side. I just opened the door and slide inside and closed the door after me. A few seconds of activity. Easy-peasy as they say.

But with this leg in the shape it’s currently in I’ve had to learn a whole different way of getting into the shotgun side of the car. Keep in mind I’m 6 feet 4 inches tall.

1. Open the right front passenger door.
2. Make sure the right front passenger seat is as far back as possible.
3. Make sure the back is at a 45 degree angle, not upright.
4. Stand with both feet close to the open door essentially facing the driver’s side.
5. Reach down and in and hold the top of the seat near the headrest.
6. Lift up the right leg and put it in first, as far into the front as possible.
7. Duck the head further down and into the doorway and pull the body over the seat.
8. At the same time pull my left leg in after, flexing it so that I can then rotate 90 degrees from facing the drivers seat to facing forward where I can sit in the shotgun seat.
9. At this point, once seated, reach back out and pull the door close.

Trying to get in the old way, left leg first, was a no-go as I couldn’t bend my right leg far enough to clear the door. After having practiced this since last Thursday when I to see the surgeon and imaging people, I’ve gotten to where I’m just as fast this was as with the old way. Which means that I can at least be driven to where I need to go for the next week. In the mean time I’m working on my at-home PT to get that flexibility back in that right leg. I’ve got to get back to where I can safely drive again.