One of the great frustrations with the iPad was that although it should have been a great blogging tool, between the limitations of available software and input processes, it just wasn’t. (See An Ideal Blogging Platform for my reflections after a couple of months of iPad ownership.)
The 10″ Note addresses all of those weaknesses, and may well become not only a primary content consumption device but also a primary platform for content creation. The available software is just better: I am writing this with the free WordPress apply for Android which just works, where the iPad version was very frustrating. Text input is quick with SwiftKey, I can multi-task with Chrome to look up previous posts, and I can easily find and add content from other sources, always a challenge in iOS land. This post has taken about 20 minutes, entirely on the Note.
I’d also like to bring your attention to a great app from Google called Currents. This takes RSS or similar feeds and turns them dynamically into an attractive “on-line magazine”. It works brilliantly with photo-rich feeds such as the photography blogs I read. Here’s what it does with “Thoughts on the World”:

I didn’t have to do anything with my existing feed to get this result. Currents doesn’t work in every case – if a blog starts every post with the same boring advert then it doesn’t have much to work with – but the hit rate is quite high. It is could also do with a way to mark items as read, which is a major omission. However overall Google seem to have another hit, and currently it’s free.
Blogs away!
As the iPad had reached 2 years old, without ever really ceasing to be a regular source of frustration, and as I’ve been very impressed with the Galaxy Note phone, last week I bit the bullet and purchased the iPad’s Continue reading →
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 in
Galaxy Note,
iPad
Day 15 Cold night. Perfect storm of badly fitted hotel windows, unusably noisy heater and no spare blanket. I haven’t been that cold since a night in the lodge at the top of the Tioga Pass. The Best Western Rio Continue reading →
Sunday, November 11, 2012 in
Travel,
USA 2012
Day 13 4.30 start for the Balloon Fiesta! Sleep punctuated by police sirens (understandable in a large city) and train whistles (nope). We’d just got settled at the park, and Albuquerque had the most dramatic thunderstorm. Balloons and wind don’t Continue reading →
Saturday, November 10, 2012 in
Travel,
USA 2012
Day 12 Looking for hairdryer in Taos hotel found secret stash of MORE pillows!!! After a couple of hours browsing in Taos we set off for Santa Fe via the famous “High Road to Taos”. First stop, the church of Continue reading →
Saturday, November 3, 2012 in
Travel,
USA 2012
Day 11 Up at dawn to try and get golden hour light on the dunes – they are in shadow themselves in the evening. Lodge has world’s most powerful tap in world’s smallest basin. Oh well… Irish contingent dressed in Continue reading →
Day 10 Drove East from Durango through the Rockies. Another almost 11,000 ft pass, but roads not as interesting as yesterday . At coffee stop we were almost forced to purchase two enormous slices of pie, of which more later. Continue reading →
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 in
Travel,
USA 2012
Day 9 A very pretty steam train runs from Durango up to the mountain mining town of Silverton, 50 miles and 3,000 vertical feet away. You can spend a pleasant day on the return train trip, but the problem is Continue reading →
Apparently this goes back to the notorious spare poultry dumping incident of ’06… 😀 Continue reading →
Day 8 Spent the morning wandering around Durango, then set off for Aztec, 30 miles south, which hosts what must be the world’s most unlikely Highland games. Spent the afternoon watching very large Americans with some Celtic heritage throwing tree Continue reading →
Just in case you can’t picture Mesa Verde, here’s a more traditional shot of Cliff Palace, with Frances behind the lens this time! Continue reading →
Monday, October 29, 2012 in
Travel,
USA 2012