I just marked a thousand items in my Google Reader as “read” so I’m pretty useless for political blogging until I catch up from vacation. Instead, some tech dorkery.
In case you missed it, Google announced a new 7″ tablet called the Nexus 7 at the end of last month and I ordered one the day after it was announced. The reason is that I travel with three devices: a laptop, a 3rd Generation Kindle and a Galaxy Nexus smartphone. I carry the laptop to do work (software development) that isn’t really suited for an iPad-type device. I just couldn’t justify the expense and, more importantly, the size of an iPad for the amount of use it would get, so I’ve been getting by with a mix of using my smartphone and Kindle for reading or quick checks of web sites.
A device that is a few millimeters thicker and a few ounces heavier than a Kindle is a no-brainer for me but, until now, the 7″ tablets on the market have been expensive and/or slow. This one is cheap ($200) and fast. It’s also a hell of a bargain because Google is selling them at cost to push Android adoption on tablets.
There are rumors that Apple is going to create a device like this (“iPad mini”). I would be surprised if they don’t, because between the mediocre-but-cheap-and-widely-used Kindle Fire, the Nexus 7, and the new Kindle that will be coming out soon, there are going to be some good, cheap 7″ tablets out there that will be purchased instead of iPads come Christmas.