So, I’ve taken the plunge and pre-ordered a Google Nexus 7 – the new 7inch tablet from Google, made by hardware manufacturer Asus. You can find a detailed review here, that’s one of the more objective reviews I’ve read so far.

Nexus 7

 

One key point about the Nexus, and applicable to other tablets like the Kindle Fire and iPads of this world, is the lack of expandable storage. For the Nexus 7 you can either have 8GB or 16GB, no more. Take it or leave it. Why is that you might ask?

Many think it is a deliberate strategy by these organisations to (not so gently) push people to use the ubiquitous Cloud based services, in particular the use of storage & streaming online. These services require an ‘always-online’ mode of operation, so wherever you are in your personal world, the kitchen, the garden, the garage, on public transport, in the office, walking home – it is expected that you are continuously ON-line.

Doesn’t help then that the Google Nexus Tablet DOES NOT have 3G or 4G! Online-all-the-time goes out of the window, now you need WiFi connectivity on the move. Something still lacking in most of Western 3GEurope never mind the rest of the digital world. For those other tablet devices that are ‘G’ capable, coverage is hit and miss and totally depends where you are and what kind of building/moving transport you are in.

That throws out the online storage idea. Kills it a bit. How many of you would still like to keep the data you need, audio/video/documents, stored locally on the document for instant access…show of hands please? Yup, thought so. All of you. Until we get a world where it all works, which is still a way off, local storage is KING!

Here’s an example, I use a service called Producteev. Excellent task management tool, one of the best fits I could find for the way I work (OmniFocus is what I really want, but i don’t own an Apple device sadly 🙁 ). However just one problem, it’s only available if I am online.

I can access it from any Internet connected device or via an iPhone & Android App. Neither has an offline mode, you’re challenged to login before doing anything. There doesn’t seem to be any plans to offer an offline mode that can sync back when next online, although some forum members suggest using another tool (Astrid for Android) that allows you to do something about it – but not ideal as it is a separate tool, not an integration.

My point being how many other ‘apps’ behave like this? Probably lots. Anything you are expected to stream online, music or video, will behave like this. Often no offline capability, and where there is offline store allowed the choice is often limited due to the local storage limit that cannot be expanded on the device you are using.

Which brings me back to my Google Nexus 7. It is a HD device and a single HD movie will eat up over 20% of 8GB. Of course I pre-ordered the 16GB version. After all I only own 10 HD movies!

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