device

hello there


every now and then, look you see, one is obliged to adopt the ways of the times. it would however be incorrect to assume that the current is a progression, for what is popular or the norm now could in fact be more of a regression than it is an advanced development.

this, to me, is true of all this "touch screen" portable wireless telephone business, or if you like mobile phones. for some reason the world has been, at large at the least, convinced that "touchscreen" devices are better than ones with buttons. they are not, and have only come in as a consequence of the erratic mind of one Steve Jobs not liking buttons. if touch screens really were all that brilliant, then everyone would have had a touchscreen monitor for their PC and embraced Windows 8.

anyway, the purpose of that rant was very much down to the fact that i required a new phone and, due to the widespread adoption of this "touchscreen" nonsense, i've had little choice but to get a button free one.

indeed that is my shiny (ish) new touchscreen phone next to my very much loved but now no longer possible to keep going blackberry phone. that's blackberry with buttons, of course.

what sort of phone have i got? an LG one which runs on something called "Android". the model number is the K8 i believe, at least that's what it says on the box. the price was rather good, and the reviews of it suggested it would do what i want it to. which is not much, but more than what my blackberry will be able to as of the end of this year.

the main thing that i want and need a phone to do is use that "WhatsApp" or however you say it messaging function. as it relies on data to send messages it is the cheapest and easiest way to stay in touch with friends and family around the world. that bloke who owns WhatsApp, him off of the face book thing, has however decided to terminate - with extreme prejudice - the ability to use it on blackberry devices as of New Year's Eve this very year. 

on top of this, my blackberry had somewhat come to an end of its natural lifespan. all too often it was cutting out and resetting when i was making calls or writing (as in properly typing) messages. time for a change, then, and so this LG K8 seemed to be the win. especially as the nice people at the shop gave me an unrequested but all the same very welcome 20% or so discount on what was already a reasonable fee.

beyond the keyboard one thing that i shall miss off of my blackberry was the wallpaper i had. here it is, then, preserved on this blog for however long blogs are allowed to exist on the internet. and considering this one has been going for some 11 or so years i would get quite upset if there was some sort of shelf life.

that is indeed the boys on a summer day in a field during a fine African summer. when? i would suggest late 2012. that's an Emirates blanket which young William has fashioned into a cape, and so it must be after we used that airline to come to England for a holiday so that my (considerably) better half and i could bear witness to The Stone Roses at Heaton Park.

rather than whining about all this touchscreen business and lamenting the loss of my blackberry i suppose i should try and post some helpful comments about the LG K8. this would be on the off chance of someone, for some reason, determining moi to be a valid source of such information.

will do, then, but first this.......

that's 5 blu ray discs i got off of HMV for a grand total of £30. something of an "accidental" investment. we, as a family, were in HMV for an entirely unrelated to blu ray reason when i spotted Videodrome as part of their offering for that number of discs at the price paid. i had a look around and, as you can see fairly clearly, i soon found four smart titles to buy with the one which caught my eye.

so, the LG K8. most splendid,.i have to say. whereas i have not used it for much beyond messaging, one impressive feature is the battery. not only can you take it out and change it for another one, it seems to last a fair while. i know Apple devices and i believe Samsung ones tend to need charging once a day as a minimum. i've not let it run down all the way, but so far it seems it will retain a charge for well over a day, possibly two.

what's the camera like? quite smart, i suppose. i think one side is a 5MP camera and the other side is a 3MP, but also one might be 8MP and the other 5MP. in either instance, the quality is quite smart, as you can hopefully sort of see in this, the very first picture what i took with it.

indeed, that is my (considerably) better half and i, and this was taken with the "face" camera, as in the one which is on the side of the phone where the display screen is. a 720p (or whatever) HD screen, which is 5" or five inch if you prefer in side.

the second picture what i took with it was with the back camera, or if you like the one on the outer, normally facing away from you side of the phone. it's the camera with the more MP on it, and the picture i took is this one, so that it may serve as a new wallpaper or background on my phone.

yes, indeed, a closer look at the magnificent Bowie portrait what my (considerably) better half did, to mention her for a third time in this post, for my birthday is the "lock" screen background wallpaper on my shiny new phone.

now then, the "biggie" in terms of my problems with all this touchscreen stuff. the ability to write messages without being able to actually type. the bigger screen area and the better "virtual keyboard" on this device means that i can do it a lot easier than on the Apple phone what Spiros gave me. this is splendid, but it's still not as easy to type a proper message on it as was the case with a proper keyboard.

hey ho, the world is not going back to actual keyboards on phones any time soon, i suppose, so i'd better just keep practising and get used to it all.

a, for scale, look at the new phone next to 20% of the blu ray discs i got off of HMV? sure.

yeah, that probably is my second favourite of the blu ray discs i got, just ever so slightly behind the magnificence of Videodrome.

well, there you have it. win if anyone out there was looking for info on the LG K8. i've had it going for a week or so now, and no regrets. just the obvious sadness at not being able to type properly.

anyway, more as and when it happens, as it were.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!