Tag: photos

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Amazon Prime: Is It For Me?

“10 to 14 days?!? I don’t have 10 to 14 days!!!”

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when an item you buy online with free shipping probably won’t get delivered before Christmas. So do you pay extra for the expedited shipping, or do you hope Uncle Larry is okay with getting his Indianapolis Colts Santa light-up hat a few days after Christmas?

If you do any of your shopping on Amazon (and who doesn’t?), you’ve surely seen the option in the checkout window for “FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime.” As you finish your Christmas shopping, it looks very tempting. (And you can actually try it free for 30 days, which might help you get those last gifts delivered on time.)

But Amazon Prime is actually a lot more than just free two-day shipping. What does it include? And most importantly, is it for you?

Pros

Amazon Prime logo
Amazon Prime checkmark logo (Image courtesy of amazon.com)

The first and most well-known benefit to Amazon Prime is free two-day shipping on countless items on the Amazon website. Not every item is eligible, but most are, and they’re clearly indicated with the Prime checkmark icon you can see here. If you’re used to waiting over a week to get a package, you’ll be amazed how quickly your packages from Amazon arrive (and frankly two-day shipping across the country is a logistical marvel).

If you own a Kindle, you’ll also have access to borrow from Amazon’s collection of over 500,000 Kindle ebooks.[1] You can borrow a book per month, with no due date. Once you return it, you can check out another next month. (There are ways to borrow Kindle books and other ebooks through your local library, as well.)

Amazon Prime also gets you access to stream unlimited movies and TV shows through Prime Instant Video. This is similar to Netflix, so there are some well-known titles and plenty of titles you’ve never heard of. Also, there’s some content overlap with Netflix, so be aware of that if you subscribe to Netflix.

In addition to on-demand video, a Prime subscription also gets you access to Prime Music, a service that gives you access to unlimited music without ads. This is very similar to Spotify, although with a much smaller selection of music (for now) and you do get the ability to download music for offline listening.

Need more? How about unlimited cloud storage for all your photos? Prime Photos is yet another service Amazon includes for all Prime members. It allows you to upload unlimited photos to an Amazon cloud storage account. Photos add up to a lot of storage space, especially if you take them with a smartphone. Storing them in the cloud allows you to access them from anywhere you have Internet access.

Cons

These many perks aren’t exactly free: Amazon Prime costs $99 per year (a recent price increase from $79). So as you consider the many benefits mentioned above, weigh them against the up-front cost to decide if Prime is worth purchasing for your family. This works out to $8.25 per month. In comparison, a standard subscription to Netflix costs $8.99 a month.

If you’re a student, you can get some of the great benefits of Amazon Prime free for six months, namely the free two-day shipping and unlimited photo storage. After that (or instead), you can get all the benefits of Amazon Prime for half-price ($49).

Ease of use

Amazon shipping boxes
Amazon shipping boxes (Photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Free two-day shipping is easy to take advantage of with Amazon Prime. Once you’ve signed up for Amazon Prime, just buy stuff like normal and choose free two-day shipping at checkout.

Kindle books, video, music, and photo storage will depend on your familiarity with similar services. Amazon has a very helpful support section of their website, and this can ease your transition as you learn the ropes of downloading ebooks, watching movies, etc.

Is it for me?

Amazon Prime might be great for you, if:

  • You frequently purchase from amazon.com
  • You would often watch movies or TV shows or listen to music through Amazon’s streaming services
  • You take lots of photos, and often run out of storage space
  • You own a Kindle

You should probably stay away from Amazon Prime, if: 

  • You rarely use amazon.com
  • When you shop online, you are fine with free shipping that takes longer than a week
  • You have little interest in Amazon Prime’s non-shipping perks

If you have Amazon Prime, what’s been your experience?

Do you have a topic you’d like to know more about? Let me know below. Thanks!

-Paul

1 – Kindle ebook borrowing only applies if you have a Kindle device. It won’t work with the Kindle app on an iOS or Android device.

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Google Chromebook: Is It For Me?

Welcome to the first of a recurring series here on my Making Technology Simpler blog: “Is It For Me?” I’ll explain a product or technology, then help you figure out if it meets your needs. This week’s subject is the Google Chromebook.

Chromebook laptops
Google Chromebooks (Photo courtesy of google.com)

Google Chromebooks are a series of inexpensive laptops with great battery life, strong integration with Google, and little maintenance needed.

Chromebooks use an operating system created by Google called Chrome OS…the whole operating system is basically the Chrome Internet browser that many people use on Windows and Mac computers. The computer hardware is made by companies like Acer and HP.

Pros

Here’s another thing that makes Chromebooks unique among laptops: the whole operating system is designed to be used with Internet access, and the hard drive in the computer is tiny.

Google intended for these computers to be used in conjunction with Google’s cloud storage, so photos will need to be stored in Google+ and documents stored in Google Drive. (I wrote about cloud storage here.) With everything stored in the cloud, there’s no need for a big hard drive. The benefit of this is the computer will boot up very quickly.

This reliance on cloud storage has a couple other ramifications. On the positive side, no data backups are needed, since almost everything is in Google’s cloud. And once the computer needs to be replaced, you can sign into your next Chromebook with your Google account, and all your emails, documents, etc. will be available immediately. No file transferring necessary.

Cons

On the flip side, you will be limited in what your Chromebook can do without Internet access. You can do some document creation, for example, and the document will save to Google Drive when you connect to the Internet again. Internet access is becoming more widespread, however, and some Chromebooks will allow you to also connect to a 4G network through a carrier like T-Mobile.

Because almost everything you do on a Chromebook involves Internet access, the speed of the computer itself will be heavily influenced by the speed of your Internet connection. If you regularly use a slow connection, be prepared to pay for faster speeds to really enjoy a speedy Chromebook experience.

The other main limitation of Chromebooks is that you can’t install PC or Mac programs on it. So if you really need the full version of Microsoft Office or some specialized accounting program for your work, a Chromebook isn’t for you (unless it’s as a secondary computer). You’re limited to using Google’s apps and others available through the Chrome web store.

Ease of use

Chromebooks are low maintenance devices, partly because they update automatically and Google says they’re very secure and have no need for antivirus software.

Setup is also easy, to the degree that you’re already part of Google’s services. If you already use Google for email, documents, photos, and music, your new Chromebook will be ready to go as soon as you open it and sign in with your Google account.

If you use iTunes for your music and store documents or photos on your current computer, you’ll want to transfer all of it to Google’s appropriate online service before you make the switch to a Chromebook. (And if you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod, know that they won’t sync with music on your Chromebook.)

Remember, third-party apps like iTunes or Microsoft Office can’t be installed on a Chromebook. So you’ll need to use a Google service or a third-party service that can be accessed online (such as Pandora for music streaming or the online version of Microsoft Office).

Is it for me?

A Chromebook might be great for you, if:

  • You use Google for all of your email, documents, photos, media, and calendar (or are willing to move all those things to Google)
  • You have Internet access almost all the time
  • You need a very portable computer with a battery that lasts all day
  • A low up-front cost is important to you

You should probably stay away from a Chromebook, if:

  • You need an application that only runs on a PC or Mac, like Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Office, or iTunes
  • You prefer to store your documents, photos, or media locally (i.e. on your computer’s hard drive)
  • Your computer needs to handle intense tasks, like games or video editing

Have you seen or heard about another device or technology that’s made you ask, “Is it for me?” Let me know below, and I’ll write about it soon.

-Paul

 

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Cloud storage explained

10 years ago, if you mentioned “the cloud” to me I would have looked up at the sky. If that’s your first reaction to the phrase, don’t worry! “The cloud” is one of the most-used and least-explained tech terms right now. Let’s put it in plain English.

What is cloud storage?

Since computers were invented, data has been stored on physical media (punch cards, floppy disks, thumb drives, etc.). When you want to transfer data from one computer to another, you physically carry your storage media from one computer to the other.

For example, I start writing a report on my work computer, save it to a thumb drive, and then plug the thumb drive into my computer at home to finish editing the report. That’s how most of us are used to doing things.

Cloud storage
This is what “the cloud” might look like — if it were an actual cloud. (But really, this is a pretty good illustration of how data is stored in a remote location and can be accessed by multiple devices.)

When people refer to “the cloud,” what they generally are talking about is data being stored in a server (i.e. a specialized computer) that’s connected to the Internet. This means any computer connected to the Internet can have access to that data, even at the same time.

So in practice, I would start my report at work, save it to the cloud, then log in and edit it from my home computer. When I’m finished, I can download a copy to store it on my computer if I want. Notice that in this situation I don’t have to physically carry anything home with me. The document is stored on a hard drive that’s connected to the Internet, and the hard drive is owned and maintained by the company providing the service (such as Dropbox).

Benefits of cloud storage

Cloud storage has been exploding in popularity. The services that are most well-known include Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft’s OneDrive, and Apple’s iCloud Drive. (I’ll compare these in detail next week to help you figure out which might work best for you.)

Google, in fact, makes a line of inexpensive computers (Chromebooks) with relatively tiny hard drives, specifically because they expect that users will store almost all their data on Google Drive.

As I mentioned, I can download or edit my document in the cloud from any computer with Internet access. I can give other people permission to access it, also from any computer with Internet access.

Google Drive collaboration
Joe, Min Lee, and Mario editing a document at the same time, from different locations (in Google Drive)

This allows for another major benefit of cloud storage: multiple people can edit a document at the same time, collaborating in real time and seeing each other’s changes as they happen.

Until now, I’ve been discussing cloud storage in relation to computers. Perhaps you’re thinking, Why shouldn’t I just use a thumb drive? Every computer has a USB port.

That’s true, but more and more people are creating and using data on devices like smartphones (taking photos, for example). Many of these portable devices don’t have USB ports, so cloud storage allows people to access and share data much more easily than they would otherwise.

For example, if I kept all my photos on my phone, it would quickly run out of storage space. But if I upload the photos to a cloud storage service, I can access all of them anytime my phone has Internet access. Plus, I can also view them from any other device I use.

Are you starting to see the benefits?

Disadvantages of cloud storage

Of course, there are downsides to cloud storage compared to saving your stuff on your hard drive. Let’s touch on the main ones.

First, and this is the one that keeps me from using cloud storage more, most companies that offer cloud storage charge a monthly or yearly subscription. The cost depends on how much storage space you choose. Typically a small amount of storage is free, such as 5GB on iCloud Drive. This is enough space for a lot of text documents. But if you add in music or photos, that space will be eaten up quickly. And then you’ll pay for the higher storage amounts. (Again, I’ll give more details next week.)

Thumb drives and external hard drives aren’t free either, and you’ll have to weigh the upfront cost of buying that type of storage compared to the subscription cost of cloud storage. I’ve become very used to having my files stored in a drive I physically own, and it’s hard to get used to the idea of paying regularly for the storage.

Second, data you store in the cloud is physically stored in some remote location, not on your desk. This means you’re trusting that your data will be available when you want and won’t just disappear. Also, it means that someone can potentially hack into your account and steal your files.

For the record, I bet every cloud storage company backs up their customers’ data better than you back up your own computer. As for hackers, it seems that hacking situations are caused more often by people using easy-to-guess passwords or reusing passwords from other accounts, than by companies using poor security on their end.

Either way, I wouldn’t  keep personal/confidential files in cloud storage, and I would make sure that my most important files are also stored on a hard drive I own.

Third, data stored in the cloud is only accessible to you when you have Internet access. Internet access is growing, and some devices like smartphones are connected even when you travel. But keep in mind that what you put in the cloud can only be accessed when your device is Internet-connected.

You should use cloud storage, but which provider?

I think cloud storage will continue to be used even more often in the future. It will be especially helpful for those who own multiple devices and want to share files between them.

I’ll help break down the differences between the major cloud storage providers in next week’s post, so stay tuned! Until then, I hope this overview helped you understand what exactly cloud storage is. If you have any questions about it, please ask them below. I’d love to hear from you!

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Do you need that much smartphone data?

Smartphone in use
How much data does your smartphone actually need?

If you have a smartphone, you probably know that your data plan is a big chunk of your monthly bill. But when was the last time you checked how much data you actually use? Are you paying for more data than you need?

What is data usage?

Data usage on a mobile device (most often a smartphone or tablet) is simply all information that is sent from or received by the device. (The exception is phone calls and text messages, which are counted separately from data.)

This includes text (emails, websites, etc.), audio (downloading songs, listening to online radio stations, etc.), video (watching Netflix, downloading a movie, etc.), and other uses (such as GPS navigation or downloading and using certain apps).

Here’s a good way to check what activities use data: put your phone in airplane mode. That way it can’t access any data at all. Certain functions will still work, like viewing photos you’ve taken on your phone. If a certain app or activity won’t work on airplane mode, then it needs access to data to work.

How much data do I use?

Now that you have an idea of what activities use data on your phone, you’ll want to find out how much data you’ve actually used in the past. Your monthly bill may show that, or you may have to log in to your phone carrier’s website.

Remember that many phone plans these days have begun counting shared data among all the devices on the plan. So if you have family members with smartphones, their data will also be counted toward the monthly limit.[1]

If you’re wanting to instead get an idea of what your data plan could be, or you want to know what activities use more data, check out one of these data calculators from the four major carriers. Pay attention to whether you are inputting monthly or daily usage for each site.

NOTE: data usage is the same regardless of which carrier you use,[2] so you don’t have to just use the calculator from your carrier. Feel free to try multiple ones; one might be more helpful than the others.

How can I limit my data usage?

If you’re interested in using less mobile data, I’ve got a couple of tips for you.

– Remember that different activities use very different amounts of data (as shown by the data calculators above). Downloading mainly text, such as emails, uses a tiny amount of data. You could check email all day long and not come close to your limit.

Sending/receiving photos (such as uploading a photo to Facebook or sending as an attachment) uses more data. Streaming[3] audio uses still more, and streaming video uses the most data of all. This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy those activities, but it helps to know the next tip.

– Use Wi-Fi when possible. Data that your phone uses when connected to a Wi-Fi network (such as in your home) does NOT count against your data limit. So if you’re at home and your phone is connected to your home Wi-Fi network, stream all the music you want and download app updates at the same time; none of it will count against your total.

You will want to go into your phone’s settings and make sure that your phone is set to automatically connect to Wi-Fi networks it has previously used.[4] Also, check the status bar at the top of the screen to make sure that you see the Wi-Fi symbol before you start data-heavy activities. Below you can see it on Android and iPhone, marked with a green circle.

Android Wi-Fi symbol
Android phone with Wi-Fi connected (Photo courtesy of androidiani.com)
iPhone Wi-Fi symbols
iOS 6 (left) and iOS 7 (right) with Wi-Fi connected (Photo courtesy of extreme tech.com)

– Restrict apps’ access to cellular data. When you’re not connected to a Wi-Fi network, your data usage is considered cellular data, and counts toward your limit. You can restrict your phone from using certain cellular data.

Apple has made this very easy starting with iOS 7. You can tell your iPhone or just particular apps to only use data when connected to Wi-Fi. Apple has a customer support page explaining this.

As far as I’m aware, Android only allows you to limit data used in the background (explained here). This prevents an app to use mobile data unless you actually open it. The newest Android version also has nice visual charts of data usage.

Taking action

Now that you know data isn’t counted against you when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, are there changes you would make when filling out the data calculators above? If you save your data-intensive activities for when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, you may be able to use far less cellular data than you first thought. Maybe you can even downgrade to a less expensive data plan!

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Do you enjoy reading this blog? If so, I’d love to hear from you! (If you’ve read this far but don’t enjoy it, I’d be glad to hear your thoughts, too.)

What topics do you want to learn about?

1 – Your total may be counted in gigabytes (GB), and lowest data tier from most providers is about 1GB. If your total shows up in megabytes (MB), remember that 1,024 MB equals 1 GB.
2 – T-Mobile recently announced that their customers can stream music through certain apps without affecting their data usage. That’s the only situation I see where data usage would be counted differently among the carriers.
3 – Streaming means watching or listening to something in real time, such as music on Pandora or video on Netflix or YouTube. The opposite would be downloading the audio or video file to your device, and then watching it. Both options use data, but more and more often people are consuming music, movies, etc. on-the-go by streaming them rather than downloading them.
4 – Keep in mind that you shouldn’t do any sensitive activity (such as online banking or sending confidential information) unless you are on a Wi-Fi network with a secure log in and that you trust. Not McDonald’s free Wi-Fi!

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