Recently , I realized it was time to interchange my old iPad 2 . It ’s probably the most perfect opus of technology I ’ve ever owned — my e - reader , play console table , word processor , music studio , photographic camera - in - a - pinch , radio receiver , emailer , calendar , and constant companion — but two years of heavy use have fill their bell : The bezel is cracked and broken in one corner , and the screen is covered in scratches . clock time for a unexampled tablet .
What surprise me upon making that determination , though , was the first question that popped into my head : Should that tablet be a Nexus 7 ?
It matt-up like heresy . Understand : Like most of you , I ’m an Apple devotee . My phone is an iPhone , my laptop computer is a MacBook Air , and my home has more than its share of iPods , along with an original iPad , sitting around . I bought a Windows netbook a few years back , but finally discarded it in a fit of furor . My loyalties are pretty launch .
So why consider the Nexus 7 ? Well , for one affair , I ’m tinny . Google ’s $ 200 asking price for the basic interpretation of its lozenge is a lot less money than the the $ 329 I ’d pay for the cheap unexampled iPad mini usable from Apple .
But there ’s also my rise good sense that , for the first clip in a tenacious clip , Apple is n’t swosh the theater of operations . I ca n’t aid but find that other Apple fans are more and more unresolved — if not whole carry by — other options . My pal Lex Friedman has been prove out a Windows Phone , albeit with mixed event . And Macworld of late brought you the epic fib of Andy Inhatko ’s conversion from the iPhone to Galaxy S III . The respite of the industry is catching up , correct ? One ca n’t be too valued about one ’s loyalties .
Tight race
It ’s a crocked race , but the Nexus 7 had a couple of advantages over its competitor .
One of those things , for this Apple user at least , is novelty : I ’ve used iOS sailing — and its words after row of app icons — for so long that it now seems musty . ( John Gruber argues , alternatively , thatthe simplicity of the pattern is a relief to userswho are otherwise intimidated by computers . )
link 7 — with its Android 4.2 operating system of rules — allows a level of customization that makes your tab feel like your tablet , or else of Apple ’s . It set aside you to create business relationship for multiple users ( handy in a family setting ) , and also offers the ability to adjust the experience through “ quick configurations ” and the use of widgets on the lock CRT screen . The Nexus 7 is also somewhat handier at quick communication , letting you respond like a shot to messages from within its adaptation of Notification Center , rather of requiring you to open up up your email or social networking app to bug out a reply .
For now , at least , Nexus 7 has something iPad ca n’t match : Google Now , which functions as Android ’s good reading of Siri — a personal supporter that alert you to appointment , draws your attention to weather prognosis , and lets you know when the next omnibus is coming , among other things . Where you need to talk to Siri to ask explicitly for the entropy you need , Google Now is meant to offer up useful insights that you did n’t inevitably request directly . It ’s a handy app that does n’t have an exact analogue in the iOS universe yet ( though rumor evoke Google may well transfer that soon ) . We ’ll come back to that .
One other notable reward , for the Nexus 7 : A higher - resolution screen . If you spend hour reading magazines and account book on your tablet , like I do , this might make a conflict — but while somewhat obtrusive , it does n’t feel like a immense difference .
On the other tablet-wielding hand
So where does the iPad miniskirt profits out ? Well , for one matter , it simply feels like a sleeker machine . It has a broad filmdom than the Nexus 7 , yes , but it ’s sparse — the Nexus 7 is thick and heavier in the hired hand ( it weigh 0.75 Pound , compare to 0.68 for the iPad mini ) , more like a boxful of hot chocolate rather than the iPad ’s razor - comparable zep . Apple ’s design artistry offers the company more than an esthetic edge here ; the iPad miniskirt is simply a machine I ’d want to halt longer .
I also appreciate the iPad mini ’s wider regalia of television camera options — one on the back and one on the front . The Nexus 7 has only a screen - side camera . This might not be a large good deal to most people ; I ’ve found it nominate family video chats more pleasurable if I can chase my 4 - year - old son through the house , like a live TV show , rather than coax him to sit and face a screen . The iPad mini ’s backside camera makes that potential .
Which raises the wide enquiry : Which lozenge will comfortably enable me to read , take in , write , play , and organize myself as much as I desire and need to ?
Google’s strength = iPad mini win
The answer to that question , again , is stuffy than it would ’ve been two eld ago . Apple ’s App Store offers 800,000 apps ; Google Play has 700,000 . ( Though that may undercut the disparity : Apple vaunt 300,000 iPad apps ; Google wo n’t say how many tablet - optimize apps are useable in Android . ) In truth , you may receive most of the best apps that I utilise on both political platform . That conflict is narrow all the time .
But for me , the iPad miniskirt ultimately wins on this issue — and thus gain my purchase . Ironically , Google ’s fabled “ receptivity ” makes it easy for me to take a “ closed ” organization that Apple provides .
Here ’s how it works . In accession to my Apple fandom , I ’ve been an active Googler for a long time — using the company ’s services for my email , my document composition , and other tasks for geezerhood . In the last year , though , several developments occurred to change my habit . First , Google announced it was getting disembarrass of iGoogle , the dashboard that allow me track all my Google - refer task in one station . Second , the Second Advent of theMountain Lion OSand its integration with iCloud allow me to utilise more Apple products — the calendar and reminders , in particular — across both my Mac and iOS gadget . In my computing life , then , I ’ve created an Apple - Google hybrid that helps me be most efficient .
I can stick with that hybrid with the iPad mini . I ca n’t on the Nexus 7 .
That ’s to Google ’s credit , actually : I can still use Google Docs and Gmail on my iPad — heck , it seems like I ’ll soon be able to use Google Now on it . But Apple ’s go - it - alone approach means I ca n’t practice its reminders or calendar or play with GarageBand on the Nexus . Google ’s aggressiveness in circularize its software , then , make it easy to leave Google ’s ironware behind .
That may not always be the case : As noted , Google has greatly pin down the disruption between its best endeavor and Apple ’s . Should Android and the Nexus someday greatly surpass the iPad and iOS , I may have to reconsider my reckon arrangements . Apple still has the home - arena vantage with me , but it ’s not the sure matter it used to be .
