mccTrying to shop online for a tablet, I realize I have no idea how it feels to hold. I decide to walk to Canada Computers so I can hold some tablets in my hands and see how heavy they are. Canada Computers doesn't have tablets instore anymore. I walk to Staples. Staples has tablets, but they all have heavy anti-theft locks latched to them, making it impossible to tell how much the actual device weighs. I ask a clerk if he can remove the lock from the display device. He says no
Every single display on every non Apple device in this store is making a huge deal about "AI". Most of these ads read like threats
Anyway the trip was still worth it because I now realize that Amazon Fire tablet I was looking at is WAY smaller than I thought.
filipa mv@mcc i *just* bought a fire tablet for the kids to watch VLC on for an upcoming trip; it’s sole job is connect to a samba share and play media.
its form factor is perfect - smallish screen, cheap - but coming from ios, the amazon android experience is such garbage. the whole interface feels like a low-effort ad for more amazon content.
i could draw amazon’s org chart just by studying the app icons & what sends a notification
also weird hell zone: i have an audible (US) account but this tablet took my amazon (CA),
so it’s impossible for me to access my audible subscription from this device
@phillmv oh this is very worrisome as I am also on a US CA split with my Amazon account
@phillmv im told tablets are abandoning android for ChromeOS, which can run android apps now. I wonder if that's better
Sargoth
Graham Sutherland / Polynomial@mcc eleven hundred dollar tablet
even I think that's crass
Smoljaguar@gsuberland @mcc It is CAD, so while not cheap isn't too out there
@Smoljaguar @mcc oh right yes I forgot CAD is different
Luna Ruby Artemis 💛🤍💜🖤
It doesn't feel pity, remorse, or fear. It absolutely won't stop until you're dead | THE TERMINATOR
mhoye@mcc I’m very interested in where you end up with this. I’m presently torn between Samsung’s Active5 - smaller “classic nexus 7 form factor, replaceable battery, pricy, uncertain future around lineageOS, unobtainable in person”, the Galaxy S6 - “much larger, but less expensive, battery soldered in, lineage OS supported now, available at Costco now”, and “give up and wait for the iPad mini refresh that might happen someday or it might just get cancelled who knows”.
@mhoye I think I'm in the end going to go with whatever's cheapest, try to disable as much of the spyware as I can via adb, and then be unhappy
econads@mcc @tonicfunk @mhoye
You should presumably be able to root a tablet and install lineage or e/os etc just as you can a phone?
Worth doing some research first to see which models have ROMs out there
You should presumably be able to root a tablet and install lineage or e/os etc just as you can a phone?
Worth doing some research first to see which models have ROMs out there
@econads @mcc @tonicfunk I haven’t looked at e/OS but Lineage has a roster of known-to-work device on it. It’s not “all tablets”, by any means.
Cat 🐈🥗 (D.Burch) 
@mcc And it very much is a threat... 😟
Captain Observant@mcc muahaha yes it sounds like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel.
ǝʌɐp@mcc If you see a deal on the latest pixel tablet from a year ago installing graphene on it nukes all of the AI stuff from orbit. Funny enough I do wish the bezels were slightly larger though.
ocdtrekkie@mcc This is when you start thanking your voice assistant and making sure it knows you're one of the compliant humans.
Glyph@mcc once again I must ask: where is the consumer. Who is asking for this?!?
Eric G.
FoolishOwl@mcc I was thinking about whether I'd upgrade my desktop in the next year, then remembered all the new microprocessors have AI coprocessors -- whatever that means -- so I'd have to shop carefully to get an older CPU.
Pauls@mcc in Europe (non-English country here) the tagline used in the same context is "Galaxy AI is here", implying the threat has already arrived, kinda funny to see it's still on the way to Canada :)
EndlessMason@mcc
It's behind you
It's behind you
xot@mcc Samsung! Galaxy Brain was right there!
Tom Magnanimous@mcc they sent me an email about this which inspired me to immediately look up how to turn it off
Mark Hoemmen@mcc the bigger Galaxy tablets are nice as a replacement for printing out sheet music. mine always gets propped up against a music stand or ledge. it's not exceptionally heavy but if i had to use it as a "normal tablet" i would put it on a table or the aforementioned music stand.
c-cube@mcc
Galactus doesn't know your birthday, but he's sending galaxy AI to obtain this information... Better prepare your best ISO8601 timestamps to. He's coming.
Galactus doesn't know your birthday, but he's sending galaxy AI to obtain this information... Better prepare your best ISO8601 timestamps to. He's coming.
Jocelynephiliac 
Frances LarinaDammit! Those messages were only supposed to be consciously readable with the special sunglasses!
bob@mcc this is the nice thing about only buying stuff that's old enough you can find it in thrift stores
@bob I feel like I ought to know where to look for used electronics in Toronto but I don't.
nex@mcc @bob I often look at 2nd hand offers when getting computer things; but for tablets, phones, and notebooks, I always look at refurbed stuff first. I.e., the devices with batteries that are almost impossible to (economically) replace on your own, but the refurb places do exactly that if the capacity wouldn't be up to scratch otherwise. If it's the latest model, it'll be only ~20% off, but exactly like new and with at least 1 year warranty. But no idea where to look for that outside Europe :/
@mcc any small repair shops in your area? They may have some devices in the basement regardless of what they have for sale
Lot⁴⁹@mcc Buy three of them from Amazon and send back the ones you don't like.
That's the way the retail world works now.
GFD@mcc a friend of mine had much more luck getting clerks to let them hold devices at an Indigo (though they can tend to have more e‐ink devices than colour tablets). book stores also tend to employ a lot more people who know what disabilities are and how they work; probably not a coincidence, that!