Two days ago I took a 38 mile bike ride along the Luce Line Trail. This abandoned gravel railroad grade reaches out into the central Minnesota countryside. After a long Winter and cold Spring, the wildflowers are finally starting to bloom. I decided it would be a nice photography lesson for me if I practiced closeups where the flower's bloom is the focus of the picture, with the background blurred out.
It was fun taking the photos, and when I returned home I wondered aloud to myself: "What flowers are these?" My first action was to retreat to my trusty Nexus 10 and search on "Minnesota Wildflower Apps". Eureka, an app named Minnesota Wildflowers existed for $2.99. However, after reading a few reviews I discovered the app was the same service which was online via a superb web site. I found that the web site responded quicker than the "free lite" version of the app, and the advanced search was quicker than the app's search. In the end, I just bookmarked a "home screen" link to the web site. No app required.
My little scenario points out that it is often much better to use a web site for your tablet and/or smartphone needs. Optimizing an app for either Android or iOS can be a daunting task frought with development difficulties and bugs. As a consumer you will often be better off with bookmarking a humble web page which may perform more effectively … and it's cheaper too!
Here the my flower photographs. Can you match the flower's image (click to maximize) to its name? (Hint: the names are often a dead giveaway)
- Dames Rocket
- Garden Yellow Rocket
- Ground Ivy
- Red Columbine
- Virginia Waterleaf
- Wild Geranium
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