New Gemini first impressions
For reasons of cockup which right now are kindve handy, I have a Pro and a separate Plus subscriptions.
Ive caught up with some of my previous chats, which exported to word .docs came to up to 13KB each. With a screenshot scrutinised & an image generated, my Pro usage as at 16% on the 5hr window, my plus account (text only) is at 7%.
I can see the update curbing my excesses a little, but as a heavy-casual user im dont seem likely to max my limits.
What ive seen so far is a good blend of context, both from way-back in chats, and introducing novel context outside of any previous topics. It seems *vibrant*, with Pro 3.1 & the new Flash 3.5. If we're seeing hardstops instead of soft throttling, I think that may be a positive change, frankly. At the very least, it seems to me we've got our compute back, whicb had gone AWOL in recent times. Yes it's a new release, and we know that means a temporary bump, on historic trends anyway.
As an honest assessment, ive found this a better outright upgrade than when we went from 2.5 to 3.0. It seems dynamic and engaging for the right reasons.
At first I thought 3.5 flash had considerably shorter replies, but then had a wildly longer response, and 3.1 Pro then gave a shorter one, when longer wasnt necessary. No filler bumpf, no grating unnecessary explanations (so far..)
Id gotten used to the foibles of 3.1 Pro, though they'd disappointed me at first. The new regime (incl. clear differences to 3.1 Pro) seems like a breath of fresh air.
As for the App, changes seem intuitive, not just fancy. Simple things, like text fading out towards the point of minimising looks good and is positively communicative. So too the buffering dots. It seems obvious its working, not just broken. The app seems more solid & optimised overall, as well as looking far sleeker. Sleeker & slicker.
I'd feared the worst, and ive seen a lot of complaints, but for my subjective usage, i'm feeling decidely optimistic having tried it out. On reflection, im struggling to find the gripes id expect to have found by now. I'm impressed enough to want to say so, no matter the dogpiling that might result. 🤷♂️ I'm pretty happy so far, though it pains my cynical outlook to admit it. 😅