Windows ME, Windows Vista, and Windows 8- what do all three have in common? All three versions of the Windows operating system were about as welcome and well received as wasps at a picnic. While Windows ME was basically a cosmetic and bug-laden change to Windows 98 and Vista was a crash-tacular, slow moving, and bloated stepchild to Windows XP, Windows 8 is a very touch friendly operating system that definitely has its niche given the popularity of tablets. If you are a classic mouse-and-keyboard kinda guy (like me); however, Windows 8's "metro" interface and changes to navigation is sort of like a "Twilight Zone" episode where you wake up after a long coma and find the familiar very different.
The "Metro" start screen does have some appeal such as the constantly updating "live tiles" which can keep you up to date on almost anything including sports, weather, news, e-mail, social networks and more. This appeal gets tarnished quickly when you suddenly find yourself trying to tickle the corner of your screen with a mouse to open the charm bar or trying to locate common functions you always needed and used deep within layers of navigation. With a finger these movements would be quick and easy- with a mouse...not so much-- especially if you have a multi-monitor setup and find yourself bleeding onto the other screens in trying to hit the right corners.
As for the actual "operating" part of the "operating system"- Windows 8 (so far) is performing well. Aside from a little extra work with my embedded bluetooth card, the in-place upgrade from Windows 7 Professional to Windows 8 Professional went very smooth and virtually every device and application worked perfectly afterwards. In some cases I saw improvement such as my NVIDIA GT660M video card creating much richer textures under Windows 8 than it ever did in Windows 7 and a much quicker system start up by a few seconds. Once I am able to slip into the desktop mode past the Metro interface and perform my usual tasks, the experience seems very familiar until those moments I need to access items like the control panel or "My computer" and am faced with fighting instinct to locate these items in "metro".
After 8 1/2 days with my Windows 8 upgrade I can sincerely say that Windows 8 is pretty good but to be truly enjoyed and appreciated it ~has~ to be used in a touchscreen environment. Installing Windows 8 on a non-touch device destined for a user with a less-than-intermediate level of navigating their PC with a mouse and keyboard is a complete no-no. Put that sucker on grandma's PC and you'll be getting frequent calls that start with "How do I....." Microsoft should have created an option to either install in a Metro-free mode or allow users to disable the Metro environment after install to accommodate the mouse-and-keyboard users. Who knows? Maybe they'll add this feature in a future service release. For now, I'd say keep the installs of this on non-touch systems to expert use only.
The only other annoyance with Windows 8 was the requirement to pay extra ($11.50 CDN$) to have "Windows Media Center" and connect and stream to my XBOX 360. I was fortunate in some respects-- people without the "Pro" version of Windows 8 need to pay even more to step-up to Pro to be able to have Media Center.
I haven't felt the urge to divorce Windows 8 yet but I do still have my system backups with Windows 7 on standby... just in case.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Hey Apple, Take A "MeMO": ASUS and Google Are Coming For You
Never mind the drop in Apple stock-- it's fairly clear that Apple is desperately grasping at straws to stay relevant in the face of competition from almost everyone. From the tired commercials touting fairly banal features like "Do Not Disturb" and dynamic volume control to the issue of a shrunken iPad (aka iPad Mini) as their latest and greatest idea one doesn't need to go back even two years to see the shortage of "impact moments" since Tim Cook took control after the death of Steve Jobs. Even the lawsuit stacked against Samsung has backfired with the public not only sympathizing with the manufacturer but now purchasing their devices in greater numbers than ever before. Apple has started rolling down the huge mountain of expectations and success they built for themselves over the last couple decades and it seems like every day another company is stepping up to give them a nudge to roll even further- faster. Behind most of the assault is Google-- like the Illuminati of the tech world-- pushing and prodding more manufacturers to join the attack with their Android OS. It is very clear that the other players in the tech world smell Apple blood in the water and ASUS is now prepared to start the next feeding frenzy on their market share with a soon-to-be-released tablet device that will sell for well under even the iPad mini.
Called the "MeMO", this offering from ASUS will plop a very affordable 7" HD screen (rumor has it that 16GB tablet will retail well under $300.00) tablet device into the marketplace to satisfy those users who want a tablet just to have the convenience of a tablet and don't care about iTunes. Essentially, for the majority of people who have a computer at home (who doesn't?) and want to enjoy the mobility of a tablet for a modest price- the MeMO will be an extremely attractive choice.
See the full specs of the MeMO by clicking HERE
With the penetration that the more expensive Samsung Galaxy tablets have gotten in the last year using the same Android platform, I fully expect that these ASUS offerings will be flying off the shelves and into the hands of everyone except the tablet power user and the Apple cultists. The only limitation I foresee to the MeMO's success remains to be seen in regards to the supply to meet what I expect to be a huge demand.
The only thing that remains to complete a perfect storm would be for Google to acquire RIM (should it's Blackberry 10 fail) and it's innovations in enterprise class security ... it's only a matter of time.
I hope Tim Cook doesn't have his "do not disturb" feature enabled on his iPhone when he gets that news.
See the full specs of the MeMO by clicking HERE
With the penetration that the more expensive Samsung Galaxy tablets have gotten in the last year using the same Android platform, I fully expect that these ASUS offerings will be flying off the shelves and into the hands of everyone except the tablet power user and the Apple cultists. The only limitation I foresee to the MeMO's success remains to be seen in regards to the supply to meet what I expect to be a huge demand.
The only thing that remains to complete a perfect storm would be for Google to acquire RIM (should it's Blackberry 10 fail) and it's innovations in enterprise class security ... it's only a matter of time.
I hope Tim Cook doesn't have his "do not disturb" feature enabled on his iPhone when he gets that news.
Monday, January 28, 2013
An Apple Is An Apple But The PC Is A Butterfly
Most tech websites I have seen in recent weeks have been talking about how Apple Inc. stock has been taking a nosedive-- a stock drop considered to be substantial given the company's history in the last decade. While Steve Jobs was arguably the "creative" and "marketing" force behind Apple and its most profitable products (the iPad being his last before his death), analysts forget that the people engineering and performing the R&D on these devices are alive and well and are most assuredly working on some new splashy innovation as week speak. Apple and its spin off superpowers like "iTunes" have such a gravimetric hold in their niche that displacing them would be an immensely powerful undertaking.
Apple's stock drop is due to three simple things:
Apple is Apple is Apple. Apple has always attracted a specific type of user, developed a very rigidly loyal client base, and have managed to keep complete and utter control over their technology.
PCs, however, have started to gestate in new cocoons only to have the PC technology re-emerge in new, and re-purposed applications that are currently inaccessible to Apple due to their inability to play well with others.
PC technology is now driving security efforts, utility systems, transportation systems, interactive desktop displays, and even more crazy applications on the horizon like a fully interactive counter top in your home where you can digitally enjoy data while sipping your morning coffee. I have even read testimonials from IPad owners who actually use their Droid based tablets (Nexus 7 by ASUS and Google) more than they use the iPad.
PC's and the innovations and legendary modularity they offer are entering cocoons now to emerge as beautiful butterflies of innovation and re-purpose.
Will the clunky desktop PC tower die? Aesthetically, yes. But the PC itself will just morph into a form to serve that desktop user in a more effective way. From what I have seen the PC will BECOME the desktop- that is- built right into the surface of your desk's top.
In today's tight economy it is time for budget conscious companies and consumers to start to re-consider the PC and admit "you've come a long way, baby" just like iPhone users did when they touched their first Samsung Droid based phones and made them now #1 worldwide.
I wouldn't say that anything Apple can do PC can do better but I would definitely say that it all can be done cheaper and with a much more open and broad resource network of support.
Apple is, right now, that Blu-Ray manufacturer desperately clinging to the hope that the PC and its powerful allies don't become Apple's "Netfix" or "Hulu".
Don't cry any tears Apple fans- I'm sure there's an app for that ...which will most likely be written and/or perfected on Android.
Apple's stock drop is due to three simple things:
- The loss of Jobs and the lack of charisma and flare for the products by Tim Cook.
- The economy-- being as tenuous as it is -- has not afforded the average consumer to bring in any new Apple products or replace existing Apple products with the newer versions. ( I see most of my iPhone 4S friends still using and having no interest to go to iPhone 5.)
- Samsung, Google, Microsoft, Intel - The other big boys have all been playing nice during the Apple invasion and are now sending products out into the market most cost effective and impressive than currently benchmarked Apple items. Even RIM (Makers of Blackbery) will be releasing a Blackberry Version 10 mobile device that look to retain the current BB user base and grow it into the market shares of Samsung, Apple, and Android based phones.
Apple is Apple is Apple. Apple has always attracted a specific type of user, developed a very rigidly loyal client base, and have managed to keep complete and utter control over their technology.
PCs, however, have started to gestate in new cocoons only to have the PC technology re-emerge in new, and re-purposed applications that are currently inaccessible to Apple due to their inability to play well with others.
PC technology is now driving security efforts, utility systems, transportation systems, interactive desktop displays, and even more crazy applications on the horizon like a fully interactive counter top in your home where you can digitally enjoy data while sipping your morning coffee. I have even read testimonials from IPad owners who actually use their Droid based tablets (Nexus 7 by ASUS and Google) more than they use the iPad.
PC's and the innovations and legendary modularity they offer are entering cocoons now to emerge as beautiful butterflies of innovation and re-purpose.
Will the clunky desktop PC tower die? Aesthetically, yes. But the PC itself will just morph into a form to serve that desktop user in a more effective way. From what I have seen the PC will BECOME the desktop- that is- built right into the surface of your desk's top.
In today's tight economy it is time for budget conscious companies and consumers to start to re-consider the PC and admit "you've come a long way, baby" just like iPhone users did when they touched their first Samsung Droid based phones and made them now #1 worldwide.
I wouldn't say that anything Apple can do PC can do better but I would definitely say that it all can be done cheaper and with a much more open and broad resource network of support.
Apple is, right now, that Blu-Ray manufacturer desperately clinging to the hope that the PC and its powerful allies don't become Apple's "Netfix" or "Hulu".
Don't cry any tears Apple fans- I'm sure there's an app for that ...which will most likely be written and/or perfected on Android.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
What The Heck Is "Technobumps"?
To be honest, the name just came to me whilst walking down the street today and the significance of the name is no more profound than the fact that I have worked in information technology for over a decade and "bumps" is a street term for little hits of something desirable in modern colloquial. On top of that- the domain name was available.
In this blog I hope to provide not only information on the latest in information technology news but also stimulate some debate on the ways (negative or positive) that technology has changed society.
(The video above that I found on Youtube showing the current young adult response to a trapped person on a flooded street is a perfect example of youth apathy I believe technology has created- nevermind the fact they were all standing to tape and share this on social media...)
Nowadays we take technology for granted-- a "given" in our day to day lives. We now have a generation of young adults who were born into a world where computers, mobile devices and the internet are not perceived as a game changer but rather as an integral part of modern life. Having been born in the early 1970's myself, I can remember when the first personal computers were a crazy new invention, "mobile devices" were actually huge cellular phones that looked like handbags or bricks, and the closest thing to the "internet" was a one-on-one communication between two computers over a standard analog phone line. My childhood was spent requiring face-to-face or voice communication with my friends and family instead of firing off every random passing thought to potentially billions of people without ever even leaving the comfort of your chair. Imagine if I was to run out into the street or make a phone call to each individual friend for every single passing thought that ran through my mind? Words and thoughts that used to be precious and few only a couple decades ago are now copious and cheap as our latest generations have lost the art of interpersonal communication and the ability to sense and respond using emotion and body language is becoming a lost art form like hieroglyphics.
Remember when bullies used fists instead of keyboards?
Remember when kids used to play with their bodies and voices and laughter instead of their thumbs?
Remember when relationships were conducted with tender words and eloquently handwritten and perfumed love letters and not with texts and tweets?
I want you to remember as you (hopefully) enjoy my blog that while we must embrace and learn to use technology intelligently we also need to start striving to take back some of the human experience we have lost by practicing some moderation between our digital and physical lives.
While a "tweet", text, or e-mail can change minds, touch hearts, and move nations never forget that in the end there is no substitute for a warm touch, good meal, gentle smile and the company of others.
In this blog I hope to provide not only information on the latest in information technology news but also stimulate some debate on the ways (negative or positive) that technology has changed society.
(The video above that I found on Youtube showing the current young adult response to a trapped person on a flooded street is a perfect example of youth apathy I believe technology has created- nevermind the fact they were all standing to tape and share this on social media...)
Nowadays we take technology for granted-- a "given" in our day to day lives. We now have a generation of young adults who were born into a world where computers, mobile devices and the internet are not perceived as a game changer but rather as an integral part of modern life. Having been born in the early 1970's myself, I can remember when the first personal computers were a crazy new invention, "mobile devices" were actually huge cellular phones that looked like handbags or bricks, and the closest thing to the "internet" was a one-on-one communication between two computers over a standard analog phone line. My childhood was spent requiring face-to-face or voice communication with my friends and family instead of firing off every random passing thought to potentially billions of people without ever even leaving the comfort of your chair. Imagine if I was to run out into the street or make a phone call to each individual friend for every single passing thought that ran through my mind? Words and thoughts that used to be precious and few only a couple decades ago are now copious and cheap as our latest generations have lost the art of interpersonal communication and the ability to sense and respond using emotion and body language is becoming a lost art form like hieroglyphics.
Remember when bullies used fists instead of keyboards?
Remember when kids used to play with their bodies and voices and laughter instead of their thumbs?
Remember when relationships were conducted with tender words and eloquently handwritten and perfumed love letters and not with texts and tweets?
I want you to remember as you (hopefully) enjoy my blog that while we must embrace and learn to use technology intelligently we also need to start striving to take back some of the human experience we have lost by practicing some moderation between our digital and physical lives.
While a "tweet", text, or e-mail can change minds, touch hearts, and move nations never forget that in the end there is no substitute for a warm touch, good meal, gentle smile and the company of others.
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