Add Another Apple Fan to the American Pie

Only yesterday I became the proud owner of a 5-year old Macbook 3. For years, the mere thought of owning anything Apple was anathema to me. I did not want to belong to any snooty Apple clique, change my wardrobe to include turtleneck shirts nor thick high-collared sweaters seen adorning male models in an L.L. Bean catalog.

If Microsoft is English, then Apple is French, and UNIX is Sanskrit, and like hell I was not learning French. I have dabbled in Sanskrit, metaphorically, being a Systems Administrator in a 100% UNIX environment. IBM's AIX and Sun Microsystems Solaris operating systems provided me days of amusement.

My near life-long abhorrence of anything Apple, (or at least as long as Apple's life, anyway} I honestly find barely explicable. The first computer I learned to program on was an Apple IIe. My dad offered to buy me an Apple IIe like the one from my computer bootcamp, but I opted for an Atari 800 (which I still have and as far as I know, still works.) In high school, we had Radio Shack TRS-80s. At the time, these grey boxes seemed very cool, with their giant 5-1/2" floppy slot. 

Back in the day, the 1980s to those who are not familiar with the era "day" refers to, I followed the exploits of Apple and Microsoft, Jobs and Gates, and IBM, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and any other jumpstart who thought about developing a personal computer and/or operating system. My dad enjoyed finances, which is to say, he enjoyed pouring over the stock charts at the end of the Kansas City Star. He showed me how to read the charts, the His, Los, Sell, Open, Close statistics. In those days of the early 1980s, probably around 1984, Apple sold for about $16 a share. My advice to dad was prescient, if I say so myself: "You need to buy Apple. You'll be rich someday." He offered a sage reply which I often use to this day: "Don't buy what you don't understand, and I don't understand that stuff."

Had my dad bought Apple at $16 and weathered the storms, the figurative hurricanes which assaulted Apple throughout the decades, yes, he would be well-off today.

Hindsight is 20/20.

I favored Apple even back in the 1980s, aware of innovation at work in this new technological upstart. I could never bring myself to ever own one. My world was a Windows World. Windows computers were less expensive and over time became the de facto standard computing platform. I missed the era where Apple achieved a significant presence the classroom; otherwise I might have adopted a Mac earlier. More software seemed available for the Windows platform, and the entire milieu of Intel/Windows was easier to grasp.

Especially in geography, my chosen field, Apple never really found widespread adoption. Mapping software was available for the Apple. ESRI and MapInfo both offered GIS software solutions. ESRI dropped Apple support in the mid-1990s pushing Apple out of my discipline, except in those rare places  adopting software from bit players in the GIS field. ESRI was then and still is the dominant software purveyor globally; when the market leader dumps support for an OS following suite is sometimes not an option. Apple found great success in the graphics design and publishing realm, though, outside my discipline and field.

Apple is now THE world-leading technology company. No other company can make such boast. While being such should stoke my fuel for continuing reticence in becoming an Apple user, indubitably Apple designs great products, much of the world now enjoys Apple products, Apple is now a main-stream technology, not relegated to the magazine editors, publishing houses, and graphic artists. Everyone now has the potential of authoring iPad & iPhone apps, which brings Apple from the niche to the front aisle at the grocer.

I enjoy my iPhone, donated by a friend of mine. I enjoy the iTunes store and the numerous free podcasts available, including Freakonomics radio, and the Amateur Traveler. Brilliant stuff. And the ubiquity of Apple products creates an augmented market for people knowledgable in Apple technology. If only Apple would ease up on restrictions on 3rd party service, allowing people to train and allow repairs of broken screens. Apple could inspire a decent cottage industry for high school or college kids to earn some extra cash repairing cell phone screens.

I author this post using my "new" used Macbook. Previously, I used a 10-year old Toshiba Portege 3500. My little Toshiba Portege with the swivel screen served me admirably, especially after doubling my ram (512mb to 1gb.) When I wrote at coffeeshops, libraries, etc., people were amazed at my little Toshiba, and still are today, despite the onslaught on tablets. Toshiba did a remarkable job with the Portege 3500.   In my picture above, my Portege 3500 can be seen in the background, gazing longing out the window, wondering what its future portends.

Technology Review: HP Slate 500

 

Last month, my boss inquired what we might buy with the little bit of money remaining from the current fiscal year. Usually, I have ideas. On this day, not so much. My Sphere of Influence (SoI) was pretty tight, and no particular goodies were needed. I stood there stumped.

Like any good boss, he had ideas. “How about we get an iPad, and an HP Slate? Let’s see if one or both will work for us.”

Cool, I said. That’s the kind of thinking I like. I’ll handle the purchasing, and maybe we can get some interesting toys by the end of the month. I ordered, and we received a new iPad and a new HP Slate 500.

I’ve already reviewed the iPad in a previous blog entry. A good device for individual use; not very good for an enterprise or corporate environment.

We’ve had the HP Slate 500 for a week or so longer than the iPad. My university is somewhat impressed with the Slate. For good reasons, too.

The HP Slate 500 is about the same dimensions as the iPad, though thicker. Thicker because the Slate has a USB and HDMI port, plus a connector for a small docking/charging station. Innate support for USB and HDMI built-in, no additional cost peripherals. You might miss the DVD drive. The iPad doesn’t have one either, nor does any other competing device. Plug an external DVD drive to the USB port, though, or perform software installs over the ether (Wifi.) Or, use the secure digital (SD) slot, or network cable, since the Slate 500 has a traditional network port.

The HP Slate starts right-up. The Slate uses a 64GB solid state drive (SSD); therefore no moving parts. With a touchscreen and stylus for writing notes, the Slate is ready for use within a second or two. The Intel Atom 1.86 processor with 2GB of RAM appeared very capable of running our productivity apps and browsing the internet.

For Enterprise/Corporate environments, perhaps the nicest advantage is the OS, Windows 7 Professional. Organizations interested in user-level security now have a familiar environment for pinning down user accounts, domain accounts, domain membership – all of the security tools available via Windows 7 products. Checking out tablets, or locking down apps or user files, can be performed by IT with the same regard as checking out a laptop.

Since one is running Windows 7 Professional, all of your applications should run well. We loaded Microsoft Office 2010 for our office suite. Excel and Word ran without a hitch. Nice being able to work in a native Windows environment without having to find suitable apps, or sacrifice certain abilities. Seems like a no-brainer for people that want to be productive on the road. Use Remote Desktop to connect to your remote site, for example, without having to purchase a separate app.

With Windows comes Flash and Java support. The frustration of finding a cool web site only to be limited due to a lack of Flash or Java support is absent. Showing Flash-powered weather web sites to people concerned about severe weather was a distinct advantage.

As a development environment, being a Windows-based OS means work can begin immediately. The contrast I want to make vis-à-vis Apple is that the Apple Dev Program requires learning Objective-C and enrolling into their Dev Program for the SDK. No need for that with Microsoft.

Some reviewers have noted the small size of the Slate, too small, they say. The keyboard is too small, the viewing area is too small. The unit itself is too small. Yes, the unit could be a little larger, true. I was not particularly upset by the size. I have medium-sized hands and I was able to type emails and documents on the screen, with the mistakes being due to my own typing skills. When I think of sitting beside some jackass with a large laptop, mouse and papers sliding all over the place on an flight from Nashville to San Diego, the Slate seems pretty nice.

At about 1-1/2lbs, the Slate easily fits in a backpack or briefcase. Show up to a meeting with a fully-functional Windows 7-powered HP Slate, plug in the data projector using the HDMI port, and launch your Powerpoint presentation and affiliated web site and impress the group. Blam!

At about $100 more than the iPad, the HP Slate comes ready to do so much right out of the box. Wifi and Bluetooth-ready, moving from hotspot to hotspot can keep you in touch with school, work, or home. I don’t see where the Slate is 3G-capable. Might not matter; you could tether the Slate to an existing iPad or Droid if Wifi is not available. The only other drawback might be the somewhat short 5-hr battery life. Remember that the Slate is doing a lot, and capable of doing a lot, so expecting 8-10hrs is not particularly reasonable.

I don’t see how the HP Slate is not a winner for HP. I’ve never been a big fan of mass-consumer HP products. I have to admit that the Slate is changing my mind. The Slate is really the future of computing, regardless of the sleek sexy iPad. The Slate represents full-function computing, not a pared-down, incomplete experience based on mostly compatible apps or non-support of standard Internet technology. Furthermore, HP has positioned the Slate to be compliant for upcoming standards, like HTML 5.

Like I said earlier, I can see people being amused and amazed by the iPad. Its not that I don’t like the Apple iPad; I used it for nearly a month. For personal use, the iPad might be fine. However the limitations of use from lack of Flash and Java support, the need to buy Office-compatibility apps, and the lack of user security are serious drawbacks.

Before investing in wide-spread adoption of the iPad for Enterprise or Corporate environments, check out the HP Slate 500.

Technorati Tags: review,technology,HP,Apple,Slate,500,iPad,Windows 7,tablet

Privacy Concession: Facebook Agrees to Change 'Friend Finder' Feature - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Privacy Concession: Facebook Agrees to Change 'Friend Finder' Feature - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International:

The world grows "smaller" and "flatter" in bits, small chunks, each and every day.

Take this article from der Spiegel International Edition. Facebook (FB) is a global social phenomenon. Myself, I have FB friends all over the world. Some of my FB friends find using FB convenient to stay in contact while abroad. Others find that using FB is not particularly reliable all of the time because some governments control access to the global social network.

Facebook, a U.S.A. company, is an international player within the telecommunication industry. Due to its international presence, Facebook is susceptible to legal and cultural forces around the globe. Users in Germany, for example, startled that Facebook would use their email accounts to encourage non-users to join, petitioned the German government to work on their behalf to encourage Facebook to alter the sharing of non-Facebook friends.

Perhaps in the interest of being a benevolent benefactor of social networking, Facebook modified its sharing procedures, due to influence in Germany.

In some ways, particularly privacy, Europe is more conservative than the United States. United States citizens tend to believe that European countries are more liberal, socialists, where everything is "grey" and there are no simple "black & white" issues.

Not true. Much of Europe is conservative, particularly when it comes to privacy. They express those conservative views in ways that are quiet, subdued, and respectful. For the most part. People mind their own business.

When a company comes along and violates that privacy, populations act accordingly, through the government, to institute change. Microsoft has complied in the past; Facebook is simply the latest technology company to listen to its user base.

Windows Phones Not Particularly Innovative

Let's face facts, iPhone people are going to remain faithful iPhone customers, and people wanting iPhones are a persistent bunch.  But, what about people that are on the fence, who want something different?  Today, Steve Ballmer and Microsoft released their selection of Windows Phone 7 (WP7) smartphones.  The field of smartphones has now grown by six interesting offerings.  The question becomes, do these new smartphones represent a contender within the smartphone arena, or will they be fodder, and fall at the feet of Android and iOS?

PCWorld has evaluated these new devices, and run comparisons against iPhone and the Droid X (PCWORLD).  On the surface, WP7 smartphones appear to have a number of weaknesses when measured against the iPhone, Droids, and even Blackberry (though no Blackberrys were part of the evaluation).
First, no WP7 smartphone has a better resolution than the Droid X (480x800), which itself has a lower resolution than the iPhone.  The HTC HD7 does have a larger screen than the iPhone and equal in size to the Droid X (4.7in).

Common to all devices measured is a 1GHZ processor.  However, engineers must have sized up their devices against the Apple iPhone, as they all seem to have the same limitations, with few exceptions.  Each device has a fixed amount of internal storage, ranging from 8GB to 16GB.  Droids can accept upto a 32GB user-installable microSD card.  Three new WP7 phones (50%), from Samsung, Dell, and HTC have slide-out keyboards; only the Samsung Focus has a front-facing camera.

Next, WP7 smartphones have some interesting software limitations.  WP7 does not support cut-and-paste operations, which are supported by the iPhone 4 and Droid.  Also, for as tight as Adobe and Microsoft appear to want to be, the WP7 smartphones do not support Adobe Flash, which Android does.  New WP7 smartphones support Wi-Fi but do not support Wi-Fi HotSpot, so forget about tethering.

Finally, what makes people envious of smartphones?  Well, one thing is cool apps.  People love their apps.  WP7 smartphones have few apps to pick from.  Microsoft was slow to make their developer's toolkit available.  As a result, the app marketplace for WP7 is slim.  Obviously, that will change, given enough time, and financial incentives from Microsoft to developers.  Another hindrance that many makers are crying foul over is the software agreement that restricts changes to the user interface (UI).  Expect all of the new WP7 phones to have an identical interface.

Do Microsoft Phone 7-based smartphones change the game? Do six new phones from prominent makers HTC, LG, and Samsung put Motorola and Apple on notice that there are new rules to play by? 

Unfortunately, unless Microsoft plans on performing an upgrade to WP7 in the near future, and changing the licensing of the user interface, Apple, Motorola, Blackberry, and Nokia have nothing to fear.