ben robison
when only more words will do
Subscribe to RSSMicrosoft’s Next-Gen UI
I’ve seen a few things lately about the next version of Windows, aptly code-named Windows 7 and it’s next-generation user interface. AppleInsider sums it up nicely citing Microsoft engineer Hilton Lock as saying that the Windows 7 interface is tons cooler than the iPhone and people will be blown away.
What strikes me as interesting is the fact that if Microsoft is comparing their next-gen OS to the iPhone they’ve already missed the boat. Vista is still in it’s early adoption phases and another operating system from Microsoft is at least 5-6 years down the road if they follow their historical release schedule.
In a world of constantly changing technology and rapid innovation, this effectively means that Microsoft is comparing targeting a competitor that has moved onto other areas. It’s the iPod/Zune thing all over again.
Apple’s original iPod was fantastic and a real step forward for usability and simplicity. Several years later, after the iPod was already dominating, Microsoft releases the Zune, but the iPod was already ahead and moving faster.
Sure, Microsoft made a nice new Zune that compares to the old iPods and even the new iPod classic favorably, but Apple doesn’t really care about the iPod classic. Apple has already moved on with the iPod Touch. They release the Classic because it makes money and because flash storage isn’t big enough to get the massive capacity some people want, but that’s not where Apple is focused. They’ve already moved on.
I hope that Windows 7 doesn’t turn into the next Zune 2. Microsoft needs to do some innovation in a whole new direction rather than just trying to one-up existing technology. Microsoft surface demonstrates that kind of thinking, but when will it be affordable and in production?
It’s no secret that I’m an Apple fan, but for better or worse, Windows is the dominant player in terms of market share and use (though perhaps not mind share) so the better Microsoft can make it, the better off we’ll all be. Let’s see some real innovation come out of Redmond. Not just ideas and prototypes, but real devices and software that us consumers can get our hands on.
Tags: 2 cents, apple, microsoft
Computers Only Do What You Tell Them To
I was just getting all my screenshots in order for a post on the Google Analytics conspiracy. I went into my GA account the other day and noticed that on November 15, all my tracking went to 0. No Page Views, no Visits, no Visitors, no Referring Traffic, no Nothing. Obviously I find this a little upsetting. I realize that my blog is not a major web crossroads, but I was averaging 30-ish Visits a day up to that point, so I found it a little disturbing.
I wondered why Google would possibly bother to penalize a site as small as mine. I had them though. I visit the site to post, and people were leaving comments on the blog. Can’t have comments without visits, so I knew they were deliberately messing with me. So I got all my dates in order, took GA screenshots, and then had a stroke of brilliance. I remembered that I had flipped AWStats on for this site back in January. AWStats is a log-file based analytics tool for those who don’t know, but it meant that I had another source for the same data that was missing GA.
I had photographic evidence of the conspiracy now. I had all my screenshots lined up and ready to go, when I suddenly had one final stroke of brilliance. Back on November the 14th I upgraded to the latest Wordpress, downloaded a new version of my theme compatible with the new version, and in the process, overwrote my GA collection code.
So I relearned the lesson that I’m always repeating to others when they’re mad at their computers. Computers only do what you tell them to.
Tags: conspiracy, google
Plaxo = Buyer’s Remorse
A while ago, I wrote about gSyncIt which syncs your Outlook Calendars to Google Calendar. After playing with the free/trial version, I ran into a few problems. I worked with it for 1 week or so, but when syncing (which was quite slow) constantly ran into problems with object references pointing to null objects.
It was the same calendar item each time and even though I had my settings to continue syncing on failure, that didn’t happen, so I couldn’t get my whole calendar to sync anymore. A friend at work has been using SyncMyCal quite successfully for awhile, so I finally went that route. Even thought it is $15 more than the $10 gSyncIt, I figured the price was still nice to get my calendars synched without having to deal with errors all the time. I want my technology to work and get out of my way.
Not 20 minutes after making my purchase and registering SyncMyCal, I talked to another friend here at work who has been using Plaxo to sync his contacts and calendars with Google. Plaxo is Free. Buyer’s Remorse sets in.
In addition to syncing your calendars and contacts between every conceivable operating system and program, Plaxo is also integrated with a number of web applications most notably for me, Last.fm, Flickr, del.icio.us, etc.
After waiting for 4 weeks to make my purchase, why couldn’t I have waited for another 30 minutes? Buyer’s Remorse.
Howto: Install iLife 06 on Leopard
It came as a bit of a surprise to me that after doing a clean install of Leopard that there was no more iPhoto. I suppose if I had looked around at all, I would have known, but I obviously hadn’t. Not to worry, after digging out the disks that came with my Macbook Pro, I decided to put together this install guide for others that ended up in my boat.
1. Pop in the Tiger Install Disk 1.
2. Double-click “Install Bundled Software Only”
3. Agree to everything, and then click the Customize button when you get to the Installation Type screen.
4. Select the parts of iLife you want to install. I wanted iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand.
5. Put in Disk 2.
6. Since it’s snowing, go grab a cup of hot chocolate while you wait for the install to finish.
7. Now run three rounds of Software Update, and you’re ready to go.