Technology Never Quits

Oh, great!

Just when I get accustomed to reading (but not owning) a laptop hard-drive of 100 GB, along comes Seagate announcing a 2.5 inch, 5,400 RPM hard-drive with 160 GB for notebooks.

Technology never quits!

IBM and Apple Culture

Some Readers may accept my pronuncio that Apple was of a specific California culture reeking slightly of stale cannabis and pizza, while IBM was as buttoned down as could be…so an example.

I attended a two-week "Executive" school at IBM Headquarters in New York. I happened to already be a Navy programmer, writing machine code for the Univac 20B and being groomed for Project Director position, so my attendance with the first NASA contingent was more of an introduction to highly placed executives than it was to computers. I vividly recall the prohibition of booze on the campus even in our rooms, and the necessity of proper dress to class.

Fast forward several years to my visit to Apple at Cupertino to discuss the operating system with the programmers…where I was told, "They are not here. No one is here. Steve had 60 buses come at lunch to take everyone to bars all across the city. The guys you want are at Patrick’s on 37^th…go three lights south and take a left…it is a couple of miles down on the left."

So, I sat in Patrick’s around a table and we all drew "patch" diagrams on paper, or paper napkins, or whatever – wishing we had butcher paper which was our normal design recorder of choice.

My appreciation for both of those corporate cultures and their individual cutting-edge technologies remains to this day, but asking both to the same cocktail party would be a mistake, and trying to marry them in business would be an even bigger mistake.

Like the political parties, there is a great deal of pressure from their extreme wings and it is almost impossible to move to the "center" without breaking core principles and alienating the strong base. To a great extent, political parties are captive to their extremes…and so are Apple and WinTel.

Being the weaker of the two, it is up to Apple to make the first move but I fear the Intel situation is a matter of technological necessity not of corporate centrism.

Why Apple Does Not Dominate the Computer World.

I owned an Apple Computer dealership back in the days when we could walk into Mike Markulas' (Apple CEO) office without even seeing a secretary, so I have some insight into Apple.

My dealership was the first national business-oriented dealership.Apple has great products, and even better marketing -- because Markula was a marketing man before Apple.Their advantages are seriously good technology, terrific quality control, and ownership of their own operating system -- which gives them excellent control over anyone writing software for their computers.

So, why don't they dominate an industry they invented? Because Apple people were counter-culture from the beginning -- long hair, blue jeans, BMW motorcycles...and they expected to impact a (then) three piece suit, button-down Fortune 500 business world.

Mind you, this business world was one they mocked, in person, in ads, everywhere -- and then they expected to impact that same business world.

Apple !! -- their first commercial machine, had one business program -- VISICALC, the first spreadsheet, designed by Dan Bricklin at MIT and essentially identical to follow-on products Lotus 1-2-3, SuperCalc and Excel. Terrific program, and 50% of ALL Apple II computers were sold with VISICALC. It was enough to carry Apples into the private offices of Fortune 500, but not the computer departments.

(I was at a cocktail party of a Fortune 500 company while I was divesting myself of my dealership, and had already taken over their LA TV statioion, when I heard someone as k the Director of Computers if the company had any micros...and he said, "None, and they wont so long as I am here."

Then IBM came out with their line -- EVERY business computer director was IBM trained! (As was I!)

These IBM computer guys bled IBM blue, and they had been kicked in the shins by those scraggly, maggot-infested, FM radio types from Apple for several years.

Yes, Apple computers were in some offices, but when the time came to make corporate purchases, by the thousands, which computer were these IBM trained people going to choose?

Duh!

(You could own either, but the company only bought IBM and if you wanted support from your IT Department, you had better have an IBM on your desk!)Apple may have had somewhat hurt feelings but they didn't like corporate types anyway -- and they owned the burgeoning school business (except universities), and the gamers.

I can tell you from the "inside" that Apple had 100% of a tiny market, and when IBM came into the nicro business, Apple took a "double truck" in the WSJ with a huge "Welcome IBM" ad.

Apple's theory was that IBM legitimized the micro business, and that Apple would have 40% of a huge market rather than 100% of a tiny market.But they never changed their attitude toward corporations -- remember that famous Apple ad of the hammer thrower destroying the corporate clone's computer screen a la "1984?"WOZ and Jobs were gamers, and counter-culture icons.

They could not bring themselves to put on a three piece suit, and besides, they were having fun and making millions.

(Years ago, there was a meeting of Apple and IBM -- it made news because the Apple people wore coats, and the IBM people did not have ties!)

Apple was losing market share far faster than they had anticipated. Much faster. Cachet counts.

Apple meant cute, IBM meant serious. Big business or small, business people were serious.

Apple's iPOD outsells their computers! They make great EVERYTHING, but they dallied while WinTel machines caught up.

There is not a dimes worth of difference between them -- ownership of one or the other is a religious experience, not a technology one. Apple is pretty, bullet-proof, and dominates the graphics and film market...but if you want to tinker under the hood to do something not "normal" or call a friend for help, WinTel makes sense.

Like Chevys and Fords, there is no "better," there is just personal choice.

(Apple addicts are a cult, and they disagree...)The move of Apple from Motorola to Power PC to Intel tells me that philosophical changes are in the wind.

25 years late.

Just don't buy an Apple today until they switch...

iTunes and Apple Airport

The Christmas Holidays are more than a time to see family -- it is time to get some things done that simply take TIME!

There is no substitute for just plain time!

This time I recorded -- or rather finished recording 250 CDs -- onto my hard-drive to travel onto my iPOD. Also, I installed a second wireless computer system that plays all of that music -- obviously music I like because I bought the CDs.

The house has a "Soper G" wireless router for computer use using a 108 mbs Netgear router -- and a separate 11 mbs "B" router that is wirelessly connected to an Apple Airport "G" connected to my two-zone Bose amplifier. In THEORY, the Super G shouild be able to connect to the Apple Airport -- but in practice I could not get a wireless connection, so I installed the "B" system. (To be completely accurate, Rod Chan installed the "B" system when he got tired of us trying to get the Super G system to recognize the Airport...to him, time is money!)

I certainly prefer music, particularly music I love, to TV!

Using iTunes I can have the computer select whatever music at random, or I can play what my mood dictates -- classical, smooth jazz, git fiddle, easy listening, Brazilian, 1940s swing, military marches...etc. Using my laptop anywhere in the house or in the garden I can select any single piece of music, or a complete genre in a second.

All in all, I can listen to more than 2,500 pieces of music, 7 days of music, 24 hours a day without repeating a song, and I can determine in which part of the house -- or all of the house -- the music plays. Different music can play in three different parts of the house/garden if that is desired.

I am feeling pretty smug now that it is over...and it works! It took a long time! Using 11 Bose speakers, plus a Bose Music System, there is pleanty of musci for the small house plus lanai!

Anyone wishing a demo can call me anytime...

iPOD

Yesterday I was interviewed by a reporter from the SD Union -- she was using an iPOD with a recorder attachment. (iTALK from Griffin -- $42.) Damn neat, great design, and iPOD holds thousands of hours of recording. Looked good. (She did too...undergrad at Wellesley and grad at Stanford...)

This morning I read Mossbergs column in the WSJ -- he is using the iPOD to download and backup his digital camera on vacations, using a new iPOD Camera Connector. ($33)

COSTCO is carrying the Altec Lansing InMotion speaker system for the iPOD for $149! Great sound, great price, VERY small and portable compared to BOSE, AC and battery powered.

Google Desktop 2 (Beta)

Just when Konfabulator becomes free, up jumps Google Desktop 2 (Beta) with a really great free competitor.

Right now I am using both -- and you should give them a try. Of course, they do eat up a lot of memory...

Konfabulator

One of the best (now free) programs around, is Konfabulator – a program recently bought by Yahoo and made free in their competition with Google.

Konfabulator gives you a number of useful icons for your desktop: Weather (current and five day forecast), analog or digital clock; "To Do List"; and loads of others which you can use or not have visible. There is a memory counter, a stock list, and loads of options.

I got this tip from Leo Laporte’s Sunday show…and his shows are now available on Podcast.
Download the Konfabulator from http://www.konfabulator.com -- there are more than 1,000 valuable icons you can download.

Satellite Photos for Free

If you have not tried www.earth.google.com you are missing a great treat...it is satellite photo program that is really exciting. You need a decent graphics card, and one of the new 3-D cards is supposed to provide real punch...but the site is terrific with whatever you have...

GOTOMYMEETING with Leo LaPorte

Today I participated with Leo Laporte in his first GOTOMYMEETING seminar along with 200 other people. This was an on-line presentation facilitated by telephone.

Basically we could hear Leo on the phone and his presentation was full-screen on the computer – primarily Powerpoint, but whatever he did on his computer was vivid, full-screen on our screens.

A "Chat-line" was open, so we could type questions to Leo, and he replied at the end of the presentation.

This is an excellent presentation tool, similar to WebEx in the corporate world, but more consumer-oriented, cheaper and faster.

Leo’s presentation was on many different subjects – but several piqued my interest. One was a discussion of Wideband Over Powerlines, a technologically easy way to provide wideband to remote areas of the country. While that might bring wideband to farms and rural America, apparently it generates some signals that cause massive problems to Ham Operators and some emergency radio bands.

He also demonstrated www.earth.google.com…a free satellite mapping program, and an interesting thing called Buddyping in Britain, where some 30 people who care about where each of them are at any given times are tracked around the country. I am not certain what the application is for individuals, but apparently marrying GPS and earth.google.com with transmitters permits UPS to see where each of their trucks are at any given second!

His last presentation was on the subject that Sun Microsystems surfaced years ago with their "The Network IS the computer" slogan…and he used gotomymeeting to show that as an application…like gotomypc, the program remains on the network, and you control it from your PC. There is apparently a competitor to Microsoft Office available on the Network…yu rent its use, it is constantly updated, and since your files are likewise on the network you can easily access them from anywhere.

There was also a discussion of RFID advances and many other subjects as well.

If you or someone you know has a need to do PowerPoint presentations, save the travel time for everyone and do them with GOTOMYMEETING for about $500 a year!

Remote Control of Your Computer

Depending upon your needs, either PC Anywhere or GoToMyPC should be on your computer if you need to access one computer from another.

If all of your access is just from you living room laptop to your home office desktop, then the "pay once" PCAnywhere is a fine program…but if you need to access your home or office computer from borrowed computers or from Internet Cafes around the world, the GoToMyPC is the program for you.

I have used both, depending upon the circumstances, but more and more I am using GoToMyPC because it simply works better and from anywhere. It is more expensive, but in real estate the reliability of the program makes the expense a negligible factor.

If you travel, GoToMyPC is a must.