Article

BBC News – IBM at 100: From typewriters to the cloud

My Comments

When International Business Machines (IBM) had come on to the scene as an office technology company, there weren’t many technologies around that made office life more productive. Now this company has built up a steady path of innovation in this field and it has culminated with the development and refinement of the mainframe computer through the 1960s and 1970s; and the establishment of a highly-desirable office electric typewriter equipped with an interchangeable “golf-ball” typehead, known as the “Selectric”.

But this company had a strong hand in the personal-computing scene with the arrival of the IBM PC. This desktop computer, which was based on Intel electronics and a Microsoft operating system had set the benchmark for an affordable desktop computer for small businesses.  Through the 1980s, this computer was refined through the use of colour graphics, hard disks and faster processors. Australian readers may know that a lot of these computers sold in that market were built in a factory in Wangaratta, Victoria.

In a similar vein, another company called Lotus had developed the quintessential desktop spreadsheet application known as Lotus 1-2-3. Due to its flexibility and capability, this program became the preferred spreadsheet application to be run on an IBM PC.

But these computers had effectively brought the desktop computer out of the realms of the hobbyist and in to the hands of business. This was initially in to the hands of the bookkeepers and similar employees but, in the late 80s and early 90s with the arrival of cost-effective computer networks, ended up in the hands of most office workers from the top floor to the bottom.

The PS/2 era wa a markedly different era with an attempt by IBM to develop their own operating system and graphic user interface, which was known as OS/2. These computers also used a high-speed interface bus, known as the Micro Channel Bus, that was different from the EISA bus that was used by the rest of the industry. The main benefits that these computers had provided for the industry-standard Intel-based computing environment included the use of micro-DIN keyboard and mouse interface ports, including a standard interface for the mouse; a small power-supply reference design which allowed for the power switch to be located on the front panel; and the use of 1.44Mb 3.5” diskettes on the Intel-based PC platform.

Through the late 90s, IBM had shifted away from its hardware roots and moved towards its role as a hardware-software “solutions provider” for big business. This was evident with them devolving their main hardware lines to other companies; like Lexmark for printing and imaging, Hitachi for data storage, and Lenovo for personal computer systems. It was although they bought out Lotus and implemented Lotus, who had shifted to “Notes” as an information-management system,  in their solutions. Here, it has led to them being able to work on “cloud-based” computing projects that can help these businesses manage their information across many locations.

Infact, I would consider the existence of IBM to be a “milestone to the connected lifestyle” in itself due to its development and refinement of both “back-end” and desktop computing equipment central to this lifestyle.

Happy 100th Birthday, IBM

Article

DLNA and why it matters | Consumer Reports

My Comments

There are those of you who use magazines like “Which”, “Consumer Reports” or “Choice” to assess the calibre of consumer products that you buy. This is because the organisations behind these magazines assess the products on the basis of how a consumer would experience these products and want to stay at arm’s length from the suppliers’ public-relations efforts. Similarly these same organisations work in their own territory as general consumer advocacy organisations on topics like junk-food consumption and the like.

Now Consumers Union, the American-based consumer information and advocacy organisation, have used their “Conusmers Reports” platform to identify consumer electronics devices that work with the DLNA Home Media Network by using this feature as a distinct attribute in their products’ attribute lists. The main reason I support this is that they support the level of interoperability that this standard provides for media distribution over the home network.

Here, it could be a good idea for other organisations of the same calibre as Consumers Union, like Australian Consumers Association (“Choice”) to use their reviewing platforms to support this standard. One of the reasons is that this standard isn’t controlled by one product vendor but set up for cross-vendor compatibility; and is infact the reason HomeNetworking01.info stands for this technology as a preferred platform for media management via the home or small-business network.

Article

BT: Tests using white space for rural broadband are ‘very encouraging’ – FierceWireless:Europe

My Comments

There have been a few tests taking place in various countries to use bandwidth vacated by TV stations when they gone digital for use as the wireless last-mile in broadband service delivery. This application of the “white space” will be used primarily to deliver real high-speed broadband in to households and small businesses in rural and remote communities.

The BT Openreach tests that occurred recently and were cited in this article were performed on the UHF TV band and were covering the Isle Of Bute in Scotland. This exploited the ability for this band to be received on indoor antennas (aerials) like the typical “rabbit’s ears” used on portable TVs, as well as outdoor aerials.

A good question that may be worth raising with a UHF-based “white space” setup may be whether such setups may cause digital-TV reception problems for stations broadcasting on that band. This is more so in areas where the UHF band is being used as a “repeater” / “translator” broadcast band to fill in reception black spots in a TV broadcaster’s market area. In a rural area, there will be these transmitters being used for each TV broadcaster that is to be received in the area alongside any “white-space” Internet-delivery setup.

Other questions worth asking include whether such a setup will use “fibre-to-the-transmitter” or other high-speed wired backbones, what kind of bandwidth is available to the customer and whether it will be a “shared bandwidth” setup like DOCSIS cable-modem setups or a “dedicated bandwidth” setup like what Ethernet and DSL setups can provide.

Recently, I had reviewed a few Brother printers and had observed a particular trend in how the products are being positioned. It is becoming more akin to how the typical vehicle builder is positioning a particular vehicle model or series of vehicles.

It is also becoming very similar with Hewlett-Packard’s Photosmart and OfficeJet inkjet printer ranges where there are a few common mechanisms implemented in the products. But, in HP’s case, the different models have differing cosmetic designs so as to integrate different feature sets and make the more expensive machines look classier.

A lineup of models with varying feature sets and throughput speeds but with the same design

In the vehicle world, an example of this was Holden’s large family cars sold through the 1960s to the 1970s. These vehicles had different model names depending on their level of luxury and / or their powertrain, with the “Premier” representing the top-of-the-line standard-wheelbase vehicle. Low-end vehicles were referred to initially as “Standard” or “Belmont” vehicles until the early-70s “HQ” series while “step-up” or “mid-tier” vehicles had model names like “Special” or “Kingswood”. This was until the “HQ” series where vehicles in that and subsequent series had “package” suffixes to differentiate entry-level and mid-tier vehicles.

For example, I had noticed that the HL-2240D direct-connect duplex monochrome laser printer was part of a series of laser printers based around a new printer design and print engine. There was a low-end model known as the HL-2130 which couldn’t print both sides as well as the HL-2250DN which was equipped with Ethernet networking and the HL-2280DW being equipped with Wi-Fi networking. Similarly, the more expensive models in the lineups also benefit from higher page throughput due to more powerful components in the design.

A model range derived from another model range

But the practice becomes very similar to how the vehicle builders derive a model range design from another concurrently-running model range design. An example of this would be them designing a longer-wheelbase luxury “executive” car as a derivate of a standard large family car like what Ford have done when they derived the Fairlane and LTD designs from the Falcon designs.

Here, this is reflected in how the designs for this company’s laser-printer lineup are used. I had observed that the multifunction series including the MFC-7360N that I reviewed were derived from the previously-mentioned dedicated laser printer series that the HL-2240D was part of. Here, all the units in both printer lineups used the same print engine and the same replacement parts.

Benefits for product choice

This will allow for a granular range of products in a product class where a person can choose or specify the right kind of printer based on their needs and budget; without needing to create new designs in order to satisfy the different market segments. This also allows the manufacturer to keep product prices within affordable territory because there is the ability to reuse parts across the different models. It also can allow a salesman room to upsell customers to better products or make deals that offer better value.

In most cases, the mid-tier product will offer best value for most users. For example, in these two printer lineups, the mid-tier models (HL-2250DN dedicated printer and MFC-7460DN) will offer the two currently-desirable features – double-sided printing which saves paper; and network connectivity. In some other cases like the dedicated colour laser printers based on Brother’s latest high-throughput colour-laser print engine, the HL-4150CDN which just has Ethernet network connectivity and reduced-time-penalty colour duplex printing would suit most users.

Conclusion

The creation of a granular product range with incremental functionality but a few common design bases and /or descendent product classes can then allow manufacturers to keep consistent value for money when they want to build out a product range.

When Apple launched the “Snow Leopard” version of the MacOS X platform, there were initial doubts expressed in the computing press about Apple Macintosh users upgrading their existing equipment to this newer platform. The doubts that were expressed were primarily directed at the operating system not exposing new functionality at the user interface. This was because a lot of the work was done “under the hood” through a code rebuild for the Intel processors.

Over the past two years that I have seen MacOS X “Snow Leopard” in the field; I have talked with various Macintosh users about how their computer has fared under it. There have been some users who have bought it pre-installed on a new Macintosh-platform computer or have upgraded their existing Mac to this platform. Remarks I have heard included relative performance improvement as well as a reduction in the disk space required for the operating system compared to prior versions of the MacOS X platform.

This year sees the imminent release of the “Lion” version of this same platform, where there has been a lot of key changes and improvements made to the operating system. Examples of these functionality improvements included: enabling the Macintosh platform for touchscreen use, the implementation of “full-screen” operation for Macintosh applications without the need to have the Apple Menu Bar in view all the time; a multi-window view of all the currently-running programs; an iOS-style icon screen for all the programs installed on the Mac as well as the previously-mentioned iTunes App Store for the Macintosh.

What it seems like for me is that Apple have decided to take the job of improving the Macintosh platform in to two stages; the first one being primarily an “under-the-hood” effort which culminated with “Snow Leopard” and the second one with all the user-visible improvements culminating with “Lion”.

If you intend to upgrade your Macintosh to the “Lion” version, you will need to make sure it is based on an Intel Core-based or Xeon-based processor which means most relatively-recent Macs; and runs the latest version of “Snow Leopard”. The upgrade will be available as an electronic download available at the App Store for US$29.99 and downloads straight to your Mac.

Articles

Apple iOS 5 Updated Over the Air – InternetNews.com

My Comments

The latest incarnation of Apple’s iOS platform is intended to be about integration with an Apple-based iCloud cloud-based computing environment. This is alongside the dream that Steve Jobs has about less reliance on the desktop computing environment. But there is an advantage that will benefit users of any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch whether they just use their device alongside a regular computer or independently.

This advantage is about “over-the-air” software updating for the operating environment. Some mobile phone platforms, such as a few Android installations, were able to be updated without the need to tether the phone to the computer. As well, iOS users could keep their device’s app collection up to date independently of the computer, a practice similar to adding an app to these devices. Now this will be implemented across the iOS platform so you don’t need to connect up that iPhone or iPad to your computer and fire up iTunes whenever Apple revises the platform.

One benefit that I would see out of this is if one’s computer is down for any reason, they can still update the iOS device. Also you don’t need to know where that white USB lead that connects your iPhone to your PC is.

Similarly, the update experience is more reliable for most Mac or PC users. This is because there is less risk of the device being “bricked” (put out of action) due to reasons like a software crash or hang; a slow computer or the USB cable coming out of the device’s Dock connector.

There may be disadvantages with this setup, especially for devices that are primarily operated on a wireless-broadband network. This is where the update may become a significant cost due to the data allowance on most low-end wireless-broadband plans. This may not be of concern for those of us who use the iPhone with Wi-Fi networks associated with most home or business wireline broadband services.

A good question with this update that may concern owners of existing iOS devices is whether the device needs to be prepared for “over-the-air” updating or not. This may be dependent on what version of the iOS system you are running. Here, the device could be enabled through an operating-system update or the installation of an “enabler” app from the iTunes App Store.

It will be interesting to then see whether all the iPhone and iPad users will find it easier to keep these ubiquitous mobile computing devices up to data.

Another increasingly-popular social network service is Twitter. This was intended as a “microblogging” service but some people have been implementing it as another social network.

Like the similar Facebook article that I have written for Facebook novices, this will list who will see which information you post when you use Twitter. Here, I would recommend this as a bookmark or favourite or as something to print out and keep near the computer or have available on the business intranet.

Twitter lexicon

Who sees what

What to do where on Twitter

If someone follows you on your Twitter account, it may be a good idea to check that person out when you receive the notification by email. Here, you could then consider following that person and being able to use direct messaging as appropriately.

It is also worth noting that a lot of social Twitter users use “textspeak” (abbreviations and acronyms for common expressions used when sending SMS messages) when they send out Tweets. So you may have to use resources like the Urban Dictionary to help you understand some of this lingo.