This topic has been debated for many years with pontificators claiming that the appliance computer had arrived, yet we still see tremendous progress in processor speed and capability, hard drive space, video cards, and so on. I have usually disagreed with these statements, instead believing that software and people’s desire for and immersive and fluid computing experience, would continue to drive technology beyond the appliance stage. I will now join the ranks and claim that the appliance computer is at hand, however I do not believe that it will take over the computer market. Instead I believe that it is targeted at the next tier of potential Internet users. Three legs of the appliance computing platform now exist - enough to make the platform able to stand on its own. This article discusses the three legs that exist now and the fourth that will complete this platform and usher in the era of appliance computing. Read the rest of this entry »
That is what I heard from a Microsoft trainer recently. Does anyone have any direct knowledge of whether this is true or not? The problem with any metric like this is that there are so many more variables than just Windows Vista and Windows XP. For example, take a 3-year old Windows XP machine and refresh it with a brand new PC and a fresh operating system and I guarantee help desk calls will go down, at least temporarily.
To Vista or not to Vista: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The UAC warnings of outrageous caution,
Or to take arms against a sea of malware,
And by virus software end them? To die: to shutdown…
We’re trying to figure out whether or not we want to go with Vista or Windows XP for our 3-year refresh. The decision is difficult because we will live with it for the next three years. There is no incentive to perform an upgrade mid-cycle. There are many different factors and there are pros and cons on either side.
I really thought Microsoft had some clue where they were going with those Seinfeld advertisements, but it appears that they were just as clueless as the rest of us. It is sad really. I was hoping for some of those “Oh, I get it!” moments as the advertisements continued. Instead we get a failed advertisement campaign similar to the failed Vista launch. What is Microsoft doing correctly these days?
The one thing that I hope was a good move was partnering with Packet 8. As Vonage tanks due to overwhelming debt, Packet 8 continues to rise as the VoIP leader. I hope the Vonage folks take a lesson from the Sunrocket debacle and start thinking about options to change their phones to another service NOW so that if it does happen you are prepared as much as you can be. When Sunrocket disappeared I was in the process of evaluating a free month of Packet 8 and so I got a jump start, but I know many people were burned pretty badly.
One day just suddenly, Sunrocket’s dissolution was reported all over the news. We didn’t get any warning from them at all. My reaction was this: My service was through Sunrocket and currently incoming phone calls are receiving a fast busy. We are still able to call out, but if you are trying to reach me you’ll need to know my cell phone number. I will get this switched soon. My primary choices are Packet8, or ViaTalk. ViaTalk has the most comprehensive feature package and has responded quickly to the news http://vtinside.com/blog.html but I am partial to Packet 8 because of it’s long-time existence and numerous VoIP patents.
My decision was made quickly: It is a tough decision to pick which provider to go with. Vonage is expensive and in trouble with Verizon so I’ve left them out. ViaTalk has the best feature set and great prices, but they say it will be 5-7 business days even with expedited processing and overnight shipping before I’ll see a device. Then I’ll still have to wait for the number to be ported. Packet 8 says they can port the number in 2-4 weeks, but this is their standard answer, and I have a feeling that it will be faster. ViaTalk is completely overwhelmed with people signing up for their service. Since this is likely to better than double their business, I am unsure if they are equipped to handle the onslaught, and expect that they can’t be far behind SunRocket in the going out of business club. Packet 8 on the other hand is a 20-year old communications company with dozens of patents regarding VoIP technology. I think they have the longest staying power of any VoIP provider out there besides cable companies and landline phone companies who also provide VoIP. I’m going with Packet 8. Call me on my cell phone until my number ports.
The 911 issue has always been a concern with VoIP - if the power goes out so does your 911 service. Well, I use a UPS, but that doesn’t protect me from ISP outages or VoIP company outages. I feel secure with Packet 8 knowing that their company is making a profit.
Full Disclosure: I do own a few shares of Packet 8 common stock.
At 4 and a half minutes it runs a little long. Again it leaves me scratching my head and saying why. There was a brief reference to Bill Gates “connecting” a billion people, but otherwise it was just about connecting to normal people. This may be my last entry on the topic because I’m getting bored with it. I haven’t seen any of these advertisements on TV, although with my PVR I doubt I would, but 4.5 minutes is too long for a TV advertisement anyway. They must be mainly interested in the virual effect which I’m helping to promote.
I didn’t find it too humorous, although it does make a good point that there really is no normal family. We’re all weird and we all are eccentric in our own ways. If this is the purpose of the advertising then I’m impressed. I can’t help but wonder if Microsoft’s goal here is really to:
Keep in mind this is just one of many different theories I have on the subject, but this is based on a good deal of observation.
I started using Vista in November of 2006 when it was released to industry. I downloaded it and installed it on my desktop at work almost immediately. Why? Because I’m a technologist. I love technology and it is my job to learn and explore everything that I can. I think that most computer geeks did the same thing, however there was a big difference between my PC and theirs. See, my desktop at work has a Quad core processor, 4GB of RAM, a Quadro FX4600 video card, and a pair of 10K RPM SAS disks in RAID 0. Yes, all that and I’m getting it refreshed to something better in a few months. I would guess that the average geek’s first experience was installing it on their “test” PC - that PC sitting in the corner that isn’t their primary desktop or their gaming rig. That machine probably had a single core processor and a GB of RAM or so along with older, slower video and hard drive. Another possibility is that they installed it on their gaming rig and had to re-install windows XP when they found out that a driver didn’t exist for one of their components or that it negatively impacted their framerate, even if unnoticable to the human eye. Yet another possibility is that they first saw it from mom/dad/friend’s PC that they just bought for $499 from Wal-Mart. Yeah, same problem there. You can probably see where this is going. A bad first impression is very difficult to overcome. My first impression was excellent, and I’ve been able to help many people since then bring their computers up to speed in order to run Vista adequately.
Non-geeks know who to talk to for PC advice and the news was out about Vista and negative buzz around its launch. So the non-geek comes up and asks, “What do you think about Vista?” To which the geek immediately goes into a lengthy tirade about how buggy (cause they don’t have drivers) and slow (cause they don’t have adequate hardware) it is, but they leave off the part about how they didn’t test it right. Then they go into the DRM and activation problems. Yes, Vista does have a much worse license agreement than XP, I will concede that point. After the non-geek friend talks to a few people about this, peer pressure starts to take over. Geeks who haven’t even looked at it themselves start talking negatively about it. The sheeple (sheep people) geeks perpetuate the negative sentiment and then it is difficult to pick out the individuals who have a truly realistic view about the operating system.
A friend at work came to me a few months ago to ask my opinion about Vista. When I didn’t follow the sheep and started giving a balanced opinion he was very surprised that I had some good things to say about it. See, all he had heard up until that point was the negative. We have been hiring IT people pretty regularly this year and each one that comes in I ask their opinion on Vista. It gives me a good idea about their qualities as a person, employee, and most importantly as a geek/technologist. Unfortunately most have just given me the negative buzz on it and leave out anything positive. That tells me that either they have never tried it for themselves and are sheep, or if they have it was either with a bias or with one of the problems described above and they aren’t true geeks/technologists. Unfortunately I do not make decisions on hiring, but even if I did it’s really difficult to find good IT people and I probably would have made the same decisions anyway.
Windows XP had much of the same resistance early on with people vowing to never move away from their Windows 98 boxes. It was able to overcome this because of the huge amount of positive differences between 98 and XP. There is less of an obvious list of differences between 98 and XP. Now there was an operating system inbetween 98 and XP. Windows ME or Millenium Edition is largely forgotten due to many reasons, but most notably because it was not a significant upgrade to 98. The biggest changes were interface changes, and those just mainly added bloat to a very similar underlying kernel. There were serious deficiencies in 98’s security and XP satisfied those. No one has really had a problem with Windows XP though this time around.
So why did Vista fail? It is a combination of XP still meeting people’s needs and Sheeks (sheep geeks? - I like that one).
I took a look at Microsoft’s new ad featuring Jerry Seinfeld. Below is the advertisement, and if you haven’t seen it you might want to take a look before reading the rest of this.
Do you get it? I’m not sure I totally did, but I’m not sure that’s the point. What I found refreshing about this was that it didn’t talk about Apple in a negative way and it didn’t say anything as bold as the Mojave Experiment to challenge public opinion. What it did was, possibly, humanize Bill Gates. I mean here’s the richest guy in the world trying on a shoe. Do you think he has his shoes specially tailored for him? Did you? Yeah, he probably doesn’t. He has never been one to live large in spite of often being the richest person in the world.
I’m looking forward to the next advertisement in this series. I’d still buy a Mac if they weren’t at such a premium to a PC. A good advertisement is nice to see because so many advertisements just turn up the volume and say nothing interesting over and over again hundreds of times a day. Just the kind of thing to make TiVo and other DVRs more popular. This is the kind of advertisement that you might stop the fast forward to see.
If that’s what they were trying to accomplish then it worked.
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