My 2¢ on the Microsoft-Nokia deal.

After reading Om Malik’s “Why I think the $7.2 Billion Microsoft-Nokia deal is a terrible idea” I started thinking about the way times are changing and questioning Microsoft’s scrambling around. I have read they are trying to go the Apple way with controlling the devices. I also read that Google is eating into their markets. Time changes everything – as Apple can attest to. Microsoft needs to re-invent itself and not in the Apple mold or as Google.

For the most part I have to agree with Om Malik and his focus on this rather interesting direction at Microsoft however my thoughts go along a somewhat different line.

I like to look at Microsoft as three independent forces trying to operate inline with each other; Enterprise, Windows OS, and the Office software business. So much so inline with the other internal forces that it limits each groups own innovation.

Enterprise has it's own nightmare. At one time it was controlled completely by corporate inside IT people, today that may not always be the case. Microsoft’s Enterprise division (group) needs it's own direction without influence from other internal sources. The Enterprise side needs to be flexible and open to all the devices currently being relied upon my the organizational worker – or ‘consumer’. As I see it the Enterprise is becoming less of a dictatorial environment and more democratic. BYOD is becoming (has become in some cases) the standard. They will be connecting that Apple, Google, Amazon, device to the internal network. Forcing Enterprise to work with Windows or Microsoft Office could create a bind in the long run.

As for the Window OS division they have their challenges. Chrome is gaining OS share over Apple and could over take Microsoft Windows in the open market (I said could). The Windows OS (and I like 8.1) is still not as quick or as open to accepting outside app’s as it should be. Again that is if it wants to stay number one or become iOS whose market is still on the small side but totally independent. Based on what is happening to the Enterprise area, iOS and Chrome could very well be a contender for space, and perhaps already are. 

The one big 'potential' money end for Microsoft is the Office software. Microsoft needs to acknowledge the advances of Google and Apple (and perhaps Amazon) in the tablet and phone markets and provide 'real time' app's for these devices, something other than connection to SkyDrive. It will hurt their large dollar revenue numbers in the short run however other cost savings will also go along and profit could, in the long run, still be there.

I priced out a laptop computer this week for someone and in the process discovered that to go from 8GB of RAM memory to 16GB was only $80. Two years ago that was $300. Perhaps Microsoft won’t be able to sell that Office package in the future for $400 – who will use it?

Question: Should Microsoft become the Microsoft Group? Operating 3 independent Public companies?

End of The Tablet (or Smartphone) As A Gadget?

OK I am tired of the iPad and Nexus 7 as cute gadgets. Add the smartphone to that as well.  “Oh yes, I have one of those. We can check our email, watch a movie, read a book. I can even go to Facebook while watching TV.”

Problem is I can only do a minimum of reasonable productivity on these devices.

Actually I am getting bored with the whole thing. It was fun at first, just like the computer was 30+ years ago. Now these ‘gadgets’ are a time sync. I WANT MORE!!

When will the tablet grow up? Become a useful productive member of society? And not have to be supported by a laptop/notebook computer? If these tablets are to really take over they have to do more. They have to evolve and soon. Best I have here is a note taking device with some communication capabilities.

Up front let’s say that I do not want to create web pages, design the next complex automobile, or architectural wonder.  All I want are all the office like resources.

Currently I can make a presentation from my tablet to others however I can’t take the order or write a really nice thank you letter on it, I have to return to the computer. I can present highly sophisticated real time graphics on the iPad and even my Samsung phone but can’t write a letter that includes graphics, charts, or photo’s (with word wrap), and send it to my client. Back to the computer. In some cases I can’t even edit the document I am presenting.

Forget blogging anything meaningful with graphics from one of these devices. Guy Kawasaki says you should not put up a blog post without a picture, hmmm…. back to the computer (which I am using to write this).

With our rate of acceptance of new technologies accelerating it’s only reasonable that we want MORE!! The issue is I want it NOW!!

OK Apple, Google, Samsung, what’s next?

My wife’s car is ready, the coffee is gone, so I will move along. I think the dealership thinks I have take up office space here.

There's something due any day
I will know right away
Soon as it shows
Read more: Westside Story - Somethings Coming Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Yes the Tech Scene Has Been Changing–Where Have You Been?

NY Times article in their Technology section; Shifting Tech Scene Unsettles Big Players (published August 21,2013).  Admittedly this must be a fascinating read for someone who has not paid any attention to the technology changes in the last 5 years.

In my thinking the corporations having problems today are the people who produce the current technologies however they do not get why people buy them. Perhaps they are thinking “someday people will all get over these gadgets and return to the old world”. Why do these companies build these products? They do it to produce revenue. Most are inadequate derivations of successful products produced by an innovator of yesterday.

These same companies DO NOT understand the personal/sociological change occurring (or that has occurred). They produce for the money what is being purchased but do not "SEE" the change! Perhaps the change is not internal. “We build what they buy. Why people buy this stuff we have no clue.”

How often do you see someone (perhaps yourself) using a smartphone as a cute gadget? “Cool man”, I can make calls and get email and listen to the latest tunes on my phone. Oh and look at pictures also.

What do I see? People with graphical information related to their business data, being viewed on that same smartphone. These same people going to meeting’s with connections to their server showing Excel spreadsheets on their iPad as well as tableau visual analytics. This data stays up-to-date and is real-time. These people are not playing. This is REAL and it is TODAY! Apple device or Android, it works everywhere.

Question: Why is it a sudden revelation that  HP's printer business is down? WHY is anyone surprised? Paper companies are going out of business - why? What is happening to the printer market? If Wall Street expects the printer market to grow they are out of touch.

NO ONE IS PRINTING! Amazing! Where have you been? OK some print but not the number that did. And it it getting less and less each day. Put you money on Google, Dropbox, SkyDrive, SharePoint, but get away from printers.

What is happening to the PC business? It is changing and as soon as some company is smart enough to realize that tablets of all sizes are becoming dominate productive devices we could lose a number of companies we thought would stay ahead of the curve. If major software providers of today don’t get off their high horse they will be replaced in years to come.

What is happening to the newspaper business? The movie business? The music business? What about books, magazines, the US Postal Service?

In closing; Yes the tablet was innovative, even if it took a long time from the first entry into the market to get to the iPad. Now look at the speed of development. We still ask what’s next? What have you done lately? Apple? Dell? HP? Microsoft? Just to name a few. Hey the iPad, iPhone, Galaxy S4 – that was yesterday. We want tomorrow.

Innovate, innovate, innovate. Don’t procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate. The consumer is ready now.

Finally. Today seems to be a world of choices in which the founders have lost track.

The End of Catch and The Beginning of Chromecast

I was a bit distressed on Wednesday (July 31st) reading in TechCrunch that Catch is shutting down. The article; “Evernote Competitor Catch.com Shuts Down….” is an interesting read. TechCrunch refers to Catch as an Evernote competitor however I might not go quite that far. On the other hand I have used one of Catch’s products, AK Notepad, for some time.

Is this the ‘fear’ behind latching onto an app and then down the road it disappears? I admit that AK Notepad was free and I used it as one would use a scratch pad on my phone. I made quick notes, grabbed a phone number, simple shopping list, and even used it to alert me to buy lottery tickets. It was easy to use and it was FREE. Perhaps the FREE part is what did Catch in. Although my PRIME use was the phone it was also available on my tablets. Catch, the parent, would sync my notes between my phone and my Nexus 7.

NOW I am a big Evernote user but AK Notepad, as I said, was my scratch pad. I will now be using Evernote as my scratch pad I guess but what if it sells out? Always there in the background.

Going back to the FREE aspect. I am more than willing to pay a reasonable amount to have an app and I would have paid for AK Notepad. How much would I pay is the question. I pay for Evernote – $45/yr, and PrinterShare Premium for printing from my phone and tablet. I pay for many other apps on my phone and tablets. You have to determine the value to you versus the cost of the app. The NY Times is a case in point.

I like the NY Times however I will not pay the current rate for the NY Times subscription as I believe it is too much money. At $16.75/mo or $195/yr. (currently) for a digital subscription I believe that I can do as well with my RSS feeds and other resources. I would pay but we have to get it down considerably.

Chromecast -

On a little different note I received by Chromecast device yesterday and installed it last night. Installation was a wiz after dealing with some Internet access issues on my home network. I was able to show my desktop on the beautiful 60” Samsung screen and it looked cool. The desktop did stutter and not scroll as I wanted however that aspect is in Beta and I am sure it will begin to work.

I lit up the Netflix 3 month gift and away we went. Seamless viewing and my router is on the second floor the TV and I on the first floor. I controlled it from my notebook and next up will be controlling from my phone. I was quite pleased. Over the next couple of weeks I am sure we will be playing a great deal with this.

Updates: Android 4.3 on Nexus 7, SafeMonk, and More

Just received my update for my Nexus 7 to Android 4.3. I have to admit it is faster and cleaner. I have not gotten deep down in however what I see I like. I was impressed that it was pushed out as fast as it was. I had read all about the NEW Nexus 7 (I really want that front facing camera) and the article said that Google would be pushing out the Android 4.3 update but did not specify a date. I think that the telecom's could take a lesson from this. I could be tempted to buy a Nexus phone if one is offered in the future.

On Feedly: I am really beginning to love My Feedly (over from Google Reader). In reviewing my news on My Feedly I picked up a few new things from Lifehacker. One of those was SafeMonk for Dropbox. Since I currently use Skydrive, Dropbox, and Google Drive my biggest concern has been putting documents in any of the services that I want to feel secure about, security is a personal issue.

I have tried using TrueCrypt however it did not work on my phone and although GOOD it is cumbersome.  SafeMonk allows me to put documents into an encrypted folder and yet I can open them on my phone, my Nexus 7, and on my iPad, not to mention my desktop and notebook computers. All services available for Android, iOS, OS (Mac) and Windows.  I guess my real plus here is that I like Dropbox synchs speed over Skydrive and Google Drive. Dropbox is very clean.

SafeMonk  was easy to install on all devices. Actually the ease of installation on my Samsung Galaxy S3 surprised me. With SafeMonk I can also share ‘secured’ documents with collaborators (that sounds very underground).

On a side note: I just received an email from Evernote saying thank you for being on Evernote for over 5 years. With 65,000,000 users my user number is under 50,000 – cool. I started with Evernote using the FREE service and I am now a “Premium” user. Dropbox is the same. I am still using the FREE 2GB however I will be moving up to the paid service as I find it very valuable and easy to use. Most other services have some hoops you have jump through, Dropbox does not have that.

And now MORE. While checking out Lifehacker I discovered Contacts+ for Android, really nice. It handles my address book, dialer, instant messaging, and can connect with Facebook as well as Twitter. I actually linked it to Linked In and was very happy with that. The ease of access to all your contacts (with pictures) is really nice. Contacts+ will be replacing my other messaging apps as well as my current contact list that came with my device. I have installed in on my Nexus 7 also. Would love to see this as an app for my Windows based computer.

As a closing note my Chromecast has been shipped (ordered early first day) and should be here by the end of the week. Looking forward to it. I have already installed the extension on all Chrome browsers and just waiting for delivery.  I received my 3 month free subscription code for Netflix.

Learning, Windows 8 (8.1), Apps, Life and More

I am a Learner, a constant student, inquisitive and a creator. I have learned to use Windows 8.1 because I wanted to. I have also learned to use my smartphone, my iPad, my Nexus 7, all because “I” wanted to. I leaned to write in Fortran in the 70’s because I wanted to. I believe it is this attitude that really drives all of us to learn anything, something. We do not learn if we are really not interested.

I think this learning thing all started with learning to tie your shoes and other ‘early’ on training that was necessary to go into life. It didn’t stop there and it continues on thought out life. Look what I can do now Mom.  

There is the possibility that we might be able to work with something we are not interested in, however we never learn it. The tool remains a foreign object and in this form we are always frustrated, or in the case of a chain saw we can get hurt. It is this mind set that does not like change. In some cases we are nothing more than automaton’s, human robots. We do not evolve and we stay stuck.

I am going to assume (I know the other meaning) that you are reading this perhaps you are a ‘learner’s’ or doer, or worker in the true sense. To be good at what we do we need tools and we need to LEARN them. More than learn we need to KNOW!

I want to discuss our recent apps phenomena. 

I like apps. I think they are very powerful. I believe that this is the near future for technical progress. I do not relate completely to the far future (2260’s) as I had not seen anyone in Star Trek refer to the use of apps. I do not remember seeing Captain Kirk or Spock working with Microsoft Office (or any Apple, Android software). Hmmm….. I wonder if they make it to the far future?

Now for the problem. I like apps on the phone or on a small tablet however on a computer, or larger tablet, they are a lost cause. Apps that cannot be resized on larger screens are a problem. I am not referring to resizing them to a 1/4 or 1/2 screen, I mean my personal choice of size and placement on screen.

Take my Windows 8 (now 8.1). Love it, however the apps are not quite right. At home I have two 23” monitors, I do not need a 23” Weather app, photo app, or news app. Even solitaire is a bit out of line. Now the world can, from 200 yards, see that I am killing time.

Why not consider an app window that one could size and place apps at a spot they want. Let’s see. I want the weather app, a news app, and a sports app, of reasonable size, that I could visually quickly scan to see changing events. I want them right here on this screen, somewhat like placing apps on my smartphone. I also might want to quickly preview changes in Facebook or Twitter.

As I said, just like on my phone, I should be able to have multiple screens. One of those would be my work screen which in effect would be my desktop or home screen. With the advent of a second (or third) monitor I could open the screens up to be shared on each monitor. I should be able to fly directly to the screen of action when I need to, not scroll, or swipe back and forth. Touch dots, that’s what we need.

This is possible with Touch however the apps are not quite right. The same application could be applied to larger tablets; 9”, 10”. There are now “18” to 20” tablets being built, a little overkill (my thoughts) for a tablet but that’s OK.

ALL tablets should be working devices and I should never again here ‘entertainment’ device. My computer is an entertainment device, the statement is meaningless. Why have a device for a single purpose?

While apps are not the final frontier they have to get us there – or at least be a stepping stone. Can you hear me Apple, Google, Microsoft? Give us from freedom to do our own thing!

Commander Scott (Scotty) we need some help here in the 21st Century. Please have a talk with the engineers.

Restore The 4th

Let’s keep on enjoying the true meaning of Independence as well as keeping Freedom alive in these United States.