Must Use App: Dropbox
Dropbox is a file sharing application that works on Mac, PC, iPhone & Android. It allows you to store files locally on your computer, while simultaneously backing it up to a cloud server and sharing the files between all of your other devices.
If you use more than one computer like me, this is a must use application. If you have more than one computer, all of the files in your Dropbox are easily accessible on all of your computers.
It’s also great because you can access those files by signing into the Dropbox website, so you can access your files from someone else’s machine.
It’s also an easy method for swapping large files with friends, family, coworkers, and clients.
Give it a try, and please use my link. If you sign up via my link, I will receive an extra 250mb of free storage (I don’t place adds, and I don’t ask for much, so please forgive me being a bit of a whore in this instance).
Sign up for Dropbox
Post-PC = Marketing BS
During Apple’s iPad 2 event Steve Jobs declared that we are living in a “post-PC” world, and as with every word that the man utters, tech geeks pretty much ate it up.
It’s a cute sound-byte. It makes you feel like you’re part of some grand and imminent future. The PC completely changed the course of human history, and now it is obsolete. Rejoice!
The trouble is, the statement is flat-out false. We’re living in a world of integrated computing. Your PC, mobile, and tablet (if you have one) all work together to give you access to your data. Each one makes computing better in certain circumstances.
That’s the world we live in. “Post-PC” is marketing bullshit.
What’s a PC?
personal computer
–noun
a microcomputer designed for individual use, as by a person in an office or at home or school, for such applications as word processing, data management, financial analysis, or computer games. Abbreviation: PC (dictionary.com)
By this definition:
- A Mac is a PC
- An iPhone is a PC
- An iPad is a PC
They’re all PCs, you just interact with them in a slightly different manner.
Marketing
Apple devoted many years and truck loads of money to differentiate their Apple PC hardware from Windows PC hardware.
Apple hardware = Mac
Windows hardware = PC
Mac = Cool, attractive, creative dude
PC = Pasty, nerdy, stodgy man
The combination of excellent hardware, beautiful design, the iPhone, the failure of Windows Vista, and an overabundance of Windows viruses mixed with aggressive marketing to crown Apple the king of PC technology.
The Bottom-line
We aren’t living in a post-PC world. PC’s have taken over everything.
Calling it a post-PC world is just Apple’s marketing department’s way of trying to declare that there are no other relevant tech companies out there, and that is bullshit as well.
(Image via Engadget)
Finally, A Dell Notebook That Works!
Dell finally produced a product that works exactly as intended.
It’s a notebook! Get it?
It makes me sad to think that someone collected a fat check for this idea.
Airport PC & American Airlines Fail
In the midst of my relaxing evening, I started looking through a few months worth of photos on my camera. I found one from my trip to Boise, Idaho for my friend Sasha’s wedding.
On my way to and from her nuptials, I had the flights from hell, in large part because American Airlines absolutely blows. They have old uncomfortable planes, mean or indifferent flight attendants, nasty gate attendants, and their customer service people aren’t empowered to do much of anything but waste your time. I’ve flown American Airlines few times over the years, and have always been uncomfortable, and disappointed. I will go to great lengths to avoid flying their shitty airline again.
Moving on.
While I was in Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in the middle of my journey, I was mad as hell at America Airlines, but immediately cracked up when I saw this on an arrival monitor:
This error message brought a smile to my face.
Windows vs. Mac vs. Linux Explained in Metaphor
Let’s lay allegiances out on the table upfront.
I’m a three year Mac user, before that I was a lifelong Windows guy… With a little Linux experimentation in college (I know, wild right?). I have no great love of any of these operating systems, they all have virtues and shortcomings.
Here’s my metaphorical take on the three:
Macistan
Macistan is the dictatorship I choose to live in because the trains run on time.
It’s beautiful, vibrant, growing, simple, and there is virtually no crime. You don’t need to worry too much about security; daily maintenance is basically nonexistent; and when you need something fixed, there is a government sanctioned organization to deal with the problem.
The trouble with Macistan is that it has a crazy, egotistical, and self-important dictator. He rules Macistan with an iron fist, and if you don’t play by his rules, he will excommunicate you.
The government repair station is far from perfect, in spite of outside appearances. These sanctioned experts are frequently bureaucrats without useful skills, knowledge, or the ability to actually help.
It’s also expensive to live in paradise. The costs are high in both money, and the loss of freedom. You can only install the software that is OK with the authorities, and the authorities are becoming prone to censorship of “obscenity” as they define it this week.
It’s a nice and easy life, but freedom is dwindling in Macistan; it will probably become too oppressive to abide.
Windowsland
Windowsland is the land of the established superpower.
There is an overabundance of just about everything in Windowsland: software, population, productivity, and crime.
There are some costs associated with living in Windowsland, but they aren’t astronomical, you can live comfortably without spending much money. You also have a fair amount of freedom to do as you wish, there are restrictions, but they aren’t too heinous.
The main problems with living in Windowsland is the insane crime-rate. As a result of the freedom and immense population, Windowsland is hive of scum and villainy. There is a sizable population of jerks looking to profit off of the ignorance and misfortune of others.
The other issue with Windowsland is that the government is slow to improve the infrastructure of the country. The government is constantly struggling to be all things to everyone. As a result, all suffer.
In Windowsland a lot can go wrong, but the taxes are low, and there is quite a bit of freedom.
The Linux Nation
The Linux Nation is more a confederation of tribes than a unified country.
The Linux Nation is located in a rural region where individuals with the skills, and will to succeed can create a nice life for themselves.
There are a number of different Linux tribes. The various tribes have evolved, grown, combined, and dissolved over the years. Generally, the ever-changing tribes improve with each iteration.
There are thriving communities within the Linux Nation where individuals can go for support and comradery. Those who can make it in this Randian confederation of self-reliance frequently have a sense of self-importance that might be a little too overdeveloped.
It takes a lot of knowledge and work to survive the isolation from the outside world, but that is the price of abundant freedom and very low-cost.
How Fanboys See Operating Systems
Windows, Mac OS, and Linux all have their ups and downs, however none of them are perfect.
That doesn’t stop fanatics from all three camps from being a little bit crazy.
This matrix from Global Nerdy perfectly sums up the points of view of fanboys and girls from all three groups.
Apple Grabs 91% of $1000+ Computer Market!?
Three years ago I would have gotten a good laugh out of that headline, but it’s true (This in depth and interesting article details the market shift).
Apple has completely conquered the high-end computer market, while PC makers have been producing weak machines with lower profit margins.
PC manufacturers fell victim to one of the classic blunder, (“The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia” The Princess Bride) got themselves caught up in an unwinnable battle over price.
Back in March, Microsoft began running the “Laptop Hunters” ad campaign. I had a particularly negative response to the whole thing.
Here’s part of what I argued:
The second problem with this section of the ad is the price-point. Microsoft doesn’t sell PCs but their partners do. The profit margin on a $700 laptop isn’t usually amazing. They set Lauren’s budget at $1000, why not have her spend $950? or $990? The ad lowers the expectation for what consumers will expect to pay. If Lauren could get a “great” computer for $699.99 then that’s what a PC should cost.
This ad also degrades the value of a PC. Apple is now officially the gold-standard… Microsoft said so in its own ad. Microsoft has made Apple the BMW of computer makers (if they weren’t considered that already, there is no debate now). PCs are the computer you buy when times are rough… like now. But in the future, the economy won’t be in the dumps (hopefully sooner than later). Then people will have money again. When they replace the cheap POS of a PC they bought during the recession, they are going to want to replace it with something better. Something top of the line… and now we all know that PCs are the cheap computer.
I guess I learned something in those brand management and consumer behavior courses I took in grad school.
Couple Apple’s market share victory with Microsoft’s first annual sales decline, and you can imagine that a lot of folks in Redmond are having a pretty crappy week.
High-end computers are where the money is, and Microsoft (and PC makers) can’t possible afford to concede that turf to Apple… That’s like agreeing to split an apple with a friend and agreeing to eat the core; there isn’t much to eat, and the seeds contains trace amount of cyanide. They need to win back consumer confidence (good luck with that), and they need to do it fast (seriously, now is the time to throw money at the problem). If Microsoft doesn’t change their product’s image problem before the economy recovers, there will be a mass exodus from cheap PCs to the high-end Apples.
It’s become abundantly clear that if the average consumer is going spend a lot of money to buy a good computer, they prefer to purchase it from the fruit company.
