Before there was the Internet - there was hardly any porn. So we watched aerobic and fitness videos like the one above to get excited. Today the kids get more exciting stuff like that in their SPAM mail. So I guess only youngsters interested in fitness watch this. It’s still pretty stupid to jump up and down in front of your computer …
For years now newspapers have been closing down all over the world - and once again it has been a miserable year for publishers. It’s not only paper, but also TV and radio who find themselves under attack from the net.
Personally I love paper - but apart from my weekly edition of the ever great Economist - I don’t read any newspaper or magazine at all.
Overall mainstream media has lost the plot and has been to unwilling to confront the technological change and - MOST OF ALL - the contact to the reader. And there is still that thing called competence …
I knew many journalists in the early 90’s who sneered at so called "New Media" and it’s shiny new world. Today they are either unemployed or deeply into Internet publishing. But still most of them don’t like talking to "the reader" - their very audience. But if you don’t care about your readers - why should they care about you?
Make me smarter, not dumber!
Blogging brought back the "citizen journalist" - who stands on the same "height" as their readers and therefore love the exchange, no matter how bloody it is.
Many great publishing houses and broadcasters have started blogs on their own - trying desperately to build that very same relationship. But they usually fail. You can’t pit the passion of a 24/7 self-propelled blogger against a 9 to 5 work attitude of a normal employee.
But there is a final big mistake all these stations and newspapers make: the lack of depth, seriousness and competence. In the days before Google and Wikipedia it was very hard work for a normal person to research anything those newscasters and experts told us. Today it’s easy to find out if these "professionals" are competent.
Dunno where all that crap is coming from?!
Most mass media web sites are written poorly, offer no depth and real competence. They still just recycle what comes out of the big news agencies like AP or Reuters. Even my beloved BBC publishes only very short and not very deep news articles - I dare not to mention CNN or MSNBC, which are a lot worse.
Most publishers are still under the illusion that if they offer infotainment and loads of celebrity crap people and advertisers will flock to them. That is why all stations and newspapers have so much trivial crap on their sites, pages and shows. And they is why they are all so exchangeable and don’t deserve any viewers loyalty.
Keep the paper - and give us competence!
Plus: since they all use the same news agencies all their content reads and looks the same. Reuters and AP also offer video and images - not just text anymore. That is why most smarter surfers "leech" the news directly from these providers - not from the recyclers like CNN or any newspaper.
But readers have to evolve as well. They have to be more willing to pay for good stuff and services. Only a few web sites so far have managed to get some money directly from their audience. And that’s a shame! Good journalism shouldn’t be funded by advertising, but by the readers.
But I am afraid in our "all for free" culture this won’t happen.
Finally the digital revolution enters the next stage of small and affordable computing. The success of the Asus Eee PC has spawned a whole range of competing machines. The Eee is so far a huge success: it’s small affordable (under 300 Euro), very portable (just around 1 Kg) and it simply works (the screen and keyboard are obviously not very big - but bigger and better than anything a cell phone or PDA like a Palm can offer).
Now this is finally a machine that has enough power to surf the web, do some work and communicate with your buddies (via Skype or instant messaging).
It’s a great secondary machine - because it has not enough memory to hold your complete MP3 collection no does it have enough horse power to do image a lot image or video editing. Not to mention it’s graphics are far to weak to play any serious game. But give it some time and those weaknesses are solved as well.
Most of all: the machine is CHEAP. So mobile computing becomes a cheap commodity (all machines are around 300 Euro) - so you are less afraid of carrying your precious computer around. Plus our global infrastructure offers more and more free wireless access - without which such a machine would be worthless.
I am looking forward to a whole batch of machines for next Christmas - and by one in addition to my other - heavier - notebooks.
Normal hard drives are built like record player: you have spinning platters and an "arm" that reads and writes the data to the "records".
Computer drives only based on memory chips are nothing new - but bloody expensive. But sooner or later they will replace normal drives, since they are much faster, less less energy, have no moving parts and much more durable. Best of all: no more humming noise.
Especially for notebooks Sold State Drives are a blessing: batteries will last much longer and they will produce less heat.
At the moment these drives are EXPENSIVE. A 64 Gbyte SSD is usually around €700 to €1.000. But like all computer gizmos the prizes will come down.
Samsung has recently announced a 256 Gbyte SSD with a killer performance. The Nerds are drooling like mad - and so am I.
This is slowly becoming a seasonal thing: a new year a new iPod. Here is my excuse for buying a new one: four gigabyte was too tiny for my favorite tunes. Plus it helped to satisfy my technolust and stopped me from buying anything more expensive.
Overall the new iPod interface sucks. I still would prefer the simple old black and white screen with a super simple menu. I don’t need all that extra smart and shiny coverflow and graphic gimmickry. The inside of my pants have no eyes and I just need to see a list of what’s on the playlist. No more, no less.
Apple is currently diminishing the iPod’s greatest appeal: simplicity. Every new version tries to add some unnecessary bells & whistles.
Crap.
Back in the early days of desktop publishing these SyQuest cartridges were the best thing to send your data to clients or the printers. And they worked pretty well … most of the time (any one remember all the hassle to mount SyQuests when there was the wrong or a nasty SCSI driver on it?).
44 MBytes sound like a joke today and they were bloody expensive too. You can easily upload that amount of data today or burn a cheap CD. But all these technologies were not yet available at that time.
Digital Life certainly has improved.
All our computers waste huge amounts of energy by waiting for us humans to do something. Most so called CPU cycles are wasted for waiting for you to press a mouse button or open a new webpage.
LocalCooling is a gadget for WindowsXP users to reduce their energy usage - or at least configure their computers to shut down unused parts or completely. Hey, you can even calculate how many trees you have saved - and there is even a top ten list for your and your buddies to participate in a global energy saving contest.
Let’s all say it: awesome!
Or is it? Overall there is nothing new in here: all energy settings can be found in the aptly named Energy control panel. So it’s only a good remix of already existing.
So if you really want to save some energy, than open your Energy control panel and tell your machine to shutdown the monitor and hard drive after a few minutes idle time … and don’t download that LocalCooling application and don’t waste any more energy thinking about it.
What we REALLY need are computer components that act more energy conscious and use a lot less electricity. Intels newest mobile Core2 processors only know two speed settings: half and full speed. There should be more settings.
I always applaud companies, when they try to keep the update insanity for device drivers to a minimum. Many companies have switched to so called “all in one” driver packages, which means that all their drivers for all their products are in one huge file.
How huge? The newest SetPoint combined mouse and keyboard driver is a whooping 54 MB big. A monster to download and install.
Excuse me! But a mouse or keyboard is really a simple device - this sucks. Some operating systems are not as big as this driver package. What a waste of resources to download and store that bloody thing …
Sometimes I wonder if computers haven’t already achieved consciousness and are just keeping silent to piss us off with stupid error messages. I could swear I heard a little snigger coming out of my notebook when it crashed yesterday …
I actually think this nutty product is a good idea. I haven have cold hands while writing - although my room is heated. The only thing I don’ like are the many cables - I think I am gonna use some old fashioned wireless gloves …
Welcome to my life … and 2oo8 will be a great year! 
I love fluffy tech and I like monsters. So this Monster Notebook Sleeve is just fucking brilliant. It even has a proper mouth and tongue when you open the monsters “jaws” to insert your precious machine.
Check it out!
In recent years we have seen an explosion of girly tech - gadgets specifically designed to appeal to woman’s sense of cuteness, styling and beauty.
But this new Sony Ericson phone in combination with it’s product website really takes the cake. A gold-pink cell phone is bad enough - but on a neon-green background?
Gimme a break. I’ll sue them for eye cancer!
But there are many golden, pink and other soft coloured gadgets out there - that are equally bad in terms of design and colour harmony.
Are woman really that hungry for pinkness in their mind? You girls know that pink is used to reflect your genitalia.
So in that context the Sony Ericson cell phone above ’says’: pink pussy below - and attracted to gold in the head, press the knobs to make her ring …
So Ladies - and don’t forget to ‘Bling’ your pink gadget to increase the girly ranking in your circle.
Another excellent documentation from Frontline (which you can view online). This time about the first generation (of Americans) who grew up with the Internet, cell phones and computer games.
It covers all important topics: the ‘Always-on’ generation, ego surfing with MySpace and other sites, the new global ‘we’, web slutism, stalking and cyber bullying.
Highly recommended - even if you don’t have kids - because it gives you a better understanding in the psyche of the coming generation and the impact of technology on our society.
Those where the times - when your new gigantic 10 MByte hard drive came with it’s own rig and technician - and a huge invoice …
I am sick and tired of Apple getting all that hype for it’s new MacBook Air. My Samsung Q-35 is already 14 months old and isn’t considered a hot item these days. Here are some numbers to illustrate my point that Samsung built a great machine over two years ago that still is almost as good as Apples new Yuppie gadget:
Weight:
Apple: 1.36 kg
Samsung: 1.9 kg
CPU:
Apple: Intel Duo 2 Core / 1.6 Ghz
Samsung: Intel Duo 2 Core / 1.6 Ghz
Battery Life (according to official propaganda):
Apple: 5 hours
Samsung: 4 hours
Display:
Apple: 1280×800
Samsung: 1280×800
Dimensions:
Apple: 325 x 227 x 4 - 194 mm
Samsung: 299 x 214 x 27.4~35.8 mm
My Samsung has more ports (Ethernet, Modem, 2x USB, Firewire, PCMCIA card) and INCLUDES a DVD drive plus a slot for all sorts of memory cards (why is that missing in a Mac?).
The Mac has a built in video camera and better graphics card (no surprise two years later). The 80 GB hard drive is more or less identical. The Mac has a bit newer Bluetooth and WiFi, but not that much different or better.
The new Apple keyboards are terrible - dunno if the MacBook Air feels as rubbery as these. The Samsung keyboard is brilliant - since I write a lot this was an essential point for me.
The new trackpad in the Mac seems to be a big innovative plus, but I am not sure if it makes any difference while writing or designing. Most people use an extra mouse even while traveling - and hardly anyone does design work with Photoshop or Illustrator using the trackpad anyway.
The Samsung Q-35 is no longer available - but you can get it’s successor Q-45 under 1.000 Euro with more power, bigger drive, CPU and better graphics. The new MacBook Air will set you back 1.600 Euros with NO DVD drive …
Just within a hundred years we spread ‘waves’ everywhere. You can listen to radio or talk via your cell phone in almost every corner of our blue planet. Satellites and WiFi antennas will soon provide full broadband coverage everywhere - so you can tune into the intranets and the full media spectrum of radio, voice and webtv wherever you are.
While a primitive radio set can built with the most basic of electrical components modern communication relies on complex digital technology. I wonder if things like emergency radio will be any use in the future - when nobody owns any equipment to listen to it.
Radio Waves are the very essence of modern communication.
Back in the 80’s I adored these modern looking Apricot computers. Too bad they were not so successful like the IBM machines. Their design and technology were pretty cool and innovative.
More? Apricot @ Wikipedia
Yesterday I spent almost the whole day to sort out my computer box. I used to work as a system administrator for some time, so there are plenty of digital ‘leftovers’: adapters, cables, chargers, batteries, converters, transformers, even more cables and hubs of all sorts.
It is precious high tech trash. Some of these cables and especially adapters once cost a huge amount of money. I found one old Mac PowerBook to SCSI cable that once cost over €100. Now it’s simply high tech trash.
But it’s mostly poisonous trash. Some countries have laws against disposing it all as usual. Most cables and plugs contain precious metals - so it should be recycled.
But most of all: these cables and plugs should be designed to be more universal.
The USB plug and cable system for example was meant to be universal - just as the name says. But already USB is no longer just one plug but four different sizes. Well done computer industry!
And why can we have ONE charger for all those small gadgets like cell phones, cameras and mp3 players?
The good old Mac OS 7 was simply the best: small, compact, easy to use, visually appealing and humble. It just worked and didn’t distract you with stupid gimmicks or widgets or a gazillion functions your didn’t need.
Today’s Mac and Windows operating systems are bloated monsters compared to that. Instead of working you are busy administering your system and learning stuff about computing you absolutely don’t need to earn your living. That’s geekery eating itself.
We are heading for the totally wireless gadget Internet: TV, radio and telephony are slowly making it to the net as well. Skype is already a great tool - I use it on a daily basis. For many business users it has replaced all the other instant messenger like AIM or ICQ.
Many people already got rid of their land line or only own one to have DSL - cell phones are the way to go. But I guess Internet phones will substitute sooner or later, because they offer an open basis and more possibilities for less money.
So cell phone providers will face the same struggle as classic telephone carriers and media companies: new technology will destroy their old and overpriced business model.
The new 3 Skype Phone are only available in a few countries, but the rates are amazingly low.
(Big audio geek rant ahead - just ignore it if you are not a sound nut like me )
To say that I am a audiophile person would be a bit of an understatement. I hardly leave the house without my iPod and even while working I love to listen to music via headphones. My brain simply loves to be close to the sound of music.
There are three things in my life were I am constantly looking for a better gadget: keyboards (because I type a lot), mouse (for smooth clicking) and headphones (I only have that set of ears). Sure I also love to shop for good monitors (because I want to be nice to my eyes as well) and a kickass computer - but usually both items don’t need changing only every two years.
When it comes to my ears I am VERY picky. As a kid I had several serious infection and some operations on my ears - so I am extra sensitive when it comes to my eardrums. Plus I still can hear grass growing although I had these operations and tortured my ears with techno music in the early 90’s. Yes, I will donate my amazing ears to science when I die …
In the age of the every shrinking music players buying the right and good headphones is important as well as a joke. Why? Because of sound compression and bad sound chips.
Compression: Many MP3s sound like shit, because they have been ripped with a low compression setting (like 128 or 192 kps) and therefore ‘hiss’ or ‘jitter’. So with good headphones you can hear all these ‘damages’ done to good music. I try to get the highest quality rips for my music collection - it should be at least 256 kps or more.
Sound Chips: This little bugger transforms your digital MP3 files back into proper music. Most PCs have terrible sound chips, their quality makes most sound engineers weep and kill themselves. If you combine a bad sound chip with a low quality MP3 than you get the sound quality of a 1930’s radio transmission.
iPod’s are supposed to have good sound chips, but are still vulnerable to bad MP3s (shit in - shit out). That is one of the reasons why Apple pushed it’s AAC sound format when it introduced the iPod and iTunes - they wanted to make sure people got ‘well ripped’ music onto their new gadgets.
My serious headphones (Sennheiser HD 555): amazing sound quality and size. I feel like an Easter bunny wearing these. But with these good music is a revelation - they really make you LISTEN. Most excellent sensation my friends …
My machine actually comes with an acceptable SoundMax HD chip and some software based SRS sound. It is actually amazing how well this machine sounds WITHOUT external speakers. This little machine is enough to keep my small room filled with a decent sound - although not too much bass.
I use the small earplugs and earphones only with my iPod for portability reasons. The big Sennheiser is made for more serious audio - the pricetag of over €100 makes that painfully clear. The Sennheiser also mercilessly kicks the digital setup in the butt: every little hiss or frequency distortion is played back in it’s lousy inadequacy. Thank you so very much you overpriced set of ear muffs!
High Quality MP3s make a big difference here. Never mind the extra space they eat on my hard drive - it’s worth every minute of smooth sound.
With cheaper headphones you will hardly notice the differences, because they blur the sound anyway.
Small is beautiful! A note to Apple - please don’t sell me an overpriced MP3 player with such shitty earplugs. Everyone I know has thrown them away after unpacking …
The big Sennheiser sure sound great with the iPod as well, but is unpractical for the road. Plus the plug is made for big hifi equipment and therefore needs a ‘bridge’ for the smaller plug. The whole thing as actually big and clunky - and almost the same size as the iPod. Not something you want in your pocket.
My earplugs (Sony MDR-ED 31) - small, easy to carry around and quickly stuff into my pockets if needed. Good sounds, lacks a bit bass. Feels a bit like someone sticking fingers into your ears.
All iPods have a built in ’sound barrier’ - which especially annoys kiddies, since you can’t crank up the volume. You can ‘improve’ the sound a bit with the different equalizer settings, but once again low quality MP3 will hiss at you like a bunch of mad snakes. So once again it pays off to rip your music at a higher setting.
The Sony earplugs are nice to wear and don’t seal up your ears like so many other similar products. They sound good and very convenient for traveling.
My travel setup (AKG Acoustics K 412 P): for some good sounds and keeping the public noise out of my ears. Excellent sound quality - and they can be folded together, so they use less space in my messenger bag.
The AKG headphones are the best compromise between transportability and sound quality. You can actually fold them together, so they get even smaller. The audio quality is very good and they even have a warm and pleasant bass.
As a good consumer I have bought all the right products for each audiophile situation. Perfect - until we finally get some decent and usable Bluetooth headphones and iPods with built in Bluetooth as well. Then I can FINALLY get rid of all the cables and go wireless … and buy new headphones!
Gee, is it already over ten years ago that these oversized pocket calculators achieved the final breakthrough of the PDA? Together with the mainstream revolution of the WWW suddenly cell phones and personal digital assistants exploded everywhere.
Palm created 1996 a huge market that was invented by Apple with it’s Newton 1992. But the original Newton was a brick compared to the slender Palm (which would appear huge compared to today’s machines). And it played nicely with a Mac and a PC. Something Apple always hated until they finally ‘got it’ with the iPod.
Suddenly everyone wanted to have one of these organizers - in every meeting people would try to take notes with Graffiti - a special sign language to make the computer better understand human handwriting. Most people ended up using the keyboard map instead.
Today the PDA’s are slowly disappearing - or better say evolving into the smart phones. Today almost any cell phone offers an extended address book and scheduler. If you need more power - you simply use a notebook or small laptop. Especially since PDAs from Palm and Windows CE are bloody expensive.
The whole PDA market will be killed by smart phones. There is no need to have a small computer if you cell phone can organize your life as well.
More? Palm Pilot @ Wikipedia
I hardly can remember my first (cheap) stereo system which was all the rage back then. You simply had to had a decent HiFi system at home - just a simply tape and record player was not enough to grantee your social status. Every since the 80’s audio freaks have gone overboard with special preamps, super CD-Player and all that expensive boy toys.
In that context I find it cynical that most people are now hooked to cheap ass speaker system on their computers to listen to badly ripped MP3 files. So the new digital revolution actually was a downgrade in sound quality compared to audio CDs and a good stereo system.
But never mind. It’s small and portable or big and clunky on your desktop - but most of all it’s bloody convenient! So we see once again new high tech gimmickry to give is better sound. JBL, Apple and many others offer a gazillion highly evolved speaker system to play your hissing and badly compressed MP3 files in your living room.
Ah, the irony of high tech. But at least it looks cool when it sounds like shit.
After many years if waiting and technical development video is finally sweeping the Internets. It’s not just download little bits here and there, but massive streaming, downloading complete movies and ‘blogcasting’. We are used to get small video clips in our emails or watch important as well as ‘funny’ stuff via Websites like Crooks & Liars as well as YouTube.
The BlogCasting is a sort of Clip-O-Mania which has also grabbed the mainstream media’s attention: news shows include Internet clips as well as those many funny video shows. Videos of people torturing each other were cell phone videos, a lot of ‘funny’ stuff is from cheap camcorders. The video revolution is in full swing.
Since the medium is still part of the message those short clips will only ‘deepen’ the short attention deficit disorder of modern people. Since the introduction of mass media in form of TV and radio the speed and visual presentation of ‘content’ has increased. If you watch a newscast or report from the 1960’s you be surprised how slow and static it is. Today’s presentation hardly leaves any space for thinking. Everything is presented in ever faster image sequences, booming voices and action music. This is no longer just the stupid idea of edutainment, but actiontainment.
The faster, the more impressive and the shorter - the better.
A new generation of clones taking over the world!
Similar to the inability of many modern students to understand or write complex texts this will Clip-O-Mania will contribute to the ignorance of complexity. Contrary to popular believe I say that modern youngsters are NOT stupid, but they simply lack the training and challenges to train their brains to ’solve’ complex mental tasks as well to train patience.
As much as I like gaming myself almost ALL digital adventures only train a very limited set of challenges, which only get harder with every level but not more diversified or complex. The effects of hours of videogaming are very similar to brainwashing, because the same mental paths / messages are hammered deeper and deeper into the brain. Playing is meant to explore different approaches and experiment with different combinations. Videogames lack the variety - they present a very limited set of elements and solutions - under a huge pressure to proceed and win. Similar to the speedculture of actiontainment and videoclubs there is little time and mental space left to develop your own ideas and grow at your own pace.
Slowness has it’s own merits as well as patience and complexity.