Tag Archives: ipod

Does Microsoft still matter? Revisited

Martyrdom and Funeral of St. Ursula

Martyrdom and Funeral of St. Ursula Vittore Carpaccio

After writing Does Microsoft still matter? it occurred to me that I write a lot of posts about a company that is possibly out of the running when it comes to leading the technology industry.

At the time of writing there are 92 stories tagged “Microsoft” on this site. That’s more than the number of tags for Apple, Google and Samsung combined.

One possible reason is my tagging isn’t that good. The word “Apple” turns up in 114 posts, while “Microsoft” is in 140. That’s partly because Microsoft has ambiguous brand names. I have to spell out that Word or Windows means the Microsoft product while iPad, Mac, iPhone and iPod are all unambiguous.

A second reason is that this site is now seven years old. Microsoft loomed larger in the early days. If you look at posts only from the last two years, Apple is well in front of Microsoft.

And let’s not forget my focus is more on business than on consumer technology – that tends to slew more in Microsoft’s direction.

Still, for a company that may “no longer matter”, Microsoft gets a fair share of coverage.

Related articles

iTunes on Windows is a disgrace

You’d think Apple would have the good sense to make the Windows version of iTunes a wonderful software experience. So wonderful that Windows users are tempted to see what other software marvels the computer maker is capable of. So wonderful that we consider dumping Windows and shifting to the Macintosh OS.

Either Apple isn’t bothered about using its software as a marketing tool, or its programmers are incapable of writing decent code for Windows.

Because, to be brutally honest, iTunes on Windows has always been a crappy experience.

ITunes is rubbish. And it hasn’t improved one jot over the years, It crashes, it fails, it loses stuff, it doesn’t sync properly. It leaves behind a trail of software junk all over the Windows hard drive.

Sadly, iTunes remains a must have because it is the only official way to sync an iPod, iPhone or iPad to a PC.

Sure there are alternatives ways to deal with music. But they are all just as flawed. I’m not sure there is an alternative for moving files and apps between a computer and an iPad.

Not only is the software awful, but Apple treats its Windows customers with contempt. Support questions go unanswered, Long-standing problems, which to this non-developer look relatively trivial – go unfixed even when they are widely acknowledged.

My latest problem is that I can’t install iTunes 11 on my Windows 8 desktop. One Twitter user told me not to bother – the older software is better anyway. Well maybe. But my iPad is an important work tool and I want to keep it up-to-date.

Not only will iTunes 11 not install, but I can’t remove iTunes 10. When I attempted to remove the older program the uninstall failed. However that process also affected how the application works. I can no longer use my keyboard to control volume or to stopping files playing. Not a big thing, just more evidence that iTunes is broken.

Apple: please fix this.

File compression

File compression works because document files store data quickly and inefficiently – like carelessly throwing clothes in a suitcase before a trip. Taking more time and care makes it possible to pack more in the case.

File compression tools are like vacuum luggage packs that squeeze half as much again into your bag.

You could be forgiven for thinking file compression is past its sell-by date in this era of huge hard drives and broadband. Compression is still useful because broadband speeds are still not spectacular and modern multimedia files are enormous.

You probably use compression all the time without thinking about it because it is hidden from sight.

Take, audio. A file on a standard music CD is many tens of megabytes in size – typically 50 MB. The same song stored as an MP3 file might be only 4MB. MP3 is a compressed data format – in effect it squeezes out the blanks between sounds.

If music wasn’t compressed, you wouldn’t be able to get many songs on an iPod and it would take forever to download from iTunes. Compression removes some music information along the way – that’s why MP3s rarely sound as good as the original audio files.

In a similar way jpeg compresses pictures and movies are compressed with a range of different formats.

Compression is not built-in to office applications like word processors and spreadsheets. Third-party compression tools to fill the gap.

Zip is the best known file compression format. Another popular format is .rar, there’s a good chance you’ll come across other formats.

Windows now has built-in support for Zip files. You can create a new compressed folder or create a new one directly in Windows explorer. Dealing with other formats requires a compression application – most, including some of the best are free. My favourite is jZip (www.jzip.com) JZip is a fast tool that handles most formats you’ll encounter in day-to-day computing.

You don’t need to overdo compression. In many cases it is more trouble than it is worth because it slows things down. Be selective about what you compress.

Nook claims ebook success

Barnes and Noble’s says internal sales data shows the Nook e-reader is already a hit. The company says the device is now its fastest selling item. Not bad considering the Nook doesn’t officially go on sale until November 30.

While the Nook, like Amazon’s Kindle, pushes e-book technology further into the mainstream, neither is yet the killer product able to do for books what Apple’s iPod did for music. Mind you, Apple has a tablet waiting in the wings which could be the breakthrough reader.

For my money, ebook readers still need to be kinder on the eyes. All the technology is now in place except good, readable, high resolution screens that don’t tire the eyes. Early adopters won’t care about this, but most book lovers won’t switch to digital until the experience is as good as reading old fashioned ink squirted onto mashed-up trees.

Meanwhile, Creative Technologies has entered the ebook market.

Acknowledgement to Mark Fletcher at Australian Newsagency Blog who had both stories earlier today.

iPod for news readers gets nearer

In Smartphones show 300% growth in use as ebook readers Martin Taylor provides data tracking the use of iPhone, Android and other smartphones. He says the evidence shows people are not only downloading ebook reader applications, but are actively using them to read books.

In other words, smartphones are replacing printed newspapers and magazines.

I’d argue smartphones make a tolerable, not a desirable reader. I realise my aging Palm TX isn’t as polished as, say, an Apple iPhone, but it is  not up to the job of reading anything more than a few paragraphs.

I don’t own an iPhone although I have used one – and in my opinion it isn’t a great improvement.

While many smartphones offer high-resolution screens, they are still tiring to read. Their size and format are at best adequate – but still a long way from great reading devices. A year ago I wrote iPod for newspapers, but not yet saying one day a device will do for newspapers what the iPod has done for music. With iPhones and Kindles we are edging nearer, but there’s still a way to go.

It’s going to happen. But not this year.

iPod for newspapers, but not yet

One day a device will do for newspapers what the iPod did for music. I haven’t seen it yet.

Mark Fletcher at the excellent Australian Newsagency Blog does a great job of warning people in his industry about the disruption they face from digital technologies. In a since-deleted post he points to a ComputerWorld story about the future of ePaper, which the author says is “just around the corner”.

E-paper has potential. It could disrupt publishing business models which are already under attack from the internet. Australian, and other, newsagents need to keep an eye on how publishing technologies develop.

Just as iTunes has killed off record shops, a newspaper and magazine equivalent could reduce newsagencies to selling lottery tickets and bus cards.

It threatens everyone working in newspapers, magazines, books and related businesses.

But I question whether ePaper is “just around the corner”. Moreover, I question whether this kind of ePaper is the most pressing threat.

I’ve been a professional technology writer since 1980. In that year I saw my first voice recognition system and the first example of what are sometimes now called electronic books.

The proud makers of the 1981 voice recognition device told me the hardware would be “ready for prime time” within two years and keyboards would quickly be a thing of the past. In 2008 voice recognition technology is still around two years away from prime time.

Likewise, in 1981 electronic book makers were confidently predicting we’d soon be cuddling up at night with their hardware. To date I still haven’t seen anything as impressive or as easy to read as ink stamped or squirted on crushed, dead trees. One day we’ll get there – not yet.

In the meantime, the internet continues to build momentum delivering news and other information to desktops, laptops and handheld devices like Apple’s iPod-derived iPhone. Although none of these are anything like as satisfactory an as paper, people can and do use them to read news.