What IS a "PC" Anyway?

I've been thinking about PCs lately (as in "Personal Computers" not "Politically Correct"). When us old timers think of a "PC" we generally think of that first IBM PC or the Apple II - with the glowing green screen, and a hip, cool user interface called DOS.

I bet if you asked my kids what "PC" means - they would say "Politically Correct" (hopefully). To them, there is no concept of a "personal" computer because they grew up in a world where all computers are "personal." In their limited experience these computing devices are the default:

1. A computer (or two) in your house
2. A mobile telephone ("but my phone sucks - I need a smartphone")
3. A tablet
4. An e-reader
5. A XBOX 360 (or Wii)
6. A handheld (non-phone) gaming platform
7. Video screen in the car
8. Streaming custom radio station based on your music preferences (e.g. Pandora, Spotify)

We of the older generation didn't have any of these things growing up. Here's our list:

1. A rock
2. A cardboard box
3. Duct Tape
4. 5 Hot Wheels cars
5. Hammer and nails
6. Firecrackers (or some other equally dangerous explosives)
7. Pong (if you were LUCKY!)
8. 8 track tapes - and then cassettes (if you were a 1%er back then)

When "personal" computers came out - it was a revolutionary concept. "A computer in every home" was such a far-fetched idea that it simply boggled the imagination.

Once the PC came out - there was a "war." The war between operating systems that has raged for 20+ years. Microsoft became the dominant player - because they were first with some business applications that went along with the hardware that IBM was selling into businesses.

Apple was trying (sort of) to do the same thing - but they focused less on business and more on education and the hobbyist. The techie. The artistic nerds.

And so the battle "raged" on (not really - because Apple only had 3% to 5% of the worldwide market, anyway). There are passionate "Windows" guys, and passionate "Mac" aficionados - and even a small sect of Linux lovers.

Then, came the iPhone. The paradigm of what computing "should be" and "could be" changed. Forever. A phone with no buttons. A phone that was a slab of glass. A phone that could surf the web. A phone that could contain "apps" that would amuse/help/inform/guide/save-your-sorry-lost-butt... a phone that would (later) include FaceTime video conferencing (hello, Jetsons!)...

Then, came the Android phone.

Then came the iPad.

Then came the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Amazon Kindle Fire.

Then came the end of the "personal computer."

What's coming next?

There's talk of a Facebook phone running a modified version of Android (yes, a Facebook Operating System... *groan* ) so you could obsessively update your status 24/7. There are already 5 variants of tablets coming in the next quarter - and desktop computer sales have fallen off considerably. Mac OS X for non-phone, non-tablet computers has been re-vamped to include features from the iOS version. Microsoft is jonesing to get their Windows 7 Phone platform going with Nokia.

There are free applications for personal music, personal text messaging, group text chat, group video chat. We can Linkedin our Tublr Facebook Twitter stream with our Flickr YouTube Picasa stream to broadcast our lives in realtime.

We have phones with 5-10 megapixel cameras. That also do VIDEO. That we can upload LIVE at the event!

We can buy books, movies, TV shows with a single click from our phone then watch them on our TV at home - or on our laptop on an airplane.

Yes, the term "PC" ("Personal Computing") is as dead as Flash. Information is becoming a a commodity - sharing our pictures, where we are, what we "like" and what we stand for in a live 24 hour per day, 7 day per week stream - now that is personal computing.

Unabashed Apple Fanboy Post [INFOGRAPHIC]

SOURCE

CDs and DVDs Are The New 8 Tracks

Quick question - how many of you still play "records" on a turntable? Play 8 track tapes? Cassette tapes? Probably not many.

Do you play CDs or DVDs? Sure! Everyone does.

For now.

All that is about to change. As with most cultural/technical change it's Apple that's leading the way. They just came out with a new version of their OS X operating system ("Lion") - and for the first time - they are distributing it electronically only. No DVD install. No shrink-wrapped boxes in the store....

... and ... cue the but-I-only-have-dialup-because-I-live-in-the-boonies crowd and the but-we've-always-had-a-backup-on-disc crowd...

These holders-on-of-the-past were all howling on their blogs and social media before Lion came out - but Apple remained defiant. Until last week when they announced that they would offer a USB drive with Lion on it for $69 sometime in August (the download version is $29.99).

But regardless of Apple's momentary lapse - it's coming.

There will be a day in the not-too-distant future when Apple won't offer a thumb drive. Don't forget Apple was the first major manufacturer to start shipping the 3-1/2" drives in 1984 and was also the first to stop including a 1.44MB floppy drive with their iMac computers in 1998 - opting instead for the newer technology - the CD.

Apple was one of the first companies to ditch the CD altogether (MacBook Air) in favor of downloaded digital music and downloaded applications. They also were one of the first to bring out a device with a portable solid state drive (SSD) with no moving parts so people could take their music where ever they went.
A little something they called an "iPod."

We all know about how Apple changed the mobile phone market forever (the screen is the interface! who needs buttons! give us visual voicemail!), it also changed the tablet market forever (there was no market before the iPad). Apple tends to have a finger on the pulse of what "real people" want - and they solve real world problems, and then they make money, and then everyone else tries to do something similar.

We're seeing it in other areas, too. Borders book stores announced on Friday it was shutting down. Netflix (and to a lesser degree Hulu) killed off Blockbuster stores. Your cable company is offering movies "on demand." Google has teamed up with Sony and Logitech to combine the web with TV (Google TV). High schools and colleges are running pilot programs for students to rent their textbooks on their iPads. At the beginning of May 2011 Amazon said that Kindle eBook sales had surpassed sales of hardbacks and paperbacks combined.

In the future you won't be able to go to a kiosk and rent a DVD. Or go into a "music store" and buy a CD. Or go into a "book store" and read a book.

Nope - it will all become digital bits that you rent or buy and then download or stream into your life. Entertainment is becoming like those annoying in-room movie rental interfaces where you use the remote to buy a movie and they charge it to your room. Sure, you can watch "live" TV (for now) - with all the commercials (that you just record [digitally] on your DVR and skip through when you watch it at a more convenient time) - but that will become (is?) passe.

There are still CD players in most cars and DVD players in most minivans. For now. In a foreshadowing of what's to come Ford has stopped offering the (once cool!) multi-CD changer in its latest model Focus, opting instead for a wireless bluetooth connection to your mobile device (for phone calls and to play your music) and a digital satellite radio. They've even teamed up with Microsoft to offer Ford Synch - an operating system for all your entertainment/calls/traffic/news in your automobile.

There are refrigerators with Internet access and a screen built-in. There are televisions with built-in video cameras for George Jetson-like video phone calls. Clothing retailer H&M came out with an online store where you can go into a virtual dressing room and create a digital model of yourself and try on clothes to see how they look. Your smartphone functions as your camera and HD video recorder and allows you to upload that picture or video to the Internet where ever you are in the world while Twitter and Facebook are becoming the sources for breaking news.

Yes, my friends - the all-digital age is coming full force.

The good news is that coffee shops and restaurants will be safe from the digitization of humanity! Until they work out the Wonka 3-meal gum... oh wait, they are working on it...

OK, until they invent that thingie in the Jetsons where you can rehydrate an entire meal from a pill - there's hope that we won't all just wind up digital hermits going through life in our isolation chamber while looking at a screen...

IE9 "INNOVATION!"

DOH! I just noticed that my last blog here was 6 MONTHS ago... ummm... oops - my bad. (to my loyal 10 readers - I'll try to be better about updating this thing on a more timely basis)

So Microsoft just released Internet Exploder 9.0 and a "special" download site beautyOfTheWeb.com. Now, let's get this out in the open right from the start - I am NOT a huge fan of Internet Explorer. In fact, it's such a bloated, slow and outdated piece of crap that I've long since changed the default browser on every computer I touch to Chrome.

Before I get hate mail from die-hard Mozilla users - it's not that I dislike Firefox - it was the "cool kid" and unlocked the door of the tyrannical IE lock-in suffered by so many for so long. However, Google's Chrome browser simply blew the doors off Firefox in terms of performance, simplicity and elegance. To be fair, Firefox 4 is just about ready to be released - so we'll see how it goes - but for now, for me and mine - Chrome is the bee's knees.

OK, so I hope you get the fact that I like Chrome. A lot.

What was I talking about again? Oh, yeah - IE (small internal groan - followed by a sigh).

It was with great fear and trepidation that actually downloaded and Installed IE9 on my Windows 7 box. I was expecting the "usual" 10 minute download of the installer, the 20 minute install process, the inevitable reboot, etc.

BUT - the download process was pretty easy - they have a little "shell" downloader (like Chrome) app that comes down and actually does the download/install. The installation process itself was actually pretty quick (less than 5 minutes)... I was beginning to think it was going to actually be a "good" experience!

Did Microsoft finally "get it?" Did they finally realize that customers hate bloatware? Did they actually give a crap about the... dare I say it... "user?"

Answer: nope.

You STILL have to do a restart. After you install a BROWSER. In 2011.

Really.

"Well, it IS Microsoft after all", I tell myself. It's almost reassuring that they have kept the process somewhat familiar regardless of how screwed up it is... but I digress.

After installation and reboot, I'm finally ready! IE9! Here we GO!

What the ??

Did I launch Chrome by mistake? (I literally had to check the task bar)

Wow. Microsoft managed to copy Chrome! Gone are all the "crap bars" that hose it all up (like Chrome). Gone are the menus, replaced by a cute "gear" icon (hey, they couldn't use a "wrench" like Chrome - that would be "copying"). You can type in address bar to perform searchs (like Chrome). The rendering speeds ARE significantly and noticeably faster than IE8 (like Chrome). They added process isolation (so if one tab crashes - it doesn't take the whole app down - like Chrome).

Hmmmmmm... it actually doesn't suck.

It's like Chrome - but rather than using an open-source, standards-based HTML rendering engine - they're still using their closed-source, Windows-only, born in 1998 "Trident" engine. And, although Microsoft claims they've updated it to support CSS3 and HTML5 - you gotta' just KNOW that they're "embracing and extending" (read: making stupid, incompatible changes to standard tags and putting in new ones that no other browser supports).

Microsoft doing a browser update can cause a number of different responses - depending on what camp you find yourself in:

If you're a casual user: NO IMPACT - you're probably still using the default IE 6 that came with XP and either your computer is so filled with viruses that you've given up using it - or you don't actually use it to surf beyond your webmail.

If you're a web developer: HAIR ON FIRE ALERT! Refill your Starbucks card immediatelty - because now you have to support yet ANOTHER incompatible version of IE!

If you're a die-hard Microsoft-only shop: REJOICE! You can now actually "load pages quickly". Make sure you update all your customers/users immediately - and for goodness sakes make sure that you immediately hard code all your external-facing sites to only render in IE9!

If you're a die-hard Mac/iOS user/developer: IGNORE - the Mac team at Microsoft uses the same Safari/Chrome WebKit rendering engine in the Mac version of Office 2011.

So, do I "like" IE9? Sure. It's a helluva lot better than IE6, IE7 or IE8! But that's like saying Windows 7 is better than Vista. It IS. But it had BETTER BE!

The inspiration for this post was not that IE9 came out. It was all about a very insulting quote by Dean Hachamovitch (the head of the IE development team) came out with:

"Other browsers dilute their engineering investments across systems," Hachamovitch said. "Because we focus exclusively on one, IE can make the most of the Windows experience and the hardware."

Ummmm... excuse me? Yeah, you're right, Dean... why the hell would you want to support other platforms? Why would you want the same browsing experience across multiple devices? Why would you want to go with a standards-based approach - when everyone at Microsoft KNOWS that closed-source and proprietary is the future.

SUD Detectors

In the world of software - there is a whole set of lingo behind-the-scenes. Most software developers I know (and this is a GROSS generalization) are the type of people that are.... ehem... well... are the sort of people that regard the binary "purity" of a computer that does exactly what you tell it to be preferable to the sort of unpredictable behavior found in... well... actual live people.

If you ask 100 hard-core programming geeks what their LEAST favorite thing about their job is - I bet 98 will say "user interface."

After all, leave it to the "user" (said while usually speaking through gritted teeth or punctuated with a small bit of spittle) to "screw up" a perfectly good piece of software.

More times than most people will probably think - the feature requests from non-technical people are greeted (internally) with rolling-eyes and finger-and-thumb-to-the-forehead "Stupid User Detected" (SUD) motion.

And, to be fair, the programmers are mostly right.

There is no "Do My Work" button; no, the software CANNOT pick up your dry cleaning and have your car washed... ok, well maybe in the 3.0 version... but that's not the point!

The point is that these "ignorant users" - who should not be allowed to even USE computers - dare to question the unerring judgement of US - the programmers - charged with the holiest of tasks - the optimization and automation of the lowly jetsam heaped upon the mere mortals - neigh - slaves - to process for the good of the machine...

But, I digress.

The point is - that not all IT guys are Nick Burns from SNL.

Wait, let me qualify that... most are. Especially if they are PC IT guys.

Over the past 2 months, I've found a difference. It's called a Mac. I've found that IT guys who support the Mac, are, well... more like the Mac guy on the Apple ads than the PC guy in the Apple ads.

They understand that users are not the "great unwashed masses" - they are, well... human. And, as humans, they make mistakes, have some unrealistic expectations about what are possible - AND - the really amazing thing is - they plan for that when they write their software.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am (have been) in the former camp rather than the latter - for a good part of my career. My default response when dealing with most people was RTFM ("Read The ... ahem... "Fine"... "Manual"... LOSER!)

However, I find myself humbled as I am fumbling through my re-introduction to the way computing SHOULD BE (on my Mac).

I'm struggling with the command-Q for quit, versus command-Tab (for switching applications) - as the keys are right next to each other. I often open multiple windows in my email client, web browser and other applications as my slightly ADD side kicks in.

So, I had about 8 emails open in Apple Mail (after searching through thousands of emails in fractions of a second!) - and I accidentally hit command-Q (Quit) rather than command-tab (switch programs).

My heart sank.

While I re-launched the email application - issuing a steady stream of curses at myself for being so stupid, and lamenting the fact it would take another 20-25 minutes of work to find all those emails and threads and get them back on-screen - I was shocked 10 seconds later.

There, the email program was re-opened - and all my email windows were open (in the same stacking order as when I accidently existed the program). It's like I had never been the newby, stupid, stupid, stupid "USER" I actually am.

The program gracefully accepted the fact that if you were looking at stuff when you quit, that you may find it helpful to have all the stuff you had opened during the last session restored when you returned.

What the ??

I was just sure it was going to open the main window, defaulted to the inbox, just staring me in face. After all I was expecting the default PC experience: "I mean, you told me to exit! How was I supposed to know you wanted those windows opened when you returned? You DID say "exit" - which I did with the utmost speed and efficiency (only 192 milliseconds!). Oh, you WANTED those windows restored - then you shouldn't have chosen to exit. SUD!"

WOW. The "old" way just seems so hostile. I mean, it's not that big of a deal (programatically) to restore the open windows when the application is re-launched - but to someone who is already a bit self-conscience about his ineptness on a new platform - I felt so surprised and relieved that it prompted me to write this blog post about it.

I'm not saying that all programs on the Mac are sunshine and balloons - there are some that are clearly written by guys who have never even USED a Mac... but the majority just assume that you're not a software expert - that you have some other talent (or interest) and that's why you bought or used their software in the first place.

That got me to thinking about the way that I program projects for my customers... and I have been busy re-tooling a bunch of projects to make them more friendly, more forgiving and more intelligent about what "we think you want" - and not just what you SAY you want.

I'm thinking about new ways to do what you "need" to get done - not just present you with 1,000 choices about what you "can" do. About making software more personal, more like people.

People don't think in a linear fashion. Humans are non-linear by nature (I have 35 tabs open in Safari right now - all spawned by reading a single article - just because there was an "interesting" link in the successive stories/reviews/reports that sparked more thought).

The entire function of software is to help automate real-world procedures. Software's role in people's lives should not be so much about "new, cutting edge, acronym-filled" crap, but about how effective it is for the person on the other end of the keyboard to get their job done and go home.

Functions should not be a light switch, but a dimmer. Configuration (within reason!) should be the default. Training should be a 4-letter word. "Easy" should NOT be a 4-letter word that equals SUD. Easy should equal elegant. Easy should equal useful. Easy should equal what-I-meant-not-what-I-said.

In software, easy is HARD. Just ask the folks at Apple. Or Google.

Don't ask the guys at Microsoft because they will just roll their eyes, grit their teeth, and mutter under their breath - "RTFM you SUD!"

Windows 7 - NEW!

[BIAS DISCLAIMER: I'm a newly minted Mac fanboy - but until a month ago I used the PC as my primary platform for 12 years]

So, with great fanfare Microsoft "introduced" Windows 7 yesterday. They did all kinds of live promotions (including teaming up with Burger King in Japan to offer a 7 patty whopper [via Engadget]).

Windows 7 reviews are all over the web - so I 'll leave you do the digging - but even noted Mac-bigot Walt Mossberg seems to like it.

NEW! Sucks less than Vista!

NEW! No more annoying dialogs every 3 seconds!

NEW! Only 4 minutes to boot!

NEW! Now your printers might even work!

NEW! Now has LESS bundled applications - because, hey, who needs Mail, Calendar, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, and Address Book anyway?

So, this is the Vista that was supposed to be, but never was. Of course, as with any Microsoft OS upgrade, you'll need either new hardware, or need to shell out to increase your RAM, hard drive and graphics card if your hardware is greater than 2-3 years old.

Oh, and one more thing: if you're on XP (and who isn't?) - there's one more little thing you'll have to do to upgrade to Windows 7: fully backup your hard drive, wipe the contents, and re-install everything.

Really.

Not kidding.

NICE! Yeah, sure, let me just tell my mom (who was going to pay BestBuy $50 to re-install Skype for her) how to backup all her data, make a list of the installed applications (and their updates), her settings, preferences, bookmarks, and email - then wipe her drive, then have her (simply!) re-download, install and configure all her applications and data on a brand-new interface where nothing is familiar.

Sure, no problem. Piece of cake.

I've done re-format, re-install many, many times before (as I think 98.754% of everyone whose used Windows for more than 4 years) - and it just plain sucks. It takes about 2-3 full DAYS to restore everything and get it where you were before.

Backing up data, downloading apps (because all those CDs you have for 32-bit apps are now 100% USELESS), installing apps, restarting 20 times because certain programs write to the registry, creating new folders, moving pictures, migrating your iTunes library, etc.

If you're going to go through that much of a cluster - I have a better idea. DUMP Windows completely.

I'm serious.

Either just keep XP for the next 3 years - or buy a new machine with Windows 7 already installed... better yet get off the Microsoft bandwagon and just buy a Mac. Yes, the Mac is more expensive. Yes, you can get a no-name PC laptop for $500 (or even a brand-name at $650).

Yes, the Mac has OS updates and upgrades just like Windows; yes, the Mac has security updates (albeit 700 times less frequently) ... BUT - at least with the Mac - you'll want to poke your eyes out about 98% less.

• I'm done with "patch Tuesdays";
• I'm done with stupid security and firewall settings that are so restrictive you can't install software or get anything to work without having to Google for 30 minutes to figure out how to do it;
• I'm done with cryptic error messages that don't offer any hope of you actually figuring out what the hell is actually wrong so you can fix it;
• I'm done with the need to reformat and re-install all my stuff - EVER!

So, is Windows 7 the spawn of the devil? No, probably not. It's probably a really useful and good update to the aging XP.

However, I'll never know... I'll be be on my Mac trying to get Snow Leopard to work with SVN...

Mac - I'm Lovin' It!

I've only been using my Mac for two days - and let me just say this: I'm so happy I could just scream!

The performance is incredible. Apps that launch like dogs on my XP-based PC simply appear in 1-2 seconds. A reboot (yes, I did one - just to time it) - 25 seconds from off to fully up and running - versus 8 MINUTES on my PC.

Plugged in my Dell monitor - WHAM - it just appears. At the right resolution.

Plugged in my USB headset - WHAM - it just works.

Plugged in an external windows-formatted USB drive - WHAM - recognized it instantly.

Plugged in a Windows 1 TB external drive for the Time Machine backups - and it asked if I wanted to use it for Time Machine backups? Yes. Needs to be re-formatted - proceed? Ummmm... what?? Oh crap - this is going to take forever, but yeah, OK, go ahead... WHAM 12 SECONDS later the backup is starting.

Auto-discovery of my PC - including all my share folders - WHAM - instantly.

iTunes-dedicated keys on the keyboard for prev/next/play/pause - CHECK.

Mac Mail program - setup and checking 5 accounts - CHECK.

iChat instantly setup - and now I can send media effortlessly and do group chats with zero effort - CHECK.

Skype set - and the machine actually remains responsive even with 10 programs running - CHECK.

Photos imported into iPhoto (from the PC) - and it recognizing faces of people in pictures and allows me to change the orientation by turning my fingers on the glass trackpad - CHECK.

With the great suggestions from fellow Mac folks on Facebook and comments from yesterday's story - I got loaded up with some nifty (and free) utilities and programs. I even got OpenOffice 3.0 up and running with ZERO problems - and used it to create some documents - that I copied to my PC and opened with ZERO problems.

The next OS update is coming out Friday - and even though Apple will still charge me $29 for the upgrade (bless their little revenue-generating hearts) - I'll do it to get a true 64-bit OS - so it will go even FASTER (if that's possible).

The crappiest part of the setup so far was finding and downloading and installing the HP drivers for my Officejet printer... but even that was no more difficult than doing it on a PC.

I hear people bitching about how much more expensive the Macs are than PCs. This is true. They are more expensive - but THEY WORK! I'll bet that if you added up all the time you spent SCREWING with your PC, downloading and restarting after patch Tuesday, in trying to get peripherals to work, in just the general care and feeding of your PC - it's WAY more expensive than the $1,000 difference in up-front price.

I'm researching Mac alternatives to Illustrator and Photoshop (that can read the .ai and .psd files)... so if you are using something you like - leave a comment and let me know!

Hell Freezes Over...

OK - it's official. I'm now a Mac.

I'm writing this entry from my brand-spanking-new 15" MacBook Pro. 

Really. I just got it. Like an hour ago.

Those of you who have had the courage to read this rant for long enough know that I started out as a die-hard Mac fanatic. I was the typical Mac fanboy - long before the word existed.

I would even spell Windoze wrong and made fun of all those people who used it.

Then, I became a PC.

Why? Well, all of my customers had dumped the Mac and had gone with Windows - and when you're focusing on integrating desktop databases with SQL - you had better get yourself a Windoze box (still the case today).

Then, I don't know what happened... I slowly actually became that PC guy in the Apple ads.

I started to think PCs as more capable than Macs (at least in some areas) - and I just accepted the complete B.S. patches and upgrades as a way of life. I just grew to accept the 5-8 MINUTE boot times, the crappy auto-restarts, the sheer insecurity and fragility of the Windows OS as a fact of life...

Well - that's past. I've been ranting about how much Windoze sucks for so long - that it was time to either put up or shut up (or both). So, I literally arrived back from Australia less than 5 hours ago - and I dragged my jet-lagged ass to the Apple Store in Thousand Oaks.

I had my MacBook, mini-DVI-VGA adapter (for my 26" Dell monitor), a neoprene cover and I was out the door in less than 15 minutes.

I got home, unpacked the box, entered the WEP address of my router to get on the Internet - and that's it folks... done deal.

I've downloaded Firefox, and I'm now downloading the 650+ MB of updates to the OS (no worse than the typical MS patch cycle!). But the thing about this Mac is that (so far) everything just works.

I'm still getting used to the glass trackpad and the 20 finger gestures - but everything else is pretty natural. I've configured some settings, changed the dock location and size - and have started to hit my favorite websites and store them as bookmarks, etc.

I can't tell you the number of times I've reformatted my PC hard drive over the years - and have had to "start from scratch" like this. Only - this time - if I need to transfer stuff to a new Mac it will just do it for me automatically.

What's the fate of my trusty (albeit slow) Dell D430 laptop? Well, for the time being it will be my trusty companion until I get all the stuff off of it, and have a chance to re-buy all my favorite software for the Mac (assuming I can get all my favorite software on a Mac)...

So, we'll see. I'm sure I'll have to use the PC for some stuff - and it will be a great testing machine for all the Servoy development work I'm doing - but, starting today - the Mac will be my primary platform.

Considering the last time I had a Mac as my primary platform - OS 9 was all the rage - there will be a learning curve, to be sure... and I also have to now go and read all the online sites that I've never really cared about (Mac-centric ones) to see what all the best goodies are... but all-in-all I'm excited about the process of becoming a Mac again.

If you have suggestions for your favorite Mac utilities and stuff - let me know...

I'm Bob Cusick... and I'm a Mac...

Happy Birthday Mac!

I can't believe that it was 25 years ago to the day that the Macintosh first hit the streets - it seems like it was just yesterday. Gosh, I'm getting old! I haven't always been a PC guy. If you take a look through some of the old blog posts - you'll see that I was quite the Mac fanboy (and vehement "Windoze" hater) back then.

I remember my first encounter with a Mac... (insert Wayne's World flashback here)

Back in the heady days of 1985 I was working at a company that designed swimming pool heaters. At the time I was a mechanical engineer... ummm... ok, ok, so I was just a drafting puke... ANYWAY - my job was to sit a huge E-sized drafting table and create and update sheet metal drawings as needed.

My boss at the time was sort of anal-retental and was very, very proud of the fact that he had a "two year backlog" of change orders waiting to be processed. Let's just say he was WAY into "job security."

My friend (who got me the job) was a graphic designer (and an aspiring cartoonist) who somehow talked his boss into letting him have this new Macintosh "personal computer." He immediately started doing all of the wiring drawings using MacPaint (yes, on the original 512 Mac with a SINGLE floppy that you had to swap out with the "system" disk to save the data!).

He was able to save loads of time - because 95% of wiring drawings are identical. He could just "save as" and create about 5-10 TIMES more drawings in a single day. The productivity was amazing. He would then print it out on the dot matrix ImageWriter (braaaawat...braaaawt....braaaawt - sounds coming out of his office all day).

I was intrigued - and he taught me how to use the thing (although I'm more autistic than artistic) - and pretty soon we would take our lunch huddled around the glow of that tiny black and white screen with that really, really klunky keyboard (with the HUGE keys!) and we had a blast.

At the time, in my own department we used a "dumb terminal" to do all the change orders. This was the classic "green screen" AS400 setup. I was an expert at tab-tab-tab-F12-F8-tab-enter way of computing.

This went on for about 18 months.

When Apple came out with the first expandable model - the IIcx - of course my friend was able to get one along with the LaserWriter Pro - the original laser printer.

I had seen the future.

I did a proposal - written on my lunch breaks - using MacWrite and illustrated using the "new" hot vector drawing program MacDraw - and made a business case for why we should ditch the manual-drawing-erasing-blueprint-copying-filing method and just "go digital." Our parts were not rocket science - they were squares, rectantgles and minor variations with holes and vents in them - a PERFECT match for this new digital technology.

Changes were a snap, and (so I thought) - we could plow through all that backlog in less than 4 months - and the system would pay for itself in less than 12 months. I knew this would drive my boss crazy - so I "pulled a Bob" and just went over his head to his boss (the VP of Operations).

I scheduled a meeting, made my pitch... and... they didn't do it. In fact, my boss called me in an accused me of going after his job. I literally quit on the spot and walked out (the only time in my life that I've done that).

After that, I bought my own Mac (SE30 with DUAL floppies and a whopping 20 MEGAbyte hard drive! "I'll never run out of storage EVER!"). Then I eventually moved on to the IIcx, then the infamous "pizza box" Performa line, and so on and so on. I did everything on the Mac.

I had my first graphic design company and used Illustrator 1.0 to draw realistic, shaded technical illustrations, I used PageMaker to make catalogs and ads and manuals. I was one of the AppleScript addicts - and had macros that I used with QuicKeys to automate every single action (and interaction) that I ever needed. I became somewhat of an expert in all things Mac - and I became one of Apple's biggest evangelists - all the way up to System 9.

Then all my customers stopped using Macs and were all using PCs running Windows 3.1 - and their software just didn't work with mine. So, I grudgingly bought my first Dell... and as I used the Mac less and less I sort of "fell out of love" with it. I became less of a Mac bigot and although I didn't "love" my PC - at least I could get the same versions of software that my customers were using and continue doing business.

Of course we all know the "rest" of the story - the way Apple has come out with great hardware, updated their software to OS X, etc. etc. They are starting to make inroads back into corporate america with people hooked not on OSX, but on iTunes and the iPod and the iPhone.

Does this mean that I'll give up my Dell notebook and Windows XP? Actually.... maybe. I'll wait-and-see how Windoze 7 pans out, but I have a sneaky suspicion that my next notebook will not be running Windows - and may just include an all-white piece of fruit on the lid.

There Is No "Apple Tax"

Call it sour grapes, call it a 5 year old "nuh uh" argument - but just yesterday Microsoft was again banging the "Apple Tax" drum - saying that people who buy Macs are basically being ripped off. Here's a snippet from a ComputerWorld article:

Microsoft Corp. yesterday again pushed its claim that consumers pay an "Apple tax" when they buy Mac hardware rather than PCs running the Windows operating system.

In an e-mail to reporters Monday, Microsoft repeated the argument it first made last October, a day before rival Apple Inc. was slated to make a major product announcement. The next day, Apple unveiled new MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks.

Microsoft again pitted Mac prices against similarly configured Windows PCs from the likes of Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. Not surprisingly, Microsoft's comparisons put Apple's hardware at a disadvantage, with the "tax" ranging from 16%, or $100, for the entry-level Mac Mini to 25%, or $300, for the lowest-priced iMac desktop.

Ha! That's really hilarious. Maybe Microsoft needs to look up the meaning of "tax" as defined they way we all think of a tax (from dictionary.com):

a sum of money demanded by a government for its support or for specific facilities or services, levied upon incomes, property, sales, etc.

Ummmm... yeah. The difference is - that in the entire marketplace - people CHOOSE to buy a Mac even though it's more expensive than a notebook (or desktop) with Windows on it. A tax - you have no option of paying (at least I don't). I pay property tax, sales tax, federal income tax, state income tax, gasoline tax, excise tax on my phones, etc. Here's another direct quote from Microsoft:

"Windows PCs are offering the best value on the market," she argued, "while Apple continues to impose high-price premiums on their Mac designs, offering only modest discounts of 5% to 10%."

Ummmm... yeah. PCs are definitely the best value on the market - as far as PRICE goes. How about features, not crashing as much, a unified and TRUE plug-and-play architecture, based on an open source OS, looks sexy and has easy-to-use software basis?

How about: NO. Sure, you can get a cheap computer running Windows - and it's going to be less expensive than buying a Mac. Or let's talk about the other Apple hardware: the iPhone or iPod. Seriously, does anyone here who reads this blog even KNOW anyone with a Zune?

You can make the same argument about the iPhone. Yeah, it's more expensive. Yeah, the AT&T plan is a bit on the "bend over" side - but have you actually USED one? I have. I'll never go back. Why? Because it's pretty, has a nice interface that's easy to use (even my WIFE can upload pictures to Facebook from it!).

I've played with a Blackberry Touch. I've played with the Google Andoid phone. I've played with many other phones with Windows operating systems - almost 100% of them have WAY better features than the iPhone (expandable memory, replaceable battery, cut and paste, removable flash card, 3+ megapixel cameras, built-in turn-by-turn GPS, etc). But, I don't really care. The most important thing for me is that the iPhone just works and it's actually useful for what I need it to do.

Period.

So while PCs may be a better value (and have the "cancer" called Vista loaded by default) are cheaper - I think you really do get what you pay for in this case. If all you're looking for is a bargain - then by all means buy a Windows PC. While you're at it, I bet you can also pick up a "fully loaded" 1969 VW Bug pretty cheap as well...

Google Be Nimble

I just love it when Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, opens his mouth in public. He nearly always says something that is either outrageous, stupid, embarrassing - or all of the above.

This week was no different. He was doing a webcast interview at the Gartner symposium (the equivalent of their "user's conference) and if you watch the video - about 24 minutes into it he tries to completely dismiss Google Apps saying it's not even in the same league as Office.

He cites one example: "you can’t even put a footnote in a document." And, that was the case. Until two days later.

Yep, Google added that feature and rolled it out to its more than 1 million users within 48 hours of his comment.

Nice!

On one hand you have the largest software company in the world - one that is battling the irrelevancy question of their operating system by throwing money at it - and here's another huge software company with a pure SaaS (Software as a Service) offering that is just proving that they're more nimble and in touch with customers while at the same time proving that Microsoft isn't.

You just gotta' love it. I mean really. If that wasn't the biggest bitch slap I've seen in a while - it was close.

The other bitch slap came this weekend while I was watching some prime time TV. I got a glimpse of the new Apple "I'm a Mac" ad - this one feature our dynamic duo - but this time PC is wearing an accountant hat and counting money into two piles - one for "advertising" (with an enormous stack of cash) and one for "development" that has a tiny pile of cash.

Ooops. Looks like poor little Microsoft is getting picked on by the "little" guys - big time. There was a time not too long ago that no one would dare take on Microsoft (at least that publicly) for fears that Microsoft would just buy them and kill their technology.

As Microsoft gets ready to debut Windows 7 (which Steve admitted is Vista [again] - but "better") - they better get this one right because it seems that the world is getting to be a pretty competitive place where just the mention of "Microsoft" doesn't carry the same weight as it once did.

Apple's Recession Pricing

I tried - I really did. I wasn't going to blog about Apple today - but after I put out a "status update" on the social media sites that I wasn't going to blog - I got some Mac-type fans asking me to do so - so... here goes.

First of all - either Apple is unclenching a bit - or their security really sucks - because most of what they announced today was pre-announced by all the gadget sites last week (for a good view of the event today - check out Engadget's coverage).

They did a "refresh" of their entire laptop line - new MacBooks, new MacBook Pros, and a refresh of their 17 inch and 24 inch Cinema displays, and they're really, really proud of a new "unibody" construction process.

YAWN! There was one bright spot - they've replaced all the trackpad with a new, bigger, glass "touchpad" that is gesture-aware. This means that you can now give Apple "the finger" multiple times per day. But seriously, you can use 2, 3 or even 4 fingers to map gestures to common commands. And rather than having buttons to click - the hole trackpad is a button. I'm not sure how that will work with click and drag... but I have to assume they worked it out somehow.

They added a new NVIDIA graphics chip to increase graphics performance "...up to 6 times..." - and they knocked $100 off the low end MacBook.

Yeah, $100.

Everyone was hoping for $200 - to make the thing $899 - but I guess they really, really wanted that extra $100 per unit. It makes sense if you stock fell 40% in two weeks... but really - $100?

To be fair they knocked off $700 from the next-from-the-bottom MacBook - new price $1,299... but the one that people will actually want (with a bigger hard drive and backlit keyboard) is $1,599 - so, in reality, they only did a $200 cut there.

So, it's interesting. They've cut the price points a bit - but in my mind they should have cut them a bit more. If they could have hit the $899 level for the low end MacBook and then priced the next one at $1,199 and the "feature-packed" one at $1,499 - I think people would have just flocked to the stores.

It's only $100 per unit (and I don't know their costs on the thing - but I'm guessing they still have a pretty nice margin) - but the perception by consumers would finally be that Apple "gets it" when it comes to pricing.

As it is, at least they're consistent. They've trimmed a little bit of the price, but if you compare it to other hardware - and the new ultra-cheap "netbooks" - they're still in the elitist, don't-care-if-there's-a-recession, standard Apple pricing mode.

Which is good - if you're Apple.

Choosing A Dev Tool

I came across an eWEEK article "Armed & Ready" in the August 2008 issue - written by journalist Frank Ohlhorst - and found it to be very interesting.

The article talks about development tools - and how to choose them. He has a look at Servoy and Alpha 5 - as well as a look at customers who are using those tools in the SaaS businesses. One of the most striking things was an outline in a sidebar.

In the article Frank outlines the "7 Criteria For Choosing The Right Tool" - and it sounds like it was custom-designed to describe exactly what Servoy is although the context is from a developer who chose to go with Alpha 5. NOTE: The sections below in italics are my comments and they did not appear in the original article:

1. Commonality: A single development model has to cover both desktop and web users, and support native RDBMS, SQL Server, MySQL and PDF reporting. They didn't mention Sybase, DB2, Oracle, PostgreSQL, etc. that Servoy supports - but hey, you get the idea.
   
   
2. Speed of Development: The tool must have a professional IDE that reduces or eliminates the need for handwritten code. Eclipse is the most-used IDE on the plant - and code samples allow you to get fully working code in a single click.
   
   
3. Performance: The tool has to be on par with desktop-only applications. Of course performance is important - but so is scalability. Any product is "fast" with a single user!
   
   
4. Ease of use: Language tools are intuitive and allow faster development than Visual Basic, PHP or others. Yes - especially these days. You want your tool to be more productive, and not less productive. That's why we've done a direct comparison between Servoy and .NET.
   
   
5. Versatility: There is complete end-user customization of forms, field rules (via XML) and styles (via CSS). In Servoy you can also extend and integrate the environment itself via Java.
   
   
6. Integrity: All processing is centralized There would be no client/server or thick client updates. We totally agree - that's why Servoy's Web Client processing is all done on the server side - maximum performance, maximum security, maximum concurrency.
   
   
7. Functionality: Extensive use of standard library functions cover just about anything, including instance XML DOM manipulation, instead of having to use third-party libraries or extensive custom development. Servoy has it - CHECK!

While I was reading the quotes from the developers using Alpha 5, I could have SWORN they were talking about Servoy! So, I had to check it out for myself.

I went up to the Alpha 5 site and checked out their video library. After watching about a dozen or so movies - I couldn't help but come away with a some thoughts:

1. Dialog boxes... sorry Wizards... sorry "Genies"... are nice - the first time you do something - but I would absolutely stick a pencil in my eye if I had to go through that many dialogs every time I wanted to do anything;
   
   
2. They have some "interesting ways" of doing common tasks (some good and some awful);
   
   
3. If the dialogs are going to just generate code on the back end - then just generate code. Don't try to create dialog boxes that have every single possible permutation of things that you can do in two lines of code with parameters;
   
   
4. You still have a proprietary DATABASE? WTF? This is 2008!
   
   
5. "Active Link Tables" - or copying the schema of a SQL table in your own proprietary database and then doing "silent" SQL calls (a la FileMaker 9) seems like MUCH more work, setup and maintenance than just acting directly against the table or view;
   
   
6. Ummm... got a Mac or Linux or Solaris version? Anybody?

Ah well, that's just my opinion. I'm sure that if you've used it for years that you're used to the complex interface and the literally hundreds of options, links, states, modes, control panels, and all the other stuff that they've put in there to try to make it more approachable.

I guess if you're going up against developers who are using other kinds of desktop databases - then that might be a good approach.

The bottom line is - use the right tool for the job - and use one that will help you be MORE productive, accomplish more in less lines of code, have a single development paradigm for both web and client/server apps - and one that is based on open standards and links to any (and every) standard SQL database on the planet.

Ummm.... that would be Servoy, in case you missed the reference...

Only $300 Million? Delicious!

Ok, so I am probably the only person on the planet that hasn't seen the pre-release of Microsoft's new $300 million advertising campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld.

On the off chance that you haven't seen it - check it out:



The first thing thought I had was "Are you kidding me?" I felt a little dirty, stupid and just plain confused. THIS is supposed to compete with the "I'm a Mac" commercials?

Ok, ok - so maybe I missed something. So, I watched it again. And again.

Nope - I missed nothing from the first view. Then, I thought - hey, this is one of those cool in-house movies that Microsoft always makes for their conferences and stuff. So I searched the Internet for other copies - and much to my dismay, it was the real thing.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I always thought that advertising was supposed to make the person watching the ad want to buy your product or service. I thought it was supposed to strengthen the brand, promote "new" features, while at the same time putting a positive spin on the company doing the ads.

The scariest part of all is - there will be more of them!

You just know that there is a whole series of these things shot and in the can, just waiting to be unleashed. There's been "only" about 700,000 or so views of the video - and already there are people who have made their own scathing, mocking videos in response (I'll bet 50% of them are Mac users!).

I guess the end of the video sums it all up. Jerry says to Bill Gates: "Just wondering, are they ever going to come out with something that will make our computers moist, chewy, like cake, so we can just eat 'em while we're working?" Then Bill Gates shakes his ass - acknowledging Jerry - and then Jerry says "I knew it."

Here's the BIG payoff - the branding - the screen cuts to "The Future," "Delicious" and the Windows logo.

Ching! That was the sound of the $10 million Jerry got for the commercial hitting his bank account. If that's the best that Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Microsoft can do - then I'm DEFINITELY a Mac.

How Ubuntu Could Take Over The World

Ubuntu is getting a lot of good press - and it's a terrific, easy-to-use Linux distro. With some extra software included in the default install - it could just take over the world.

Let's face it - no one really "likes" Vista. I don't care who says they love it - they really don't. It's the gas guzzler of operating systems - it takes the equivalent of a Hummer in terms of hardware to run the damn thing correctly.

The Mac OS is really great. It's pretty, it plays nice with others, and is pretty fun to use. The problem (as demonstrated by Apple's suit against Psystar) - is that you have to drink from the Ferrari-inspired Apple well and fork over huge bucks for their hardware (whether you want to or not).

Then there's Linux. Fast. Stable. Free. Runs on damn near any hardware. The problem is - it's only used by wonks.

It's like getting one of those old Radio Shack do-it-yourself radio kits. You get a printed circuit board, some transistors, resistors, and other parts - and then you need to solder the stuff together and pray you read the directions right - or nothing works.

Granted - the novelty and pride of ownership of building an AM radio the size of a bread box from scratch is cool - but not when you can buy one the size of a USB stick for $10 - AND get a FREE FM tuner as well.

That's basically the state of all the Linux distributions. Red Hat started to go down the "for everyone" route - and then decided it's better (and easier) to sell "Enterprise" stuff to a bunch of wonks looking for job security rather than real people who just want to check email and surf the web.

The various distros of Linux - while good - are missing the one thing that makes it useful: applications humans use.

Guys - just bundle OpenOffice, Firefox (with bookmarks on where to find other Linux stuff), Acrobat Reader, Thunderbird with the Google Calendar extension, a media player, games, a notepad equivalent, anti-virus, screensavers, and most of all - some drivers (or a good clearning house site of where to find them) for peripherals.

Hey Ubuntu - you have Dell on your side - why is it you think people who buy Dells still don't get Ubuntu on their machine by default? I mean, after all, the price is right. Right?

Right - but it doesn't do any good to get something for free (or low cost) but have it be completely useless. When you get a new box (or install a new OS) - you expect to at LEAST be able to fire up email and surf the web.

And while you're waiting for your favorite browser plug-ins to install - you want to play some games. And maybe play around with some spreadsheet stuff, read boring PowerPoint-esque presentations and the like.

Give people the power to become productive right out of the box. Help them get used to the retarded-sounding application names that no one has heard of. Make an online forum for new users to get help from other new users, etc.

I think as time goes on - and people are looking for alternatives to Windows (just wait until Windows 7!) - Linux will be able to be the great equalizer - if only people could use it.

Why Apple Must Crush, Kill and Dismember Psystar

OK, I admit I was ready to go the other way on this one. I almost wrote an entry on why Psystar should cry foul and lawyer up and fight Apple in both the press and public opinion arenas. It was a knee-jerk reaction to David vs. Goliath.

Then, I actually thought about it.

The sticky part is the End User License Agreement (EULA) that has a little phrase in it that is the basis for the Apple suit: "You agree not to install, use or run the Apple software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so," Apple's EULA reads (download PDF)

Hmmmmm. That's interesting.

It's really clear on what Apple's intentions are - they moved to the Intel chip - and they just knew that someone like Psystar would pop up in the future - so they added some verbiage in there as a pure CYA move.

Yes, it is pretty chicken-sh*t - and it might not even be legal, but hey, it's their intellectual property. They are the ones that did the R&D, made the pretty icons, and ported the mother over from a reliance on the PowerPC chip. They also spent a fair amount of dough doing so as well.

They make up that investment by selling Mac boxes (and iPhones!). If they didn't challenge Psystar, then every schmo who could build a PC could start bundling their OS software (that they would also have to pay for just like Psystar) - and gosh... they might actually get some market share.

We wouldn't want that!

People who buy a Mac buy a Mac because they love the industrial design, and the seamless way that the OS plays nice with EVERY Mac peripheral, and the nice, hermetically sealed, Apple-only experience.

PC users buy motherboards and power supplies and build their own box - and then are free to install Windows (which they must buy), Ubuntu (which they must download) or both to make a machine that meets their needs.

Who ever heard of a clause in an EULA that doesn't allow people who buy a piece of software to install it on whatever hardware will run it? It's like buying a car and having the manufacturer tell you what roads you can drive on.

Ridiculous.

Or is it? The EULA is a contract after all. It's a contract between the maker of the software and the end user. Not all contracts are good ones, not all are "fair", and not all favor the person making the purchase. Just because a contract sucks for one party - does it make it illegal?

Not necessarily. It will be interesting to see if Psystar can pull this one out of the crapper or not (I'm betting not). Apple is already in a potentially embarassing place - being exposed for the buy-only-our-stuff-or-you-can't-use-our-stuff company it is.

Will people care? Will Psystar have the cash to lawyer up? Will the courts (if it even gets that far) buy Psystar's argument that the clause is illegal?

Only a whole lot of bucks to lawyers on both sides, and time will tell.

Mac Takes On Baddies (Only In The Movies)

Last night I watched the movie "Live Free or Die Hard" - the next sequel to the Bruce Willis "Die Hard" series. While I'm a fan of car-chase-action-all-the-way movies - this one had a couple of twists in it that got me thinking about the Mac vs. PC debate.

Twisted logic, I know - but bear with me.

Justin Long, better known as "I'm a Mac" in the Apple ads, is the co-protagonist along with Bruce Willis. Willis plays the part of - well - John McClane - the "I'm just a cop doing my job but I kick bad guy ass by accident" and Long plays the part of Matt Farrell - a twenty-something hacker.

The basic story goes like this: Farrell is wanted by the FBI because there's been a FBI computer breach. John is assigned to bring him in. As it turns out - Farrell is one of a bunch of hackers who are wanted for questioning and who are being hunted by bad guy Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant).

Gabriel and his crew plan to shut down the US infrastructure and grab a bunch of money in the process - over the 4th of July weekend. I won't bore you with the details - but if you get a chance to check it out for yourself - it's a pretty good flick. But that's not the point of this post.

As I was watching this movie - I kept seeing the Farrell hacker character as a Mac. Really. It was weird.

All his actions; his speech; what he did and didn't do; his attitudes - I filtered through the "I'm a Mac" persona.

And as I got more and more into the movie - Farrell in many ways DID play the same role in the movie as the Mac does in the marketplace. He even LOOKS like the guy from the Mac ads - same scruffy beard, dressed the same way - everything.

Long played an underdog - who just escaped death by the skin-of-his-teeth - and confronts his own feelings of inadequacy and fear and realizes that he CAN take on big challenges even in the face of a foe who is superior in terms of manpower, resources and technical prowess.

Long also uses his brain (and some really old Palm Pilot and a Nokia E90 Communicator) to partially thwart the enemy. He's not worth a crap in the fighting department (he even gets bitch-slapped by Mai Linh [Maggie Q]) - but what he lacks in brawn he makes up for by just sticking to his guns and continuing down the path with a single goal in mind: save the world (or at least the US).

Here's to the little Mac that "could" - hopefully someday Apple will get a Bruce Willis to help it take a man pill and kick some marketplace ass as well.

Independently Independent

It's the 4th of July - the day that we in America celebrate our independence from Britain (no offense guys, we just wanted to do thing our own way).

It all started with a tax.

Back in the old days the British were hurting for cash due to the huge national debt they had run up fighting the Seven Years War - so Parliament decided it would be a good idea to tax the colonies since they were getting the benefit of military protection and... well... the British folks were tapped out (after having multiple taxes already raised).

The thing they passed was called the Stamp Act. The act required all legal documents, permits, commercial contracts, newspapers, wills, pamphlets, and playing cards in the colonies to carry a tax stamp. The only problem was - no one from the colonies was represented in Parliament when they decided this.

And that - taxation without representation - was the beginning of the end.

The British then kept on raising taxes on tea - and if you've ever been in England before you know how they LOVE their tea. Now, the colonists of the New World were used to drinking a bunch of tea (hey, they came from England!) - so they started smuggling tea in from The Netherlands (the Dutch ROCK!). This caused the incumbent tea folks to go crying to mommy (Parliament) and so they got their English tax waived - and only had to pay the American tax.

This made the tea cheaper than it was in England - and made the New World business people (some of our country's founding fathers) really pissed off. They dumped a bunch of tea in protest - and that was the beginning of how we came to fight the War of Independence.

I'm seeing the very fist stages of this in the technology world as well. People are getting tired of having their operating system dictated to them by a power they have no control over (Microsoft).

They are sick and tired of paying the OS Stamp Tax (Windows) and are tired of being ignored (really - Vista sucks!).

There are the rumblings of the smugglers (Mac OS X, Ubuntu, OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird) - and they are slowly gathering support from the "average Joe." Every revolution start with a single person.

So - if you're tired of the Microsoft tyranny - become part of the revolution! Download OpenOffice, switch to Thunderbird and Firefox (or Safari or Opera or Camino) and stick it to the warlords of unfair taxation!

Happy July 4th.

Vista Sucks

The main reason I didn't post on Thursday is because I got my first experience using Vista. Mind you - I'm a diehard XP user - and I'm not about to EVER install Vista on my own personal machine - but I set out to help a colleague who needed a print driver installed.

It was easy enough - or so I thought. Just go to the Dell site, download the driver, double-click, put in the printer IP address and done.

OK - so finding and downloading the driver took about 10 minutes (not bad). The instructions from the Dell site for the 1710n print driver installation:

1. Double-click the new icon on the desktop labeled R147083.zip.
2. The Self-Extracting window appears and prompts you to extract or unzip C:\DELL\DRIVERS\R147083. Write down this path so the executable (I.e. Setup.exe) file can be found later.
3. The Self-Extractor window appears.
4. Click OK.
5. After completing the file extraction, if the Self-Extractor window is still open, close it.
6. Click the Start button and then click Run.
7. Type C:\DELL\DRIVERS\R147083 in the Open textbox and then click OK.
8. Follow the on-screen installation instructions.

These directions are very specific, and on the surface, look very helpful. Until you actually try to follow them.

First of all - it assumes you're using a circa 1998 OS that doesn't have the built-in .zip utility that treats the file like a folder. Second of all there IS NO "Setup.exe" in the download. Instead, there are two .exe files with stupid names that mean nothing to a person that doesn't work at Dell.

OK - so I do what any self-respecting geek would do - pick the first one, and double-click and see what happens. This is where the glory of the Vista experience starts to play out.

As soon as I double-click - Vista gives me a warning dialog that verifies I want to run an installer. It helpfully suggests that installers can "install applications" and those applications can do bad things to your computer - so don't blame us if you hose yourself.

With a chuckle, I murmur "cute" under my breath and proceed to install. As soon as that dialog is dismissed there is another one from "Windows Defender". I need to click to give this program access to install itself - because, you know, installers can install applications, and applications might hose your computer, so don't blame us!

Slight chuckle again.

So this beast installs itself and opens the "Add printer" wizard. Of course there are no Dell print drivers on a Toshiba machine, but the "Have Disk" option isn't there (like on the old Win 2000 and below wizard). Then I notice that Dell helpfully launched an instructional window with instructions that include the admonition to click the "Have Disk" button and follow the prompts.

Ummmm... there is no "have disk" button. So, I clicked the "Cancel" button to exit the installer (so I could Google and find where the "Have Disk" button went in Vista.

Then, Vista helpfully tells me it appears as if the installer didn't finish all the way and do I want to re-launch it. Ummm... NO. That's why I clicked "cancel." Thanks for trying to be helpful, but if you don't know what I intentionally did (click "cancel") - then don't try to "help" me.

OK - so I found out that you have to click "local printer" (even though this was a network printer), and then when it can't find anything, you click "Next" and then you have the "Have Disk" button.

Right. That's intuitive.

So, I relaunch the installer - get the same helpful warnings as before, get to the "Have Disk" button - specify the directory the driver is in... everything says it's ready - and I print a test page.

Or try to. Nothing happens.

Then the print queue errors. The good news is that I get a helpful Vista dialog telling me that there was an "unknown" print error. HEY! Thanks! Wow! Helpful!

Now, I'm not the most geeky geek ever, and I only have a novice understanding of Windows (after 10 years using it) - but I know how to go into the printer control panel and muck with the port settings. So I go to the control panels - try to open the Printers - and Vista gives me yet another "warning" and asks if it's OK to modify the resource.

Slightly cursing under my breath now - I click yes, and muck with the port setup, etc.

So it now works - and printing is fine.

Then there was an issue with the wireless network - it wasn't connecting. So, I went into the wireless connection panel, and simply wanted to check the settings for the wireless setup. Guess what? Yep, Vista helpfully informed me that WiFi is dangerous and people can steal your crap and don't blame us if you hose your computer.

Ok. The connection settings were correct - then it showed a "Wireless connection troubleshooter" link. Finally! This is helpful! In context! When I actually need help! Click...

The help loads - cursor spins, the "Wireless connection troubleshooter" help topic appears... then... a message:

"The help file you requested cannot be found because you are not connected to the Internet."

I am NOT kidding. If I were able to connect to the Internet, I wouldn't need this help topic!

I get the fact that Microsoft is getting its ass kicked for being a leaking toxic tank of security flaws, patches, fixes, bubble gum and bailing wire - but if they take 6 years to "re-write" their operating system - you would think it would be better, not worse.

If you want to include these "helpful" dialogs and wizards - make DAMN SURE that:

1. They actually work
2. The user has the ability to turn them off in an EASY way
3. Make them smart enough to know what the user intended to do (or has intentionally done)

or SHUT UP and don't try to be "helpful."

I finally got everything working in SPITE of Vista, not because it helped, nor was easy, nor guided me through the process. I got it (and everything else I tried) to work because I'm a bit geeky and generally know what to touch and what not to touch - after 10 years of experience.

I just absolutely SHUTTER at the thought that new computer users - or people who upgrade - or people like my parents will be assaulted by this utterly confusing, dialog-laden, piece of crap as their main way of trying to get their work done (or just surf the net, or whatever).

I'm going to recommend both Macintosh and Ubuntu Linux to all my friends, neighbors, in-laws, and family the next time they ask for OS advice... in fact, my next box just might be a Mac...

Why 2K?

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

So it's a new year (and new Millennium - well, not until 2001, but close enough) and I just got back from the MacWorld 2000 convention in San Francisco, CA. I went to do a (free) session called "FileMaker and the Web - Just Do It!". The session went very well (250-300 in attendance - standing room only) - and hopefully they each learned something they didn't know coming into the session.

I've been going to this show every year since 1991. In the past it has been a great place to see other FileMaker developers, meet with FileMaker engineers, get the latest "buzz" on upcoming FileMaker releases, etc. I've also managed to do quite a bit of business either on the show floor, at a lavish FileMaker party, or because of personal introductions to potential customers by others. This year - not so much.

On the good side: I got the chance to see many old friends at the FSA dinner, had a lunch or two with some long-time FMI employees (and ex-Claris folks) and got a chance to talk with the FMI big wigs for an hour before the FSA dinner (at the Partner meeting).

On the room-for-improvement side: The show seemed small - although it still occupied both the North and South halls of Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. A lot of the booth space seemed to be cancelled at the last minute because there were lots of "blank" spaces in the middle of the aisles that were hastily filled with food court chairs. There were a lot of hardware vendors hawking everything USB. In horrible colors. Everywhere.

Although the Apple booth was interesting, and they had some cool Cannon digital video cameras above each of the DV iMacs lining the booth, there were no "drop dead sexy" showings of the Air Port, no announcement of the 17 inch iMac, no G4 PowerBooks, etc. They showed off the OS X "Client" software - and it was pretty cool. Transparent drop-down menus (so you can see the video you're playing in the background), HUGE icons everywhere, a new Finder that will do a scrolling view (to the right) of folder contents... oh yes, the three little "stoplight" buttons in the upper left; green for "open", yellow for "show title only" and red for "close." (http://www.apple.com/macosx/)

There were many major Mac software vendors who just didn't show up - and those who did seemed to have only incremental upgrades to their titles. The classic was Microsoft. The Internet Explorer 5.0 demo was 5 minutes - showing off the new COLORS on the browser ("Yes, if you want blueberry, you got blueberry. If you want Tangerine - you got it!"), a couple of very cool new drag-and-drop features, and 10 minutes playing a lame game show that asked questions like; "What product lets you create cells and columns" (answer: Excel). Internet Explorer 5.0 was also named best of show... 'nuf said. There was a woman in one booth dressed as a printer (NO KIDDING!) - and another booth had a live jazz band. Ouch.

Maybe I'm expecting too much. I long for the "good old days" where seeing everything in the show would require 2 or 3 days. Where you scoured every single booth because sometimes you'd find extremely cool software written by a couple of guys in their garage just starting out. Where ALL the major software vendors would hold their "big" announcements for the show. A time when computers came in two colors; beige and black (NeXT). A time when losing $5 million a quarter was a BAD thing and the only companies with over a billion dollar market valuation were names like Coca Cola, Time Warner, etc.

Maybe next year I'll just fly up for the day.