Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: Technology

Alas, Poor Microsoft

By

On April 15, 2013

In General Cogitation, Microsoft, Technology

windows-crackI was reading this article over on ZDNet and, while its a pretty scathing article about Windows 8, the author does make a couple of valid points. It isn’t a secret that I am not the biggest fan of Windows 8. I do run a Windows box at home and I’m quite content with Windows 7. I also have a Mac and a Linux box so my allegiance belongs to nobody.

At any rate, here is the biggest point the author makes, which I believe is the reason Windows 8 is a total flop: “This isn’t a matter of judging a book by its cover; the user interface (UI) is everything for computer users. If the UI alienates users, you lose them. It’s as simple as that.” This is exactly what has happened to Microsoft with Windows 8. The “tiled” desktop is the cause of the out of control, downward spiral of the Windows 8 OS. I said that would be its downfall since the first time I tried it out. You can’t make a dramatic change to the UI and just expect the users to be OK with that. It’s as if Microsoft forgot what their target market was.

Perhaps Microsoft was trying to create some kind of cohesion between their tablets and the desktop, and I get that. However, you can’t take a tablet interface and slap it on a desktop and expect the experience to remain the same. These allegations that not enough touch-capable PCs exist is laughable. It shows that not only is Microsoft out of touch with its users, they are also out of touch with the industry. You have to coordinate a paradigm shift between hardware and software, you can’t brute force such a change.

I feel like Microsoft has become the proverbial unyielding, crotchety old man in the corner talking about how things use to be in the old days. Microsoft’s whole business strategy is archaic. If they want to survive in today’s constantly evolving technology they need to adopt a more collaborative strategy and focus less on brute force. They’re not the top dog anymore.

/cheers

To SSD or Not To SSD

By

On September 10, 2012

In General Cogitation, Technology

Since I received a laptop at work with an SSD (Solid State Drive), I have been considering the investment to install one in my home PC. I know that SSDs do not come cheaply so my conundrum is whether the investment is worth the return. I would be installing the SSD on my Quad-Core Windows 7 computer with 8 gig of RAM which I primarily use for gaming. I think the most noticeable improvement will be my boot time, currently it takes my computer nearly 5 minutes to boot (from clicking OK to logout, to fully logged in and loaded). It’s extremely annoying especially considering the tumultuous behavior of every version of Windows (ever!).

I have been talking to friends and co-workers to solicit their feedback as to their experiences and opinions of installing and using an SSD. I’ve heard that its pretty straight forward (i.e. if you can install a regular hard drive, then you can install an SSD). My current hard drive is 1 TB in size and I’m pretty sure I haven’t even used half the space yet but I would probably keep it in the system as non-SSD storage. I’ve had recommendations that I should install all my main programs on the SSD and perhaps use the non-SSD for cache and other temporary files to reduce the amount of space used up on the SSD.

Granted a 1 TB drive for temporary files seems to be a bit too much. My naiveté of SSDs had me thinking that it was only used for improving the speed that it takes for the OS to boot. I didn’t realize that its literally just another hard drive but has no moving parts. So part of the conundrum is what would I do with the 1 TB hard drive because it seems wasteful to use it for non-SSD storage. If I don’t use the 1 TB drive, then should I get something smaller to accompany the SSD (and give my Linux box a bit more space).

I have seen prices of solid state drives for $1+ per GB so you don’t see to many (if any) above 512 GB. If I end up having to spend that kind of cash I want to know that it was a good investment. I don’t want it to suddenly die on me three months later, I would expect it to last 2-3 years (assuming I don’t need more space). I want to be more then satisfied with the performance boost of how long it takes to boot and the overall performance of other programs (ex: WoW, SWTOR, OpenOffice, PaintShop Pro, etc). I don’t want to do it because “it’s what all the other geeks are doing”.

It really all comes down to the price and the ROI.

Biggs On: Apple vs. Samsung Ruling

By

On August 27, 2012

In Apple, Biggs On, Technology

I want to begin by saying that I am a fan of both of these companies. I own just as many Samsung products as I do Apple products though I own more traditional Samsung products (i.e. monitors, blu-ray players, televisions, etc). I admit though that a $1 billion payout was shocking so my biggest concern is how this will impact Samsung as a company and the quality of the products they produce.

In a statement issued by Samsung they expressed the ruling as a “loss for the consumer” and that it will result in “fewer choices, less innovation and higher prices”. This seems to be a little extreme because I think Samsung controls whether those statements come true or not. If anything this should help Samsung to be more innovative. Instead of trying to copy what Apple did they should create their own design. Granted I can see why Samsung wanted to use Apple as a model for manufacturing their phones considering how successful the iPhone has been. I can see the potential for a price hike on Samsung products not only from the dollar amount of the ruling but the extra cost now of additional R&D so this doesn’t happen again. The consequence of “less innovation” will be Samsung’s choice and has little to do with Apple.

I also disagree that this was a dispute over “rectangles with rounded corners”. I think that is over simplifying what the case was about. I have seen some of the images that had a side-by-side comparison of the iPhone with Samsung phones and there was a lot more in common. In fact the Samsung phone looked almost like a clone of the iPhone, with only slight variations, right down to the icons (and as we’ve seen from the MMO world, clones of more successful products are bad – allegedly).

Unfortunately the biggest consequence of this ruling will only make Apple appear to be a bigger thug (to the haters) and Samsung will probably see a surge in product sales from pity purchasing. Personally I will continue to buy products from both companies as it pertains to my needs. My brand loyalty to both companies hasn’t changed. It is amusing though that Google stayed under the radar to distance themselves from this brouhaha and Microsoft is still the laughable runt in the corner of a room full of giants.

Cheers!

A Dichotomy of Degrees

By

On January 4, 2012

In Programming, Technology

Most of the time I blog about gaming with the occasional current event or gadget thrown in. As someone who has been in the software development industry for about 10 years now, I thought perhaps I should start finding some career related topics to blog about. I’m not some high profile industry pundit nor do I work for any major computer or software giants, however I do feel like I offer a unique perspective on the industry.

If you know me personally, or have read the About page, you already know that I was a dual major at Purdue. I not only got my bachelors in software development, but I also earned a bachelors in organizational leadership (which is essentially a degree in HR). I feel like my degrees are an interesting dichotomy, a left brain degree and a right brain degree, but I feel that having both of them has served me very well so far in my career.

The days of stowing programmers in dark closets are ending. The introduction, and growing implementation, of agile development has many programmers having to be more interactive with other departments within a company. Communication is paramount now more than ever which is why I feel like my organizational education has not only helped me integrate into collaborative groups but has also helped others (the tech savvy and the non-tech savvy).

I think having the two degrees has also given me the unique ability to view an organization not only from the technical perspective but also from a non-technical perspective. I know many programmers, and other tech savvy people, may not like to admit it, but we can be a little obtuse sometimes. Management’s decisions to do, or not do, something may seem infuriatingly illogical on the surface, but there is always other factors that managers/directors/presidents also have to consider. There might be additional costs, additional resources, budgetary constraints, or even political reasons behind the decision.

I’ve already had a few times in my career where I felt strongly against a decision but I understood the reason for the decision. So, instead of protesting, I tried to help the others understand the reasons and help them find a way to cooperate. I know it’s tough to be a peon, especially in larger organizations, but learning to cooperate and collaborate will go a lot farther than refusing to adapt and change.

So that’s my spiel. I think if I keep going I’m just going to sound like I’m repeating myself. I hope that I have provided sufficient evidence that I’m competent enough to discuss industry topics. I do welcome and appreciate your feedback and topic suggestions either in the comments of this post or on Google+ and Facebook where I’m sure I have posted the link here. Thanks.

Cheers!

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