06.29.10
Posted in Home at 4:56 pm by JohnB
Earlier I was asked by a friend for some tips as she’d just got herself an iPad. I picked on of these little beauties up when I was over in the US about 4 weeks prior to the UK launch so I’ve had a decent run at the thing so far. After I got the question I was wondering hw to approach the answer.. after all I love the iPad and use it for all sorts of stuff but “tips”?
I figured that the best way to provide any sort of guidance was to run through the apps I’ve added on and what I use them for and if I can provide a little inspiration and/or help to others so be it.
- iBooks – Self explanatory really, but I had to get a US iTunes account initially to download this app. It’s now on the UK store too of course. The latest update (as per iOS 4 release) adds in the features which were ‘missing’ when compared to the Stanza application which it is believed iBooks derives from. These features include the ability to mark text and add notes and create bookmarks for later reference. iBooks also supports PDF as a source document so is great for reference material as well as the ePub books. I use this every single night now as I read before I go to sleep.
- Voice Recorder – As a fan of all things audio I was interested to see what (if anything) could be done on the iPad in terms of capturing audio. With the aid of the Samson Go-Mic and a pair of headphones I’m able to record interviews and other audio for later import and manipulation in Garageband.
- Twitterific – One of a (huge) number of Twitter clients out there. I’m Wi-Fi only but when tweeting from events and conferences it’s just the job!
- TapTap Radiation – A simple rhythm game, I just like the music and graphics.
- Pocket Pond – beyond simple yet very addictive. it’s a pond with fish in it, you can splash the water, release and knock down dragon flies and the fish eat them. It’s free… try it.
- Live Messenger – it’s an iPhone App so either sits in the middle of the screen or is HUGE! But if you need to stay connected, it certainly works for that community.
- Skype – Again an iPhone app, but either using the built in mic and speakers or the mic/headphones combo as above, certainly does the whole Skype thing well enough – NOTE: Only on WiFi not 3G.
- iThoughtsHD – A mind-mapping application. I like this kind of note-taking mechanism as it matches how I think. has proved invaluable and well worth the few pounds it cost.
- FryPaper – I like the way Stephen Fry thinks and writes. A must for Fry fans.
- WoW Armory – another iPhone app but useful for WoW fans. now supports the premium services for remote auction management etc.
I’ve also set up a bunch of links on the iPad spaces for various web-sites which are then simply accessed. The above list doesn’t include the built in stuff like Safari, Email, Video, iPod, contacts etc.. because, wel you simply use them. Safari is great on the iPad expecially.
It is worth putting a note here about Videos. I’ve synced up a few audio albums – those in the “Recently Added” auto playlist in iTunes – but video is something different. I have a reasonable DVD collection (let’s call it a couple of hundred titles) but, unlike audio CDs, there is no easy way to get these into a digital format for use on your portable devices. There are a bunch of rights arguments going on and I’m not going to take any particular stance other than the personal one of “I own it so I’m watching it where I want to”. There are a few applications out there for mac and PC for DVD-to-iPad(/iPod/iPhone/etc) conversion. Some are good, some not so much. In getting my collection into digital form I’ve been through a few and I finally landed (via the well loved HandBrake) at RipIt on the Mac. This makes a copy of the DVD playable contents to your local hard drive and now supports the creation of an .m4v file with the results. This can then simply be dragged into iTunes and bingo, synco-magic. For those with an interest “Why RipIt and not HandBrake?” the answer is ARccOS.
So, @alibobbles, I hope this helps!
Permalink
05.28.10
Posted in Home at 9:11 am by JohnB
It seems that Apple are catching up to Microsoft in terms of being the worlds most valuable technology company. The reasons are manifold but I think that there are a couple of key areas which have been critical.
Apple do niche and consumer devices very, very well. the ‘i’ series have become the ubiquitous brand – you don’t buy an mp3 player, you buy an iPod, even if it’s actually not an Apple device. They all work together well and have a certain appeal.
It’s certainly been said that “Apple fans will simply buy everything Apple” and although this is somewhat of a slur, the facts are that an appreciation of quality will promote further adoption. The point here is that the very fact such a slur exists shows that something has promoted a loyalty in the brand.
If we move away from the consumer space and into Enterprise then the story obviously changes. Microsoft are king here and for many of the same reasons. Microsoft’s business systems and applications work well together and there’s not really a significant alternative to the Office suite of servers and applications which it comes to interoperability. Apple have a presence in the Enterprise but it’s very small and provides an interesting challenge to IT/IS teams in terms of support, management and integration.
So why does the Cupertino firm seem to be vying for the top spot? I see it as a combination of things, there’s been a growth in the use of Mac machines across the board, for education, in-home and in the enterprise. Adoption has been through the “It just works” experience and the availability of effective applications to provide the services these groups want. The second element is Microsoft’s effort to move into the consumer devices space.
Media players (they do so much more than MP3 now) belong to Apple. The Zune, although a nice device in itself, simply hasn’t had enough of a differential to be a decision point for most folks. If anything they’ve been the protest vote of those who, for their own reason, simply don’t like Apple. Windows Mobile was a great idea let down in execution by Microsoft’s historical position as as software vendor, “We build the OS, you use it in your devices”, this caused performance issues, inconsistencies in functionality and a general frustration with the devices. Oh, for sure they hooked up to the Enterprise environment well for Exchange support, but with the licensing of Active-sync out to the other Phone OS vendors, even that has become diluted. The new portable OS – Metro – is very slick, very pretty and certainly provides a different experience to anything else on the market, and it’s use as the base for Windows Phone 7 makes perfect sense or at least it would if it existed in a vacuum. The problem is that the model for WP7 is so radically different than that for the older Mobile OS and that change is actually going to be a barrier to adoption rather than encourage it.
“The third screen”, as Steve Ballmer coined the mobile device space, is certainly important as more and more services become remote and the delivery mechanism becomes more portable. Phones are no longer phone, they’re terminal devices but does this mean that Microsoft has to compete there? I would say not, they don’t. Microsoft needs to do what it does best and that’s to make solid reliable Enterprise systems and solutions which can be accessed by devices in such a way that promotes their adoption rather than inhibits.
Already I can here the shouts… “They already do that!!”. Yes they do, and that’s where they are successful. The news that the Exchange 2010 web application will now provide the will user experience on Firefox, Safari and Chrome as well as IE shows that some thought is now going into the process. Organisations are more likely to adopt a central system if it’s able to be accessed from anything, than if there are limits on the client side.
Consumer cool is great for press releases and “Oooo – Ahhhh” product launches, but Enterprise efficiency is where Microsoft made it’s big bucks and that’s where it’s strengths now remain. The current leadership is one of corporate stewardship, the previous was one of technical innovation. The products should reflect that position and in some areas do – but that’s the problem, it’s only in some areas. Microsoft’s internal structure sometimes provides some real differentiation in their products – look at the success of the XBox – but sometimes it shows a real disconnect in strategies. The business units have to do their job and that job is to make their products sell as well as possible, you can’t fault them for that. Bu sometimes they seem to be acting at odds with other business units and it’s this disconnect which confuses people.
Apple have a singular vision with which EVERY product aligns but this can lead to accusations of ‘closed systems’ and the associated negative aspects.
Which is right, which is wrong?
It would be great to have Microsoft delivering systems – either in-house or on-line – which could be accessed by the BEST remote / mobile devices available. That’s what will happen eventually, but Microsoft need to stop tying to be cool and remember what they do best and that’s Enterprise Efficiency
Permalink
05.11.10
Posted in Hosting Thoughts, Work at 8:39 am by JohnB
It used to be so easy – if you were a techie – to describe an environment. You’d simply list out the numbers and types of server, the OS versions running and the server-side apps they’ve been dedicated to. We’d even call them “The SQL server, the Exchange Server, the AD controller…” These physical devices were know by the service they were running.
And if you wanted to add another service you’d, more than likely, add another server or two to run it. This was the easy way, the most trusted and risk free way because we knew that the requirements would only ever increase and we were building in future-proofing. We had to because these things had to last, to run and perform for 3-5 years! This was really about money, IT departments speculated at the start of each financial year as to what would need to be replaced, upgraded and what new systems or services would be required. They got their budget, or a part thereof, and then did what needed to be done, perhaps picking up a few ‘goodies’ along the way – because that’s what we did!
So corporate server rooms and datacenters and even small businesses with the typical too-hot, under-powered cupboards had server hardware spinning away just waiting, ever waiting, for the time when their capacity would be realised. Of course the reality is that, that time never really came. Servers went end-of-life and were retired, re-purposed and ultimately scrapped (or sold on eBay), budgets were re-negotiated to replace them with the newest models because “they will provide significant future-proofing” and the cycle of speculation began again.
The times they are a-changing though and the move is away from the old server-per-service model and we are now starting to talk about workloads. The Database workload, the Exchange workload, the Web workload, the Application workload… All are the new expressions of what needs to be done and none talk about the hardware underneath – and neither should they!
The correct and only way to deliver services is in the most resilient and efficient method possible. This means taking a number of physical resources sufficient to provide service continuity in the event of failure and making them run these workloads. If that sounds kind of wooly and fluffy, well that’s because it is! Server hardware should not, now, be the definition of a service infrastructure it should simply be the mechanisms upon which the services are built.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (“IaaS”), one of the three main “Cloud” definitions, means that I can define what I want in terms of workload and get it, I don’t need to worry about the numbers, the networking configuration, the will-it/won’t-it nature of any fail-over I’m expecting or speculate upon the “future-proofing” my hardware spend is assuring. This is because I have no hardware spend.
If my requirements are for a database and application workload I can simply buy the horsepower I need to support that DB/Application combination and use it, usually within a few hours. OK I don’t have the fun of specc’ing up a server set and un-boxing the kit when it arrives but they were short-lived pleasure anyway!
For smaller businesses and organisation there is the issue that this is going to be a hosted service, out there in “The Cloud” or simply on-line if you’re me! And this might pose something if an initial barrier to adoption. That’s OK! Really it is, there’s no-one telling you that you have to move your “stuff” out there today, or even tomorrow. IDC has predicted that we’re in the first phase of an adoption cycle which may last up to 30 years! It’s fine to hang back, make the most of your current investment, make sure you understand what it means to adopt an on-line/hybrid service model and make sure your strategies – both technical and business – are in place and ready for when you make the move.
For larger enterprise businesses though, it’s perfectly possible to build an IaaS infrastructure in-house. The technologies are available today and, depending upon the age of your kit, you might not need to spend a huge amount on server hardware to make it happen. The keys to delivery are virtualisation and automation and the tools are ready now to help you deliver this “Private Cloud”. It’s a change in thought processes for any IT Team but it’s also the right way to think about your technology services and how you consume them.
Remember the word is Workload, the method is up to you!
Permalink
« Previous Page — « Previous entries « Previous Page · Next Page » Next entries » — Next Page »
