Sunday, February 18, 2007
Vista: No Innovation Allowed Here
Google forced me to use their new Blogger environment today. I couldn't log into the old one even though the welcome page said I could. Here I am.. Lets see if my new posting shows up on my old feed (I already see that Blogger reposted some of my ancient posts as new..).
Now down to business..
A review of Vista I read today at Forbes.com was very eye opening. The article, entitled Dim Vista, rakes the new operating system over the coals. The author enumerates a list of irritations and poorly thought out features. This tidbit is the one which caught my eye:
"Should you upgrade to Vista?", he rants "Are you nuts?".
I played with Vista on a high end laptop at Costco Saturday. It was very nice with the exception of the new Flip3D feature -- which is prominent in the "Wow!" advertisements. It is a total gimmick -- a real flat out joke. You can't see the content of all the windows. Alt-Tab was one Windows innovation I think will be used much more than Flip3D.
(Example of Flip3D showing obscured window content)
Now down to business..
A review of Vista I read today at Forbes.com was very eye opening. The article, entitled Dim Vista, rakes the new operating system over the coals. The author enumerates a list of irritations and poorly thought out features. This tidbit is the one which caught my eye:
I suggested to one Windows product manager that if the company were truly serious about security, Vista might offer a simple way to delete files securely and eliminate all traces of identity and passwords so you could safely pass the machine on or sell it years from now. His reply: "Does any other operating system do that?" That tells you all you need to know about Microsoft. The real slogan: "No innovation here."
"Should you upgrade to Vista?", he rants "Are you nuts?".
I played with Vista on a high end laptop at Costco Saturday. It was very nice with the exception of the new Flip3D feature -- which is prominent in the "Wow!" advertisements. It is a total gimmick -- a real flat out joke. You can't see the content of all the windows. Alt-Tab was one Windows innovation I think will be used much more than Flip3D.
(Example of Flip3D showing obscured window content)
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
DRM: Necessary Evil, or Not Necessary?
The Wikipedia defines DRM as:
Now that we know what DRM is. The real question:
Which of these "Big 3" digital content providers is on your side?
Sony:
Microsoft:
Apple:
I define it to my wife as "No. I can't give the babysitter a copy of season one of Grey's Anatomy for her iPod. It is locked to our iTunes account. Won't work for her."
Technologies to give content providers control over redistribution and access to material.
Now that we know what DRM is. The real question:
Which of these "Big 3" digital content providers is on your side?
Sony:
"We are reviewing all aspects of our content protection initiatives to be sure that they are secure"
Microsoft:
"This benefits everyone.." [proliferation of Digital Rights Management, or DRM]
Apple:
"Convincing them [music companies] to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly."Which company would you prefer to buy software and your other digital content from?
