Future technology
Science fiction movies
It’s Friday so here’s something a little lighter. A contributor to Gizmo’s Freeware with the nom de plume of Rizar has written an article about science fiction movies. He begins:
This article has a collection of the best science fiction (SF) movies ever. I survey the exciting range of possibilities in imaginative technology, computers, futuristic visions, [...]
FCC plan to increase broadband coverage in US
The US Federal Communications Commission wants to increase high-speed Internet in America. The New York Times reports:
The Federal Communications Commission is proposing an ambitious 10-year plan that will reimagine the nation’s media and technology priorities by establishing high-speed Internet as the country’s dominant communication network.
The plan, which will be submitted to Congress on Tuesday, is [...]
The Internet of things
The Bits Blog at the New York Times discusses the possibilities of more than just computers being connected to the Internet. With microprocessors and sensors, all sorts of things might be “online”. The blog reports on an article from McKinsey & Company that begins:
More objects are becoming embedded with sensors and gaining the ability to [...]
Can Windows run well on tablets?
HP has announced a Windows 7 based tablet (or slate, if you prefer) PC that it claims will be much better than Apple’s iPad. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes says there is a big problem with touch-based Windows systems:
HP has released a few teaser details of its upcoming iPad, um, I mean Slate device. While the company is [...]
The future of Windows
Windows just had its 25th birthday and it’s interesting how much talk there is about the future of Windows. Of course, the growth of mobile platforms and the perceived decline of the desktop model for personal computing has a lot to do with it. There is also more recognition that a cumbersome and complex Windows [...]
Video on the soul of Microsoft
CNET has a program about Microsoft at its feature called Reporters’ Roundtable that I found worth watching. Rafe Needleman interviews three people who are very familiar with Microsoft. Robert Scoble and Don Dodge are former Microsoft employees and Ina Fried is CNET’s Microsoft expert. These three have informative and interesting insights into how things [...]
The PC is dying-here come the mobile platforms
The mismatch between ponderous Windows systems and consumer needs is finally catching up with the PC. Thanks to the example of the Apple iPhone and to the Asian OEMs who pushed the netbook, the technology industry has awakened to what consumers really want. Predictions are popping up all over that the PC will be replaced [...]
Smartphone happenings
Some are saying that the smartphone will be the consumer platform of the future. The smartphone may or may not replace the PC as the primary way for consumers to use the Internet but it certainly is a major and growing force. Here are some recent posts about smartphones:
What Makes a Smartphone Smart?ExtremeTech explains what [...]
The shape of things to come
I think that the whole area of personal computing is in transition. I believe the old model PC is dying as the platform for personal computing. Or should we call it personal electronics? After all, computing isn’t what most people mostly do with their devices. In any event, developments like the iPhone, the netbook, and [...]
The desktop metaphor doesn’t work anymore
When PCs were introduced, their prime function involved what might be called office work. There were word processors, spread sheets and data bases. The desktop was the metaphor for the workspace. Information was stored in files and folders, just like in an office. PCs were standalone work stations with no connection to anything else. There [...]
Windows 8 to be something completely different?
I never know how much credence to place in stories like this one but the Windows Club pointed out a post at MSDN Blogs by a Microsoft product manager working along with the Windows Update team. The post (now removed) discussed what’s coming in the next version of Windows:
The minimum that folks can take for [...]
