Today (I wrote this in 2013) I want to share with you my opinion of technology in its current form, today. As a technician I get to use and experience a multitude of products, software and hardware. As a life long learner I read and watch technology, full of excitement - yes I'm a full time geek, sue me!
I have come to a point where there are so many options than there has been in the past, look at operating systems. At one point in life the majority (over 90%) would use a windows (operating system) based machine and this would probably be the same version for many years. Step in to 2013, we have iOS, Windows (7 or 8), we have Linux operating in the background, Android in our phones and tablets, then we have new devices like he Raspberry Pi. In principal this is fantastic, it means choice, when before we had the might of Micrsoft and that's about it (Linux/OSx been in the background), but the power of this change has brought one serious problem - convoluted. Yes we have choice now, because now we can choose from a different type of device, whether its mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop, but also we have touch screen.
Again you wonder, this sounds everything you've always wanted - but hold on a minute, many options now are non-domain, so in the work environment this causes issues. How easy can you push out settings, software (or apps) to other people/users/computers if you have now central unit in control? It's difficult and impossible sometimes, because devices offer positives and negatives, options no less but can they do all that you need them too? Can you really say you can use your IPAD for everything, I know I cannot, yes its great to have "airplay", book reading is great, not a bad camera etc. But we run on a Windows network, with software designed for Windows, we have people that can't get broadband so this affects their ability offsite. Do touchscreen's offer the same level of ability for you to work, study or play without too many typo's or do they hamper your efficiency and wind you up?
Now look at cost, Android devices vary greatly in price from low cost to iPAD, I've played with a variety of these and look the fact so many useful apps are free. As a person in charge of managing devices they offer me ability to lock them down to restrict use of certain features too, but even one expensive piece of kit crashed and performed slow.
I'm starting to wonder which device offers the most features, since none do all, or the cost becomes an issue, I mean think about it, you can get a decent laptop with a fair bit of memory for the equivalent of an iPAD! Sure a laptop offer you the same experience as you have always had, but you cannot beat the ease of use and speed (boot up etc) of a tablet - for instance i have tried writing blog entries on one but to no avail, i am back on the PC for this. But laptops suffer with short life batteries compared to tablets, yes I realise the processor is very different but its a real issue dependant on your circumstance.
In the last year or so I have witnessed a rise in the hacker community or the maker shed people, which has been down to people using low level devices like Arduino and Raspberry pi's (there are many more). This is a really good thing, it gets us thinking again like back in the 80's, i'm especially excited about this movement and cannot wait to start experimenting. I talk about this because these devices they are still computers, sure they will not replace your standard device but they can be programmed to do more and that's their raison d'etre. They bring their own problems too, for instance the Raspberry Pi uses a Linux operating system that's been hacked to work on ARM processors. This is truly breathtaking, considering its all a voluntary world, people do their bits and adapt programs to work on it (they've done a great job with Apple Airplay), the Pi already can function as a media center out the box. The only issue is the learning curve, Linux takes time to master, you do have to research simple commands - that is not necessarily a bad thing, just drains your schedule if your busy!
So there we have it, I did not intend this to be a in depth look at individual devices, or recommend anything, I just want you to understand just because we have choice it does not mean any device is suitable.
Sunday 9 November 2014
Saturday 1 November 2014
Looking through window to the other side
For over 4 years now I have been an avid friend of the open source community, there are so many great packages out there. I am not here to argue about free software or open source, but more about the user perspective!
You see many people use Windows or have used because of one issue, education, those damn schools cannot get away from it so children have grown up around Office and Windows. Yes times are changing due to the onslaught of some great new devices like tablets and smart phones, which has given access to more choice with regards operating systems and programs (apps included) that we use.
Sounds great so far, now introduce yourself to the world of Linux and its deriatives, it's truly a remarkable thing, it does lots of jobs that Windows does, it even guards large companies from security threats, our internet provides use some forms of Linux to provide a service to our homes and business. One of the most frequent places Linux is found is the backbone of serving websites to us.
Despite this level of market share (still very modest) it cannot take over the Mr & Mrs Average home computer operating system, there are some good reasons for it, well 2 really, which we should look at. One is there is still not a fully fledged novice friendly Linux system (called distro's), yes there are so many different ones, many people will say there is puppy, elementary, mint, ubuntu, fedora, debian blah blah. Trust me I have seen many of these and tried them, but the problem is the language or layout used on many of these systems is too complex for a windows convert like Mr/Mrs Average. They really can't be bothered about problems, incompatibility or workarounds and probably wouldnt get through the installation stage without wiping their existing data, their windows partition.
I know many people will disagree, for me Mint has been my number one choice since around 2010 and loved it, never crashes, i can do everything i need too and worked out the box. So hell yes I just contradicted myself, but all is never rosy, after a recent purchase I have come across the dreaded wifi driver issue that seemed to plague older Linux installs. Of course this is not Linux Mint or the fault of any distro or their programmers, it's an inherent issue with Linux in general. Support is generally good across many peripherals and devices, but you have to research about compatibility and features available through Linux drivers.
Okay so complaint 2, the GUI, i'm moaning in general really, my main point is there is an apparent lack of user interface design among open source products. It's quite obvious in some because of small groups creating software for free, which is truly selfless compared to the paid rivals, but to really attract another generation of users or the common user so much more thought it needed. Recently I went with finally switching to Unity (Ubuntu), yes it's fine, probably stick with it but I hate the fact I can't easily remember how to browse the applications installed - it's ridicolously complicated for what reason?
Ubuntu is hated by many too, since it's actually backed by a large company. Even more recently I tried Edubuntu in the hope I could use this for my daughters when they are old enough. I was actually shocked to find the home screen/desktop is just like Ubuntu - why would you actually spend time labelling this product as educational but have no applications ready from the desktop? I was thinking this would be an aim, design for a different type of user and perspective. Now i just think i will have to spend time researching what apps are installed and how useful they are for the kids and alter the settings myself. Maybe I should look at the Ubuntu software center, but let's face it, it's a joke of an app store really, not enough information on packages, not enough reviews, search is not always relevant.
I could go on and on about other software, but it's just my opinion and I'm still a complete novice. I have tried all sorts of packages like remote desktop, video recording, file browsers, image editing, ide packages etc and seen many of these fail my patience for actually successful use. However, let's be clear, I still LOVE Linux, it's free, it does not claim to be anything, it's also far more secure than Windows, it's just damn complicated at times.
But just like life is hard, their are many things to learn, take your time and your patience is rewarded, you will never go back. I use Windows at work, I have no choice, every day I look forward to using Ubuntu when I'm home, despite it's issues. The best thing we can do is work with Mr & Mrs Average and spread the good word, after all education is the key - if schools used Linux would any child know what Windows is? Stuff of dreams?
You see many people use Windows or have used because of one issue, education, those damn schools cannot get away from it so children have grown up around Office and Windows. Yes times are changing due to the onslaught of some great new devices like tablets and smart phones, which has given access to more choice with regards operating systems and programs (apps included) that we use.
Sounds great so far, now introduce yourself to the world of Linux and its deriatives, it's truly a remarkable thing, it does lots of jobs that Windows does, it even guards large companies from security threats, our internet provides use some forms of Linux to provide a service to our homes and business. One of the most frequent places Linux is found is the backbone of serving websites to us.
Despite this level of market share (still very modest) it cannot take over the Mr & Mrs Average home computer operating system, there are some good reasons for it, well 2 really, which we should look at. One is there is still not a fully fledged novice friendly Linux system (called distro's), yes there are so many different ones, many people will say there is puppy, elementary, mint, ubuntu, fedora, debian blah blah. Trust me I have seen many of these and tried them, but the problem is the language or layout used on many of these systems is too complex for a windows convert like Mr/Mrs Average. They really can't be bothered about problems, incompatibility or workarounds and probably wouldnt get through the installation stage without wiping their existing data, their windows partition.
I know many people will disagree, for me Mint has been my number one choice since around 2010 and loved it, never crashes, i can do everything i need too and worked out the box. So hell yes I just contradicted myself, but all is never rosy, after a recent purchase I have come across the dreaded wifi driver issue that seemed to plague older Linux installs. Of course this is not Linux Mint or the fault of any distro or their programmers, it's an inherent issue with Linux in general. Support is generally good across many peripherals and devices, but you have to research about compatibility and features available through Linux drivers.
Okay so complaint 2, the GUI, i'm moaning in general really, my main point is there is an apparent lack of user interface design among open source products. It's quite obvious in some because of small groups creating software for free, which is truly selfless compared to the paid rivals, but to really attract another generation of users or the common user so much more thought it needed. Recently I went with finally switching to Unity (Ubuntu), yes it's fine, probably stick with it but I hate the fact I can't easily remember how to browse the applications installed - it's ridicolously complicated for what reason?
Ubuntu is hated by many too, since it's actually backed by a large company. Even more recently I tried Edubuntu in the hope I could use this for my daughters when they are old enough. I was actually shocked to find the home screen/desktop is just like Ubuntu - why would you actually spend time labelling this product as educational but have no applications ready from the desktop? I was thinking this would be an aim, design for a different type of user and perspective. Now i just think i will have to spend time researching what apps are installed and how useful they are for the kids and alter the settings myself. Maybe I should look at the Ubuntu software center, but let's face it, it's a joke of an app store really, not enough information on packages, not enough reviews, search is not always relevant.
I could go on and on about other software, but it's just my opinion and I'm still a complete novice. I have tried all sorts of packages like remote desktop, video recording, file browsers, image editing, ide packages etc and seen many of these fail my patience for actually successful use. However, let's be clear, I still LOVE Linux, it's free, it does not claim to be anything, it's also far more secure than Windows, it's just damn complicated at times.
But just like life is hard, their are many things to learn, take your time and your patience is rewarded, you will never go back. I use Windows at work, I have no choice, every day I look forward to using Ubuntu when I'm home, despite it's issues. The best thing we can do is work with Mr & Mrs Average and spread the good word, after all education is the key - if schools used Linux would any child know what Windows is? Stuff of dreams?
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