As I sit inside a nicely insulated house, windows shaking, leaves blowing around everywhere, dog squeezing its legs to avoid going outside, I am reminded of how little has changed at a macro level in the technology area. I have to remind the kids to fully turn off and unplug their devices so they are not at risk from electrical fluctuations, the grid is clearly at risk for the next day or so. In fact, i’m not sure i’ll get through this post in time — typing as fast as I can.
Both Apple and Microsoft announced some new stuff — some old stuff refurbished largely. Microsoft’s new stuff interests me, partially because I remain a Microsoft fan, partially because their entry into bigger markets tends to bring in many more users which helps get the next wave of innovation going. I am waiting for the next real innovations — i’m tired of upgrading from what I have to what I already have with only new ways to do the same things as the biggest change. I’m thinking the Surface will be a big success in the business community — many people remain tied to a keyboard as a source of productivity — watching people with awkward typing styles use the iPad is painful – Microsoft largely owns the document creation market and many businesses still create lots of documents. Wrap up the traditional laptop or PC in a tablet packaging and voila, I can carry it around (even drop it a few times) and get my work done. It’s not embarrassing to take it out in an airport or coffee shop anymore as a laptop often is — we’re business geeks no more!
But alas, there still is the ‘little has changed’ problem. Will Microsoft take two years to get it right? Unlike Apple, the first devices largely did what they were supposed to — will I be rebooting my Surface daily in the first few months (as I found I had to do with the Playbook – BTW, i like its form factor better than the iPad). It is a new version of Windows — i sill have XP on many of the computers at Everest Academy — it all works, upgrading to Windows 7 would be nice, but I would need upgraded horsepower to support it — to get it to do what it already does — create Word, PPT and Excel files and browse the Internet.
The storm is supposed to last a day or two, havoc everywhere (I just saved my draft – just in case). I’d really like to try to the camera that does not need to focus when you take a picture — great for me given i wear contacts and can’t see the camera when I have them in! Focus afterwards, now that’s different. Maybe the wind will stop for this one.
Our street is a blanket of leaves now — probably not the ones from the trees on our street but the ones from a few streets over. We’ll probably find a few surprises in the morning — including where our dog decided to do his business because he does not want to go out any more than we do. How do we train a 75 lb dog to use the toilet? Hopefully no major damage, no injuries, nothing that prevents everyone from going about their business — especially those working on making new stuff that is not the same as the stuff we currently have.