Microsoft’s Overlooked Innovation
Posted by Stephen in Computer history, Personal on 15. Feb, 2010 | View Comments
It’s fun to bash Microsoft. It’s easy, too, with Apple solidly conquering the high end of the PC and mobile markets and Google’s command of the Internet. But how fair are these articles skewering Microsoft, such as “Microsoft’s chronic lack of innovation” published today at Techworld? I suggest that Microsoft innovates as well as, if not better than, any other massive company. But no one innovates like an outsider.
We Don’t Need Cloud Standards (Yet)
Posted by Stephen in Computer history, Enterprise storage, Gestalt IT, Virtual Storage on 16. Sep, 2009 | View Comments
Championing “open” and calling for standards has become the first stalling action by late-movers in technology spaces. They see opportunity passing by and try to hold back progress and FUD the market by yelling about proprietary solutions, vendor lock-in, and a lack of standards. Many well-intentioned IT folks follow along: After all, who doesn’t want openness, standardization, and interoperability?
How To Subscribe To Internet Calendars In iPhone OS 3.0
Posted by Stephen in Apple, Personal on 17. Jun, 2009 | View Comments
On close examination of iPhone OS 3.0, I have discovered how to enable direct over-the-air subscription to Internet calendars!
Google Is Heading For A Cliff; What Will They Do?
Posted by Stephen in Computer history, Personal on 22. May, 2009 | View Comments
Google is the most important company to the Internet. Hyberbole? I think not! Without Google, the Internet that we all know and love would be a very different place, as would the business of IT. Along with Microsoft and the supporting community around LAMP, Google is the very foundation of modern computing. But the foundation of Google itself, its ability to rank Internet content and present relevant information to its users, is at risk. What will they do to fix it?
iPhone 3.0 Exchange ActiveSync: Better But Not Perfect
Posted by Stephen in Apple on 07. May, 2009 | View Comments
As the release of iPhone OS 3.0 nears, I set out to discover how the new OS changes the iPhone’s ability to synchronize data with Microsoft Exchange servers using ActiveSync. What follows here is my deductions so far, and is of course subject to change when the new OS is released!
Ten-Year Trend: Mobility
Posted by Stephen in Apple, Computer history, Enterprise storage, Everything, Personal, Terabyte home, Virtual Storage on 11. Mar, 2009 | View Comments
What is the megatrend of this decade? I suggest that we are witnessing a wholesale shift from information tied to place/device to information mobility. Cloud computing, server virtualization, and even flash memory are all contributors to this massive trend, along with the user-side trends of the post-PDA mobile phone, 3G data, social web services, and connected home.
Can the iPhone Sync With Multiple Exchange Servers?
Posted by Stephen in Apple on 26. Feb, 2009 | View Comments
One of the major advances introduced in iPhone software version 2.0 was the ability to sync over-the-air to Microsoft Exchange servers using Microsoft’s ActiveSync protocol. This was introduced to much fanfare with the iPhone 3G and is available on older updated iPhone and iPod Touch units, too. Google and NuevaSync also offer over-the-air calendar and [...]
Measuring the Importance of Google’s First Page
Posted by Stephen in Personal on 15. Jan, 2009 | View Comments
I’m not blogging to get traffic; I’m blogging because I have something to say. But, being a curious person, I do measure my blog traffic, and I’ve become interested in how the search engine optimization gurus ply their trade. So a recent tip on using a custom Google Analytics filter to determine “front page” placement [...]
How To Set Up iPhone Exchange ActiveSync
Posted by Stephen in Apple, Personal, Terabyte home on 10. Jul, 2008 | View Comments
It’s finally here! The iPhone now has most of the functions of the BlackBerry – over-the-air push and sync of Exchange email, contacts, and calendars! Apple let the 2.0 OS out of the bag earlier today, and intrepid souls (and me) have taken the plunge and installed it.
While most people, including me, headed to the [...]
Online Storage? Hardly!
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage, Terabyte home on 16. Aug, 2007 | View Comments
Robin Harris blogged today about Google’s pay-for-storage service, and he hit the nail on the head. It (and pretty much every other current online storage service) is nearly worthless to most folks because it lacks one simple thing: A usable interface. Set aside Google’s traditionally horrid (lack of) marketing and you’re left with a service [...]
