Random Access Memory

My random thoughts on technology, photography, digital video, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

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Chronic G.A.S.

As we age, the onset of health issues makes us keenly aware that, well, we are aging. We all try to find the right balance for the now—finding what we can eat and not eat, how many drinks we can have (and how often), and how much exercise is needed to maintain our health. We identify the health issues that impact our daily lives and work to address these. After all, all we have is our health… One condition that I have not yet treated successfully is my never ending GAS, or Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I have a problem. I am constantly looking to upgrade my gear. Be it computers, disk storage, cameras, camera rigs, lenses. You name it--I’m researching, reading, posting and probably, lusting after it. The upgrader in me has strong justification for his actions—I’ll get better photos, make better movies, I’ll be more prepared to handle diverse shooting conditions, I will have more disk space for backups, faster encoding, etc., etc., etc. The problem for me, and I’m sure for many filmmakers and photographers, is that all this research into new gear greatly limits the time we could actually be spending CREATING stuff with our current gear. I will admit that I have never fully mastered any camera that I have owned. I simply haven’t. I have often bought into the notion that “better” (ie, more “pro” or more expensive) gear will yield better results. I then step back and come to my senses…I promise to use my current equipment to it’s fullest potential. I try to push the envelope of what I have to get the best results possible. But, this never lasts. Something new is released or announced. The forums buzz with the news. Top sites get review units and praise the widget as the Next Big Thing. YouTube reviewers show just how awesome it is. There is often a view that, “If you don’t have XYZ…you must not be getting work done”. I buy into it. And I buy it. I use the new item for a while. Sometimes there is great initial excitement, sometimes immediate buyer’s remorse. Soon I find that this new gadget is not my Holy Grail. That I still have more to learn. I vow to use my current equipment and to not upgrade. Rinse, Repeat. At least I admit that I have a problem…that’s progress, right?

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The world is real and 3D already

Throughout recent history, and even as way back as the 1990s, there have been many attempts to bring virtual reality and 3D into every day life.

Most of these have failed as products.  Why is this?  Because, news flash, the world is already real and 3D.  

People use games and television as a way to escape reality.  While most do appreciate the improved graphics and realism in modern video games, that does not mean that consumers and gamers want their games to exactly mimic real life...If they did, what would make a game different than real life?

The additional frustrations and annoyances of these technologies (wearing a headset, glasses, special gloves) simply did not outweigh the benefits provided.

A few years ago, the berth of smartphones with "location aware" apps led to the next wave of apps, now called augmented reality.  When is the last time you saw someone using one of these apps?  

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Never Settle

Over the past few weeks I have been reading articles and listening to podcasts on the debate between pushing tablets and phones to do more complex tasks and workflows vs. using traditional computers.

It often gets summarized into "using the right tool for the job" vs. pushing a platform forward.

Alongside these discussions, there has been talk about the future of tablets, smartphones and traditional computers.  Steve Jobs had some thoughts on this at the 2010 All Things D Conference:

"I'm trying to think of a good analogy. When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks. But as people moved more towards urban centers, people started to get into cars. I think PCs are going to be like trucks. Less people will need them. And this transformation is going to make some people uneasy... because the PC has taken us a long way. They were amazing. But it changes. Vested interests are going to change. And, I think we've embarked on that change. Is it the iPad? Who knows? Will it be next year or five years? ... We like to talk about the post-PC era, but when it really starts to happen, it's uncomfortable."

Many have started to ponder just when most people will be able to accomplish most of their tasks on a tablet device.  Obviously for some users, this has happened already.

What I find interesting in these discussions is not the tablet vs computer or mouse vs. touch debates.  I find it astonishing that many people--some who even consider themselves to be tech industry experts--simply can not see that what we have today is not "good enough", is not invincible and will, most definitely, change and improve.

John Siracusa gets it.  Not many others do.

This may not be fair but watch this 1988 video where a PC Magazine editor talks about Lotus 1-2-3.  This is an editor of a leading computer magazine.  And this is 1988, well after the early days of personal computing.  Gary Kildall even tells him that this has happened before...but this guy just can't see the obvious.  Within a few years Lotus 1-2-3 was soundly defeated by Microsoft Excel running under Windows.

In 1981 with the introduction of the IBM PC, either Bill Gates or an IBM executive said something to the effect of "640k ought to be enough for anybody".

The Mac Observer has kept track of the number of times Apple was declared dead, during Apple's dark times of the late 1990s.  During those days, Microsoft owned total dominance of the computer market.  Windows and MS Office was running on nearly 95% of the world's computers.  

Many thought Microsoft's dominance would never be supplanted.  They had won and owned the computing/tech industry.  Today Microsoft is struggling in the new computing landscape which is dominated by Google and Apple.

The key here is that, in technology, expect things to change, sometimes drastically.  Know that what we have today and what we consider to be "cutting edge" and great will not be--and should not be--in the future.

We should not accept that for "real computing" you need a traditional computer with mouse, physical keyboard, windowing UI and direct file system access.  Yes, this is what most need today.  And this is, for most power user type tasks, the best we can do today.  That does not mean it is the best that we will ever have.  Not by a far stretch.

The IBM PC shipped with DOS.   The original Mac did not have color.  The first portable computers weighted over 15 pounds.   Standard Definition TV, VHS and audio cassettes all worked and got their respective jobs done...

Realize that what we have today is useful and makes us productive but that we should never stop push forward and improving.  Nor should we discourage those who do so.

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Post PC Devices: It's Not All About Touch

I believe the technology press, bloggers, podcasters and tech fans have now accepted that we are, in fact, in a Post-PC world.   Smartphones and tablet sales are increasing while sales of traditional computers are in decline.

There have been many opinions on why people prefer using their smartphone or tablet vs. an old school mouse/keyboard/Windowing-UI machines.  Of course, a large percentage of the reason is that the computing tasks that most people need to accomplish are quite basic.   Computing usage for most “normal” users consists typically of communication (email, text/IM), micro-blogging (Facebook, Twitter), eCommerce (online banking and shopping), entertainment (games, web surfing, video streaming) and photography.  All of these needs can easily be accomplished in a modern web browser.  Adding a native applications to the mix simply increases the productivity and enjoyment of these activities.

Many have come to the conclusion that the simple UI, represented by easy-to-understand touch controls, is a large part of the appeal of the new devices.  While I do believe that touch has played a large role, the bigger impact in the success of these devices is that one of the basic tenets of computing, the complexity of the file system, has been removed.

Files, file storage, file types and association of files with applications have consistently baffled regular people.   In the early days of personal computing, a huge hurdle for most was installing and then finding their applications and their data.  Data loss was common place.  Some people would have multiple versions of the same file in a number of folders across their hard drive.  Microsoft tried to correct this by creating the “My Documents” container in Windows 95…but many users continued to throw everything on the Desktop.  Even experienced computer users have experienced data loss and have struggled to keep data in sync across a number of devices.  Look no further than to the success of Dropbox to see this reality.

I believe the elimination of file management (as an end user task) is Job #1 of this next era of computing.   Users should not need to “remember to save” or “save early, save often”.   End users should not need to create hierarchical folder structures to manage photos or music.  The device, the OS and the application should handle all data storage for us…With  today’s processing power and I/O speeds, there is no reason for any user to lose more than, let’s say, one minute’s worth of “work”.  Google Drive has basically accomplished this already.  The days of losing an entire term paper or a large portion of programming code should be gone.  Now and forever.

On file management, Apple has made great inroads on the desktop with it’s Media Library concepts used in iTunes, iPhoto, Aperture, iMovie and Final Cut Pro X.  But show an experienced Windows user the iTunes or iPhoto Library and they will, typically, have a fit.   “Where are my files?”   “Why does Apple have to feel it has to *own* everything?”   “I want to *know* where my files are, dammit!”

Let’s take iPhoto for an example.  iPhoto is the Finder or Windows Explorer for your photos.  On Mac OS X, there is no reason, at all, to go the file system to do anything with a photograph.  Everything you need to accomplish with your photos can be done directly in iPhoto or via OS X’s open/save dialogs which automatically read the iPhoto library metadata and present your photos to you in the same organized structure that they appear in iPhoto.  You need to print?  Email?  Upload?  Edit?  All accessible directly in iPhoto. 

When we look at iOS, this is even more clear.   Android (and I guess Windows) geeks slammed iOS for not shipping a file manager.  (heck, they wanted a task manager too…)     To “send” a photo to a friend, is it more correct to go to your Photos app first, or to your email or IM app first?   Legacy computer users will want to “attach a photo to an email”.   The five year old of today will probably first find the photo and then look at the sharing options available.

Applications should manage their data and present that data in the most efficient way to the user.   Music apps present their data—songs, as a simple list or groupings of albums with album art.   Photo management applications present your photos organized by events, date, location or rating, with clear thumbnail views of your photos.   Kindle apps show a list or book shelf filled with graphical representations of books.

In this model, the area that needs attention is inter-application communication and sharing of data across applications.  Microsoft and Google have approaches for this in their mobile OSes.  Apple does not.  As the Post PC devices continue to become more capable, and advanced users move to these devices the needs for sharing data will expand.  Think of starting a document in Apple Pages, and then adding a chart from a Documents-To-Go spreadsheet and a list from Evernote.  Copy and Paste should not be the answer for all of these needs.  There must be an efficient and easy-to-use way to share data across applications.

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Thoughts on Microsoft

I have never been a Microsoft fan...I am an Apple fanboy and have been since around 1990.  I read many books on the PC industry as a teen and college student.  I developed an opinion that Microsoft never truly developed anything worthwhile.  They purchased bits and pieces from others and cobbled stuff together.  Then, by version 3.0, it would, kinda, sorta work.

Microsoft was a mirror of Bill Gates.  A geek with an excellent business sense.  Gates was a ruthless nerd with no social skills, no taste and no charm.

Apple was a mirror of Steve Jobs.  A visionary with good business sense.  Jobs was a ruthless but inspiring leader with enormous amounts of charm, taste and culture.

Microsoft hired brilliant computer scientists who never had a date, didn't care about the arts and couldn't play sports.

Apple hired brilliant computer scientists who were accomplished musicians, writers and artists.

That being said, I have used Microsoft software for over 30 years.  I've purchased DOS and Windows PC's for home use.  Working in corporate IT for nearly 20 years, I have used Microsoft products--from Windows to SQL Server to Visual Basic and Office--every day of my working life.

Microsoft deserves enormous credit for always supporting customers and always providing backward compatibility.  The fact that businesses and home users were able to run legacy software for years and years should not go unappreciated.

Here are my thoughts on what Microsoft should do moving forward.

Enterprise

First, Microsoft should fight to retain ownership of the computing platform for corporations.  There is no doubt that Microsoft owns this space today, as they have since their DOS/Windows dominance began in the 1980s.  But now Microsoft must determine what businesses--from small family companies to major corporations--need for the next twenty years.

Working in corporate IT, I have seen the slow down in pushing OS and Office updates to end users.  My company was running Windows XP until 2011.   We are still running Office 2010.  In addition, we are moving more and more to SaaS based solutions were possible.  We have some SQL Server in place, but Oracle still dominates.  We have heavily leveraged virtualization and most new x86 servers are in fact, Virtual Machines.

So...what can Microsoft do to maintain and grow in this space?

Microsoft should define for corporations the future of the desktop computer.  Forget about touch vs mouse vs pen...Focus on owning the computing platform that most of the world uses for work.

For the desktop, MS can opt for Windows running in VMs on scaled down notebooks.  (Think the old Oracle Network Computer). This virtual desktop model can save corporations on license fees and support costs.  It can greatly simplify corporate IT environments.  These benefits will ensure that customers continue to go with Microsoft.

A second option is take the ideas of Windows 98 even further and make IE the OS  (Think Google's Chrome strategy).  This "bet on the future" could provide MS a way to develop the Next Big Thing.  We've all seen the growth of web applications and the importance of the browser.  Is this fight over?  I think not.  If Microsoft could push IE (and MS web apps) to become the next OS they could "out Google" Google.

For applications, Microsoft must slow the growth of Google Drive/Docs.  I have seen many K-12 schools select Google Docs as their platform for students.  Many start-ups and small businesses are doing the same.  Why?  Because Google Drive is free?  It's easy to use?  It's "good enough"?

I think the answer is all of the above...Microsoft must develop a way to push Office 365 into the hands of more users.  Office 365 must offer a free, ad-supported version.  For corporate users, Office 365 must offer differentiating features such easier ties into corporate databases and improved reporting and analytics in Excel, better publishing and document management via Sharepoint, richer email/calendar/task management (see the innovation on iOS/Mac) and best in class tele and web conferencing.  Skype is still not heavily used in corporations due to security concerns.

Next, Microsoft must invest and improve other enterprise assets.  There are still opportunities in CRM (SalesForce vs Dynamics), business intelligence (SQL Server/Excel vs Cognos, BO, QlikView), databases, .NET, Sharepoint/Intranet, and organizing the volumes of unstructured data stored in Office documents.  MS must build robust SaaS applications that are best-in-class, scalable, secure and can be easily deployed and supported by the ever shirking IT staff.

Web Platforms

MS must grow Azure into a legitimate competitor for Amazon Web Services.  Redmond needs a new set of evangelists to court the current web development hipsters.   Make MS cool in this space by offering slick, highly reliable services at a lower cost. 

Consumer

I'm not sure where the Xbox stands on the P&L but I still believe the living room is a battle ground that has not yet been claimed.  Rumors have Apple releasing a new Apple TV with apps and games.  Microsoft must go all-in on the home with XBox.  They  should ink deals with cable providers to bundle XBox One with your cable service.  Make Xbox One the set top box. 

In addition, continue to build out the In Car offering.  As with the living room, there is still time to win the automobile segment.  Apple's iOS in the Car is struggling.  Fix Sync, sign a premium brand and grab this segment.

So...what about mobile? 

MS should move to a strategy of making money off of the services that mobile devices use...Not one on licensing an OS for mobile devices. 

If MS owns the way we compute at work, the way we are entertained at home and the glue that ties these together (via Azure and Office 365 services) they may not need to be the OS that is on your mobile device. 

They should be providing the assets--applications, infrastructure and services--that tie your work device, your car and your home entertainment device together.

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Wayback Machine - Part 4 - From COBOL to the Mac

While in college I was extremely luck because I knew what I wanted to do with my career.  I had the perfect major.  I was excited about graduating, finding a job and moving forward.

I did two internships during my undergrad years.  The first was at a large industrial corporation.  My job was to get donuts and edit batch COBOL programs that were, literally, as old as me.  Much of the source code was stored on microfiche.  I became an expert in SOC7 ABENDS... There was one PC in the entire department.  It was used to run a few MicroFocus COBOL apps (OMG, this still exists!).  It was also used each day at lunch by one squirrelly little guy to play Railroad Tycoon.  Good times...

My second internship was drastically different.   This was with a consumer foods company.  I was given a PC on my first day.  MY. OWN. PC!  My job on this internship was to develop a reporting application that pulled data from IBM DB2 into Excel.  I was using Excel 5.0 and it's brand new macro language called Visual Basic for Applications.  I was on cloud nine.  This was my first experience with event-based GUI programming.  It was awesome.

After graduation I joined the food company for my first full time position.  In the 15+ years since, I have had a typical corporate IT life...I've been a developer, project manager, manager and solution architect.

Throughout all this time I have always kept abreast of new technologies, followed the industry and consumed as much as I could.  I purchased a NeXTstation in 1996 or so for maybe $400.  I built a custom PC in 2000.  I always wanted a Mac but felt I was one of those people who couldn't afford one.  And I also felt that I "needed" a PC just in case I needed to bring work home (this was before laptops were common).

Finally, after my son was born and I wanted to get into digital video, I purchased a refub iMac G4 from Apple.  I've owned tens of Macs since then.  My house is 90% Apple gear now.

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Wayback Machine - Part 3 - Coming of Age

By my second year of college I was a computer guy.  A Geek.  I worked and hung out in the on campus computer labs. I thought, for a while, about a minor in comp sci as I took an extra programming class or two.

I read computer magazines and talked to the others in the labs.  I still remember reading about Taligent and debating with the University employee (an adult) who ran the labs about Taligent and how great it was going to be.  (I thought it would--how couldn't it?  Apple and IBM together?  "Winning!")

Most of my work was done on the school's IBM PS/2s running DOS and Windows 3.1 on a Banyan Vines Network.

Later years in college I used friend's PCs or the computer lab machines.  I used compact Macs to create my resume because I knew Macs were better at page layout stuff.  I also supported a recording studio for Communications students that had five compact Macs running a news feed application (well before RSS).

I requested--and was granted--an account on one of the school's few NeXT computers.  These machines were reserved for someone--maybe grad students or researchers.  I remember being questioned on why I wanted the account.  I was the first and only business major to get an account.

I still remember logging in to NeXTstep for the first time and getting the canned email from Steve Jobs, complete with his recorded voice and digitized picture, welcoming me to the NeXT platform.  I was in awe of that machine and OS.

It was also some time in 1993 or 1994 that I saw the web for the first time. We were doing research for a data communications class and one of the University staff members showed us Mosaic running on a Sun workstation.  I had used Usenet for years...(rec.music.rem!)  I used AOL on GeoWorks as a teen.  So I had a good background in networked computers and in communicating with others over a network.  But...seeing the web, in a browser, for the first time...was groundbreaking.  I remember the staffer pulled up a record company's site.  It had full color album art and a song preview.  It was incredible.

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Wayback Machine - Part 2 - The College Years

As I began college in 1990, I knew I needed to invest in a "real" computer.  My sister's boyfriend and I decided to pitch in and get a computer.  Our budget was tight.  $500. We bought an IBM XT clone at Sears  (yes, that Sears).  This machine had 640K RAM, CGA graphics and two 3.5" floppies.  No hard drive.  None.  The machine ran MS-DOS 3.3.  We used it for Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect 5.1. A year later my parents got me what is probably the best gift of my life, a 40MB hard drive with an IDE controller card. They paid at least $300 for these 40MB.  Not GB, kids....40 megabytes.   The hard drive brought a new world of possibilities.  This was the second big upgrade I experienced.  I could run more and more complex software.  I learned DOS inside and out.  I became a computer person, a geek.

I declared my major as Information Systems.  This was in the business school at my University.  It was the perfect major for me.  I didn't feel I had the math background to handle a Computer Science degree.  In addition, I didn't want to design compilers or new languages.  I wanted to use computers, and to help others use computers to solve problems. I purchased GeoWorks Ensemble and ran that on my little 10Mhz XT.  I had a full GUI, multi-tasking and near laser quality printing on a dot-matrix printer.  GeoWorks is still somewhat alive today as Breadbox Ensemble, Check it out.  Again, multi-tasking and a GUI on an 8086 processor with 640K RAM! I later purchased a VGA card and VGA monitor at a computer show in the Marriott hotel.  Remember these computer shows?

I loved this machine.  I still have it today,  24 years later.

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Start the Wayback Machine - Part 1

Before we can move forward together I think it would be good to give my background.  Hopefully, having this information can help you understand my POV.

I am in my 40's.  I have been using computers for over 30 years.  I inherited my technology and gadget love from my father. 

Our first computer was the Atari 800.  This was one of the lower cost home computers of the 8-bit era.  My father purchased the Atari computer, a  monitor and the Atari cassette drive and my computing life was underway.

My dad used to copy BASIC programs--line by line--from the back of Antic Magazine.  After a few hours of work, you'd have an American Flag made from ASCII dancing across the screen.  The National Anthem would play in all it's 8-bit glory.

We later upgraded to the Atari 130XE--complete with 128K of RAM and a 5 1/4" floppy drive.  Having the floppy drive was the first major upgrade I experienced.  The speed improvement of loading programs from a floppy vs the old cassette tape was incredible.

I used these computers to play games, write school papers and create banners and flyers with The Print Shop.  I created a very nice science fair project using this machine to create all the write-ups and graphics.

The 130XE served me well thru high school.  But, I do remember typing my high school term paper on my sister's dedicated word processor, not on the 130XE.

I used Apple II's in grade school alongside TRS-80s and the Commodore 64.  We could not afford an Apple computer and therefore we were an Atari household.

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Initializing RAM...

Welcome.  I plan to use this space to share my thoughts on the things I care and think about--this includes technology, the tech industry, filmmaking, photography, work, life and family.

I hope to remain positive and respectful but...no promises...I will be critical and blunt.  I will call people out.  The majority of what you read here will be based on my opinion and my point of view. 

Feel free to disagree.  I look forward to a dialogue.

OK, let's get started...