What is "Cloud" computing?

The technology field is second to none when creating jargon. The nomenclature used in my business never ceases to amaze me. It’s a rite of passage to learn the lingo and then use it in a meeting where nobody knows what you are talking about. There is nothing like watching Board members’ eyes glaze over when you begin to talk about IT and start throwing out acronyms and other technologically coded phrases during a meeting. All during my career, when people ask me what I do, I tell them I’m an interpreter. A walking, talking Technology to English, English to Technology dictionary. Today’s entry in my lexicon is “Cloud”. My mission, and I do choose to accept it, is to not sound condescending to you while simultaneously trying to demystify this common technology usurped nugget of a word. Want to sound knowledgeable in your next IT meeting? Look your CTO straight in the eyes and say, “So what progress have we made with evaluating moving our software and services to the cloud?” It’ll get your IT guy all excitedy. Ok, I admit it, I made up excitedy, but the rest is gold I tell ya! I also promise you, that if you read the rest of this, you’ll know exactly what that means. If you already do, you can stop here, unless you have five or six minutes to kill.
What is cloud computing and where exactly is the cloud located and is there a chance of scattered showers? Simply put, the cloud is the internet. It gets its name because on the schematics of IT infrastructure that no one ever updates, documents or looks at, the symbol for the internet is a cloud. If you bank online, you are using the infamous cloud. If you use Google mail, play online poker, or use Facebook (gotcha!) you are cloud computing. Heck, entire Universities like Phoenix and Shopping Malls like Amazon exist out there in the cloud. Your photo album is probably in the cloud. Here’s a good way to think of it, if it runs in a browser, you are in the cloud.
I’ve just finished converting my office to GoogleApps. Guess what, no more Microsoft Exchange server to use and care for and no more backup tapes to take offsite every night. Viola’, I’m in the cloud. I am much more secure with the infrastructure and support of a $330 billion dollar company than my 5 year old Microsoft Exchange email Server back in the closet running on bubble gum and bandaids. Buy a new server, 100 new seat licenses, Microsoft Server 2008 or move to GoogleApps for free? Guess what, no more gifts that keep on giving to Bill Gates – so long sucker. My entire career has been a shotgun wedding with Mary Microsoft and as an IT professional, I’ve wanted a divorce from her because she never works right and you just can’t talk to her. I have had to, reluctantly, learn to just push her buttons and hold on and hope for the best. Well guess what, cloud computing offers me that chance to end this relationship! Are you beginning to get the picture now as to why this paradigm shift is getting the business world’s attention? Can you see why you should be buying Google and selling Microsoft stock yet? Well, hang on, it gets better. Application Service Providers or ASP’s (I’ll save this one for later) are beginning to roll out productivity, collaboration and even communications suites that run from the cloud. Gone are the days when you buy a big server, load up a giant application, dole out seats to the dance one by one to users and manage everything in between. No, now, if you can browse, you’re in. Players like Salesforce.com are already putting a dent in the sharing, meeting and collaborating over the web market. Huge shift in business travel expenses as tele-presence gets better and cheaper. Salesforce.com will “cloudify” (ok, I made that one up too) any application and host it for you over the web. If you think all this is saving big money on IT expeditures, business travel expenses, long distance, you name it - you’d be right.
Too good to be true? What happens when you lose your internet connection? Have any of you ever been to McDonald’s during a power outage or if their computers were down? That’s pretty much what you’d see in your office if you lost internet connectivity, everybody would be looking at each other wondering how much a big mac costs which wouldn’t matter because they couldn’t sell you one or make change anyway, …. You get the picture. Some companies are not ready, either, to allow some server farm in Iowa to house all of their data and not be able to put their hands on a buzzing server in the office with blinking lights. I say these folks will be holding on at their peril. The cost savings are going to be too enticing not to look at this model and with the extra savings you can buy dedicated redundant internet connectivity.
Imagine a world, in the not too distant future where all of your info is in the cloud and you can reach it by ipad, iphone, android, laptop, notebook, mac, windows, apple snow leapord – who cares what kind of system.. and you are no longer tethered to your desktop PC in the office cube….all that stuff in the cloud doesn’t care where or what you use to look at it, it only cares that you can run a browser. Think of how that might change the notion of how you produce and how it will ultimately redefine the office environment. This is all exciting stuff and perhaps now you can see, at least from my perspective, why my job is fun. Innovate or die in this environment.

Well, that’s all for now. It’s clear today, but this guy sees clouds in the forecast.

Says that "Cloud Computing" rates a big "Medium" for now.

Best Apps for iPhone and iPad

Santa brought you your new iPhone, ok, so now what?  How does this iTunes thingy work?  What applications are the most popular, and which ones can I get some actual use out of?  Ok, whether its iPhone or iPad, applications will run on both.  There are some applications or “apps” that have an iPhone and iPad version.   Any app that runs on an iPhone will run on an iPad.  The iTunes store will show you whether there is a specific iPad version.

 I am no big fan of iTunes.  You will have to initially marry your i-device to a PC through iTunes to activate it.  iTunes will back up your phone/tablet for you too.  You can also use iTunes to subscribe to podcasts and download other fun stuff.  I find it cumbersome to say the least.  I tried out a couple of podcasts and found it awkward to plug up my device every day to download the podcasts.  As a result, I just found the content I was subscribing to available on demand via website and gave up on podcasts.  Some of you might be more diligent, but not me.  I prefer to get my content – apps, songs, podcasts – direct from over the air.  I don’t often tether my devices to my PC and just use a standalone charger and dock to charge my devices.  Rarely do I use iTunes.

Ok, what about apps?  Here’s my list to try out.  Most of them are free.

Angry Birds - It goes without saying that you’ll have to download Angry Birds.  Its a simple game in which you shoot birds at well protected pigs who have stolen the birds’ eggs.  It’s a physics game, and as such, every game is different.  Try it, it’s addictive.

Google Search -  Google’s voice recognition is beyond the pale.  I’ve used this application often while driving.  You pick up the phone, activate the Google search and then just speak into your phone.  The recognition is very accurate.  Sure beats typing on the tiny keyboard, which I wouldn’t advise while driving anyway. 

Flipboard.  This application is just beautiful on the iPad.  It integrates with Twitter and Facebook in a whole new way and displays your social media websites as a magazine.  It was voted application of the year by Apple.

Zinio – another application that looks incredible on the iPad.  Zinio is for magazines what iTunes is for songs.  You can subscribe electronically to e-versions of magazines. Consider it your electronic magazine newsstand.

Dropbox – you should use this even if you don’t have an iPad or an iPhone.  Dropbox is a virtual folder.  Up to 1gig of storage is free.  It works just like a network shared drive.  Installing a small application on any PC or device connected to the internet joins your network and makes your file available on any number of PC’s, phones or tablet devices.  No more emailing to yourself!  Saving and moving files around on a PC get a bit cumbersome using iTunes.  Dropbox makes it much easier.

Skype – you can put Skype on your iPhone or your iPad and anywhere you have internet access, you can make phone calls free to any other Skype users.  If  your iPhone or iPad includes 3G and you have a SkypeOut option on your account, you can make free phone calls.  It’s about 3 bucks a month for SkypeOut.  SkypeOut allows you to call any phone from your Skype account.  They also have international rates and versions too, but Skype is a whole other column.  For now, add Skype to your i-device.

Pandora – Pandora is internet Radio.  It is a nice concept.  You create your account, log in, and then create your own “stations”.  Pandora then begins to choose and stream music from that Genre.  It’s a great app.  I plug my iPhone into my car radio and listen often.  Who needs XM?

NightStand – Night Stand is an app that turns your iPhone or iPad into a clock radio.  The reason I like it, is that my charging dock is next to my bedside table and using this app as my alarm clock reminds me to charge my iPhone.  It works great too, as a travel alarm clock.

MyLite – A simple flashlight application that turns your phone or tablet into a flashlight.  It simply makes your touch screen light up.  I have used this application on my iPad during a power outage.  I started the application and laid it down on the coffee table and the entire room was well lit.  5 – 10 hours of battery time too.  I have also used this application when working on PC’s or servers in tight spaces with dim light.  With this app, you’ll always have a flashlight in your pocket if you carry your phone everywhere like I do.

Facebook – this one is self explanatory if you are a Facebook user.  There is no Facebook app yet specifically for the iPad, but it should be out soon. 

DoodleJump – a great, fun game.  Trust me.

Mobile Talk -  If you are a big talk radio fan, you must download this application.  It streams talk radio 24-7.

The Weather Channel – maps and videos look amazing on the iPad. 

Epicurious – simply the best looking cookbook I’ve seen, and it’s free.  It also will create a shopping list for you based on the dish ingredients.  Great app if you like to cook and have a culinary inquisitive side.

Zillow.com – real estate finder.  In the market?  You must get this app.  It can even use GPS to show you available houses in your area.

Well, those ought to keep you busy for a while.  Hope you enjoy your new i-device.

Ranks all of the applications above as "Well Done"

Am I a Kindle, a Nook, or an iPad?

E-reader, what to do, what to do?  The purpose of this column is to try and cut through the gazillion different charts and graphs and technical mumbo jumbo and help you make a decision on your e-reader purchase. There are really only three options to choose from.  The Kindle, the Nook, and the iPad.  All others, are also-rans.  There are competitors out there that are cheaper, but they are no-names and I doubt they will gain the market share that these products have.  Remember HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, never heard of HD-DVD?  My point exactly.  

Ok, let’s talk Kindle.  The Kindle e-book reader was put out by Amazon.com.  If you are an avid reader, this is your choice.  The display is monochrome (ok black and white/ grayscale) and the image is crisp and clear.  The image truly looks like ink on paper.  This device is for reading, that’s it.  Its other advantage is that you can download a book anywhere you can get 3G service and the 3G(mobile internet connection) is included on the $189 model. The DX model is larger and clocks in at a much higher intro price of $389. (both with no 3G gift that keeps on giving like other devices, more on that later).   You can also read outdoors, for those of you who like to go to the beach, sit in the park, or go out on the deck to read.  

Next we have the Nook.  This is the offering by Barnes and Noble.  They have monochrome devices, but let’s skip right to the latest – the Nook Color ($249).  This thing is an iPad-lite.  It’s an e-book reader with a web browser.  The display is beautiful and it runs on the Android operating system from Google.  Don’t think you are getting a giant Android phone though, that’s not the case, and its capabilities are limited.  There are a couple of Apps like Facebook and Twitter, but not much more. The price point is higher than the Kindle, but lower than the iPad.  In other words, right on target for a device that isn’t just an e-reader, but also isn’t a full- fledged tablet computing device either.  The Nook Color does not come with a mobile everywhere (3G) internet connection, it relies on a Wi-Fi hotspot connections or your wireless home or office network. Think Starbuck’s, internet cafes or airports.  A couple of cute extras thrown in by B & N - you can loan a book for up to two weeks to a friend who has a Nook .  You also can read any book B & N has by going into their store and using their Wi-Fi signal (up to an hour a day).  If you want a middle of the road tablet/e-book reader, then this is your device.

This brings us to the iPad.  Fair warning, this gets complicated with gobbledygook - in a Steve Jobs sort of way.  Once upon a time, lots of people – me included – thought the iPad was an e-book reader killer.  Why would anyone buy a Kindle or Nook when they could get an iPad?  Price points and marketing have kept this market competitive, plus some people ONLY want an e-reader.  The iPad is a full- fledged tablet device, supported by hundreds of thousands of apps which will do other things like play games, surf the web, “ding dong” when you get an email, locate a restaurant, you name it.  You also are not going to get an iPad for under  $500 bucks either.  They have Wi-Fi only devices and devices that will run on 3G, however, you’ll have to pay AT&T each month for the privilege of using 3G.  You cannot “add” 3G to a non-3G iPad, so make your decision carefully up front.  The full blown iPad 3G + WiFi 64 Gigabyte version will cost near $1000 with a case and taxes plus the $50/month to AT&T for 3G.  You can see how if you’re just going to use this thing to read books, how it gets expensive.   You can still get a non-3G middle of the road iPad (32 Gigabytes of storage) for $599.  Apple is really good confluxinating you with mumbo jumbo and floating the $499 price tag to get  you in, and then having you leave the store by buying the $1000 model and  you saying to yourself "what just happened?"  Hopefully, reading this column will prevent that, or cause it, whatever the case may be.  Also, if you're a reader, see how you could buy a Kindle or Nook at their pricepoint and load it up with $700 - $800 worth of books for the same price as a top of the line iPad?   

Ok, so which one.  Well, you come here for my opinion so here goes.  If you like long walks on the beach and enjoy sitting in the sunshine while reading Tolstoy, you’re a Kindle.  If your idea of reading includes Soap Opera magazine and People (magazines are beautiful on the color Nook by the way), and you occasionally read best sellers like “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” or ”Hunger Games”, while checking your email and surfing Facebook, you’re a Nook (color) ($249).  If you are a First Person Shooter or Angry Birds person (you know who you are) who likes to get a “beep” when they get email and look cool by pulling out your iPad at Starbuck’s, you’re an iPad all the way. ($499-$829).  Furthermore, there will be times you’ll wish you opted for the 3G, but my advice is don’t.  As for me, I’d much rather keep the $50/month in my pocket and find a WiFi spot at McDonald’s or Chick-Fil-A.  You could be different, but I don’t see this as a $600/year luxury I need, especially since I already give blood every month to AT&T for my iPhone account.  I’d only go with the 3G on the Kindle since it’s free (the non-3G version sells for $139, go for the 3G version which is $189 and includes lifetime 3G coverage).  The hardest part of making your choice is going to try and figure out which kind of reader you are.  Good Luck!

In short

 Voracious, outdoor reader who thinks Twitter is a sound a bird makes  – Kindle  3G

($189)

e-Magazine, Best Seller, Facebook, Twitterer – Nook Color

($249)

Mobile Gamer, emailer, app user, techie who loves reading and looking cool at Starbuck's – iPad

($499 - $829 plus $50/month if you want 3G)

Rates e-book readers a "Well Done" I like 'em all, but choose wisely

3D TV, Should I buy it?

This article is not about which 3D TV is the best, which has the best picture and which TV is the best buy.  This article is about why I think 3D TV is a gimmick and why I don't think it will take off.   3D TV and movies have been around for ages.  They come and they go. The technology has gotten marginally better.  3D works because your eyes recieve two different pictures slightly out of sync and your brain puts them back together again and it results in a three dimensional effect.  This effect will always require you to wear kooky glasses.  The glasses are VERY expensive - for now - and I am afraid that is reason one as to why the 3D experience won't take off - we all look funny in weird glasses.  Some of the glasses I've seen should come with a funny moustache attached.  You'll never be able to enjoy a movie shot in 3D without the glasses.  Lose or sit on the glasses and break them and your DVD or movie becomes useless.  (I am sure they'll box DVD's with both formats as they do now for Blu-ray movies.)  For my money, Blu-Ray DVD is the better experience and you don't need glasses.  Reason two - our brains are just too smart for their own good (well most of us anyway). Because of the way your brain works, the 3D effect is minimized after the first few minutes of watching.  Sure, the picture is still in simulated 3D, but our brains have a tendency to minimize and adjust for the effect soon after watching. Don't get suckered in in the showroom.  Watch for about 15 minutes, no matter how long the line is behind you to try it. After about 10, you'll strain to see the 3d effect and you'll then begin to get a headache.  Frustrating for me, at a 3D movie, which usually costs significantly more at the ticket booth, this desensitization usually occurs right around after the credits finish rolling.  Usually not worth the extra price of admission for me.  This brings me to reason three, size does matter.  In the movies, a larger than life movie does, in fact, appear to leap off the screen.  48 Inch LCD at home from 15 feet away, not so much.  So in summary, glasses make us look kooky,  our brains are just too smart and size does matter.  Here's the meaty take away for now.  NON-3d flat screens have been way overproduced and there are 3D versions out, or coming out which would make the TV's now in the supply chain, obsolete.  Not so fast, this results in great prices right now on non 3D TV's.  Buy yourself a bigger nicer, non-3D TV for less money.  I would even opt for a Samsung or other internet connectable tv as very soon Apple, Google, Netflix and Hulu will be delivering our content, not Time Warner or Comcast.  That's my recommended cut -o- beef for now.

rates 3D TV a big "Rare" - steer clear.

Laptop vs. iPad, Which One?

I have been in the technology arena now for over 20 years now and inevitably around gift-giving time, friends and family who value my opinion and experience begin to ask me about what to buy this year.  I’ve been using an iPad now for about 4 months and I also use a laptop regularly so here are my thoughts on the two different products.  For the first month or so, I found myself using my iPad exclusively and I was beginning to think my laptop was going to become a doorstop, then the “new” wore off of the iPad.  Make no mistake, the iPad is a great product, but it is more of a media/internet consumption device and not really a production device.  Case in point, I’m writing this on my laptop.  I find typing on the iPad fairly difficult when you have to “go long” on the keystrokes.  It’s fine for the short email, but I find it cumbersome to type anything longer than a URL or a short email response. There is an external keyboard available, but really, who wants to plug and unplug that thing and/or carry that around? The iPad does not replace a laptop and shouldn't, it's a different product.  It is really a giant iPhone.  You wouldn't use your iPhone to write a term paper. There are no real easy ways to print from it, nor are there any easy ways to save and store files on it.  The best explanation about an iPad is like it is a window into the content on the internet.  You do not use it to push content, files, or anything you might produce on a laptop or computer you use it to listen to music, read a book, or look at facebook.  Also, there is no USB port or any easy way to transfer files without going through iTunes which itself is getting long in the tooth and requires you to have a mothership PC to plug into.  Itunes has always been confusing to me anyway.  Now the good news.  Laptop manufacturers are feeling the heat from iPad and other tablet product producers, so there are great deals to be had on them.  I would not recommend a netbook as these products usually are short on interfaces (LAN, USB, Serial ports etc) and are really hard to use for any long period of time because the keyboard and monitor is so small.  I would recommend a full sized notebook computer running Windows 7 (full version, not starter edition) with at least 4 mbytes of ram and a 500 gig hard drive.  You can find one for aroundf $400 bucks if you look hard enough.  I might even go so far as to offer a good full sized notebook to replace old, worn out desktop computers since they prices are so low right now.  So, in summary, if you want something to listen to music, read books, subscribe to electronic magazines, read facebook and tweet – get an iPad.   If you want to produce term papers, presentations or write lots of text, get a notebook (not a netbook) PC.  You might even want to consider a Macbook, even though the prices are typically higher than a comparable Windows PC.  Good luck and happy shopping.







rates iPad and notebook prices for now get a "Well Done"