Daring Fireball on Microsoft

Here's John Gruber on Microsoft, Past and Future. I enjoyed his take on things following Microsoft's recent appointment of Satya Nadella as it's new CEO. He comments on Microsoft's stated goal of PC domination in 1977, through the achievement of that goal in the mid-90's, to what they did after they reached that level of utter dominance. My favourite part:

“A computer on every desk and in every home” was incredible foresight for 1977. It carried Microsoft for 25 years of growth. But once that goal was achieved, I don’t think they knew where to go. They were like the dog that caught the car.

And the uncharacteristic acknowledgement by Steve Jobs to Wired in 1996 that Apple had lost:

"The desktop computer industry is dead. Innovation has virtually ceased. Microsoft dominates with very little innovation. That’s over. Apple lost. The desktop market has entered the dark ages, and it’s going to be in the dark ages for the next 10 years, or certainly for the rest of this decade.”

My main thought on Microsoft is that Windows is not their future. I think that most people's main computing device 5 years from now will be their tablet and/or smartphone. The average person is not good with a personal computer, and doesn't need one for many tasks. And they'll need one for even fewer tasks in a few years, as tablets and smartphones become even more capable. I know people who already don't touch a computer at home and might only use one at work for email and Microsoft Office. I believe that trend will accelerate in the coming years and the average person will have virtually no need to own a Windows PC or Mac, especially as internet bandwidth and cloud services continue to improve. Why would you ever need a traditional computer if all the things you did on a computer could easily be done on your tablet? Email, social networking, browsing the web, online shopping, reading, are all better or, at least good enough, on tablets and smartphones now. Business apps for mobile devices are improving, as well. I believe it will be only a matter of time before the average person can do most of the word processing and spreadsheet activity they need on tablets without it being a worse experience than a computer. And the need for local storage should continue to shrink as cloud storage becomes cheaper, more reliable (looking at you iCloud) and more common. Don't get me wrong. Traditional computers aren't totally going away anytime soon, but the days of everyone needing one at home are coming to an end. Most people just don't do a lot with their computers.

Sales of Windows PC's peaked back in 2010 and are in decline. What will be Microsoft's bread and butter in the future? I wouldn't be surprised to see Microsoft follow the path of IBM. IBM was "Big Blue" in the PC market to which Steve Jobs referred back in 1983. They were the nemesis of Apple in the PC war long before Microsoft. By 2005, IBM had sold off their PC business to Lenovo. IBM didn't fail. They're still a very successful and massive company. They just aren't known for the same things they once were. And IBM keeps quietly making money ($16.5 billion in net income in 2013). My gut tells me that this is the direction Microsoft will head, especially in light of the introduction of Satya Nadella (former head of the Server division) as their new CEO. Windows phone and Surface tablets don't seem to be gaining any traction. Xbox has done well and may continue to do well, but it's not a big money maker and the game console market is a relatively small one. 

It will be interesting to watch and see how it all plays out.

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Wow! - Felix Baumgartner's 24 Mile Jump - New Footage

Shot with a GoPro. Five, actually.

October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner ascended more than 24 miles above Earth's surface to the edge of space in a stratospheric balloon. Millions across the globe watched as he opened the door of the capsule, stepped off the platform, and broke the speed of sound while free falling safely back to Earth.
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"1.24.14" - by Apple

Shot entirely on the iPhone 5s to celebrate the 30th birthday of the Mac, on the 30th birthday of the Mac.

Thirty years ago Macintosh promised to put technology in the hands of the people. To celebrate Mac's birthday, this film was shot around the world in one day, entirely on iPhone. Here's to the next thirty. http://www.apple.com/30-years/1-24-14-film/
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iPhone Security Tips - Alex Lost Her iPhone

Here are a couple of tips for securing your iPhone. They're very easy and should be pretty obvious, but most people don't do them.

Yesterday, Alex lost her iPhone on the street in Toronto. She dropped it on the sidewalk outside of the optometrist's office. It took her about half an hour to realize that it was missing. She phoned me to let me know as soon as she realized. I immediately pulled up Find My iPhone on my iPad and started looking for it. Unfortunately, it was offline already. Either, it was broken, or someone found it, and took it offline on purpose, using airplane mode or simply turning it off. I immediately turned on Lost Mode. This allowed me to set a passcode on the device and display a message on the screen asking whomever finds it to call me. Unfortunately, in order for these actions to work, the phone has to be connected to the internet or reconnect at some point before the finder (thief) manages to do a full reset and wipe everything, including iCloud off the phone. These features work through iCloud, and someone can reset your iPhone to factory settings if you haven't set a passcode (which Alex hadn't). If you have a passcode, the phone can't be reset without entering the code. 

Tip 1: Turn on Find My iPhone

Tip 2: Use a passcode or Touch ID

So, for the next hour, I watched my iPad to see if the phone would come back online, and it didn't. I was convinced that someone had reset the phone and Alex would never see it again. It was an iPhone 5 in pretty much mint condition, so it could easily fetch $400 on Kijiji. However, about 90 minutes later my phone rang. It was a lady in Toronto, who went on to tell the story of how she had bought the iPhone off some guy on a street corner for $100. Really? Who randomly buys an iPhone on a street corner while you're just walking around? Obviously, the price is too good to be true. And weren't the girly case and pictures of young children in the camera roll a sign that maybe this phone didn't belong to the man who was selling it? 

I didn't grill the lady for all the details, but from what I could piece together, she bought the phone about 20 minutes after Alex lost it, and then turned if off and went home. When she turned it on later, the phone locked up on her (because of Lost Mode) and she couldn't do anything except phone me to tell me she'd accidentally bought Alex's stolen phone.

In the end, Alex got pretty lucky. She got her phone back without too much hassle, but it could have been much worse. Find My iPhone and Lost Mode are awesome features, but they are rendered almost useless if you don't have a passcode on your phone to begin with. It might seem like a hassle to have to enter a passcode every time you wake your iPhone, but it isn't just a phone. It's a computer in your pocket. And it probably has most of the details of your life (email, contacts, passwords, etc.) on it. If it fell into the hands of someone who knew what they were doing, you could be in big trouble. Or, at the very least, they could wipe your phone and you'd never see it again.

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Daring Fireball

One of my favourite sites. Daring Fireball covers Apple, other tech, writing, and other random, but interesting stories from around the net. One of the original link blogs. Some people find John Gruber to be overly biased toward Apple, but I don't necessarily agree. He may be a little, but I find his insights generally well balanced. I tend to agree most of the time. I also listen to his weekly (sort of) podcast, The Talk Show. 

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Introducing Paper

So far, I've read nothing but good early reviews of Facebook's new iPhone app. 

Explore and share stories from friends and the world around you. Available for the iPhone in the US on February 3rd. For an early look, you can take a tour at http://facebook.com/paper
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The Prompt Podcast

The Prompt is another good "3 guys" podcast, with good chemistry between the hosts. Funny, likeable guys. Topics discussed are technology and the culture surrounding Apple. 

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Unblock-Us

Unblock-US is a great service that could help you take the first step toward cutting the cord with the cable company. It's basically a service that let's you spoof your computer's location, in order to be able to watch the full Netflix library of content from any country. And it's only $5 per month. If you live in Canada, the library is pretty limited. But, many other countries (U.S., U.K., Brazil, Mexico, etc.) have content that isn't available in Canada. A good example, is brand new Breaking Bad episodes in season 5 were available for streaming on Netflix in the U.K. immediately after airing on AMC in North America. So, for $5 per month (plus $8 for Netflix) you can have access to every bit of Netflix content in the world. The site has very easy instructions for how to set it up and you can switch countries in a few seconds with a drop-down menu on their site.

Moreflicks is a nice companion service to go with Unblock-Us and Netflix. It will let you search for content and tell you which services have it available (Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, etc.), and will even tell you which country you need to be in to stream it on Netflix. It's a free site.

The extra $5 per month to multiply your Netflix library is worth it, in my opinion. And it just might get you one step closer to cancelling a cable bill that could be costing you $100 per month or more.

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Jaguar Super Bowl Spot

Here's a cool Jaguar ad for Super Bowl XLVIII:

Have you ever wondered why in Hollywood movies, all the villains are played by Brits? Visit http://www.britishvillains.com and let us introduce you to the newest British Villain.
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Budweiser Super Bowl Commercial

An early look at Bud's XLVIII commercial. Or at least one of them. 

Watch Budweiser's Super Bowl XLVIII commercial following the special friendship between the Clydesdales and a puppy. #BestBuds budweiser.com Music: Let Her Go by Passenger © 2012
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The Sweet Setup

The Sweet Setup is a helpful site for recommending apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac. I've added a few key apps to my iOS devices since I started following these guys. 

Among my favourites: Tweetbot 3 (Twitter client) and Fantastical 2 (calendar app).

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More Bitcoin Stuff

Bitcoin is Good - Excellent article from a few weeks back by Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of Coinbase, an online Bitcoin wallet service. 

Why Bitcoin Matters - Another very good article last week on NYT, by Marc Andreessen.

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What is Bitcoin?

I have a really hard time explaining it. I've been paying pretty close attention for the past 9-10 months, and although I feel like I have a good handle on it, it's not that easy to explain to others. What I can say is: I think it's going to be a really big deal. Like, this is the biggest thing since the internet itself, kind of a big deal. I may be right., or I may be wrong. It may not be Bitcoin itself that is the next big thing, but cryptocurrencies are coming.

Here's a video explaining Bitcoin:

More information on http://www.weusecoins.com This video is a short animated introduction to Bitcoin, made possible with donations from the Bitcoin community.

Here is an article from the Huffington Post trying to explain Bitcoin:

What Is Bitcoin? 11 Things You Need To Know About The Digital Currency

 

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Super Bowl XLVIII prop bets - cool video

I'm excited for the Super Bowl, even though my Patriots aren't in it. This New York Times video is an interesting look behind the scenes at Vegas sports books as the their biggest weekend of the year approaches.

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Discounted Apple Products

As most people that own Apple products know, Apple doesn't really do "sales" in the same way most manufacturers and retailers do. They typically have a couple of relatively small deals they offer each year around back to school and Black Friday. Those deals also don't really consist of major savings on your purchase. There may be a small discount, but more likely, they will offer you an Apple gift card for use on your next purchase. Apple sticks to a rather strict everyday pricing model. They also handcuff the resellers of their products by only offering a very small wholesale discount. This prevents retailers from offering large discounts and also from undercutting Apple's own retail prices in their online and brick and mortar stores. Apple's first preference is always to sell to the consumer directly, where they make the highest margin and control the experience. The latter may be even more important to them.

The iPhone is a little different because of the on-contract subsidy model that exists with carriers. You can find better deals on iPhones because the carriers are willing to offer a larger upfront discount to secure your business and a monthly bill of likely $80 per month or more for the next 2 years. 

So, where's the best place to buy Apple products at a reasonable price? On Apple's Online Refurbished Store. You can get "good as new" refurbished products, that come with a full one year warranty, at 10-40% off the regular retail price. They sell Macs, iPods, Apple TV's, and even iPads (no iPhone). The models that are typically available on the site are at least a few months old, ranging back to the prior model year or possibly older. Not every model or configuration is available all the time, but another great service that will help you find what you're looking for is a website called RefurbMe. This site is an alert service for the refurb store. It will tell you all the models that have been available, when the last time was that each was seen as in stock, and let you sign up for email or SMS alerts when the one you're looking for comes back in stock. This way you don't have to keep checking stock manually every day. As soon as the model or configuration you want is back in stock, you'll know and can go online and buy it.

I've bought two iMacs and an Apple TV from this site over the past 5 years and have never had a single issue. All products were in perfect condition and have functioned flawlessly since the moment I took them out of the box. I've heard the same thing from everyone I've talked to that has gone this route. I swear by it. 

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How to get the best deal out of your wireless service provider

Attempt to cancel. And sound like you mean it. But be polite! 

I'm serious. If you're a wireless customer in Canada, who is on a contract (that's most of us), then you're overpaying, unless you go through the motions of attempting to cancel your plan every once in a while. It's probably worth your time to call once per year. There's always a better deal available, and if there isn't, tell them you want to think about it and then just don't call back to finalize the cancellation. I would say most people on smart phone plans can save $20-25 per month if they are willing to invest about 1 hour per year in going through this process. The same principles apply to your cable and internet providers. In fact, they're probably all the same company. 

Step 1:

Have your story figured out in advance. Either you are coming to the end of your contract and you're thinking of switching, or you've got a better offer from another carrier or something like that. I personally like leveraging another carrier. Especially a discount carrier. Tell your carrier that you're getting offered a plan for $45 per month for unlimited EVERYTHING and you just can't pass up that deal. 

Step 2:

Call your wireless carrier (*611) and choose the corresponding number option to cancel. This will get you to the retentions department. They likely call it "Customer Relations" or something fluffy like that. This skips you past the first line of customer service people who have little power to give you a better deal. The retentions department has much more power to offer you deals to keep you as a customer.

Step 3:

Remember. Be polite. The people on the phone are just doing their jobs and if you're reasonable, rational and pleasant, you'll get a better deal. Only in extreme circumstances should you pull out your best irate "the customer is always right" routine. That won't get you too far, unless you are actually arguing over a major mistake the carrier has made, like a big billing error, which they usually try not to admit to anyway.  

Step 4:

Write down what they are offering you. Have a pen, paper and calculator ready to see what the potential offers will save you. Or, better yet, have a spreadsheet going. I once had a poor "Customer Relations" rep on the phone for 2 hours one night going through all my options (minutes, long distance, data, SMS, MMS, voicemail, etc.) to try to justify staying with my them. Certainly, he couldn't match the $45 per month I was quoting from the discount carrier, but he was trying really hard. He got as close as he could and then I conceded that by staying with them, I was saving several hundred dollars in cancellation fees, so "he'd won me back!". I saved almost $40 per month on my bill and he felt like he'd done an awesome job. He really had. 

Step 5: 

Save the details. Whether you're using a spreadsheet or pen and paper, make sure to save the offer you were promised and also write down the confirmation number that they should give you. Make sure to get that confirmation number. I've had a few instances where the offer I was promised wasn't "processed correctly" and have had to call back to get things fixed. Without the proper details, you might have to start all over again. That's not fun.

Finally:

Pay attention to your bills, especially the one right after you've switched to a new plan. I've definitely had challenges with incorrect billing, and I even suspect that when you switch plans in the middle of a billing cycle, the major carriers try to use that scenario to confuse you with a bunch of "partial charges" that you expect to even out the following month, but they never do. They count on you being either still confused, or too lazy to call back. The last plan change I made a few months back, resulted in a $70 overcharge in the form of "partial charges", about which I had to call back and argue. I had the math all done and I still couldn't convince 3 different people on the phone that they had made a mistake. All they could respond with was a generic "This is how partial charges work. It will all even out". To which, I asked "So, I'll see a $70 credit next month?" and they answered "No". In the end, they gave me the $70 back in the form of a "goodwill credit" as a way of avoiding having to admit they made a mistake, or worse, tried to rip me off. In hindsight, I think the better route to go is to make any changes to your account effective only at the start of your next billing cycle. As tempting as it might be to try to take advantage of your new hard fought deal immediately, waiting a week or two until your next billing cycle starts, might just save you some hassle. Otherwise you could end up wasting another hour or more on the phone. 

Good luck and happy hunting for good deals!

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Great podcast

Accidental Tech Podcast has quickly become one of my favourite podcasts. I'm pretty new to the whole concept of podcasts, but this is a good one.

First, maybe a couple of comments on podcasts, and why they're great. Terrestrial radio is good, and that's pretty much what I've listened to for my whole life (I've never been much for CD's or MP3's in the car, even though I love music), but it's full of commercial breaks and it can be pretty hit or miss if they're going to talk about something you care about. This is where podcasts shine: focusing on topics you care about. Most podcasts aren't daily shows trying to fill 3-4 hours of airtime 5 days per week. Most of the ones I listen to are published about once per week and last 30-90 minutes. They usually have a rather specific theme and stick to it. So, find a podcast you like on iTunes or the web, download it to your smartphone or iPod, and listen. They're great for people with long commutes. Sometimes I even wish my drive to work was longer (kinda), just so I could get in more podcast listening. Seriously.

Anyway, back to ATP. What's it about? As the name states, it's a tech podcast. It's fairly Apple-focused. There is a fair amount of talk about Macs and iOS devices and all the things that go along with that. The 3 guys doing all the talking are 3 very different characters, which makes the interaction great and provides varying viewpoints. It's probably a little too technical for a lot of people, but it's fun, and you'll learn some things. I have.

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