mip's scan

What's All The Fuss About Netbooks?

I must admint that netbooks are a tech that puzzled me somewhat.  For a time I felt they were too small and, more importantly for me, too underpowered.  Of course, what I was thinking about were mini laptops that I tested over the years - there was no netbook category.  They were ultraportable laptops like a Sony UX50 or a Fujitsu Lifebook.  I liked their size (for the most part) but found them to be pokey/sluggish when it came to performance.  I loved the concept of the OQO as this really tiny computer you could use at your desk, plugged into a keyboard and monitor.  Then, when you had to leave the office, you simply grabbed the OQO, put it in your pocket and off you go.  A very appealing idea for me.  The problem again, was performance.  The device is somewhat underpowered.  The other issue - price.  You were really paying a premium for that portability.

All those things I mentioned above came back to me (mixed feelings) when I started to see this new category emerge called Netbooks.  They have been taking the markets by storm though, in a time when laptops and PCs have been taking a beating.  I often see articles that talk about how business users are warming to the netbook and how the overseas market has been soaring for these low powered mini devices, but still I scratched my head in wonderment.

Tweetdeck

I posted a blog a few days ago about my surprisingly positive experience with using Twitter.  As a part of using Twitter, I've found there are many ways to update the "what are you  doing?" field.  I'll blog tomorrow about how I do this on the iPhone when I'm out and about, but the reality is that predominately, my time is for the most part spent in front of a computer.  

From a computer, you can of course simply update via the web when you are at www.twitter.com.  This works effectively, but I was looking for something more.  After trying a number of client apps I feel the best for me is a wonderful applications called Tweetdeck.

Tweetdeck uses columns to give you a kind of dashboard of all your Twitter activity.  It is an Adobe Air application, so you can easily install it on a Mac or Windows (not sure about Linux - their site doesn't mention it).  I have installed it on all the machines I work on and I leave it running all the time.  While I'm working, I get subtle alerts when there is a new Tweet.  If I'm not at my computer, when I bring up Tweetdeck it brings up all the info for me to see:  Tweets from all the people I am following, Tweets that are replies to me, Direct Messages for me.  I keep an added column open on the far righthand side that shows me TwitScoop trends - it is like a "cloud" of words that grows and shrinks in near real time (updated by the minute) that gives at a glance a snapshot of what people are Twittering about.    

Here is a video tutorial with tips on how to use Tweetdeck.

For me, Tweetdeck has become an indispensable application on my Mac and Window machines.  I launch it and use it as often as I do my email application.  If you are looking for a great desktop Twitter client, I'd highly recommend Tweetdeck.

Livescribe Pen

Over the years I have tried a number of tablet PCs in an attempt to have something that I could write my notes on and they'd then exist on my computer.  Try and try again, no matter what devices I've tried, the promise of enhanced note taking just hasn't been there for me unfortunately.  This lack of value for me was due to any number of things, such as:

• size of the unit - either they are too big and clunky to carry around or they are too small to effectively use
• battery life - nothing worse than having the unit not turn on in a meeting or die half-way through the meeting due to a drained battery 
• format of the notes - too often, systems I tried used some kind of proprietary format for the files that contained my hand written notes, effectively trapping my notes if I ever wanted to change systems 

Despite the above shortcomings however, I have still lusted quested for the holy grail that would enable me to hand write my notes, but still have them captured digitally.  Several months ago, my prayers were answered and I'm here to tell you about one of the most  valuable devices I've had the pleasure to use in the past year.  

I'm talking about the Livescribe Smart Pen, which has transformed my note taking in absolutely wonderful ways.  You can of course can all kinds of technical details on the Pulse Smart Pen from Livescribe over at their site, but I'd like to relay some real world experience with this little wonder.

Awaiting the iPod Touch

Of course by now you know that Apple introduced a refresh to its iPod line and in that announcement, the also introduced the iPod Touch.  I can hardly wait for this device to arrive!  I didn't want to write anything about the iPod Touch until I'd actually received it, because I like to be able to give firsthand info about the tech I write about, and not just regurgitate the news.  And rest assured, I will do a detailed post on the iPod Touch when I receive it at the end of September / start of October. 

But I thought I'd would post a thought about one application I am really looking forward to using on my iPod Touch, an application that hasn't appeared anywhere in the demos or other press releases.  I'm looking forward to being able to use Typepad, the tool I use for posting my blog.  I read with interest the details this morning as I was working on some posts-in-progress.

I have a small Typepad app on my HTC smartphone that I've used from time-to-time, but I find it to be a very bare-bones, lackluster application that misses key functionality for me. The Typepad interface for the iPhone looks gorgeous, but more than that, it looks very functional.  It allows me to manage my blog and not just put out posts.  I like that a lot.  I have found that the Typepad application I use on my HTC is more like a simple text editor, while the one for the iPhone give a much richer end-user experience to make posting blog items as natural as when sitting down at your computer.  Of course, to use this on an iPod Touch, you'd need to be leveraging the WiFi rather than being to type up a post and then simply push it out.  But the reality for me is that I'm always around WiFi enabled locations, from my home, to coffee shops to being up at the cottage, so I don't see this as being an issue. I think being able to simply turn my iPod Touch on its side, have the screen automatically go into landscape mode and begin typing posts will be an absolute joy!

And so, of course there will be many many things for me to like about the new iPod Touch, but knowing I can blog easily from it is the icing on the cake for me.  The sad part is....the end of September seems so far away. 

Stay tuned for more!

Is the Pen Mightier Than The Computer?

This post comes from watching my daughter use a new piece of tech.  It is called the Fly Fusion and basically, it is a pen with smarts.  To understand how it works (because this is not a review of than pen - that will come later once I shoot some video) check out their Fly World site.  Watching my daughter use this pen as she wrote on paper, but was capturing it into her computer, it got me thinking.

After all these years that computers have promised the paperless environment (homes, offices, schools, etc), we still have paper, and lots of it.  The computer promised it, but never got there.  The Tablet PC promised it, but that never really took off.  Could it be that perhaps we've been chasing the wrong the dream and shouldn't be striving for a paperless world?  Could it be that we need to embrace the 5000 year old technology we call paper?  Perhaps the future is not in desktop, laptop or palmtop computing, but rather, perhaps it is pentop computing?

Smile: Sony DSC-T200

My tried, trusted and true Canon Powershot that I got 6 years ago has finally reached the end of the line for me.  The battery hardly hold a charge, the sliding cover has become so loose that at times when it is opened the camera doesn't turn on.  I love this camera.  It has been a good little 4 megapixel camera for me, capturing thousands of pictures of the past 6 years.

Alas, I have been hunting for a new camera and had several important objectives.  Obviously, it has to take good pictures, and I wanted a decent optical zoom.  I also wanted a camera with a large LCD display for viewing pics.  Laslty, I wanted something that would shoot in HD.  Well, minutes ago, I pre-ordered a newly released camera from Sony, the DSC-T200.  I can't wait for this to arrive.  It has some very impressive features.  Read on to find out what has me so excited about this sleek camera.

One Day to Go...And The Reviews Are Coming In

The iPhone is set to officially launch on June 29th at 6pm.  Reviews however have begun to trickle in from folks like Mossberg who have been using the iPhone for a couple of weeks already (aren't they special).

Its a good article/review so I thought I'd point it out to you; I especially liked his video review as well (which you can find embedded in this post after the jump below).  All in all, it isn't a perfect device...no device ever is, but it is a new experience.  To me, that is awesome.  Apple looks for ways to change the paradigm and it looks like the iPhone might be doing just that.  The question will be, however, whether the mass market snaps these phones up.  More importantly, though, will be how Apple works to outpace the competition, who will undoubtedly build new (similar) functionality into their phone offerings.  That is all good news for us, the end consumer, of course, but perhaps not for Apple.  They need to get devices into consumers' hands as fast as possible, or risk losing important segments of the market.  Technology like cellphones changes fast, and if they are too slow in getting phones to market, people will undoubtedly wait for newer models.

Those of us in Canada...well...we're patiently waiting.

The Prada Smartphone

The question of the day is: what makes a great Smartphone?  Many people are waiting for the highly anticipated iPhone, myself included.  But what else is out there?  Many options.  Today I'm pleased to talk to you, via the video posting below, about the Prada Smartphone. 

A colleague of mine picked this up for himself and was nice enough to let me try it out overnight.  You can get my take on this phone by watching the video, but I go back to my initial question...what makes a great Smartphone?  The short answer I think is: Whichever phone best helps you do what YOU want to do.  As much as I really liked a lot of the features of the Prada, its lack of a QWERTY keyboard holds this beauty back.  With a soft-interface (meaning an interface that is create by software rather than hardware), I'm not sure why LG didn't build in a QWERTY keyboard.  Without it, sending emails would be way to cumbersome for me. 

So I'm holding out for the iPhone.  What about you?

The Power of Wikis

I recently read a good book on Wikis called Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott.  It is an excellent read.  I had a colleague at work who "just gets this stuff" read it as well and he found it interesting and thought provoking.  The thing is, most people don't seem to understand Wikis and that prevents them from delving into the topic with a book such as the one from Tapscott.  I tried to explain it to a few other people I know but they weren't interested.  It is kind of like blogging before it became mainstream...most people just didn't grasp it and couldn't seem to get into it.  Then it became mainstream and unsurprisingly, a lot of people now blog.  I think the same will be true about Wikis.  They are the next big thing in and around collaboration.
I was recently preparing to introduce this topic to a group I was making a presentation to and wanted to find something I could show them that would help illustrate what a Wiki is and why it is better for collaboration than just emailing, for example.

Well the video below does that..perfectly.  If you are interested in Wikis but haven't really been able to get your head around them, watch the video.  Then go out and get Tapscott's book.  Then...go out and build a Wiki for your next collaborative project!

Microsoft's Surface Computer

Remember when I was writing about touch screen computing?  Well it seems that it isn't just Apple that has been looking at this (and using it in their upcoming iPhone).  Microsoft just announced their new Surface computer.  It is a tabletop multi-touch computer and from the three videos on their site, it looks pretty neat - very media and communications oriented.  Nice to see a slick new interface (GUI) rather than just some table version of Windows XP (or Vista).

To get more information, click here.