By Eric Pettifor Apple’s iPad has been out for awhile now, long enough for tons of opinion pieces to be written, so no need for me to add to the noise, especially when so many of my reservations have been so well expressed by none other than Adolph Hitler. Apparently, for him, the final straw […]
End Times for the iPhone
By Eric Pettifor 2010 could prove to be the year of the iPhone killer, but, if so, Apple’s bereavement will simply be collateral damage in the ever-raging battle between giants Microsoft and Google. Google’s Android on a Google phone won’t deliver the death blow, but it will be a sign of the end times. Android […]
Not for mePhone
By Jodi A. Shaw Am I the only one without an iPhone? The magical touch screen has been on the market in Canada for over a year now, but in the last three months, it seems everyone has abandoned their Blackberries in favour of Steve’s little toy. Meanwhile, I don’t even have one on my […]
Why does anyone use Windows?
By Eric Pettifor I am much more enamoured of my Acer Aspire One netbook since I put the Xubuntu Linux distribution on it (instructions here). The original Linux interface strongly suggested that its developers thought people would like the netbook to be a simple internet appliance. An interesting idea. However, it looks like a laptop, […]
40 and still gorgeous
Over at Computer World, they’ve got a piece celebrating this summer’s 40th anniversary of the invention of the UNIX operating system with a look back at its past. While originally designed to be a multiuser operating system, and later becoming the default for big iron, UNIX was initially created on a quite gutless, even by […]
Yet more disappointing technologies
Shaun Nichols and Iain Thomson of pcauthority.com.au have compiled a list of top ten disappointing technologies. Drum roll please . . . Number 10: Virtual RealityNumber 09: Alternative Search EnginesNumber 08: Voice RecognitionNumber 07: Apple LisaNumber 06: 10 GB EthernetNumber 05: FireWireNumber 04: BluetoothNumber 03: ItaniumNumber 02: ZuneNumber 01: Windows VistaYes, there you have it, […]
Microsoft to open the Windows?
Will Microsoft be compelled to open source its Windows operating system? Yes, says Charles Babcock in his informationweek.com article, Why Windows Must Go Open Source. He posits that Microsoft is facing serious competition from Linux on netbooks and other low-end computers, such that if it wishes to protect its application market (mostly Office), it had […]
2009: Linux on netbooks, Nokia on Apple’s tail
I’m looking back at last year’s end-of-year tech columns and feeling totally bummed out. We still don’t have globallink communicators with roll up screens a la “Earth: Final Conflict.” It remains something for the lab, like this prototype. Still no sexbots. Perhaps they’ll be one of those techs like videophones — featured in scifi, but, […]
First strike
isoHunt, a Canadian bittorrent site akin to The Pirate Bay, is making a preemptive strike against the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), our own little Canadian version of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). From TorrentFreak: As an act of self-defense, isoHunt has decided to sue the CRIA instead, and today Fung will file […]
Negroponte vs. the Open-Source Fundamentalists
Rumblings of discontent within the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project erupted to the surface last week with the resignation of chief software architect, Walter Bender. A split has formed between those, like Bender, who see the project as primarily educational, and OLPC leader Nicholas Negroponte, who wants to push as many laptops into the […]
