Posts Tagged ‘computers’
Goodbye clog-prone scroll ball
Just got one of these from Apple. I still think Logitech makes the best mice on the market, but this feels like a nice upgrade over the Apple (formerly Mighty) Mouse.
Oooh... Oooh... it's MAGIC!
Ars Technica review:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/11/you-win-some-you-lose-some-a-review-of-apples-magic-mouse.ars
Google enters the netbook OS ring
Google announces development for open source Chrome OS for netbooks
That sound you hear is Microsoft and its third party support sweating (even just a little). The dominance of the market share is splintering further. Let’s see: Google is #1 in search, RIM’s Blackberry OS is probably #1 in mobile OS, with iPhone, Google Android and Palm Pre’s WebOS getting good reviews and growing fast, Microsoft IE is the #1 web browser, but continuously losing market share, and Windows is still #1 desktop/laptop OS (this is based on what I’ve read and seen and is not 100% fact, but I’d put money on this being REAL close). I hear more and more positive things about Linux, with netbooks getting more prominent as low-cost portable computer solutions.
Apple notebook sales are growing stronger than other manufacturers’ (in a lousy economy, too) and their marketing forced Microsoft to respond, and do so awkwardly. They’ve had to spend a lot of money to overcome Vista’s faults, such as the annoying security messages, initial driver problems, and most importantly, Microsoft’s business model that allowed third party hardware pre-installed with Vista without the specs to optimally run it. First they had Bill Gates hang out with Jerry Seinfeld to our amusement. Lately they’ve been marketing as the low-cost provider, sending people into a Best Buy with cash for a notebook, but leaving out the hidden extra costs involved, like a need for an annual anti-virus software license, the more expensive Windows 7 upgrade (when compared to the price of Snow Leopard for a Mac buyer/Leopard OSX owner) and the stark difference in brand consumer satisfaction. My earlier blog post was about the weird decision to use gross imagery to market IE8, in a desperate attempt for attention.
Google has the money and brand power to further split the market that Microsoft and Linux are sharing. This next decade will be very different from the 90s. VERY different.
You stay classy, Microsoft
Microsoft is using an ad online featuring a woman projectile vomiting from seeing something in her significant other’s browsing history to market Internet Explorer 8. They’re promoting the new private browsing feature, hosted by TV’s former Superman, Dean Cain. Yep, it’s real. I wish I was kidding: http://mashable.com/2009/07/01/ie-vomiting/
Another example of Microsoft’s horrendously awful marketing lately. Apple uses Justin Long and John Hodgman. Fun and clever. Microsoft uses bullshit laptop buyers in a Best Buy going for cheap instead of quality, and now, projectile vomiting.
Ironically, it’s how I feel when writing CSS bug fixes for IE6.
What will we see from them to market Windows 7? Someone with a stomach virus and diarrhea thanks to a lesser operating system? I can’t wait.
Apple’s blind spot
The Mighty Mouse is just not up to par with the rest of Apple’s hardware design quality. The scroll ball is constantly glitchy, the glossy plastic is not great for precise, non-slip mousing and an old supervisor showed me that Logitech seems to create mice way better. I would love to see this quirky thing replaced before Steve Jobs announces the new iPhone models next week.
