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Microsoft is back to innovating?

Friday morning I woke up to a delightful scene: I had learned that Microsoft seems to be back to innovating. They have just rolled out their beta release of Microsoft HealthVault. For those who haven’t heard, this is a database platform that stores all of your health information. It is a platform because it is being built up as a way for patients, doctors, and all of their specialists can all use the same database to store this data. In addition, they will even have devices, such as glucose monitors that can interface with HealthVault to upload data. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Oh and about privacy…the user has complete control of what gets shared with outsiders.

Enough about the service (which I think I may sign up for soon), but I think that the more important issue here is that Microsoft seems to be in the creative stages again and just not enslaved to the Windows operating system. I feel like Microsoft has fallen behind the curve recently. For example, up until they had released Windows ME, it just seemed like they had one mission: to get people computers that were (relatively) easy to use and could be useful. Windows 9x became a huge standard and still is for some. But if one was to look at that era, they would see Microsoft’s bold new designs in mice, keyboards, joysticks, and gamepads. Maybe certain products didn’t sell too well, but they were important to the era. Or perhaps my favorite: the Microsoft Home line of software. First let me say that I still occasionally use my copy of Explorapedia: The World of Animals because it is a perfect example of this. Oh, and the glorious Magic School Bus games!!! There are just too many other examples to list, but Microsoft had committed itself to this, and it spawned ripoffs and overall, the industry grew exponentially.

Then Windows ME was ready to be released and the developers realized that the 9x kernel must die. I remember hearing years ago that the original slogan for ME was supposed to be “it just works” but 2000 Professional became a priority, and the 9x kernel was, well, old. So then Neptune was in progress…but it was then made into Whistler, and we ended up with XP…a corporate OS with very little consumer effects. Sure hindsight is 20/20, but the huge issue here was that XP should have been a platform for the future, in my opinion. It was, but there was too much legacy code. They became chained to the OS (although the Xbox turned out to be an amazing device…BECAUSE it was not chained down to Windows).

Let’s fast forward to 2004. Microsoft has huge goals for Longhorn (I am working on finding all of the original concept videos to post them online) including three main pillars of: WinFS, Avalon, and Indigo. (More about these in a later post) It was then that it was realized that these goals were huge, especially for having to deal with such a large volume of legacy code (for backward compatibility). Longhorn had to be reset and then the pillars were knocked away. WinFS, a dream since 1994, is still sitting around somewhere in Redmond.

Now on to July 27, 2005. Time for Microsoft to release Beta 1. It was three hours late (who was counting?) and immediately, one could see that this wasn’t really a complete beta. And it wasn’t feature complete for quite some time…

Back to the present: now we have Vista out the door, and the highly-anticipated Vista SP1 is already in beta. Now Windows is under the direction of Steven Sinofsky. Let’s see what happens. Of course the ideal situation would be a new platform with emulation for older programs…after all, why did Microsoft buy Connectix? I doubt it was for the rights to Virtual!

Anyway, with the Windows guys toiling away in the labs, it seems that Microsoft seems to be getting ready for a bunch of new concepts. IPTV on the 360 and Media Center finally seem to be taking off, Microsoft Surface (a supposed long-time vision of BillG’s) is very close to being ready, the Zune (thanks to J Allard) is looking to be a more serious contender…and at the same time is actually going to bring most new features to the original Zune (Apple take note!), web services are looking better than ever, and HealthVault is public.

It seems that while Microsoft pioneered, or at least finally delivered, a home PC in the mid-90s, they were caught off-guard by Apple and it’s digital media revolution. But now Microsoft seems to have some insight into this web-based future…and this could pay off.

Comments???

Reader Response: College Note-taking

Hi all. I have a new type of entry here…basically i was hoping for some feedback from readers on the following topic:

Does anyone have any recommended methods of note-taking in college courses?

I would like to start taking some notes digitally, and I was just wondering what others were doing to simplify this. I mean when I look at a physics course, for example, I have no idea where to start in drawing diagrams quickly and neatly. Anyone have ideas? Of course, you don’t have to be in college to answer. Thanks!

PS: One more thing…I do prefer apps that run on OSX if you would like to recommend specific programs. I don’t mind running Windows, but I like to do most everything on OSX…for consistency.

Warning: iTunes 7.4.1

Just a heads up to anyone with an iPhone…if you download the iTunes 7.4.1 update that was just posted to Apple’s website, you will no longer be able to make your own ringtones by renaming files to ones with an .m4r extension! Beware in updating!

Another suite of web software…

Now that Google Desktop has been out for ages, Microsoft finally feels confident enough in its ability to release a non-beta version of all of its Windows Live services. While I do think it’s nice to see that Microsoft has had to create some new services, I do have some mixed feelings about this Windows Live Suite. For example, while the new Hotmail looks pretty nice, the Windows Live Mail (Desktop) client is nothing more than an enhanced version of Outlook Express Windows Mail.

Also, it would be nice if Microsoft realized that it’s time to become even more innovative. Microsoft Surface was a great idea, and I hope it pans out. But copying Google with all of their web services doesn’t have too much of an advantage.

I have used all of the apps at one point, and must say that they are pretty good…I still don’t like the idea of them copying Google so much. We all know that BillG has the ideas, I just wonder why they aren’t panning out. Windows 3.1 and subsequently Windows 95 were revolutionary and brought people to buy computers.

Hopefully their new IPTV initiative will work out. I just love that idea. But that, my friends, will be left for another day.

Check out the Windows Live Suite here:

http://get.live.com/wl/all

New iPods are nice but…

Fortunately today, I had a break in classes while Steve Jobs announced the new iPod lineup for this year. While it’s definite that the new iPods are awesome…I come away from the Engadget live feed a little confused. Here’s why:

Ringtones: Nice feature, but kind of a shame that Apple couldn’t negotiate better prices.
iPod Shuffle: Still just 1GB? The colors are unique (not as bright as previously), but I think maybe a 2GB model would be nice.
iPod nano: I’m not sure how people are going to squint to see the 2 inch screen…my 2.5 inch seems usable if not a little small. The new UI is nice, too.
iPod Classic: I thought this was the last announcement. It was great…160GB!?!? It may be silver instead of white, but that’s something I would be interesting in replacing my 60GB 5G with.
iPod touch: Glad to see that it’s out…but wish it wasn’t the high-end iPod model. To me, it has seemed that Apple always pushed ahead when it came to storage…why go backward to 8/16GB to get premium functionality?
iPhone pricing: I am thrilled to see the price decrease, but why on earth would the iPod Touch and the iPhone cost the same? I feel like I have to make a choice now…phone functionality or extra 8GB of storage.

Just think about that last point for a second…8GB vs. Phone capabilities? Well I can only hope that these two devices share quite a bit in the future in the way of apps and whatever cool utilities that are out there. that would at least give the iPod Touch a little more appeal in my mind. Still though, I would rather have a thicker iPod Touch (w/ hard drive) than the one that was released today. Even if it was a single platter 30GB disk. It may cause trouble when it comes to caching, but at least it would seem more like a high-end product.

Once last thing…I also feel like the iPod is getting out of hand. Apple prides itself on sleekness. Now we have a mess of iPods on the market. The shuffle, nano, classic, touch, and iPhone. I am for customer choice, but I also feel a little confused now. It’s not like, oh, I want a small device so I will pick up the new iPod mini instead of the 3G iPod anymore. Now the consumer is going to have to decide between a ton of capacities, screen sizes, and UIs.

I still love my 60GB 5G iPod and have no issues with it (if I do, then I just use alternative firmware) and think it’s a wonderful device that takes care of all my media. I would be lost without all of the informative podcasts and the availability of music just about anywhere.

All complaining aside, these new devices are pretty cool…I am just a little annoyed to see that the iPod line is flying out of control. Just my 2 cents.

Dis/agreements?

The future of digital media…

You know, the business models of the MPAA and RIAA are just too antiquated for today’s world. Considering that Apple will be updating its iPod line in just hours, I thought I would take some time to comment on what should be, and tie it to my current situation at Stony Brook University.

Microsoft did a good thing with the Zune…they decided that it would be a good idea to go and add Wi-Fi to the device. This way people could share music. Of course there was one caveat: the limitations on the songs. They would only let you listen to a song three times after downloading. Afterward, you would have to buy it. Period.

What if, however, one company could stream all of this music…for free, or maybe a small fee. Just take a look at what projects such as Pandora radio are all about…they give you choice of music (even if the choice is not great). there have been some rumors about the iPod having Wi-Fi capabilities. What if these new iPods could stream music from whatever iTunes computer it is in range of. Imagine that…now you allow people access to so much content, they would not have to worry about pirating.

Since I’ve moved in at Stony Brook University, I have seen that many students have their copy of iTunes configured to share their libraries. What a wonderful idea! I can go into a library of like 8000 songs and listen to the music I want. I don’t possess a copy of it, I can just listening, just as I would be on the radio. Now what if my iPod could pick up on those shared libraries?

I know that iTunes gives warnings that the sharing is for personal use only, but that is because of pressure from record labels. There is no doubt. If it was up to Steve Jobs, there would be no DRM anyway. Just imagine a connected campus in which I have access to hundreds of thousands of songs…all from my iPod. If that isn’t innovation, I don’t know what is.

Comments from anyone? My library is currently password protected, but if you do happen to find it (under Stephen Stakey’s Library), let me know. I wonder how many others at SBU have discovered this cool thing.

And more importantly, why not open up your library? Keep iTunes in the background and share your music…but of course it couldn’t be illegal, as you don’t actually retain the music. Really I don’t see how it is different than lending a friend a CD many years ago…just for a listen. Or what, was that illegal, too?

So here’s to Apple in hoping that the new iPod will be the most revolutionary personal media player out there. The creative genius is there…along with the innovative drive. And of course, I will be back tomorrow to share my thoughts about the new announcements.

What do you guys think?

An easy way to backup your Mac

Sure no one wants to lose all the data stored on their computer, but sometimes it happens. There are some backup features in Windows Vista, so I wanted to tell you about a small program called Carbon Copy Cloner for the Mac. Simply, it lets you copy your entire hard drive to an external drive connected via USB or Firewire. In fact, if anything does go wrong, you can even boot from that backup drive by having it connected and holding down alt when booting up. A wonderful way to back up your entire drive. And it’s free!!

But of course, let us see what the almighty Leopard brings

Product link: http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html