So, in no particular order, here is my wish list for the iPhone Apple is going to try to sell me in 2008. For the record, many of these issues can be solved through software updates which might allow we beta testers to benefit to some degree:
1.) Please give me back my To Do List! I rely heavily on the to do list within Outlook. If we can overcome the synching issues with Contacts and Calendar, the To Do list (and Notes for that matter), should be relatively easy. In fact, Apple should consider swallowing a bit of pride and licensing Activesync from the boys at Redmond to handle this task. ActiveSync is by no means perfect, but it pretty much, “just works” and that is good enough for the legions of Outlook dependant customers who will have to buy an iPhone if Apple hopes to get 10 million iPhones out in the world within a year.
2.) Save voice command, save a life. Being able to dial a number, particularly while driving, using voice command not only is very convenient, it is far safer than trying to dial through the keypad or scroll through your Contact list alphabetically (see wish number three). If Palm, Microsoft, and even Blackberry through a third party app (read wish number four), can integrate this feature, I am sure Apple can make this happen too!
3.) Please allow me to search for contacts using a keypad! You don’t have to give up the current “spinning wheel” interface, just add a find feature for those of us who find that “ballparking” a contact’s information to within a letter or two of the alphabet just isn’t good enough. In fact, a “universal search,” allowing searching through Calendar, Contacts, (and notes and to dos down the road) would be great!
4.) I want my third party apps! To be fair, Apple has recently announced a change of heart on this issue. A SDK (software developer kit) is scheduled for release in February of next year. This is great news but it should have happened at the time of the iPhone’s formal release. Perhaps it actually is since I expect a new version of the iPhone to be released next spring. All smartphones have allowed third party applications for some time. Again, business users in particular rely on some applications
Let me customize my iPhone! The upcoming SDK may go a long way in allowing we poor end users more flexibility in making our iPhone our own, but for now, it Apple’s way or the highway! Personally I like the stock widget (but would like to be able to drill down and get more information on a company which is pretty darn easy on a Windows Mobile device), but I think the new mobile iTunes store icon belongs under the iPod music “menu.” What other applications does Apple have up its sleeve for that unused bottom row on the front screen...? I sure hope one of them is a link to my To Do List!!!!
5.) Nothing beats Blackberry’s email model, but the iPhone can make great strides from where it is today. Allowing multiple deleting of email would be the first great stride. I also miss the Treo’s ability to automatically delete downloaded posts from my POP account when removed from the server from my workstation. Why do I have to handle messages twice? My Outlook folder structure doesn’t get copied to the iPhone! I use these folders extensively to organize the avalanche of email headed my way every day. (Like it or not Apple, business users rely on Outlook; if you want business users, you better support this app!) Let Google build a decent Gmail interface for the iPhone! (Yes Google’s recent implementation of IMAP is a half step in the write direction. I’m looking for leaps and bounds! Don’t get me started on the lack of Exchange support..... By the way, I do know this is really a multiple item wish list, but who’s counting...?
6.) Give me a removable battery, please..... This is an area where style trumped substance. Even if you forget the fact that you must send your iPhone back to Apple and pay $89 if the battery fails to hold a cherge, there is the practical, day-to-day, issue that the iPhone’s battery life marginally handles a long day of use. After all, when you build a device serving multiple needs, you can expect a user to actually use the iPod features, make calls, check email, in other words, use the device as it is designed. I want to be able to purchase a backup battery, keep it charged, and not have to ration my iPhone use as the sun begins to set . I also remain from Missouri when it comes to the idea that this battery will successfully charge nearly eight hundred times which is what the two year purchase agreement with AT&T implies....
One final note, my iPhone did indeed stop holding a charge within ten days of purchase. While getting to an Apple Genius was a story in and of itself, when I did finally get his attention, they agreed to swap out the iPhone immediately rather than put me through the exchange process. Admittedly, this iPhone was less than two weeks old, but this aspect of Apple’s customer service deserves praise.
7.) Bluetooth..... The iPhone supports selective Bluetooth products only and this is an issue for many business users. I rely on a bluetooth Motorola HF850 system in my car to conduct conversations. Not anymore! Even if I turn off Wi-Fi, press buttons on the bluetooth receiver in a convoluted sequence which I read in an unsupported “hack” online, the connection inexplicably works for the first call… sometimes, and then I am back to holding my iPhone or fumbling for the wired earpiece while driving. To be fair, there is a list of “supported devices” (none of which I have tried personally at this point), but I have a big investment not only in the hardware, but also installation of my bluetooth handsfree kits. I also have handsfree bluetooth headphones which I use while running or at the gym. This set up works fine with my last generation Nano, but no joy with the iPhone.
8.) AT&T and the EDGE network don’t cut it. I switched from Verizon to AT&T because of the iPhone with my eyes wide open. Still, the EDGE network is glacially slow. Some of the iPhone’s neatest features are hobbled beyond recognition by the slow EDGE network. Give me a 3D connection and I will be able so show off more of this product’s best qualities and sell more iPhones for you Apple! (I know the Wi-Fi capability is supposed to “balance” the network access issue, but there are simply too many areas where Wi-Fi isn’t available and EDGE is all but useless.) Furthermore, in Nashville, Tennessee anyway, AT&T’s ‘phone network drops far more calls than Verizon. (I miss my EDGE network!) These issue are causing me to go to Verizon today and buy a “back up” cell phone for decent coverage and end of day battery life....
9.) Flash and Java implementation in Safari will make for a far richer online experience. I know Jobs is spouting security concerns, but Windows Mobile devices allow for these ubiquitous software platforms, why can’t Apple? The bottom line is I believe implementation of Flash at least is more of an oversight, something which didn’t get included in the “beta” release of the iPhone.
10.) I know the virtual keyboard is sexy, but it sure isn’t as functional as a tactile keyboard. I have yet to visit with any iPhone user with experience on a Treo, Blackberry or other mobile device, who says their typing is as efficient or easy with this virtual keyboard! I don’t know how Apple may do it, but either this interface needs some work or the Cupertino boys may need to find a way to put “sexy” back into a traditional mobile keyboard. You don’t have to be a teenage IM junky to want to be able to zip off a forty word email quickly. On a related note, the autofill function, designed to anticpate the words you are typing is too slow to keep up even with my two thumbed tapping. This software is a potential aide in the interface, but it needs to be fast, really fast, and intuitive (again I give Windows Mobile a nod in this area, but when Apple hits release six as Microsoft has, they are likely to have really found a way to make this work.)
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To be fair, the reasons for my disappointment are not the fault of Palm, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, or Verizon’s service. All three companies share in making this solution far less capable and useful than it should be! The form factor of the Treo itself is looking a bit tired. The newer Motorola Q, Pearl Blackberry, not ot mention the still untested Applie iPhone, have better form factors and interface designs than any of Palm’s current Treo line. What’s more, Palm has chosen to cripple the 700W with a screen with less resolution than its sister product, the 700P. Looking at the 240 X 240 color screen you get about 50% less information than the 320 X 320 screen offered on the 700P. The color and saturation on the 700W screen is also markedly inferior. If this compromise is a cost cutting move, it is ill advised. After all, anyone willing to pay $500 for a smartphone is intending to spend a great deal of time viewing the screen and if this component isn’t adequate, you create a constant “billboard” showing your product’s faults. By itself, the screen wasn’t a reason to eliminate the 700W.
My admittedly personal experience reveals other hardware manufacturing issues which should at least give Palm shareholders pause. The first Treo I obtained through the local Verizon shop failed to pair with my aftermarket bluetooth Motorola car kit. I use this great add in all the time for its safety and convenience. The kit itself was purchased and installed through Verizon. I never left the store parking lot before attempting to get my new Treo 700W to “see” this device. After two techs tried to get this ‘phone to pair with the showroom car ket model, they pulled out another Treo, configured it for my account and bingo! the phone found the car kit in the showroom and my car. Only then did I find another shortcoming of this “SmartPhone.” Unlike my trusty Motorola e810, you cannot issue voice commands via the handsfree kit! I presume this is a shortcoming of Windows Mobile. Why disable an unquestionably convenient and safety enhancing feature from your state of the art SmartPhone? This feature worked faultlessly with my old Motorola-- in fact the voice recognition built into Motorola’s firmware appears superior to Windows Mobile even given the presumably superior input gained by forcing Treo owners to use the handset directly when issuing voice commands.
My second Treo last just a few days before half of the built in keyboard failed. Literally, half of the keys on the Treo’s normally highly functional keys stopped responding. Back to Verizon. To this company’s credit, they swapped out this Treo for another without complaint. However, there is no way to transfer the myriad changes which must be made to customize this phone between models! Owner information, bluetooth settings; additional softwoare, wifi links; speed dials, and much more, has to be reconfigured manually. This process takes a significant amount of time. Why can’t Microsoft offer some kind of Settings Migration Wizard? The company has had something similar with Windows XP for years. How hard can it be?
Of course your contacts and other information can be resynched with Outlook using ActiveSynch. Anyone who has had to replace a traditional cell phone and lost their address book knows how important backing up this information is. Using Activesynch and Outlook for this process was a driving consideration in my choice of this phone and operating system platform.
]]>A client of mine who is enjoying her retirement, called, finally "fed up with AOL." She was tired of the incessant pop up ads and reminders intruding on her online time. (AOL is moving towards an ad based revenue model and more open content. I have no empirical evidence that they are ramping up advertisements with their paying legions, but certainly anecdotal tales such as this suggest such tactics.) For years I have been suggesting that this client dump the AOL lifestyle and move to a broadband cable internet connection through Comcast. The economics are such that the change will cost her about $20 a month more since she did not have a second POTS line dedicated to her computer, but this wasn’t the issue holding her back all these years.
Changing email addresses; losing her list of favorites, and her address book, were hurdles she didn’t want to jump and AOL knows it! Ironically, it took the company’s insistence on cluttering her desktop with intrusive ads to put this kind retired school teacher over the edge. Literally, AOL lost this customer by insisting that the $28/month she spent with them "isn’t enough." I explained that there are both free and low cost tools which help with the task of moving these important pieces of information. I also assured her I would handle the entire process should she ever decide to make the switch. I was thrilled when the call came and then the fun began in earnest.
First there’s the issue of multiple programs, many "unwanted," some simply intrusive, which AOL insists on installing. This has been one of my longstanding issues with this company. The situation seems to only get worse with each new generation of their software’s install. AOL bogs down users with programs like AOL Buddy; AOL Companion; AOL Toolbar; AOL Communicator; and more. Most users don’t know what the programs are for so they blindly let them run utilizing system resources and slowing every process their PC executes. Many users are pleasantly surprised at how much "faster" their PC "feels" after removing this diutris from their systems. AOL also keeps prior versions! That’s right, if you go into your Add/Remove Program Applet, you will be greeted with the "opportunity" to delete multiple versions of AOL’s core software. Why in the world doesn’t AOL write an installer which detects and deletes prior versions? Answer, they want to make it as difficult as possible to purge your system of their presence. (HP are you listening? Installation of recent printer drivers, along with all the other "required" software, now takes up to thirty minutes!)
As it turns out, my client’s address book and favorites were quite limited and a semi-automated transfer quickly had all of her favorites in my current browser of choice, Firefox. Since AOL offers loads of ways to import addresses and no export feature, we settled on printing out her address book and entering the handful of email addresses into Outlook Express as she corresponded with each individual.
Finally we were ready to call and "pull the plug." I called and navigated through the automated voice recording until finally reaching a human being who began by promptly requesting the same information I had dutifully entered a the automated prompts. (This is a problem I experience with several companies so AOL isn’t alone in this customer support blunder.) . This person was the last obstacle to saying goodbye to AOL and she took her job very seriously. My client had to identify herself two times and give her approval for me to continue the call in her behalf. This client is a bit older and, like many of us, can be confused when confronted with technical choices. Her fear in dealing with AOL’s Customer Service and Support Group is why I
agreed to handle this task in her behalf.
Understand, you can’t "just cancel." You must tell AOL why you are leaving them; hear their extensive sales pitch for keeping their service; be offered an account which allows access through your broadband connection at a monthly discount, and more. This sale’s pitch went on for over five minutes at which point the operator refused to continue the cancellation process until she heard me regurgitate all of these great "deals" to my senior client. She dug her proverbial foot in the sand and refused to continue the cancellation process. Period.They simply refused to cancel the account.
Unbelievable! With this out of the way, the final offer was to keep their service for "one more month" and use some sort of notification system to let everybody know my client’s email account was changing. The agent muttered something about their "trueswitch program" but by this point I wasn’t even paying close attention. The entire cancellation process took nearly a half an hour on the ‘phone. At the end, I was abruptly transferred to a pre-recorded announcement informing me that a confirmation of cancellation would be sent by US Post in approximately two weeks… "Goodbye."
AOL has its place. As you hear about this company’s business model changes and as Time Warner continues to search for another company to take this rudderless subsidiary off their hands, remember, one thing, the customer is always right, even when they are saying goodbye… Feel free to share your opinion.
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What if you can’t get cable? What if your commitment to voice lines makes working with one of the big regional service providers impossible or impossibly expensive? You may be in for some real challenges as a recent install with a client illustrates. What follows is a real world illustration of the challenges small business faces. First of all, the truth is a smaller DSL company must still rely on local Baby Bell techs for several aspects of completing the circuit. The result, be prepared for a long wait and multiple visits. In the case of this install from order placement to completed line was six weeks (XO claims the average install in this area should take thirty to thirty-five days, if this is true we just wound up on the wrong side of their bell curve in this instance). Were cable an option, installation could have been completed within a week’s time (based on my years of experience with this area’s local cable provider, Comcast).
Problems begin with sign up. XO will not, that is to say they refuse, take a DSL order over the telephone! Perplexing given the fact XO also sells voice lines (which is the very reason my client couldn’t economically use BellSouth for their DSL needs). You must order through their website, hit “Enter,” and pray. In this instance at least, there was no follow up contact whatsoever, none! The first human contact was in the form of an installer from another company showing up unannounced at my client’s office. This hapless soul had a work order instructing him to run the DSL line to the demarc (a location typically in or near a wiring closet containing inbound voice lines and other wiring the typical small business person hopes never to actually have to see or deal with directly. He performed his job per the work order and disappeared. My clients understandably scratched their collective heads and said “now what?” To which I responded, “this is only Act II, hang in there.”
The next installer’s objective was to set up the (free after rebate) modem/router. Again he showed up without an appointment and went to work. The install proceeded but he located this piece of equipment on a wall near the demarc in my client’s warehouse. This location was some one hundred feet (approximate) from the office area. When I saw the location of this equipment on the wall I scratched my head and wondered how XO expected us to use this circuit. I wondered why they wouldn’t run the line into the office area which very obviously was the necessary end point. Of course, the online sign up didn’t ask for specific locations and no one ever contacted me or my client prior to actual installation to get clarification of this seemingly self-evident issue. This led to further delay and a follow up installation visit to move the router to a usable location. To the company’s credit, a local representative did finally make contact and had this follow-up visit “expedited.”
You might think this story is nearing a conclusion. Not quite. Neither tech actually tested the circuit before leaving! I had actually tried the circuit while the modem was located in the back of the warehouse using one of my laptops without success. I didn’t worry at that point (my mistake) knowing a follow up visit was required to move the modem into the office space. When I went to the office to configure their computers with the DSL line and do the actual networking, I was greeted with this problem. I searched for paperwork to show me configuration information for the circuit. I wanted exterenal IP Address and subnet mask, DNS server information, and some other standard network information which is normally supplied by a service provider doing these kind of installs. No joy. I then searched for a Tech Support Number. No joy! Folks, when a communications company, actually a telephone company at heart, doesn’t provide Tech Support numbers making it possible, if not easy, to talk to them, you know there is trouble. After a call to directory assistance, I finally began the odyessy of XO’s voice system. It took ninety (90) minutes on hold (including a disconnect from their system after thirty-five (35) minutes and two entry level support staff to simply get a Trouble Ticket! No solution. No serious checking of the circuit from their end, just a Trouble Ticket and the promise that the issue would be reviewed by second tier engineers over the next twenty-four hours. At this point I was a bit frustrated and my client was understandably rolling his eyes and wondering just how much longer, and how much more expensive, it might be to get an “always on” internet connection up and running for himself and his staff.
The next follow up call from XO’s engineers was productive. This individual reviewed the Trouble Ticket and determined the company had assigned an improper IP address, as well as wrong DNS server information, which was causing the link failure. In other words, the company has misconfigured the DSL circuit on their end. You might think checking out this information should be performed as part of the first call for help. I would agree. For whatever reasons, this was not the case. Grateful that the line was finally running, we said goodbye to tech support. Another mistake.....
One of the primary reasons for getting a DSL connection in this office, was for the company to have access to email without tying up their precious voice lines to obtain a dial-up connection. This is often one of the compelling uses for a broadband connection (for small business or in a residential setting). You would think that a DSL provider would realize this fact. In the spirit of bureacracy at its finest, or worst, depending on your definition, XO requires additonal steps, and hold time, to obtain configuration information to complete this task. I will spare the less technical readers the details, but suffice it to say, in order to minimize SPAM (please don’t laugh) ISPs require authentification for outgoing email traffic. You must use your internet service provider’s SMTP server to send outgoing mail. In order to configure an email client such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express you need your company’s SMTP server information. Of course obtaining this from XO required another follow up call to “Customer Care--” 30 minutes on hold later I began a conversation with the first of three tech support individuals, including a “round trip” from Gateway services, to get proper SMTP information. This information should be a basic part of the “leave behind” sheet containing vital configuration information for the supplied circuit. This is something BellSouth and others have grown to understand, why can’t the smaller companies match, no beat, the bigger, presumably less nimble service providers, in the areas of Customer Service and information sharing? You DSL companies looking for competitive points of difference, here are a couple of areas which can allow you to excel or fall by the wayside!
On a final note, I made an online inquiry approximately two and a half weeks after placing the initial order inquiring as to who our “Customer Care Support Contact” is (i.e. name and ‘phone number). It took over a week to get a response (remember this company insists on communicating with their DSL customer base online). And after a week what was their response...? “They can’t respond to a request for contact information at this time.” Wow.
The circuit is up and running. It is faster than dial-up but worlds slower than cable. The DSL circuit is running at 144 kpbs while regional business cable is offering local connection Speeds: Up to 6.0 Mbps downstream, 768 Kbps upstream at comparable monthly rates. There are lots of lessons, technology and business related, to take from this experience as a consumer and as a service provider. XO is certainly not the only DSL provider failing to live up to customer expectations. Sadly, I here of instances like this all too frequently while at the same time, legal and market forces are at work limiting our options for high quality broadband connectivity. The world is literally leaving us in the electronic dust. Other countries already have infrastructure in place allowing for much faster “broadband connectivity” at comparable market rates to what we are now paying (but this issue will be left for another post). It is time for companies who still have a chance to offer real alternatives to get their respective market driven houses in order before we all vote with our pocket books and it is too late.
As always, I am interested in hearing what you have to say on this subject.
]]>A few weeks ago, I casually flipped through the “What’s On TIVO” listings to find something to peruse for a few minutes after a long day. As I scanned the listings, which are filled with a diverse array of shows ranging from my daughter’s varied tastes to a variety of shows I find of interest, something on the screen immediately caught my eye. The TIVO screen allows you to quickly determine a show’s status using a number of icons. The system is designed to be intuitive and is amazingly simple to grasp from the very first use which is one of many reasons TIVO continues to be the defacto generic term in our lexicon when it comes to PVRs (Personal Video Recorders).
The circular icons to the left of the show descriptions indicate whether or not the show can be deleted to accommodate new material. TIVOs can capture a lot of (non-HDTV) content depending on your model’s hard disk size and the recording quality you select. Perhaps it is because my eyes have grown somewhat less discerning through years of staring at computer monitors, but I findTIVO’s Medium quality setting adequate to capture all but fast moving sports events and a select few cinematic movies worthy of close scrutiny.
While scrolling through my listings, a red, blinking, flag, immediately caught my eye. It was listed next to a drama series, Lost, which has found its way onto my Season Pass listings. When I clicked to explore the listing, there was a notification that this show could be erased at any time between now and the following evening. In essance , I was informed that I could not in fact “time shift” this show outside of the proscribed window dictated by the show’s controlling authorities! The content management flag also adds some code which makes transfer to VHS, DVD, or other media “impossible.”
.I cannot wait to see the faces of the Hollywood gang when some sixteen year old manages to break this restriction and publishes it on the internet for all to download! When will this group learn that customers are clamoring for TIVOs,Ipod s and other devices to allow greater flexibility in content viewing, not less? The fact that the popular DeCiss software program created by a young Norwegian teenager is being used by countless thousands to make legitimate backups of DVDs should tell the movie makers, “another mousetrap” isn’t the answer to their piracy concerns.
Almost immediately, the TIVO community was abuzz about the new flag. The company issued a statement explaining that the use of this flag on commercial programming (such as ABC’s Lost) was a “mistake.” Publicly, this flag is being positioned for use only with “premium content” such as PPV (pay per view) material. I am skeptical. If we are not vigilent , the day may (very soon) come when Hollywood tries to use technology to mitigate the value of digital video recorders in a way they were unsuccessful in doing decades ago during the birth of the VCR. What may scare you even more is that our current legal rights to “time shift” shows stems from a legal ruling made by jurists.
Don’t think that if this content management flag gains traction, the music industry won’t take note! Imagine purchasing online songs through Apple Itunes Music Store or MusicMatch Jukebox only to discover you aren’t allowed to copy your legally purchased songs to CDs for listening in your car. There are digital rights management tools which place some restrictions on how you can use your downloaded music. There are also numerous services through the reborn Napster Music Service which allow you a vast music library on a per month rental basis. In essence , your music disappears if you miss a payment. The digital content flag could allow a host of new restrictions placed on content you purchase!
Even more recently, Apple has rocked the world of commercial TV distribution by developing a distribution system with ABC (notice how this network keeps coming up in this article!?). Popular shows such as Lost and Desperate Housewives are going to be sold on a per episode basis for viewing on the company’s newest video Ipod . If this catches on, look out! Local television affiliates will lose a key, young demographic audience and finger pointing is sure to emerge between Apple, ABC, and other content providers less willing to give up today’s business distribution model.
I remain convinced with every passing day the complexity of technology and its interactions with our daily lives makes decisions made as to the legal use of these tools increasingly difficult by our court system. Too often, we are asking intelligent, largely reasonable, judges and juries to evaluate technological resources which they have only a passing understanging of in their “everyday” use and application. The next time you see a red blinking flag on your television, pay close attention, you may be the one lost if your show happens to be deleted before you have had an opportunity to click your TIVO remote.
PVRs are just now becoming mainstream. I have pleaded with friends and clients to at least try to understand how these boxes can allow you to control the quality and type of content you view in a way that is radically different for yesterday’s VCR. (TIVO and its ilk make programming far easier than a VCR. How manyVCRs still blink “12:00” to this day because the unit’s owners never mastered the art of programming these boxes?) Microsoft’s excellent Media Center Edition, not to mention Myth TV for the more technologically advanced, promise to bring thePVR “revolution” to a critical mass of consumers over the next couple of years. Let’s hope Hollywood doesn’t kill the golden goose in their zeal to protect their content from the very audience they claim to be trying to hold on to!
As always, I am interested in your thoughts on this issue.....
]]>Now for the rest of the story..... I had a significant issue, largely of my own making, with this blog a few days ago. While attempting to update significant elements of the PCMG Consulting web site, files critical to thie blog’s functioning were inadvertantly overwritten with files from an older version of Expression Engine software. This effectively rendered the blog unviewable to public eyes and I had in fact lost access to the software’s Control Panel. Visions of many hours lost work in site design and content creation danced through my head.
Now Expresssion Engine is not freeware (although there is a free trial I believe and pricing depends on usage-- personal or commercial). This software is not out of the box simple to install. I say this having originally purchased the software based on a review in Lockergnome which touted this blogging solution as a quick, flexible, development environment allowing you to have a blog up and running in an hour’s time. This comprehensive chart details a wide variety of blogging software and is well worth reviewing if you are considering jumping into the world of online web logs (BLOGS).
]]>I have experimented with several tools which automate the sign in process and have been using a PC Magazine Editor’s Choice, Roboform on a trial basis off and on for a couple of months. The product can be downloaded for free but has limited functionality. The Pro version allows for unlimited username and password creation and several additional features. For a complete list of Roboform’s Pro features, click here. While I am always anxious to find freeware and shareware alternatives, any software which contributes to your productivity, and in this case online security (more on this later), is certainly worth paying for (in this case Roboform Pro retails for $29.95 as of this writing).
If this article were simply an advertisement for the software, it wouldn’t warrant my time or yours. (I never write on behalf of vendors; nor do I ever profit from purchases made through this web site unless I expressly state a link is an “affiliate” link in the body of an article. (The Google Adsense Ads which are clearly listed support this site and are, by definition, affiliate links.) What makes the story interesting is that Roboform appears to have a significant conflict with the latest Firefox release (version 1.06) which is crashing my browser every time it loads. Resolution of this issue, is taking time and negating much of the time savings the program has created for me during my evaluation period. To be fair, it appears some, perhaps all, of the problems I am experiencing are a result of having an older version of this company’s Firefox plug-in installed. A completely new installation may not experience the issues which have taken up several hours of my day. I will certainly publish the solution, and any additional insights as to its origin, when the problem is ultimately resolved.
Still, this software conflict highlights challenges faced by developers and end users...... Please read on.......
]]>Inputting data is the key to making these devices useful and therefore one of the first things a proud new owner of a Palm or Pocket PC needs to get comfortable with. Setting aside the poor ergonomic design of many styli we are forced to endure (do the engineers who design these devices actually use these things in the field?), there are two key points recent visits to clients have brought to the forefront once again. Synching with a desktop can save worlds of time and whether you synch and rely on your desktop as your “backup” or not, you better have a backup!!!
For almost everyone, adding information is faster using your desktop tools-- full size keyboard, mouse, comfortable CRT or LCD screen-- then punching away on your PIM’s limited screen using that stylus myself and others rave about. Sure, you can update the occassional email address or ‘phone number for that business or social acquaintance you run into on the fly, but for most, adding a half dozen new contacts directly into a Palm or Pocket PC is a kind of technological water torture. These handheld gadgets were never designed as standalone repositories for your most crucial information! If you have the patience to input meaningful, often business or “life” changing information, into one of these marvels, you will surely be devestated on the day when the data dies. And that day will come. The list of ways to lose your data, any data, but key information which “lives” on your PDA and only your PDA are nearly too numerous and painful to discuss. You can lose the device itself (over the years I admit to leaving a PIM in the front of an airline seat pocket; having another fall out of a jacket pocket while in a cab; yet another was stolen out of my grocery cart when I walked down an aisle for thirty seconds to grab some item from a shelf ten feet away). In two of the three instances, good human nature and the promise of an award for safe return on the units’ splash screens got my precious PDA back to me. In the third instance, the Palm Pilot probably got trashed, but I know the credit card in the unit’s pocket got a BIG WORKOUT before the issuing bank got the all points bulletin to the proper WalMarts and K-Marts in the area.
But there are many, many, more ways for tragedy to strike,
Palm and Pocket PC devices have built in software allowing you to backup your data to memory cards which can be removed and stored for safe keeping. (Other backup options may also be available depending on the specific model and software installed.) This option provides a a decent snapshot of your data at a given point in time. If you rely on this approach, be sure to update your backup periodically (weekly or more often if you are constantly adding important information) and test by restoring your information before it becomes critical!
Recently, I visited a new client who had been struggling mightily with Act! 2005. After several hours of troubleshooting, it became apparent that the root of his problem stemmed from a corrupt, or inappropriate, product update installation. The install had damaged the system’s SQL Database which acts as the software’s data storehouse. Two painstaking manual uninstalls/reinstalls of the software resolved the SQL issue but my client’s data was still inaccessable. After attempting to repair the database using a number of utilities and following FAQ sheets found in the Act! KnowledgeBase, I had to give my client the bad news that his Act! database was unrecoverable.
I asked, already knowing and dreading the response, if a backup existed. He told me he had tried using Act’s built in backup utility but couldn’t access that file (and neither could I). After some discussion, he told me that most of his key contact information was still on his Palm. Since Act! can synch with portable devices, I told him synching into a new Act database should get him back to a productive situation. (I didn’t ask if he had a backup of his Palm data and in retrospect wish that I had.) Act happily created a new database and established a connection with my client’s Palm device. However, the two way synchronization option wasn’t available. (Available help files implied that this is “normal” for a first time synch with a new database.) The conduit connected and wiped the Palm’s database clean!!! One step forward; two steps back! There are at least two morals to this tale. You can never have enough backups and when attempting to synchronize critical data for the first time be sure to have multiple, verified, good copies of the data! I will say that once synchronization has been sucessfully established, the process is usually very straightforward (particularly with recent versions of Microsoft’s Activesynch which ships with Pocket PC devices.
I will leave discussion of some effective, inexpensive, backup strategies to a future article. Now, for those of you patient enough to have read this far, let me explain today’s headline. This time of year I look forward to the official beginning of NFL Pro Football. I try following two teams closely, my local Tennessee Titans and The Denver Broncos. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the entire season of game schedule on my Outlook calendar and Pocket PC? You bet! The idea of typing in all of these “important dates” had little appeal. Off to the internet. It took some digging but this cool site provides links to holidays and sports schedules of all kinds. Not just NFL! These aren’t just schedules, these are files which import directly into your calendar (and with a quick synch your trusty PDA). Very cool and highly recommended.
]]>I mention this by way of background. Today, many clients and small businesses rely on a fundamental set of software tools to accomplish their goals. There are of course exceptions, but many of the small offices I encounter, can accomplish most, if not all, of their computing needs using software in Microsoft’s Office Suite; Corel’s Office software;and a web free web browser be it Internet Explorer, or Mozilla’s Firefox .
An accounting program such as Quicken Premiere or Quickbooks. or are also often needed on one or more workstations. (Quicken Premier Home and Business is often overlooked by many SOHO practitioners. Too often, many of these individuals find themselves thinking Quicken is inadequate for their small business and automatically migrating to Quickbooks which has a steeper learning curve and often has a feature set which is beyond the scope of their needs.)
Every workstation, either through standalone utilities or server driven solutions, needs a trinity of key utilities. Antivirus, Spyware and SPAM filtering solutions aren’t optional for even the most casual user. I recently read that a new, unsecured, system connected to the internet will “survive” just twelve (12) minutes on average before being compromised. (I will detail what I consider to be the best cocktail of critical utility tools, including a number of freeware solutions, in an upcoming article.)
For individuals falling into this end user category-- where real productivity using the kind of software tools described nearby satisfies their computing needs, falling hardware prices becomes a real issue. Dell’s 2400 XPS current Home and Home Office offerings begin at just $299 and offer adequate horsepower to run all of the applications many users require. At this price, the system comes with Windows XP Home Edition pre-installed and a limited, 90 day warranty. If current application software CDs are available for installation and some care has been taken to either have current backups of data files and/or these key files stored on a separate hard drive (either for real time access or nightly backup), purchase of a replacement system should be a strong consideration in the event of almost any hardware related problem (even a failing CRT monitor) and, in some circumstances, software related issues.
The math becomes compelling. At $300 (plus tax but free shipping is often part of the special online offer), you receive a new system, copy of Windows XP, 17” CRT monitor, 80 Gig Hard Drive, 256 KB of RAM, limited warranty and more. Even this entry level system exceeds the specifications of nearly all two and three year old systems I am routinely asked to work on. It is impossible to generalize on the average cost of a workstation repair; there are far too many possible variables; but I think it is safe to say, on average, even relatively routine upgrades and repairs cost $150 and more..... In fact, many cases of workstations overrun with spyware and virus issues, require either several hours of expensive professional clean up or, in extreme cases, a complete operating system reinstallation. These services performed by a professional can easily approach the cost of the entry level system Dell and others now offer.
There are a number of assumptions in this decision; assumptions which are often far from the norm in the offices I frequent (at least initially).
- First, application CDs are physically available and the needed license keys for reinstallation are at hand. Try going into the average small business, why not take a tour of your own office, and compare the CD collection with the installed operating system and application software, you might be surprised how challenging it is to get your hands on all of these “critical application” sources.
- Data files are stored in a way which makes migrating to a new system relatively painless. If data files are strewn across a patchwork of directories, folders, and drives, the migration process becomes more involved and the risk of data loss much more real. These factors often lead to using professionals for the upgrade process which adds to the conversion cost and may well tip the equation back towards repairing the workstation even if the technology is clearly antiquated. The fact of the matter is, migrating from an old system to another is too difficult. There are tools such as Aloha Bob which make the relocation process less painful but these aren’t perfect and, in the case of this software solution, not free.
- The cause of the original problem can be effectively eliminated by the upgrade. Obviously, if the upgrade is driven by a hardware related failure, the problem can be avoided (at least until the new system experiences its own issues). However, if the problem involved severe virus, spyware, software conflicts, or other issues, there exists the very real liklihood the replacement workstation will experience a similar fate unless it is properly set up initially. Even with the best of intentions, getting all of the proper utilities and applications installed and configured properly often falls beyond the expertise of anyone “in-house” bringing a professional IT person back into the equation.....
- Your time is also money! Whether you use your local network or computer repair technician such as myself, or ask your in-house enthusiast to handle the steps needed to replace a damaged PC with a new system, time is required. You may discover that the process takes more time, especially for someone in a SOHO or small office environment who doesn’t tackle this kind of thing routinely, than you are willing to devote. Often the down time involved by yourself or staff is simply not worth “the savings.” This doesn’t mean considering a system upgrade may not be worthwhile, but you might consider including some flat fee installation price which myself and others offer. This may entail sharing the burdeon, allowing a professional to get the new system securely online with critical updates in place, while you or your group take responsibility for reloading application software (or paying an additional hourly fee for this service).
At the very least, I hope this article provides some thoughts and ideas which might get you thinking about how to handle that next crisis. You may want to discuss alternatives with your local computer repair expert. Better yet, before the next tragedy strikes, how about finding those CDs; getting your data files organized; perhaps even considering use of a tool such as Norton Ghost, which can create an image file of your current system which can make the transfer to a new hard drive or new workstation even easier.
As the price of hardware continues to fall while the price of onsite, expert, help, remains relatively constant in today’s dollars, the decision to upgrade or repair becomes more interesting for us all.....
]]>While every business has a right to develop different pricing structures based on different target audiences, Dell has muddied the water so blatently that even those of us who price multiple systems a week, cannot confidently feel we are getting the best price at the particular moment of purchase. Detailed review of the variously available channels will unearth price variations which can be significant. Dell also now makes extensive use of online couponing and rebates which further muddies the pricing picture.
Note in the example cited above, the government/DOD price for this part was not the lowest (which you naively might believe should be the case given this customer’s undeniable leverage). Small busiiness wins this pricing “war.” Since this would be my classification, I suppose I should feel good that Dell sees fit to discount more heavily to those of us in the capital trenches. My concern is the next part number, the next system I need to purchase for myself or a client, may be on the losing end of the price spectrum.....
If you explore Dell’s affiliate program, with its myriad discounts, rules and regulations, you will find another layer of pricing considerations available to those willing and able to find a valid coupon code and make use of it under the company’s guidelines. Viewers of Dell’s web site will also find systems in various channels which are “almost” identical. You may find a PC which has certain hard drive options; video card alternatives; or “free upgrades;” which make direct comparison between channels difficult or impossible. This is of course by design, but further frustrates an informed buying process. There’s more. Radio and TV specials also allow for special promotion of systems which may be unique to these channels and therefore offer systems which are difficult to compare.
I still believe the Dell offers generally good “value.” This is an at times nebulous and overused term, but the company’s equipment does seem to perform reliable with as much “bang for the buck” as its primary competitors (particularly in the low to mid end PC systems market). I suppose in the final analysis, some buyer’s “value” is better than others......
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