Gadget Wisdom

We thought we would point our readers toward this CNET discussion about Why Our Gadgets Break? It seems illogical that older electronics were built to better quality standards, while the new ones are built cheaply and designed to fail within a shorter period of time in order to encourage upgrading, but that is the truth with many things.

Engineers have designed objects designed to fail for years. Otherwise, how will they sell electronics to people satisfied with their old reliable pieces? Even if they themselves are not designing this way…the push to make the cost less expensive forces them to use cheaper materials…integrate components…The only positive side is that it forces engineers to find clever and often better ways to do things with less.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier this week that the Microsoft Zune…its new digital music player fails to live up to expectations and will likely be gone not long after it arrives.
For all we can say about the Ipod, both good and bad, several companies have come up with alternatives worth considering. Most of these companies, Sandisk, to name one, look for ways to target features and markets Ipod does not.

If anyone had the power to disrupt Apple’s 85% market share, it was Microsoft. But it appears that their product has dropped the ball. Zune is not even compatible with the staple of Windows media experiences, the Windows Media Player. Even the touted wireless feature only allows transfers to other Zunes, not to allow transfers from your computer wirelessly.

Time for Microsoft to drop this like they dropped Microsoft Bob.

The other day we received an email advising us that Vista was coming and suggesting we download the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. Vista is due to be released in January, and the smart move is to review the information. We all know eventually we won’t be able to hold onto XP and be forced to shell out money to Microsoft.
So, we tried the Vista Advisor on a Dell E1405 laptop running Windows XP Media Center Edition. It informed us that Windows Vista Home Premium appeared to be the best version for us. Home Premium is akin to XP MCE, it includes Windows Media Center.
The other flavors of Vista are Home Basic, Business, and Ultimate. Home Basic is equivalent to the current Home version. Business includes not only the advanced networking functions that are stripped out of every XP version but Pro, but extra security tools and backup. Ultimate includes all the business functions and the Premium Media functions.

The question you must ask is: Why Switch? Ultimately, as we mentioned, XP will be obsolete, fewer and fewer programs and drives will run, and we’ll feel the peer pressure. But for the early days, until it is time to replace a computer…what makes Vista worth it?

Pricewise: Home Basic will retail at $199, $99 for upgraders; Premium $239, $159 for upgraders; Business, $299, $199 for upgraders; Ultimate, $399, $259 for upgraders.

Now…you could buy a computer for these prices…not top of the line…but should your OS cost as much as the system? If you buy OEM, they will probably give you one of these options, most likely Home Basic. But for an upgrader or a builder…let’s get into more detail.

Vista overall makes useful improvements in multiple areas. The majority of XP Users log in using administrative privileges to have full access to features and thus leave themselves open to various security issues. A new feature called User Access Control allows one to log on as a standard user but perform certain tasks with enhanced privileges. This is possible under XP using the RunAs command…however its implementation is not convenient. Either way, many programs written for Windows do not properly implement their own security under the XP Security model and may not under Vista. PC Magazine noted that the feature is plagued by implementation problems and frequent popup windows that may cause users to disable it entirely, negating its point. Other security improvements include Microsoft Defender, an antispyware program and IE7 which was just released for XP.

On the useless, or at least minimally practical side of things is Windows Aero, a new graphical user interface that will require state of the art processors and graphical hardware to be able to run. It looks nice, but those who buy Home Basic won’t even get it and many power users will turn it off to avoid the performance hits.

There is more…increased search functions, new designs, and it will come out at the same time as Office 2007(Another product to dump your money on).
If you decide to buy a computer from a manufacturer before Vista is released though, note that some manufacturers as well as Microsoft itself will be offering free upgrades to Vista if you buy during the holiday season, since it was unable to release in time for the lucrative holiday sales market. For more details on the various manufacturers, click here.

In conclusion, if you get Vista…enjoy it. But it is not yet worth the investment. For those of us a bit more frugal, we will be unveiling a new category here on Gadget Wisdom…Free Software. Remember, Free does not mean bad.

Redhat’s Fedora Project is scheduled to release its sixth version this Thursday, October 19th.

We’ve been using Fedora since it was Red Hat’s personal edition…since Version 7.1. There are times when Windows is being particularly difficult that we contemplate ridding ourselves of our Windows machines and going totally Linux. For those of you who think Linux is complicated…remember, the learning curve may be a bit higher than Windows, but it offers the same graphical user interface and desktop features most computer users are used to.

Fedora Core 6 offers improved versions of its desktop management programs, Gnome and KDE. All applications that use dynamic linking have been rebuilt with new code that improves performance by fifty percent, and performance of various subsystems and applications have been significantly improved.

The new version now supports Mac machines running Intel processors.

It means in a week or two, when the various repositories are updated and the download lag eases, we’ll be upgrading our Linux-based computers. We will have more information on our personal view of Fedora Core 6 then.

For those of you who have rejected Linux as an option…just remember…almost anything you can want is available for Linux, and it is pretty much free. How much does a copy of Windows XP cost? Or Vista when it comes out? And how much does Microsoft want from you to upgrade?

Yesterday, we discussed some interesting alternatives to the the DVRs offered for rental by cable and satellite companies. However, as SeekingAlpha reports, TV Monopolies Benefit From DVR Industry Competition.

Tivo recently unveiled a high-definition version…however the pricing requires several hundred dollars of investment even with box rental from the company. Tivo offers a monthly service plan. If you buy your box, you pay a few dollars less per month. Like a cell-phone plan, you own the phone at the beginning of you contract, but there is a termination fee.

Tivo’s biggest problem is the same problem found with most other DVR systems…if you have a set-top cable box, you have to use an infrared emitter to change to channel…essentially, the same technology your remote uses. Despite integrated cable-ready tuners, digital tuners are much less common, and there are issues with descrambling content.
The FCC mandated plan to solve this problem is the CableCard. CableCards are supported by TIVO. Frequently Asked Questions about the Cablecard can be found here. Simply, the Cablecard is a card that fits into a special slot on Cablecard ready devices that stores subscriber information and codes for descrambling the television signal. Thus, the cable company, by renting you a Cablecard, can allow you to use your own tuning equipment.

Currently, there is no real standard input on cable boxes or satellite boxes to allow for remote control. Cable boxes serve four basic functions - view television channels, descramble channels and premium programming, identify the customer who has them and authorize access to features they purchase, provide two-way interactive communications to download program guides, pay-per-view, and video on demand. The current version of CableCard does not allow for two-way communications, but a future version will.

The FCC has also barred cable companies from offering integrated boxes to customers in the future, although the implementation deadline has been postponed several times. The cable companies fought the mandate requiring Cablecards and lost last month. The industry makes about $2.5 billion a year leasing boxes to consumers. Cable operators say they have developed new downloadable technology that will be less expensive to deploy.

OpenCable is that technology. It includes both hardware and software components. The hardware portion would define the standards for whatever electronics device incorporated the standard. The software portion would create a common platform for television applications that could be implemented on a variety of hardware platforms.

Now, even if this big portion of the barrier to universally usable DVRs is removed, there are still issues. The cable companies have had problems with their own DVRs, simultaneously, Tivo has wonderful user interfacing, but they have some features lacking on their hardware. Easy integration with the television signals(cable or satellite), for one.

All new cable tuners must have firewire ports on them. As we’ve mentioned, the cable companies don’t want you to have them, and will put many obstacles in your path should you wish them. But if you have a compliant firewire recording device, a D-VHS recorder, you can record all programs that allow recording. Computers have no support for the encryption protocols used, so you will only be able to record unencrypted content. Encrypted content can either be set for record once, or record never. Unencrypted content is set for record always, and is usually broadcast TV.

For cable company DVRs, there are many advanced features, but there are many reported software bugs, especially in the versions of the software for the box customized by the various cable companies. The SA8300HD, the top of the line from Scientific Atlanta, includes an external Serial ATA connector to add additional drives, but it and various other ports are often disabled by the cable company.

DVR machines are actually embedded computer systems with hard drives, specially built to handle their functions. But if it were that simple, there would be many Tivo clones out there. But this isn’t that true, and won’t be until better compatibility standards.

Until then…your best bet is building a MythTV or Freevo DVR and dealing with the various limitations…or giving in and renting from your provider. Your provider may not be as good as Tivo…but they certainly cost less.

CNET UK has an intriguing opinion piece on consumer electronics is causing the death of childhood and imagination and an open letter to the British government in the Daily Telegraph from 110 teachers, psychologists, children’s authors, and experts calls on the government to prevent this.

We wonder about the next generation and if they will be capable of taking on the future. We have no doubt that a technology based world is changing things. When a five year old has more mastery of a computer than their parents, we cannot say the world is not changing. However, if it is all for the worst, we doubt. We do however, believe we have some problems we must overcome.

The problems of society though, are somewhat beyond the scope of this blog. We bring it up so that you keep in mind, while we are very much in favor of a tech-filled world…it can occasionally be damaging to us.

Legacy hardware consists of hardware or ports no longer necessary to the availability of better alternatives.

• Parallel port - You would be hard-pressed to find a non-USB printer nowadays. So why do you need the port?
• Serial port - While there are still some devices that still run off of serial ports, they are rare enough that one could purchase USB->Serial Converter cables for the last ones and eliminate that port as well.
• Floppy controller and floppy drives - Floppy drives and floppy disks are fairly rare nowadays. We’ve removed them from all of our computers in favor of one external USB floppy drive for emergencies. Most people will find a USB flash memory drive is not only more durable, but can store more in less space
• IDE connectors - We have yet to fully rid ourselves of 40-pin IDE connectors. While hard drives now come with Serial ATA connectors, which are smaller and more efficient, removing the headaches of master and slave that come with the IDE system, CD/DVD drives have yet to switch over in any large majority.
• Analog Video Connector - The 15-pin VGA connector, despite having been around since the earlier days of VGA monitors, shows few signs of going away. The newer standard, DVI(Digital Visual Interface), not only transmits to the monitor digitally, but usually has the pins to transmit analog signals as well in order to remain compatible with the older standards.

In this modern world, we tend to wonder about the customer service experience. The goal of companies seems to be to make the most amount of money from you while doing the least amount of work. Whenever a company diverges from this and provides quality service, we feel they are not only worthy of our business, but worthy of loyalty and perhaps more money than an equivalent product from a more shoddy company.Even companies with poor service records will have their shining moments, however. CNet News reports here that cable and telephone providers are working to improve their images. Traditionally, these companies have had monopolies in their markets and are thus not concerned about competition. But, a few years ago, the long distance and local telephone companies expanded into each other’s markets. This was followed by both cable and telephone companies offering broadband service. Now, thanks to companies like Vonage, not only are the cable companies breaking into telephone service, but the telephone companies are offering internet-based telephony.The cable company is offering telephone service, the phone company is offering television service…The monopolies now are merely on methods of distribution. The largest cable companies have, to keep their customers, increased service spending by 48 percent this year as opposed to the same time last year.

One of our own recent experiences with our local cable monopoly took three weeks to resolve…and while we were only requesting the latest functionality in cable boxes, they kept sending us repair technicians, cancelling appointments for unknown reasons, etc, and finally admitted that the only way we could get what we wanted was to head down to their payment center and find it ourselves. Which we did.

Issues with service are not simply confined to post-sales…In a recent article here, Computer Shopper went undercover to rate several major computer chains with their attempt to purchase a computer.

Is it unrealistic to expect quality and competent service? Or is customer service merely an undertrained person sitting in a cubicle reading instructions from the company website to us and providing little helpful information? More on this to come…