Do you even remember what a computer looked like in the 80’s? I sure don’t, I would have been between the ages of 1 and 8 in the 80’s, so I would not have used one. I know that my family did not own a computer till I was about 14 and I had to use MS Dos to play games and stuff. Here is a link to a video of a computer from 1982, it is neat to see how they looked and worked back then.
I have to admit first by telling you that the advice that I am about to give I truly believe in, and yet I had yet to do it myself. I have over 1000 photos on my computer that are very important to me and yet I have yet to ever back them up onto discs, DVDs or even a external hard drive. I know for a fact however that you really should be backing up your data as much as possible, like every month if you can. I do plan on buying a 500gig external hard drive to back up my hard drive data and I pan to do this at least every month. I cannot stress enough how very important this is, especially if you have data on your computer that you really care about such as, family photos, family videos and more. Go to Amazon or Best buy and get yourself some backup discs or a external hard drive and back up your data.
I’m underwhelmed. But maybe Verizon and the RAZR can grab people looking for a high quality “phone” that don’t need to surf the ‘web’ and watch videos of dogs skateboarding.
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First off let me be honest, I don’t have an iPhone and I don’t intend on buying one. It’s not that I don’t like it, or think it’s pretty fricken’ sweet, or that it’s too expensive (it is). The reason I’m not buying this generation of iPhone goodness is simply because it’s the first generation of this device. Let me share a story about another Apple product that has done exactly what Apple is envisioning for the iPhone; total market dominance.
A friend of mine bought one of the original iPods, for those of you who forget what that product actually looked like and worked like let me remind you:
Scary I know, not only did this iPod look rather ugly, it ran like Windows ME. Now at the time the newly announced iPod from Apple was undoubtedly the hotness, and looked like pure sex compared to what we had seen before it. However as time passed, and mobile devices continued to evolve in form and function Apple slowly and wisely updated the iPod to it’s now current beautiful form. Once the first video iPod was offered I snapped up a 40 GB model and am enjoying it to this day. It doesn’t look as bad as the first one and doesn’t crash like the first one did (not to mention iTunes is 50% less crappy… just another 50% to go).
The point of that little walk down memory lane was twofold, a; first generation Apple products (and for that matter tech products) are always weak when compared to the second and third revisions and b; it’s wise to wait for Apple to revise these devices as you’ll gain features and pay less and end up with a truly superior product just like this current generation if iPod’s show:
On to the good stuff. From the blanket and absolute crushing coverage of the new iPhone around the web I’ve gathered some observations and made some guesses as to what the new iPhone should have. I’m calling it the iPhone 2 only for confusion’s sake as I’m sure Apple will have it’s own name for the new device (and no it’s not the Jesus phone)
1. Better camera. Currently the iPhone has a 2 mega pixel, no flash no frills camera that doesn’t take video. The 2 megapixel/no flash thing can be excused but the no video support is mind bogelingly stupid oversight on Apple’s part (it’s got YouTube support hello!). Unless my sources are wrong, the second gen iPhone should have video, more mega pixels and possibly a flash and better motion support.
2. More memory. This is an obvious one and almost isn’t worth mentioning but I’m sure Apple will (and should) up the amount of space available for the user to store data.
3. Better battery. It’s barely out on the market but I can already see the blog posting, forum rants and customer petitions starting now. Consumers are never happy with battery life on new gadgets and this generation iPhone is no different. Look for better power management from a smarter OS or a battery replacement option in the next iPhone.
4. 64 bit Vista/XP support. Small one but support should be there.
5. Multi carrier deals. We all know this is coming but Apple should offer this phone across the board to the other evil wireless companies. This will help drop prices which is good for the consumer and increase penetration which is great for Apple.
6. Better keyboard. There have been reports of some laggy keyboards especially when confronted with talented thumb wielding Blackberry addicts. I’ll say the jury is still out on this one but I am certain Apple will focus on improving this aspect of the device with the iPhone 2.
7. Faster network/3G Support. The problem the iPhone is presenting to the wireless networks in the United States is finally users have a proper browser to use, and actually want to take advantage of their new multi media cell phone which includes the ability to send and receive large amounts of data. Much like YouTube, and Bit Torrent as well as Napster before them the iPhone is going to help push along the advancement of these wireless data networks and actually allow users to take full advantage of the features this new device offers. This should only improve over time, and once the iPhone 2 is ready, the providers of wireless networks like AT&T, Verizon and others will be scrambling to support his new user trend.
8. Gaming support?. This one is a bit of a stretch (and was thought up by me) but the iPhone presents a unique chance for Apple to take some of the Nintendo/Sony money in the handheld gaming market. They should take the Nintendo approach and go simple and addictively fun with their games. There are tons of Flash web games available now that are simple and provide geeks with hours of unproductive fun on the web within the browser. If the iPhone offered and promoted this feature to users/developers they should have a very nice gaming system on their hands and bring in some money with in house developed apps and accessories/licensing deals.
That’s the list. I’m sure it’s full of logic holes and will spawn thousands of flaming emails from Apple fanboys but I welcome that. If you have an idea for this list leave it in the comments and I’ll put it in the article with link gratitude.
Recently I was perusing Digg and came across and very popular article about Intel and Google working on developing and pushing more efficient PSU’s.
Roughly 50 percent of the power delivered from a wall socket to a PC never actually performs any work, according to Urs H ölzle, Google fellow and senior vice president of operations. Half the energy gets converted to heat or is dissipated in the AC-to-DC conversion. Around 30 percent of the power delivered to the average server is also lost.
The article stated that Google was already using this tech which promised over 80% efficiency and that it only commanded a $20-$30 premium over “regular” PSU’s without this tech. The stunning aspect of this was how inefficient modern PSU’s are, especially compared to the relatively inexpensive energy tech already on that market.
I proceeded to make a comment on the Digg story asking of anyone knew of PSU’s on the market today that use this tech. Digger Bashar Teg replied with a suggestion to look at Antec’s EarthWatts line of power supplies which claim to be “ATX12V ver 2.2″ and have Active PFC. I headed over to Google and found a page on Antec’s site outlining the EarthWatts products.
Do your part for the environment with EarthWatts power supplies. The earth is our most valuable resource and protecting and preserving it for future generations is of utmost importance. EarthWatts is available in three highly efficient models—380 Watt, 430 Watt, and 500 Watt—and are all 80 PLUS® certified, the newest standard in power supply efficiency. And that means that using EarthWatts will save you money on your electrical bill. Fully equipped with universal input, EarthWatts automatically works on any power grid in the world. And the built-in Active PFC makes EarthWatts the ideal way to reduce electrical waste and protect the environment.
Next stop was Newegg to search for these EarthWatts PSU’s and see what other buyers are saying about them (Newegg’s best feature) and the current prices. I was surprised to find that the prices were very reasonable and Neweggers were actually buying them and saying good things overall.
Here’s the price and review breakdown of each model:
380W for $59.99 5/5 Stars 8 Reviews
430W for $69.99 4/5 Stars 6 Reviews
500W for $94.99 5/5 Stars 5 Reviews
There may be other manufacturers using this tech, and I’m by no means schilling for Antec, I just used their line of efficient PSU’s to illustrate a point; There’s no reason to NOT be buying these for your new PC or even your existing power hungry machine.
So as Antec states on their site, do your part to help the environment and your electricity bill and invest in these new efficient PSU’s.
