With Bill Gates’ retirement this week, there’s been an excuse for lots of chatter about his career with Microsoft, and what they have done in the world of computers over the years.

I came across this post about “Things No One Gives Microsoft Credit For (But Should)“, which I thought seemed a bit… uninformed. But I was surprised to realize that it was posted on Gizmodo, which I had expected to post more accurate and educated content. So, as there is nothing good on TV right now (or more specifically, nothing good on “my” TV right now, thanks to my wife) I thought I’d pick it apart; (more…)

June 30th, 2008 | Devices and User Interfaces, Freedom, The Internet, WWW | No comments

In 1961, Arthur C. Clarke said that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

In an age where devices with 160Gb and a colour screen can fit into the front pocket of a shirt and be taken in people’s stride as regular a day to day device, wireless internet connections are (to me) the area of technology where magic still exits. The fact that on the latest iPods, I can watch videos on a screen which takes up more of my field of vision than my TV but is thin enough to fit into a suit pocket without spoiling the lines impresses me- but it’s when I’m near an internet hotspot and I can instantly watch one of hundreds of thousands of YouTube videos that I’m still amazed; especially when considering that just 5 years ago, broadband internet penetration in the UK was at just 7%, and the restricted bandwidth meant that the idea of just streaming audio was difficult to take seriously- let alone streaming video.
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October 22nd, 2007 | Devices and User Interfaces, Mobile Web, Other Media, The Internet, WWW, Web Content | No comments