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Is this the future?

I always like these videos from Microsoft on the future of “productivity” and interfaces. They say this is 5-10 years into the future….

The thing is most of us are probably still using Windows XP ten years after it was first released, I can imagine in ten years time a lot of us will still be using Windows 7 on our work machines!

I do like the concept of pushing stuff from one device to another, for me that is still a bit of a hassle even with services such as AirDrop and Dropbox. However I do wonder how easy it would be using the interfaces in the video to “accidently” push content from your device to some stranger’s device…

So is this the future?

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Apple announces iPod

Ten years ago Apple announced the iPod. Watching this video ten years later I am struck by how low key the event is and also what a risk it was for Apple to enter the portable digital music market. In some ways you could argue what a stupid decision for a computer company to make. Apple makes computers and laptops, not accessories for niche markets…

I am also struck by how different the Steve Jobs presentation style is to the ones he has done over the past few years. Ten years ago it looked like it was aimed at the people who would write about the product, sell the product and investors in the company. Whereas the presentations over recent years seemed to be aimed at the people who would actually use the product. Of course the slide presentation wasn’t done in Keynote… I believe it wasn’t even done in Powerpoint…

The iPod was really an interesting product for Apple to launch. At that time the only real player in the market was Sony with their portable CD Walkman players. Everything else on the market was very much on the fringe or niche. No one was really doing anything in that market that was really popular or mainstream. Also most of the players were very geeky, techy and ugly! Apple took a big risk when at the time their main consumer products were the iMac and the iBook.

The first iPod was, when you think about it, not really going to be a success. It was expensive, it was Mac only, it needed Firewire and there was no where to buy music, you needed to use iTunes to rip your CDS to mp3 and then transfer them across. No wonder at the time lots of people were sceptical and thought the iPod was doomed to fail.

I didn’t get one, partly as it was very expensive, I didn’t really use Macs at that point and I had a CD player!

I didn’t get an iPod until the fourth generation in 2004 (that’s me a late adopter) but wasn’t until iTunes added podcasting support in 2005 that my iPod became essential.

Of course the iPod has also changed opinions of Apple has a computer firm and many people I know when replacing their computer are replacing it with a Mac. The mainstreaming of Apple by consumers and the success of devices such as the iPhone and the iPad can be attributed to the humble iPod.

Virtually everyone I know, had an iPod and though with the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod touch, ten years later we are probably seeing the end of the traditional iPod it’s not surprising that the iPod classic is still for sale and has basically the same form factor as that first iPod released ten years ago.

So do you iPod? Which iPod was your first and what do you now do for digital music and podcasts?

Thanks to Tony Vincent for the video link.

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Insufficient Bandwidth


I really do like the speed of my fibre connection so was slightly annoyed whilst watching a programme on BBC iPlayer on my iPad to get this message.

It said that You have insufficient bandwidth to play this programme.

This was puzzling as I usually have no problems with streaming video… so off to speedtest.net and a quick test.

Well that was surprising and slightly unexpected. My usual download speed is 37Mb/s, under 7Mb/s is much slower than normal.

I did a reboot of the modem, but that another helped slightly.

The plan this morning was to turn it off for twenty minutes and see if that made a difference. However a check this morning saw that my speed was back to normal.

I don’t have an idea why the speed dropped so much, might just have been a one off, but then again it may be something else. Will test the speed later this evening and see if I get similar results.

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Compare iPhone 4S with iPhone 4

Useful video comparing speed of iPhone 4S with the iPhone 4.

I remember when I had a work 3G and I went out and got a home 3GS the speed difference was certainly very noticeable.

I am at this time tempted to upgrade my home 3GS to the 4S, mainly because of the camera, but the speed it appealing too.


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Wagamama QR Code

This is another one of those mainstream uses of QR Codes that fails to deliver for the consumer.

Regular readers of the blog will know that I have been noting where I have seen QR Codes in the mainstream, in other words in the places regular people will see and use them.

This particular QR Code was in the noodle restaurant chain of Wagamama. It was a link to make a group booking.

As with many mainstream companies the link goes to their full website and not a mobile optimised version. You have to work out which link to click…

Then you need to fill out a form.

Which is quite long and complicated and not that easy to fill in using a mobile device…

It would appear that Wagamama like a lot of companies using QR Codes are failing to realise that people who scan in QR Codes are scanning them in from their smartphones and as a result the web page they are directed to needs to be optimised for the mobile browser. Though Mobile Safari is pretty good at rendering full size websites and the browsing experience isn’t that bad, a mobile version of the full website is normally a much better experience.

A good example of how it can work better is the QR Code used on a BBC cooking programme, though the QR Code wasn’t on screen for very long!

What the Wagamama experience shows is once more that QR Codes are been used because they are “cool” and “trendy” or they are responding to advice from a “consultant” of some kind. It would appear that actual process from start to finish and when I say finish I mean going pass that initial URL that the QR Code sends you to and then trying to book, enter or whatever you are suppose to do hasn’t actually been tested or carried out by “normal” people. What might be even more worrying is that testing had actually been done and the process was considered to be “normal” and “okay” as the users hadn’t experienced anything different!

What I actually think this means that though the mobile web is here and is been used by lots of people, there are still many companies who don’t actually realise that!

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WiFi with my Coffee

Caffé Nero Coffee

Last summer I posted a couple of blog posts about free wifi and coffee. In August I noted that some coffee shops in LA were getting rid of the free wifi because of problems with people nursing a single coffee and using the wifi all day and the way that a place full of people just using laptops would “kill” the atmosphere. In July I did think, despite Ofcom’s warning that providers of free wifi would be held liable for the actions of users on their network, that we probably would still have free wifi, but we would need to register to use it.

Since then I have noted a couple of things, my local coffee shop (a Costa franchise) has free wifi and it does have strings, you need to register before you can use the internet, and you need to have a code from the barista. So we have no “no strings” wifi there.

However I was pleased to see one of my favourite coffee chains (not sure if this is the case with all branches) have moved away from an expensive wifi hotspot model to free wifi model.

Enjoying the free wifiIn Caffé Nero on Bedford Stree in Covent Garden I went in for a coffee and was pleased to see that they were offering free wifi.

They are using the The Cloud and from the marketing material in the cafe it did appear that this wasn’t a “no strings” wifi arrangement, you would need to probably register.

I only had my iPhone on me, so I decided to use that and give it a go, and was pleasantly surprised to find that once connected to the wifi I was good to go and no need to register. Now of course with my phone deal I have free wifi with The Cloud and BT Openzone so I am guessing that this was the reason I didn’t need to register as I already had at some other The Cloud wifi hotspot.

Now don’t get me wrong I much prefer conversations with my coffee, but if I am on my own and drinking coffee it’s nice to have some internet access to get on with a few e-mail or have an online conversation.

However I am hoping that as a result of Caffé Nero’s free wifi that other coffee places will follow suit.

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QR Codes on the Train


Travelling back from London I found on the back of the seat reservation cards on the First Great Western train I was a QR Code competition (or draw).

I didn’t actually notice them until I was getting off the train, the main reason they’re on the back and I was sitting at one of those rare table seats so didn’t have the back of the reservation card facing me.

You’re not really suppose to remove them I guess, so you’ll probably spend time trying to scan it in from your seat with the person sitting in front of you wondering what on earth is going on!

So quite a nice idea really by FGW, scan in the QR code and enter the competition, but alas the execution failed really!

Rather than use a QR code to create a text message it was only an URL which then sent you to a standard web page (not mobile optimised) which you then needed to fill in all the details.

It’s obviously not really a competition, more a draw to gather in personal information to send you loads of marketing materials. I don’t have much of a problem with that as you don’t have to enter and that’s all competitions are really, a way of gathering data.

However I couldn’t really see the benefit of using a QR code here, the point of a QR Code is to reduce or replace the need to enter text using a mobile device. However in this case the text you needed to enter (even the bare minimum) on the web form was way more than if you decided not to enter via QR Code and use the SMS entry details. It also assumes that you have 3G access on the train (no wifi with FGW) and that is most certainly not always the case.

This really was a pointless exercise in many respects and really missing an opportunity to take advantage of what QR codes can offer. To prove a point, this is one I created which will allow you to send an SMS just by scanning the code.

You won’t need to add any more information (in theory you need to add your e-mail address) and FGW will then get your entry and your mobile number; so they can then start sending you marketing SMS text messages.

As for the competition and the prize? Well if you do enter and win, you win an Amazon Kindle. Nice I guess as it is a great device… however when will you know you’ve won?

So the 8th August 2012, nearly a year away, by which time there will be new and different devices available.

As you will realise if you read this blog on a regular basis that we are seeing more and more QR codes in the mainstream, both media and corporates are using them, in the main for marketing purposes. However the execution of them is in many ways poor and done without thinking about the end user trying to scan and use them.