Friday, November 21, 2008, 07:01 AM
The Acer Aspire One has helped Acer become the largest European pc seller by volume. The Acer Aspire One has everything you would expect from a small laptop but its sub €300 price is what makes it so attractive. This was achieved by using the Intel Atom processor and by using Linux as its operating system.
There are two variants available a Windows XP version and the less expensive Linux version. Judging by the sales volumes, people have voted with their feet and wallets and have declined to pay the Windows tax. And the savings by going the Linux route are quite substantial. Linux will operate on the lower specification model, whereas Windows XP requires a higher specification model and you have to pay Microsoft for the operating system.
The popularity of these small netbooks has forced Microsoft to review the future viability of XP as Vista was clearly unsuited to these devices.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the Acer is that it has changed the market place forever. It is now possible to make computers with mass appeal and ship them with a Linux operating system. Asus a competitor of Acer were first to market such a device but Acer shipped a cheaper and more attractive product and had the courage to stick with Linux in the face of commercial pressures from dominant players in the market.
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Wednesday, September 27, 2006, 02:04 PM
Although Bono the lead singer with U2 made an appearance at DEMOfall 2006 in San Diego yesterday, the real stars of the show were the emerging technologies that will affect peoples lives.
One such technology that made its debut was the USBCELL from Moixa Energy. The USBCELL pictured above on the left is an AA battery that can be recharged from a USB port on a PC. This means that you can recharge your batteries without the need to carry a specific charger. A really compelling product with an immediate application.
The USBCELL pictured is just the start. Simon Daniel, founder and director of Moixa Energy is a passionate advocate of rethinking the Energy Axiom which is the basis of the 20th Century power supply, the AC mains distribution system. Today there are a plethora of small electronic devices with associated adaptors, plugs and cables which are more suited to a low voltage power supply. If we used this low voltage power supply for these devices then it would mean that renewable energy such as solar and wind or micro power generation would be practical.
When I talked with Simon Daniel, we discussed the applicableness of this low voltage power supply in countries and continents with largely rural populations like India and China and Africa. Universal mains electricity in these countries is neither economic or environmentally justified. The low voltage power supply could be used to power cell phones, radios and computers. Thus enabling these communities to join the information society.
I dont know whether Bono or Simon got to talk but I do know that Bono has a long term interest in Africa and alleviating the poverty of contless millions. To people in the west we could dismiss having a radio as just a means of entertainment but in Africa radios can save lives by educating people about AIDS or by providing accurate weather forecasts that can help farmers save their crops.
David Howe
David Howe is Managing Director of Howe Systems. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not represent company policy.
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Monday, September 11, 2006, 11:45 AM
I sometimes enjoy reading the Dell catalogue that lands on my door mat. One item caught my eye. Dell now recommend that your PC have 1GB of RAM to Vista proof your new investment. Vista is Microsofts replacement for Windows XP.
Dell no doubt know what they are talking about. But it begs the question, why do you need 1GB of RAM. Not so long ago a PC with 128MB of RAM was adequate for most desktops. Now to stay current you need 1GB. Why?
Could the answer be that this has less to do with direct user benefits and more to do with policing user behaviour and that hot potato Digital Rights Management.
By the way if you have a laptop chances are that Vista is not for you. A significant number of laptops do not have 1GB of RAM and will not support 1GB of RAM.
Its going to be a hard sell putting Vista on every desktop and laptop. Basically change or modify all your desktop machines and make a leap of faith and buy an untried operating system.
David Howe
David Howe is Managing Director of Howe Systems. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not represent company policy.
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Friday, August 11, 2006, 11:01 AM
I have recently started an AdWords campaign. For any of you who don't know what AdWords is, do a search on Google and keep an eye on the right hand side of the search results page. You will see paid for advertising on the right hand side of the page. These are AdWords.
What is interesting about AdWords is that it results in highly targeted advertising spend. You select your message wording and you select hidden keywords that will trigger an impression of your adevertisement on the search results page.
You pay per click to your chosen landing page. You set the budget per month or day and depending on the package you've chosen you can set the maximum cost per click for individual keywords.
Certain keywords cost more per click than others and the more you are willing to pay the more impressions you get. However Google do not charge the maximum cost per click all the time. Google actually have a bidding engine that sets the price per click and the more you are willing to pay the higher the position of your advertisement.
Considering the revenues that AdWords generates, how do you know if you are getting fair value for your bid? To be honest I don't know the answer. How do you put a value on words after all?
Well, Google have found a way of putting a value on words. As they say in Readers Digest -'It pays to improve your word power'. Google no doubt agree!!
David Howe
David Howe is Managing Director of Howe Systems. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not represent company policy.
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Wednesday, August 2, 2006, 11:20 AM
Mozilla recently announced that Firefox has recorded its 200 millionth download of the web browser. This places Firefox amongst the most successful internet ventures in history. With great features like tabbed browsing and pop-up suppressors Firefox has set the standard for others to aspire to. Firefox has emerged from the rubble of the old Netscape browser by way of the Mozilla project.
As a long time user of Firefox, it is difficult to contemplate using any browser that does not support tabbed browsing.
Why is Tabbed browsing so useful? It reduces clutter on the desktop and allows the user to open multiple sites and skip between them seamlessly. Just imagine you are doing comparative shopping between several sites, with Firefox you have a sane way of comparing the offers from vendors.
And when your finished, you can close all the sites on Firefox in two clicks. The second click is to verify you want to close all the current tabs. No need to hunt around your desktop for open websites and multiple pop-ups. Sanity in an increasingly insane world.
David Howe
David Howe is Managing Director of Howe Systems. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not represent company policy.
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