Beware of first movers How do new technologies enter the market, achieve success, and become widely adopted? It doesn't happen overnight. The Technology Adoption Model is a popular way to describe how new technologies are absorbed -- and it has a lot of implications for IT markets.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

Thursday, April 3, 2003

Home truths: businesses are falling behind, and most professionals have better computers at home than they do in the office....
Guardian Online
Schofield column

Beware: hoax emails are not coming from Microsoft, but it is easy to check. Putting word processed files on the Web -- software can help, if you have a lot of them. The problem with touchpads on notebook computers, and processors generating heat. Alternatives to Outlook Express. Backchat: another way to remove the games from Windows 2000 and XP.
Ask Jack

Lock-ins that aren't any fun Did you pay too little for your mobile phone? Why are games consoles sold at a loss? And isn't it strange that cheap printers don't cost much more than their ink cartridges? These are all examples of price manipulation that rely on at least some vertical integration and some degree of lock-in. Of course, the companies that provide "good deals" on the initial purchase have to make their money back, and more, on running costs -- mobile phone charges, printer cartridges, games or whatever.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

Thursday, March 27, 2003

Adam Osborne, who has died aged 64, launched the first successful portable computer, the Osborne 1, though actually it was a mains-powered luggable machine. He also created Osborne Publishing (which continues as part of McGraw-Hill) and launched Paperback Software.
Obituary: Adam Osborne
The Guardian

A look at the Dell Axim X5, Hewlett-Packard iPaq H1910, and Palm-based Sony Clié NZ-90, which includes a 2-megapixel (1600 x 1200 resolution) camera.
Guardian Online: What's new: PDAs

Dealing with Lop, NewDotNet and other PC parasites. Ports on the internet. Removing the games from recent versions of Windows. Backchat: we're still seeking a replacement for MyBBC.
Ask Jack

The search for standards In the computer industry, everybody believes in standards -- especially if they own one. Users depend on them. But where do they come from? Obviously there isn't a single answer....
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

Thursday, March 20, 2003

The Oscars, and places to vote for the nominees you want to win. The tale of the Raging Cow: the blogging world is being used to promote sugared, flavoured milk drinks. Tara Calishain's Google Hacks book is out now. Wanted: nominations for the UK's Silver Surfer of the Year. Nick Crowe's Axis of Evil ring tones. ZeFrank plays with names (and anything else you type in).
Guardian Online: Web watch

Getting rid of those unwanted porn pictures -- and removing other personal information if you plan to sell an old PC. Converting Web pages into plain text. Looking for a UK-oriented personalised news service. An unofficial site where you can find out which services you can stop in Windows NT and XP. Regret upgrading a program? There's an Oldversion.com Web site where you can sometimes get that old version back. Backchat: making MP3s. Ping with Mac OS 9.
Ask Jack

Battle of the browsers When the computer industry was vertically integrated, it exploited "lock in", which discouraged users from defecting to alternative systems. Today's interdependent suppliers are more likely to talk about "buy in" as a way of sustaining thier platforms. In the browser wars, Microsoft used "buy in" to support Internet Explorer and defeat Netscape Navigator.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

Intel launches Centrino -- a new Mobile Pentium chip set that includes Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless capabilities and delivers much better battery life.
Guardian Online

Which format for music to go, MP3 or WMA? Installing Wi-Fi -- it may be too soon to go for the faster 802.11g version. Is your mail being sent? BCC: copies to yourself and you can check. When the net slows or stops, use ping and trace route to find the hold-up. Backchat -- readers recommend software photo albums that preserve and use EXIF data.
Ask Jack

Portable PCs based on Intel's Centrino chip set should have a much greater appeal in the business market because time is money and purchases should be able to demonstrate a clear return on investment. Whether it is worth making the much bigger step to Centrino-based Tablet PCs is another matter, though Intel and Microsoft will be glad to trouser your money if you do.
Computer Weekly

Monday, March 10, 2003

Obituary: Roger Needham, former head of Cambridge University's Computer Lab, and founder of Microsoft Research in Cambridge.
The Guardian

Boxed in (Web exclusive)
People often confuse computing and consumer electronics, though they are very different industries and work on different principles. But personal computers are becoming more like consumer electronics devices, and in the future, that could change....
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

Thursday, March 6, 2003

Duct tape, and duck tape, and things you can do with it. Two sites to support the Department of Health's mental health anti-stigma campaign. Lavasoft has launched a new version of Ad-aware. Primal Art -- the exhibition of the forthcoming Sony PlayStation game. Virtual U: an educational simulation game that lets you run an American university. Images from New York collections. Six of the best: F1.
Guardian Online: Web watch

EXIF -- reading and saving the picture data from your digital camera. Potect your privacy on the Web, and visit a site that will audit your PC. Stopping those pop-up ads that arrive via the Windows Messenger service. Symbols for male and female. How to get a window back on screen when you can't grab it with the mouse.
Ask Jack

When innovation is a bad idea (Web exclusive)
Almost everyone pays lip service to the idea that innovation is good, but very often it isn't -- it can be more trouble than it's worth. Sometimes it's actually a "negative benefit", when it involves a variation from market standards, as it did with IBM's launch of the PS/2 range of personal computers in the 1980s.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

Thursday, February 27, 2003

A spammer in the works -- and how you can greatly reduce the amount of spam that reaches your mailbox.
Guardian Online

Sending large files via a mobile phone is probably not a good idea, but you can compress them first, and split them into parts. The page to visit if your browser has been hi-jacked in favour of Searchex.com. Floppy disks still have their uses. Backchat on Windows NT (2000/XP) software compatibility, premium rate phone numbers, and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP).
Ask Jack

Integration's what you need (Web exclusive)
Here's another paradox: every year, the computer industry offers more and more power, and more and more capabilities, but does it with fewer and fewer parts. The secret of success is integration, and it is happening at every level of the industry.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

DIY: Build your own PC. What to buy next after Windows 98. Windows XP: product activation and registration are two different things. A porn link that comes from mis-typing the address. AutoCorrect in Microsoft Word. Backchat: AOL parental controls, and the company that got a huge bill for dialling 090 numbers.
Ask Jack
Guardian Online

One program to rule them all (Web exclusive)
Here's an interesting paradox. The computer industry is widely acknowledged to be one of the most brutally competitive markets the world has ever seen. So why are most segments of the market dominated by a single supplier? Both old fashioned and new fashioned ecomonics have answers -- economies of scale; network effects. But in the end, the answer often boils down to: "well, it makes life easier".
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

Thursday, February 13, 2003

Wi-Fi is the simplest way of installing a home network and making a broadband Internet connection available to several computers. A new generation of systems that combine Wi-Fi with a broadband adaptor, such as BT's new Voyager 2000, make it even easier.
Guardian Online

St Valentine's Day, and William Gibson's new book, Pattern Recognition. Lana Clarkson, the B-movie queen killed in the Spector case. San Diego is Googletown. Send your complaints about poor service by text message to Grumbletext. Meet Zoe, the AIM (or AOL Instant Messenger) chat-bot. The ice warrior who plans to walk to the pole (not a Dr Who character). Ze's on-screen kaleidoscope. Six of the best: Valentine's Day.
Web watch

Filtering out spam, and tackling spam in AOL mailboxes. What is the best alternative to AOL? Buffering and breaks in streaming media. Backchat: more on typing the musical marks for sharp, natural and flat, and how to see the BCC: list in Outlook Express e-mail you have sent.
Ask Jack

Microsoft needs to find new markets in order to generate growth. The launch of the Xbox games consoles and Smartphone 2002 software are among the recent examples. But it is also starting to get serious about an area it has more or less ignored for 25 years: business software solutions, such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Although not ready to take on the heavyweights such as IBM and Siebel, it's a market Microsoft has marked out for "consolidation": ie takeover.
Computer Weekly

The open road to success (Web exclusive)
Palm's strategy is to avoid Apple's mistake, and turn itself from a vertically-integrated company into one of many supporters of a horizontal platform. Vertical integration is a good way of opening up a new market by offering "the whole product". However, in the long term, no single company can supply everything users of a successful platform will need. They need to get other companies on board to produce a choice of hardware, software and services, and drive down prices. It means switching from the vertical to the horizontal approach. Apple failed to do that when it mattered, but Psion and Palm are among the companies trying to make it work.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

Memory on the cards: a round-up of the main types of memory storage card from CompactFlash to the mini-me RS-MMC cards that are coming soon. These cards are used in all sorts of gadgets from palmtops to cameras to voice recorders and MP3 players, and you may well end up with several incompatible types. Here's what to watch....
Guardian Online

What can you do (in the UK) if you have an e-mail "stalker". How to protect your personal files in Windows. The GuardianUnlimited Web site and access for people with disabilities. How to get a dynamic Web page sent by e-mail. Looking after lithium-ion batteries. Getting flat and sharp on the page with a musical font for Windows and Mac. Backchat: phone drop charges, and running Turnpike software under Windows XP.
Ask Jack

The joys (and risks) of being horizontal (Web exclusive)
The computer industry has turned through 90 degrees during the past 25 years. In the early days, it made sense for manufacturers to be "vertically integrated," supplying complete systems -- hardware, operating software, applications etc. The problem with that is that it locks users into proprietary and, inevitably, expensive systems. But, particularly after the launch of the IBM PC, the industry has changed to horizontal structure with competition at every level. That competition has expanded the market and driven down prices. However, the problem with chosing "best of breed" parts is that users have to become their own IT managers and system integrators.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

The Smoking Gun has what The Who guitarist Pete Townshend wrote about child porn a year ago. Habeas uses a haiku to show e-mail is not spam. The EU is having a Year of People with Disability and IBM is aiming to make Web sites more accessible. Listen to old-time radio at RadioLovers. The Ten Second Film Competition (short enough to enter with many digital still cameras) and This Page Intentionally Left Blank. Plus: Six of the best online photo albums.
Guardian Online Webwatch

If you are getting lots of e-mail from big@boss.com, it's a virus, of course. Opt out: spam from Opt in Marketing. How to control cookies. Sites to help you rip DVDs to CD, free. Is a Wi-Fi system in the lounge a health risk? Back chat: securing e-mail with PGP, and "typo of the week", Simsbury's.
Ask Jack

Why VHS was better than Betamax (Web exclusive)
The triumph of VHS is frequently cited as an example of the market choosing inferior technology. This reveals far too simple an understanding of the market and the way consumers buy things.If you look at "the whole product", you can see buyers making rational decisions. However, if you look deeper, it turns out that VHS wasn't inferior technology -- the story is an "urban myth" -- and Betamax actually lost because it didn't do what consumers wanted.
Schofield on Saturday
Guardian Unlimited

Ripping a CD in Windows XP while avoiding WMA (Windows Media Audio). Changing Windows File Types to get multimedia files played with the program you prefer. How much power do you need to handle photo-imaging? (As much as you can get, usually!) Backchat: more on typing accents, and more on recycling PCs.
Guardian Online Ask Jack

Vote for the best of the first decade of the Premier League. Getting the Olympic Games to London. Where to socialise online -- The Sims Online, or There. Feedroom: broadband news on the Web, and an Online Homebase where you could keep jottings. Blo.gs for tracking your favourite blogs. Six of the best: Flight, the first 100 years.
Guardian Online Webwatch

Back after its seasonal holiday, the Ask Jack column points to places where you can recycle an old PC or Mac, and whether it's worth upgrading from Windows 98 to make USB connections. CD: the possible pitfalls of using "packet writing" software (or "drive letter access" software) for backing up data. Getting rid of Lop.com's browser hi-jacker. The solution to switching identities in Outlook Express 6. Backchat: readers suggest different ways to enter accented characters in e-mail applications.
Ask Jack

Clients are putting on weight. Not only did the "thin client"/Network Computer idea flop in the computing industry, things that used to be extremely thin clients -- such as phones and TV sets -- are getting fatter by the day.
Computer Weekly > Technology > Networking

The birth of the "information age" could look like a black hole to our descendants because they won't be able to read out data -- either because the hardware is no longer available, or no-one can read the file formats, or copy protection makes it impossible. The BBC's Domesday discs are a case in point since the hardware needed to read them has already become obsolete. The question is, what to do about it....
Guardian Online

Pixel of the bunch: some models to look at if you're thinking of buying a digital camera for Christmas.
Guardian Online

Christmas games charts: The Getaway has unexpectedly snatched the top spot from the GTA: Vice City, the fastest selling game the UK has ever seen. Deprived of the top spot, Electronic Arts dominates the rest of the charts...
Games watch

Christmas is a good time to back-up your PC (please, not as an annual job) or important file even if it means splitting a large file across several floppy disks. Encrypting e-mail. Unable to switch identities in Outlook Express after installing Service Pack 1. Entering accents/accented characters in Outlook Express. Backchat: Mac firewalls and Partition Magic revisited.
Ask Jack

Chip designers have been putting amusing little drawings on some of their bits of silicon, and you can now see the photo-micrographs online. The Spamarchive is collecting spam. The BBC's Celebdaq (a UK site like the Hollywood Stock Exchange) is to become the basis for a TV programme. The Victorian Dictionary; the search for Great Britons; and Forced Migration Online. Six of the best: digital camera sites.
Guardian Web watch

The C drive is full but you still have lots of space on D: what can you do about it? Mac firewall software. Plugging a Sony PlayStation (or other games console) into a PC monitor. Opera 6 crashing -- it's an ad thing. The jdbgmgr.exe hoax "virus" is still going strong.
Ask Jack