Pad Frenzy – The next step in Mobile Computing?

As the deadlines pass for the WIFI and 3G models of the iPad and the frenzy over these devices continues to mount, one begins to wonder what all the fuss is about. Is the iPad the beginning of a new wave of mobile computing or just a fad? To answer this question, one needs to look at the mobile computing market as a whole.

Currently, netbooks are peaking in the market at about 7% market share. Market analysts believe that the netbook market will level off at this point and will continue to do well. This is a signal of its limited abilities and it’s specific design purpose. I recently purchased a netbook for my wife and she loves it as it is lightweight and portable and makes surfing the web anywhere in the house relatively easy. The drawback to netbooks is that these tasks are about the only thing they are good for. They cannot handle more complex or strenuous programs to run effectively. 

Laptops still make up the largest part of the market in terms of mobile computers and also have the widest variety of models, types, and specifications. Laptops provide interested users with a wide variety of price ranges and capabilities. The most volatile part of the laptop market lies in the price range of $500-$900, having a wide variety of capabilities. Still the laptop’s primary drawback is its portability in relationship to other mobile devices. It does serve a purpose in that it can perform a great number of complex tasks and is able to handle most software needs depending on the system configuration, however this power is also the reason for the aforementioned drawback. This leads us to a new segment of mobile technology introduced by Apple.

It’s been called a tablet, slate, pad, and a number of other terms as the new market has developed. For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to touch-screen computers such as the iPad tablets. Apple has long been known to operate at the forefront of technology when it comes to innovation and the creation of new markets. With over a million iPads sold in a little under a month, it seems Apple may have hit gold again and with it, a whole new emergence of a market segment that was previously nonexistent. The tablet PC defies the common thought that people will gravitate towards faster, smaller computers. While the processors are smaller, they are not faster than most laptops. So what makes them so popular? Tablets are configured to deal primarily with media (audio and video) which is increasingly becoming portable. This is because your favorite movies, games, books, audio, and other forms of media are all going digital. Therefore, it only makes sense that people would want a device which brings these digital media formats to their fingertips.

So, once again, we are brought back to the age-old question. Which one should I get? The response remains the same, it always depends on your own personal needs. If you are looking for portable entertainment, you should go with a slate device. If you are looking for a portable workhorse, you should look to a laptop. The iPad is the next step in mobile computing as can be seen by its tremendous sales. While this is the case, I strongly recommend that you wait to purchase new technology for at least 6 months while they works the bugs out and competition can bring more devices to the market.

Looking for a Class?

As I have taught a number of students and thus spoken to a number of parents, it has become apparent that there is an informational gap that needs to be remedied. There seems to be an overwhelming number of people who lack some of the fundamental knowledge we as a younger generation take for granted on a regular basis. Therefore, I have begun to design courses to parents of my students who want to learn more about computers and software. The first series of courses I will start this summer begin on the first of June and run through the end of the month. The course will cover Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (2007, the new version of office).  The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00-8:00 PM at BT. The cost for the course is $100 and the only requirement is that you have a laptop. If  you are interested in this course and would like more information, please email me at coachhollers@gmail.com. Thank You for your interest. I hope these courses will be beneficial for those interested.

Sexting, What is it and What can I do about it?

What is it?

“Sexting(a portmanteau of sex and texting) is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between mobile phones.(Wikipedia)”

Why should I be concerned?

First, from a legal standpoint, the fact that sexting can lead to jail time as the sending of sexually explicit pictures of minors is considered child pornography and is a felony.

Second, sexting is becoming more prominent and at even younger ages. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy conducted a study on the prevalence of sexting in teenagers. 39% of teens admitted to sending sexually explicit texts or images to boyfriends or girlfriends. Another 48% admit that they have received at some point in time such messages. Therefore, in all likelihood, in a class of 20 students, nearly half of them have sent or received a sexually suggestive message. That is your son or daughter!

Third, sexting rarely leads to positive outcomes. Teenagers in general are adapting and adjusting to a new world both in society and with their own bodies. The implications that suggestive messages or photos have can be devastating if handled inappropriately. Consider a situation: An eight grader at a middle school sends a nude photo of herself to her boyfriend (A freshman in high school). They then break up, and to get revenge, the boyfriend sends the image to a bunch of his friends. This picture continues to circulate the school. Don’t think it could happen? It just did at a private school in Atlanta. What are the consequences? The boy is going to jail for a felony, the girl is removed from the school that she attended, her reputation tarnished. Not to mention the immense emotional and psychological damage that was inflicted on those involved.

Why am I discussing this?

As a technology teacher, it is amazing to see the advance of technology that we have had in recent years. There are a number of positive outcomes involved in the advance of technology, but it is a double-edged sword. Like eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we have opened ourselves to both tremendous goods and terrible evils.  

Sexting is one of those evils that we don’t like to discuss and want to assume that our students are not involved in, however, it is obvious that it cannot be pushed under the rug any longer. Everyone must be confronted with the truth of how this perversion in the use of technology can cause harm to all involved.

How Can Parents Mitigate the Risk of Sexting?

First, be the unpopular one. While the steps I am about to outline are effective, they are not popular. Your student may be upset with you or consider you to be irrational. Just keep in mind the alternative is exploitation and jail time.

Second, ditch the data. Contact your phone provider and tell them you wish to block all MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING to and from your student’s phone. This will protect them against the felony issue of child pornography. They will still be able to text, though which means they could still participate in sending suggestive text messages. The next step will help alleviate this problem.

Third, check and recheck. On a regular basis and at random times check your student’s phone. Make sure your student hands it over immediately, so they cannot delete anything that is on it (this is why the random times is important also, so they do not expect you to check and therefore do not delete messages). Make it known with your student that this is a policy and expectation that you will enforce. If they don’t like it, then take the phone. As a side note, a number of cell phone services also provide monitoring of phone calls and messages sent to and from a phone for a nominal fee. The fee for AT&T is $9.99 a month and you can see not only who they are sending and receiving messages from, but you can also see the content of the messages. This is invaluable and should be something you add on to your plan if your phone provider offers it. How do you know if they do or not? Simply call your provider and ask them if they offer such a program. This allows you to discreetly check what your student is doing without them knowing and without their ability to cover their tracks.

Finally, knowledge is power. Equip your student with the understanding of the pitfalls of such actions and set down guidelines for what they should do if such a text or message is ever sent or received. This way the student has defined boundaries in which to operate and will be thankful to you for setting the parameters (even if they don’t say so).

Technology can be a blessing or a curse depending on what its use becomes, make sure that your child’s technology is the former and not the latter.

For more information, see the links below:

www.TheNationalCampaign.org/sextech

www.cosmogirl.com

Resources

"Sex and Tech | The National Campaign." The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. CosmoGirl.com, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2010. .

"Sexting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2010. .

WSB Radio. "Lovett 'Sexting' Scandal - WSB News on wsbradio.com." News/Talk 750 WSB on wsbradio.com. Chris Camp, 4 Mar. 2010. Web. 12 Mar. 2010. .

The Apple Dilemma

I am not among the first to think that Apple has revolutionized the way that we think about mobile computing and devices. The iPhone and iPod are both revolutionary devices which have not only created their own massive market segments, but have also carved out a permanent niche for Apple in portable electronics. This being said, recently Apple unveiled it's latest creation, the iPad. At first blush, the iPad seems intreseting, seamless in it's integration and another wonderful device from Apple. However, upon closer observation, this illusion is simply that, merely smoke and mirrors. So why is the iPad leaving so many people (including dedicated Apple consumers) in the lurch?

First, in a struggling economy, price is is essential to marketing a new product. At $500 for the lowest level iPad (with very little storage and no 3G), this product is placed well above comparable netbook computers.

Secondly, with a device that supposedly is revolutionizing mobile computing, it would seem that functionality would be key to Apple's strategy in such an emerging market. The idea of a tablet computer with the processing power of a netbook is a great idea and could provide a solid source of future revenue, however, most netbooks run a complete operating system (Windows 7 starter or Windows XP). The iPad simply uses the same operating system that the iPod Touch employs with a few minor modifications. Therefore, you still have difficulty in installing productivity software such as Microsoft Office, as well as browsers such as Firefox and other useful programs that may not be included in the app store. This is neither functional nor practical.

Third, there is no built-in webcam or camera device at all on the iPad. This comes standard with almost every netbook that you can purchase.

Finally, 3G costs extra. As aforementioned, price is becoming incrasingly important to the consumer and the more that price climbs, the less valuable this device becomes. The over $150 you have to add in order to simply get 3G capability is a distinct disadvantage when compared with most cellular providers whom you can typically get a free 3G card with contract. Additionally, as an iPhone user, I already have to pay a hefty sum for the iPhone data plan and with the iPad, I will have to pay for that data again as an additional cost. This seems repetitive and rediculuous becuase with the other cell phone data providers, I can share my unlimited data with any other device via a usb cable (called tethering).

In summary, I found the iPad to be a promising thought that was poorly executed and lacks the power of becoming a major force in mobile computing (it is essentially a bigger iPod touch). You are much better off purchasing a cheaper (and better equipped) netbook. 

Nexus One, the Next iPhone killer?

Many phones have come out which claim to be the next iPhone killer, however often fall short of this claim. Apple has cleverly carved a niche for themselves in the realm of apps, music, and portable media with the iPhone. So in this article we will take a look at Google’s new phone, the Nexus One, and see if it stacks up to all the hype. Below is a comparison chart of important features:

	iPhone 3Gs	Nexus One
Cell Service	AT&T	T-Mobile, (Verizon coming soon)
Touch Screen	3.5 in.	3.7 in.
3.5mm Headphone Jack	Yes	Yes
Camera	Yes	Yes
Camera Resolution	3 megapixel	5 megapixel
Camera Flash	No	Yes
Video Record	Yes	Yes
Speech Dictation	No	Yes
Multimedia Messaging	Yes	Yes
Size	115.5 mm High x 62.1 mm wide x 12.3 mm deep	119mm High x 59.8 mm Wide x 11.5 mm Deep
Applications Available (approx)	100,000	10,000
GPS Enabled	Yes	Yes
External Microphone	Yes	Yes (Noise Cancelling)
Price	199.99	179.99
Downloadable Applications	Yes	Yes

So what does all this mean? The nexus one has a number of interesting features which some iPhone users have been craving such as voice dictation (meaning you can speak into the phone and it types out your messages). This feature will go over well with those who like to text as it is much easier and removes the need for a keyboard. It also has a higher resolution camera and an LED flash. These are upgrades over the iPhone’s lackluster camera. As more and more people use camera phones as their primary way of taking pictures, this was a smart move on Google’s part.  The price point also being lower than the iPhone does help as well. The points where the iPhone edge out the Nexus One are in storage (Nexus One has only 4GB while the iPhone comes with 16 or 32 GB). Note that the Nexus one can be expanded all the way up to 32 GB, but that will incur extra cost through the purchase of a micro SD card (the small storage cards you often see in digital cameras and other phones). The iPhone also has the Nexus One beat in the application department with over 10 times more applications than the iPhone. The positive to this is that people are constantly developing new applications for the Google phones and should eventually catch up to the iPhone. The final comparison is the cellular service. The iPhone is currently offered only on the AT&T network (although that will soon change), which has a spotty at best data (3G) network and a questionable cellular network which typically makes you loose signal as soon as you enter a structure such as a house or office building. While I cannot say that I am impressed with AT&T and their overpriced, underperforming network, the carrier who Google chose to launch this new phone is definitely inferior to AT&T. The Nexus One was released on the T-Mobile network who provides a weak data network and spotty cell coverage. The saving grace in this is that Google will very soon launch the phone on Verizon where it will most likely discontinue the Droid phone which they have been pushing so fervently.

The final word:

The Nexus One is superior to the iPhone physically in a number of ways, from the camera, to the voice dictation capability. Where the Nexus One falls short is in the application and software integration side which the iPhone (combined with iTunes) definitely has an edge. The other area where the Nexus One falls short is the cellular service. While AT&T by no means is the best provider out there, they definitely trump T-Mobile in both their data and cellular networks. Both of these shortcomings can be, and most likely will be, overcome by Google Developers. So, is Nexus One the next iPhone killer, or just a passing fad? The solid foundation that Google is building with this new phone definitely has the ability to rival and eventually overtake the iPhone, however only time will tell if this actually happens.