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Techno-Babble:
Index:
What's
Up With DTV
Some DTV
Basics
PC Enhanced
Paranoia
Serious PC Over-Hype
Not Just for Guys
Vinyl for the Best
of Us
Coming. .
Dr. Von Z's
Komputer Trivia
Much more to come . . .
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Dr. Von Zuko's Unusual Sports
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Techno Babble: Personal Computers
PC Enhanced Paranoia
So, you just got that hot, new, state-of-the-art,
drop-dead-golly-gee-wiz, does it all, PC out of the box. You've been
told that it can do
just about everything you could ever imagine, from running the latest 3-D virtual reality
screen saver, to some serious last minute number crunching on April 14th. And, wow! It's
pre-loaded with a whole bunch of really cool and "free" software
(you believe that right?). Now that you're nearly ready to go, and
leap headlong into the "wired society" there's
just this one little issue you've been reading about and need to address,
okay maybe there's really several issues for you to worry yourself sick
about.
The
Learning Curve:
First, its got so many bells, whistles, and widgets, it looks like you'll need to take the next six weeks off of
work just to master some of the basics. Of course, the guy in the
store that loaded you you up with all this cool stuff, told you . . . just
plug it in and you'll be good-to-go in less than ten or fifteen minutes .
. . yeah right! (This guy sold you your programmable VCR too.)
The
good news is, that regardless of what you learn, the technology now
changes at a rate measured in weeks (not months or years), so once you've
mastered the basics, you'll have unlimited new opportunities to learn even
more new things.
The Importance of Ergonomics:
Second, you're now trying to figure out if your current desk
or table top is really the most appropriate alter for this ultimate tool of
absolute knowledge and
power. May be you should have sprung for that cool ergonomic desk and
chair ensemble, with the articulating keyboard platform.
After all, the book says if you don't get all the angles just right . . .
you could suffer a long list of computer induced maladies.
Natural
Disasters, Utilities, and You:
And what about "lightning bolts" from the sky? Thank God
you bought that 25,00 joules Surge Protector/Battery Back-up unit.
You just never know, think of the hundreds of times that the homes in your
neighborhood have been struck by lightning.
Then
of course, there's the electric company, you just never know when they
will randomly send an extra 50,000 volt surge down the lines and into you
house. Or worse, what if the power goes out right in the middle of
your best round of Battle Tetris? Your battery back-up will preserve your
score and your sanity.
Now
let's not forget the phone company, why they could also send massive jolts
of electricity down their lines at any moment. Just think about the
last time you were on the phone and you we're jolted by that high burst of
energy. Well, better safe than sorry, and the good news is . . . you
can buy special products to protect you from each of these
disasters. Thank god you're protected. But did you buy enough
protection?
Cyber
Attacks and Plague:
Now what about cyber attacks or system intrusions? After all you're
going to have some pretty secret stuff on this system of yours, and why
would any hacker ever go after a large international conglomerate or a
bank's computer systems, when they could target you? You just may
need to go back to the store and spring for that "firewall"
stuff the sales guy tried to convince you to buy. (You're not sure
what a "firewall" is, but you sure don't want those hackers
poking around in your system . . . do you?)
You
also got to watch out for computer viruses, especially if you're the type
to open emails from perfect strangers who start off with salutations like
"I Love You." There's no getting around it, you gotta'
have the latest and greatest in virus protection. Why do you know,
that so many new Virus programs are appearing that the companies building
the Anti-virus software can barely keep up with market demand? But
don't worry, you'll always be able to buy the most recent anti-virus
programs and updates.
Physical
Security:
Do you have adequate locks or man-traps covering all of the possible entry
points into the room? How will you ever protect it from . . . your
room mate, the spouse, or the children? Well, you've set up
passwords for everything you could possibly set passwords for. The
PC's operating environment, each of your hard drives, your Internet
service account, various applications, and more . . . (Just be sure
to hide the list you wrote them all down on! oh, you didn't write
them down, you trusting your memory?)
You
could just rig the door knob to your old 40,000 volt (dc) stun gun!
Ouch! But, since you can't find the gun's battery charger . . . it
wouldn't protect your system for very long. Now, you could also
build an iron cage around your system, that would be great, only you would
have the key. But wait . . . remember the lightning?
Fortunately you purchased that cool motion detector/system lock (you sly
devil you) that will set of a screeching 115 decibel alarm if anyone cuts
the cable or try's to mess with the combination (you did write down the
combination?)
The Price of Admission:
While you are contemplating all of these critically important issues, it suddenly occurs to you
that this thing scares you . . . it intimidates the h-bee-gee-gees out of you . . . what
are you doing (you ask yourself)? You're not a computer geek . . . you never even
liked science, and let's forget math, you really struggled with algebra. And now you have
this thinking machine? You only bought this thing because:
a.) you just wanted to get on the Internet
b.) it's required for the classes you're taking, you got no choice.
c.) it would help you organize your life and save you lots of work
(snicker)
d.) your kids whined for seven or eight
months that "everyone else has one."
e.) or just because the people you work with
kept giving you an incredulous
look and saying, "whaaat no PC? . . . everyone else
has one."
So after many months the "Spin Doctors," your friends, your kids, wore you
down. They finally broke your will, and you took the plunge, the BIG
plunge. As you un-crate all the exotic cyber accessories, with their
cryptic instructions, you contemplate all of the challenges to
participating in the "wired society" you reflect . . . you could
have purchased a really nice "Big Screen" TV for this kind of money.
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We're Talking Serious Over-hype Here
Now perhaps you've noticed, our world has grown so
information obsessed, and the news media so competitive, that even the weather today is a
"Media Event." If the streets get damp, the local stations start
interrupting programming or scrolling "wet weather" messages at the bottom of
your TV screen. Well surprise, surprise . . . the same thing happens with the PC
market. Hype, hype, hype, and let's not forget hype. Some of the best media events
today. . .focus on PC's and the "Information Hype-way." (sorry, I mean
high-way)
So how does it happen? Well, first thing to
think about is that most of the folks who write for the PC magazines are
journalists. In general, they are not engineers, not computer scientists, not
developers, but journalists. They rely to a great extent on the product managers,
the developers, and the engineers to give them a good understanding of the emerging
products. In my days as a professional product manager in several large computer
companies, I would routinely blow smoke up the ahhh . . . ear of our journalist friends,
give them cool logo emblazoned golf umbrellas, coffee mugs, and some free demo
stuff. In return, they would write super reviews on the new PC and software products
we were readying for market.
Journalistic
Spin:
Since the journalists try to focus on "what's
next" in many of their articles, they tend to address only the more exciting aspects
of the product or only the capabilities that the manufacturers tell them are
important. That's not to say the writers don't care or don't know better, it's just
that reports on exciting "New" stuff sells their magazines and gets the
manufacturers to buy more advertising. When the over-hyped products are finally
available, consumers are more often than not, disappointed with the actual product.
You paid more than you paid for last years product, and you can't see much difference
other that a new widget or two. For example, you'll never really see any
meaningful
performance difference between a 750 MHz system and a 1000 MHz system, but you will get to
pay the premium price for it.
Obsolescence
Control:
Additionally, the hype is the means by which
manufacturers "control" the obsolescence factor . . . and convince us all that
we need a newer, faster PC with all the latest bells and whistles, every 6 months.
Fact of the mater is, that in today's PC market . . . unless you are very, very, rich you
can't afford to have the shiniest new toy on the block for long. . . a new model is
available every 90 days and the new product introduction rate is accelerating. This
is, of course, how computer companies stay in business today, the products aren't
really
all that much improved, they just need to get at your money faster than their
competitors can get at it.
Now I'm not at all suggesting that PC journalists or
the manufacturers are bad people. Quite the contrary (usually). Both provide valuable
contributions to our increasingly wired world. What I am suggesting is that their
goals and your goals don't always line up. They want to (continue) to sell lots of
new systems (or subscriptions) year after year, and you usually just want to run a
spreadsheet, surf the web, or play Doom (version X). It's a "what do you want it
for?" kind of decision. You can save significant sums of money by answering
that simple set of questions.
Memory is more Important than MHz.
For example, here in my "Tower of Twisted Thought," I have six or seven network
connected systems, ranging from the latest P3 technology with tons of memory (this means
really, really fast) to 133Mhz Pentium with a lot of memory (this means adequate).
For our development projects, or highly specialized applications, (and maybe
a few "Super 3-D
Games") I do require a fairly powerful system. However, for normal stuff, like
WEB surfing, a few cool games, spreadsheets or word processing, the things most home
computer users do, I've not found anything that won't run reasonably well on any of my
aging PCs, including an old 90MHz 486. The real secret is not
processor speed, it's just to have plenty of memory installed.
Of course my
counterpart "techno-snobs" in the industry would sneer and say "get rid of
those old boat anchors" . . . "get REAL PCs." (It's macho-cool to
have the fastest and latest) It's not really their fault however, they're just blinded by
the light . . . it's sort of a sickness. And . . . I've certainly "been there .
. . done that."
Good
Deals to be Abound:
These are really great times for people who want a
good deal on a nice WEB-capable multimedia PC. If you need a system that allows you
to do all the essentials, like surf the WEB to track news, sports, or stocks, play a wide
range of way cool games, or use a word processor to write a few memos, or a tax program to
do your taxes, there are a number of bargains to be had.
There are literally hundreds of (what the media
would call) "prior generation" systems available at prices well below
$1000. I have seen many 366 to 500 MHz systems that can be had for $400 to $700 with
monitors. These systems can be more than adequate for any home-based use, and serve
you reasonably well for years to come. There are just a few key points to keep in
mind when buying a "prior generation" PC.
Megahertz (processor speed)
doesn't really mean
much, you won't see much visible difference between a 400 and a 750Mhz.
Buy all the memory you can afford, or all that the
system can hold (which ever comes first) but never less than 64 megabytes. Memory
is cheap these days and the pay back is way large.
Go for a video board with at least 2 megabytes of
memory (more will give you better images and animations.)
Buy as much disk space as you can afford, but never
less than 4 gigabytes. Disk is cheap these days, so 8 gigabytes would be worth the
added expense.
Get at least a 6X or 8X CD
ROM drive. Drives as high as 32X are available,
but you typically can't really see any difference in performance.
A nice WAVE Table sound board (if it's not already in the deal) will give you
high-quality stereo sound. You'll need speakers too.
And last but not least, make sure to get a modem that runs at 28.8 Kbps or
faster. (if you really want to splurge, a 56Kbps modem would allow you to run at
the highest possible speed over a phone line, but you'll need to make sure your internet
service provider support this speed.)
By keeping these seven points in mind, you should
find yourself with a very capable PC, that will meet your needs pretty well. Of
course your more PC savvy friends (blinded by the light) will ridicule you for saving a
thousand or more bucks, but forgive them, being an adult is hard.
And
if you really want "cheap" look for old 486's at garage sales or
auctions. I still sometimes use a 75MHz 486 to surf the Internet and write
a few memos. And guess what, it works just fine.
Be
the Envy of Your Friends (for 30 days):
Now, if you do decide to splurge for that hot new, state-of-the-art,
drop-dead-golly-gee-wiz, hair-on-fire-fast, "does it all," PC . .
. just be aware that with typical personal productivity or game software,
you may never ever even come close to scratching the surface of all that power and
capability you shelled out big bucks for.
You
will, however, ensure two things. Thing number one, you'll probably get six or seven
good years out of
it (I'll only have 2 or 3 more years left in my old Pentiums by then) and thing number two, no one will
make fun of you for having a prior generation PC . . . at least not for the next
30 to 60 days.
Dr. Von Zuko
(2000 ©)
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