Unenthusiastic about the "Un-PC"

LIKE a bad penny that keeps turning up, the idea of a thin computing client refuses to die.
Its latest reincarnation is the $100 “Un-PC” that Newsweek trumpets in its Feb. 12 issue as a replacement for the personal computer.

A company in India called Novatium has begun selling the NetPC for only $100, but here’s the catch: it has no hard disk, very little memory to speak of, and uses a cheap processor of undisclosed origin that’s more typically found on mobile phones. The software? Zip. You’ll have to subscribe to that, including the operating system, which will be rented out to you over the Internet. You can’t save your files locally, either—you’ll have to send them back to the server over the Internet.

A similar device, called NetTV, can also use a regular TV instead of a computer monitor, guaranteeing eyestrain at a tear-inducing resolution of 640 x 480 pixels.

Any takers so far?

The “magic” that will turn this pile of cheap electronics into a working computer is the network.

Programs would be bundled along with Internet access, and sold on a subscription basis—say, for $10 a month, says Rajesh Jain, Novatium founder.

Neither Jain nor the glowing Newsweek article by Jason Overdorf makes clear if this $10 a month is on top of the NetPC’s $100 price, but the concept is clear enough, if not new.

Jain acknowledges that he was inspired by the network computer touted in the 1990s by Oracle Corp. head honcho Larry Ellison, who boldly predicted at the time that thin clients would kill off PCs. That never happened, and the company Ellison set up to sell network computers went belly-up a few years after it was launched with much hoopla.

But Jain believes he can succeed where Ellison failed because Western markets already had a lot of PCs and resisted change. Jain’s home base in India, with far fewer PCs, could be more fertile ground for a radical change in personal computing.

Jain also says the NetPC will feature many of the advantages that Ellison’s network computer had--centrally managed software updates, simplicity on the desktop client and low cost.

Inevitably, Newsweek compares the NetPC to the $100 laptop being promoted by MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte. The comparison is pointless. The NetPC is aimed at companies and home users in urban areas with broadband connections. Negroponte’s laptop is aimed at poor schoolchildren in remote Third World villages that might not even have electricity.

Yet Newsweek seems to be on a hobbyhorse, implying that Novatium stands a better chance of success because its owners are motivated by profit, in contrast to Negroponte, who needs donations and subsidies to get his project off the ground.

The article points to today’s Web-hosted software and data storage—but neglects to say that most of these applications still run on full-featured PCs.

Making a string of assumptions about network computing, Newsweek’s enthusiasm goes into overdrive: “This formula could provide a long-sought bridge over the digital divide—and may just change the way the average person thinks of computing....And if the winning formula turns out to be Jain’s, or something like it, it could kill the PC altogether.”

Unfortunately, Newsweek gives us few specifics about how this will come about. In fact, it offers precious little information about the NetPC itself or how well it performs in comparison to a regular desktop computer.

Novatium’s Web site isn’t much help, either. It doesn’t say what kind of processor the NetPC uses or how much memory it has. A spec sheet says it comes with network, microphone, speaker and video ports and four USB 2.0 sockets and runs on an embedded Linux-based operating system, but no other details are available.

This paucity of information is worrying.

There are many theories about why Ellison’s network computer failed. One view is that the concept was ahead of its time because broadband access wasn’t as widely available back then. Another explanation was that PC manufacturers had cut prices so dramatically that full-featured computers didn’t cost much more than Ellison’s thin client.

These two factors are arguably less important today for the NetPC.

But even if the speed of my broadband connection suddenly doubled tomorrow, I still wouldn’t trade in my PC for a $100 NetPC and here’s why. First, I run applications that would crawl over a network. You can do word processing reasonably well over the Internet, but don’t try manipulating a 60-megabyte graphic file or editing video over a network unless you have a lot of time on your hands. And hosted applications will slow down as more users get on the network.

Second, I like local storage and I have a hunch most people do, too. This is why we save data files to the hard disk, keep backups of important files, burn digital photos onto CDs and fill up MP3 players with our favorite songs. We like having this stuff available, even when the network isn’t.

Finally, and perhaps most important, I like the freedom to run any program I want on my computer without having to get it from some centralized server. This is what drove people from dumb terminals and centralized computing in the first place, and this is what will keep thin clients out of the computing mainstream for years to come. The PC let the genie out of the bottle, and it will take more than a rehashed network computer to get it back in.

From Digital Life by Chin Wong

http://www.chinwong.com

Chin Wong has been covering the technology industry since the 1980s, starting as a reporter for Business Day, Southeast Asia’s first daily business newspaper. He is now a lecturer in journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines and associate editor for the Manila Standard Today. Before that, he also served as technology editor of the Manila Times until October 2004.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chin_Wong

Dvd Ripping Has Never Been Easy

There have been many instances or occasions when I have rented several DVDs during my holidays and was not able to watch them all. I almost wasted my money for getting these DVDs on rent until I was suggested to look at this cool software Imtoo DVD Ripper by one of my friends who suggested I should rip all my DVDs to another format which can be stored on my laptop for a later watch.

I was thrilled with the way he described this software can do as it was great to hear about all of its features. I immediately downloaded the software and installed it in very easy steps on my laptop running windows XP. All the files were installed correctly without any errors and once I opened the application interface it appeared as if I had a DVDs case sitting right inside my laptop’s monitor.

It was an amazing experience looking at the stylish looks of the application. I read through the readme.txt file which was very informative about the things this software can do. It can convert my DVD VOB formats to a VCD, SVCD, DivX, WMV, ASF, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, Xvid etc. I believed my friends verbatim and considered giving a shot at my favorite DVD movie to be converted into an AVI format.

It took me less than a minute to click on the source (that was my DVD disk) and the destination (a folder on my local computer) and hit the start button. It took a lot less time than other ripping software existing today as I was tired of experimenting with many conversion tools with dissatisfaction rate growing every time. But as a matter of fact, I loved this utility as it took 45 minutes to rip my DVD into a 615MB AVI format with DVD quality picture and sound.

I was amazed how less importance this software has got today. To me this is the best software I have ever found for ripping my DVDs into other convertible formats.

While I was experimenting with this software I learned abut many other features which include:

· An easy to use application interface which we have already learned above. · A tool for any age group as long as the interest lies in ripping the DVD into another storage format. Give it a shot and you will find a satisfactory experience every time you use it. · The software automatically performs CPU checks to make sure it gives priority to your DVD ripping than any other application without any operating system hang-ups or crashes. · A preview mode which could act as a status bar for the user to know the level of DVD ripping software has reached. You can watch the movie at the same time it is being ripped on to your local hard drive. · Another cool feature is the chapter collection process which allows the user to pick and rip the chapter they like along with the subtitles, movie menus, DTS audio, languages etc. You can also pick and choose only an audio track to be ripped as well. · An excellent batch conversion process allows users to use good multi threading CPU feature to rip more than one file at a time.

Overall a great piece of software which allows the DVDs to be ripped into various different formats with good quality audio and video. A must download program! Try it for FREE

Ted Peterson writes for CoreDownload, a shareware archive where you can find a large variety of dvd rippers and converters like Imtoo DVD Ripper.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ted_Peterson

Malaysia Online : Related Link
howto rip dvd to avi mpeg wmv mov mkv

Two Printers, One Computer

Most people might think it is silly to have two printers. One can do everything that two can, right? So why have two? There is a simple reason why I, like many others, chose to have two printers instead of just one. One is set up for color printing while the other is black and white.

People do this for many reasons. The first reason, and maybe the least helpful for the printer, is just organization. Having one printer set for color makes it easier to focus all color tasks to it and not have to worry about changing printer settings, worrying about readjusting the quality of changing settings, and trying to remember if it might be out of ink for the certain task. With each printer have its own purpose, it is easier to manage it and keep it stocked and properly aligned.

Another reason is to keep the printers healthy. With the printers assigned differently, it reduces the strain on them by distributing the work. It isn’t one printer doing 100% of the work and getting all the paper jams, errors and other physical injuries within the system. It’s two printers working to help each other out, getting more breaks and keeping the engine from overworking. This lengthens their longevity while increasing the quality of their products.

The drawback, of course, is space. Two printers takes up at least double the space of one printer. It can be even more of a hassle when one printer is a bit larger than the average sized printer. Properly preparing for this and setting aside the right space along with keeping the computer desk and area organized and tidy is the best solution to this problem. Once you keep in mind of how hard or easy it will be to load the fresh paper and ink into the printer and how much space it will take up when the papers are printed, usually because of a pull out paper catcher, the space issue really isn’t a problem.

Another drawback can be the cost. Two printers is more expensive than just one, but there are usually lots of great deals to help with this. When buying a new computer, or sometimes even going to get a new printer and equipment, one can find lots of good deals going on. Finding one that can get you a second printer at a discount may not always be easy, but when it is there it is quite the opportunity. Even without and the cost seeming a bit more than one would want to spend, the outcome is well worth it. The longer-lasting printers with less problems will quickly be worth their cost.

Two printers may not be for everyone, and maybe some people still don’t agree with the benefits outweighing the drawbacks, but it is a much smarter move in the long run especially if you are planning on printing things out a lot. Whether a college student or someone starting up a home business, or even just the casual person that likes to write or make homemade cards for people, it is a great idea to get two printers. The less downtime with readjusting and fixing problems, the easier your life will be.

Jake Rose is an artist and an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jake_Rose

The Worth of a 4-in-1 Printer

People tend to be nervous when spending money on something a little different than they are use to. This can be the case for when someone is presented with the choice of buying a simple printer or a 4-in-1. The penny pincher in them may be leaning toward the simple printer, but the opportunist in them is probably thinking about the 4-in-1. A regular printer is nice, but a 4-in-1 is a very handy tool to have.

What is a 4-in-1 printer exactly? A 4-in-1 printer has four components to it all rolled into one package, just as its name suggests. These four components are: a printer, a copier, a scanner and a fax machine.

The printer part is easy to understand in why it will be helpful, but what do the other parts have to benefit? Let’s look at small businesses, many from home offices, a growing trend these days.

4-in-1 printers are great for any small business. They provide everything the business could need to help them grow. Probably the most used feature, depending on the company, and the most obvious is the printer aspect of the machine. This is essential to a business for printing out important documents.

A business will highly benefit from a copier too, and it saves both physical space and money to get them in one machine. A copier allows the business to save time when dealing with a project or documentation that needs to be printed in bulk. Many 4-in-1 printers can work independent of the computer they are attached to, and being able to use the copier without the hassle of having to turn the computer on can save time. This is a benefit of having a 4-in-1 over just a printer.

A scanner is also very handy especially when dealing with websites or creating documents with images. Many people may think that images aren’t important to their business and that they have no use for a scanner. This is not true. A little artistic touch can liven up any business and turn a dull website into a busy port of views. Not only can they liven up a website with a bit of art, the scanned images can provide detailed information about products and locations. A scanner can also help transfer important images and visual information from one computer to another. This is a benefit of having a 4-in-1 over just a printer.

A fax machine in the printer allows for quick and easy transformation from one location to another. Fax machines alone are becoming outdated because of the ever-growing popularity of the internet, but a 4-in-1 printer provides internet faxing which is becoming a very handy tool in the business world.

4-in-1 printers are not that expensive, either. It is easy to find a good deal for them at a price not that much higher than a regular printer. They are handy for businesses and for home use too, so they are definitely worth considering to buy. At first some of the features may not seem that important, but once you have them you will definitely find many uses for them and the 4-in-1 printer will earn its worth very quickly.

This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.Facsimile.Com which is a site for Fax Machines.

Jake Rose is an artist and an author from Massachusetts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jake_Rose