FUD train?

Not really. I don't like the adverts and I'm glad such adverts would never get approved over here, but they aren't FUD.

Google Docs is great, as long as you don't need advanced features. If you have simple document needs and want good collaboration, then Google Docs is a great product. If you need advanced features and formatting, then you need a "real" Office suite. OO.o is streets ahead of Google Docs, but still has a lot of compatibility problems.

If you regularly need to share documents with companies using MS Office, there is no real alternative, if you don't want to look unprofessional or make yourself a lot of extra work.

The same works the other way, of course, if you have clients that use Google Docs, you don't really have a choice, but to work on Google Docs with them.

Having...

Just been through this last week, the MS ads rang a bell...

Last minute decision to pack all of the powerpoints onto an iPad for a show, Keynote corrupted them all irreperably, QuickOffice wasn't much better and Google Docs was hopeless... PDF to the rescue. :-S

Now I have the job of converting the last 10 years worth of presentations into Keynote for the next time and keeping the PowerPoint and Keynote presis in sync.

Who, oh, Ben Franklin...

Carlo Carlucci: It may interest you to know, we had another famous American diplomat staying here once: Mr. Benjamin Franklin.

J.J. Blodgett: Franklin? Oh, oh yes, Ben Franklin... Well, good man for his time. Of course, today, I'm not sure he could pass the security check.

I think that would probably be more true today than in 1972, when the above came out in the film Avanti...

Looking at how the US treats its citizens, I would say that the terrorists have won. :-(

Not so sure...

I think a lot more people can afford 50 quid to "get-to-know" the products, rather than splurge 3K on it.

I would say that it lowers the barrier of entry, a new start-up or self-employed person doesn't have to find a huge lump sum, they can give the equivalent of that lump sum out over 4 to 5 years... And if it doesn't work out, they can cancel their subscription.

Re: It's a solution looking for a problem

Two factor, or anything that requires a device is a pain.

I set up 2-factor on Google, then went to log onto Google with my tablet, only to realise I couldn't, because my phone was miles away!

The "something you have" has to be something you *always* have!

That said, the talk about biometrics always brings up images of Simon Pheonix in Demolition Man.

Re: Nice looking hardware

Try the K-Wagen test with your iPad, then tell me the Panasonic is still fuggly.

We used to use Husky portables, which makes the Panasonic look like a bargain. Still, if your Mercedes K-Wagen gets stuck in a field, you can wedge the tablet under a wheel and use it a leverage to get out of the rut. You then just need to pick up your tablet, go to the nearest stream, dunk it in the water to wash it off, then you can carry on working, where you left off...

The only drawback with the Husky was that, despite being one tough mother, if you accidentally put the battery in the wrong way round (there was no lug to ensure the correct orientation), you would blow out the motherboard!

Devices like the Toughbook and Toughpad aren't there to look nice, they are there to stand the abuse of a field engineer stuffing it in his tool box or letting it slam around in the back of his Transit, then getting caught in a downpour as he tries to fathom out the wiring in a telecoms cabinet on a street corner.

It might be more expensive than an iPad and it might not look as good, but if the enviroment it is being used in requires a tough device, it is a darned sight cheaper than buying a new iPad every couple of weeks...

It is like saying a Land Rover Defender doesn't look pretty, compared to an Audi TT... Drive both of them through a couple of thousand miles of tropical jungle and wash them down and see which one looks pretty... Oh, wait, the TT is sitting under 4' of water 950 miles back. :-D

Also, the testing process to get those certifications isn't exactly cheap. We've just been through the IP6x testing for our terminals and that adds a significant amount to the price, for additional R&D, in house testing equipment, ruined prototypes and actual testing at an acredited body. We got IP69K (it will withstand high pressure, hot water from all side - or a firehose at full power from 1M distance), but we didn't manage to get IP68 (dunk it to 1.5M depth in room temperature water); it let in about an egg-cup full of water after an hour.

(not wanting to get pulled for advertising, no company or product names)

@Dana W

And after 10 years, I just upgrade the OS on my non-Apple laptop... Windows cost 19€ and Linux was free. Both run very well on the old hardware.

My 5 year old iMac wasn't allowed to get the last OS update...

Re: Shows

Apple could learn a lot from others as well.

Here, in Germany, it is still a case of dud iPhones being picked up and returned 2 weeks later, hopefully, fixed. Other manufacturers deliver a replacement device, when the pick up the dud.

We've also had 7 or 8 defect iPhones delivered to us over the last couple of years. Always either Bluetooth and Wifi doesn't work, or the battery won't hold a charge...

@AC 1:12

I agree with you.

I upgraded to Windows 8 on my machines and I find it great, after a short time getting used to the changes.

As to the market slow-down, I think this has more to do with the move to ultra portable devices and tablets. These have less power than desktops from 4 or 5 years ago, which means that if the OS runs fast enough on a new Atom based tablet, then it is going to be more than fast enough on old kit.

That either means, there is no need to upgrade from Windows 7, because you don't see Windows 8 bringing you any advantage or you want Windows 8 and the old hardware suddenly runs faster than before, so why bother buying new? The only benefit buying new brings is a touch screen or maybe a touch enabled mouse or trackpad.

Add to that an economic downturn and soaring costs on essentials, like food, heat and electricity, it isn't really a wonder that people are looking at the current performance of their devices and saying "if it is still working, why would I replace it?"

According to figures, Windows 8 is selling in similar volume to Windows 7 during its entire life (20 million a month), although pundits looking to cast it in a bad light will look at the percentages, because there are more PCs around now than there were back then...

Re: What's the next stunning innovation? @AC 00:51

On the other hand, most people coming into IT over the last 10 years have no idea what a floppy disk is... I can't remember the last time I saved to a floppy disk, 1994, maybe... And with 99% of what I save going onto a server or directly into the cloud, a floppy disk is inappropriate.

I don't have an answer to what should replace the floppy disk, but the FD is no longer a suitable icon, especially for users who never used a computer before the mid 90s.

As for the skeuomorphism-hate, I have to say, I like it. The iOS apps and the changes in OS X were horrible! I much prefer the flat, clean look of Windows 8.

Re: Ouch!

On the one hand, all business relevant emails have to be stored for at least 10 years, for tax purposes, on the other hand, all emails older than 180 days are "public domain" for the IRS... Maybe they should pay the server costs for storing all those emails.

Re: Win 8 Pro - good enough for real apps?

@Afflicted_John A Mercedes A Class has the same logo on it as a Mercedes Actros, but you aren't going to get very far trying to lug a pair of shipping containers behind an A Class.

The Atom is fast enough for general office work. I've been using the Samsung ATIV as a desktop replacement and it has been doing fine (Office 2013 and our ERP software, mainly). As you say, Photoshop isn't on the cards, but our ERP system uses Informix and it runs fast enough... But that is the thing with SQL servers, you put the SQL Server part on the server and the application runs locally and, yes, for that, the Atom is generally fast enough - depending on what sort of data sets you are pulling up and how much local processing you need to do on them.

Re: Stylus !

Have you actually used an Android tablet or Windows 8 tablet with a Wacom stylus? It has nothing to do with whether the finger touch works or not.

Have you tried doing handwriting recognition on an iPad with just your fingers? How about drawing programs, where those 1024 different levels of pressure make a huge difference, compared with the simple finger painting you can do on an iPad...

I found the handwriting recognition was very good, about 98% accurate with my my scrawl. It is great, sitting in meetings and actually writing and drawing on the pad.

Most iPad owners I know have bought the rubber-nipple type styluses for their iPads, but they are still pretty useless in comparison. A bit like comparing a Model T with Nissan Skyline, they both have 4 wheels and an engine, but that is about all they have in common...

25 years...

When the author comes back in 25 years and tells me that his 2012 iPad is still working and has never broken down, then I'll believe that statement!

Heck, my mother was still using her Sunbeam electric hand mixer in 2010, which she got as a wedding present 45

years earlier!

I've certainly still got kitchen appliances in daily use that I bought when I got my first house, back on 1990... And they'´ve been bumped around, moved across continents, dropped several times, cleaned with abbrasive chemical detergents... But they are still going strong.

@lightknight

That sounds like the average spec of machines our customers request (Celeron or Pentium E with 2 - 4GB RAM and a small HD).

The machine I am writing this on is an Atom with 2GB RAM and a 64GB eMMC "drive", running Windows 8 - I am dual-heading it with the internal 11.6" display and an external 24" monitor. For the work I need to do, it is more than fast enough and the 2GB isn't a limitation for most tasks. I only use my old machine for editing graphics and maintaining our telephone exchange - the software comes out of the stoneage and only runs in XP-Mode on the old machine!

For many users, that $299 latop will be more than they need.

@Eadon

No, people will buy new PCs when the old ones stop working or become too slow. As Windows 7 was faster than Vista and 8 is faster than 7 on the same hardware, there is no need for most users to update.

Heck, my previous employer was still using Athlon XP2100+ machines with 1GB RAM 2 years ago! They were bought around 2003, but the company didn't see any need to upgrade them, they were just replaced when they stopped working - and they were replaced with Celeron and Pentium D based machines.

Re: VP8 is pretty good

@Mikel

But that is the problem, it isn't free and open, it is encumbered, just like H.264.

On top of that, all the hardware, currently, is designed to natively accelerate H.264 recording and playback, it isn't currently optimised for VP8.

The other problem is, all consumer cameras, even Android based ones, record H.264, which is a lossy compression, which would then need to be converted to VP8/WebM, which is lossy, which would mean even more picture quality lost.

For stuff recorded directly on a computer (animation, screen recording etc.) it would work well, but it is all a bit chicken and egg at the moment, until there is hardware to record WebM, it doesn't make a lot of sense and H.264 is the way to go and as long as Google is having to eat crow, after saying that it is unencumbered and it not being unencumbered, it is going to be a long wait until we start to get native WebM devices...

Re: Prosecution would be proof of idiocy..

@Wzrd1

Come on Sgt. Bribeasy, we'll show that hacker how intelligent I am!

Right inspector, you get a tape measure and I'll fetch the two short planks!

To misquote Smith and Jones.

Gave up...

I gave up waiting for the Pro to become available, I bought a Samsung ATIV instead.

And, with the Atom and Windows 8, why would I buy an RT based device for about the same money? The Atom offers the same battery life (10-12 hours), runs without fans, is light and silent and runs all my normal Windows applications in addition to the Metro stuff...

Re: The downside

Yes and no. TIFKAM makes a lot of sense on a tablet or small screen. Even desktop apps run maximised, if the screen is small enough. Heck, I know people wit 27" monitors than run with the browser, Outlook etc. maximised all the time!

But for power users, multi-windows on a large display (or multiple displays) is great and this app from Stardock should make a huge difference. This is something I said when Windows 8 Preview came out, TIFKAM didn't make sense on a large display and desktop users needed the option to window them.

Using both a W8 tablet and large screen laptop, I see the point of TIFKAM on the tablet, but I sorely miss the windowing ability on my laptop. I'll be taking this for a spin on my laptop.

Re: Oh no Space Harrier?

Yep, Moon Cresta, Scramble and Tempest were great, as was Space Harrier.

We had Gaplus, Amidar and Time Pilot in the college common room, later joined by Food Fight.

I could clock Time Pilot and Gaplus. 10p in Time Pilot was good for whiling away a couple of hours...

Re: Look on the bright side.

Not here, in Germany.

Our local Telco offers a pure internet connection, with VOIP for telephone, no analogue or ISDN telephone connection. We don't have to take any TV or film packages. 39€ a month gets 35/5mbps and flat rate telephone (well, actually, I get closer to 38mbps, I asked in the shop and they say they always try to give you AT LEAST what you are paying for). I could have paid an extra tenner a month for 50mbps, but 35 is more than I need.

Kabel Deutschland is also in the area, and here you can get internet only, telephone only, combined and combined with a TV package, with speeds up to 100mbps.

Re: Embedded bloat

Ba, no edit...

We use W7E on single core Atom based terminals with 1GB RAM, we also use an LTSP Linux.

I think it is more El Reg taking a sore point among Windows users (TIFKAM, which is like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it) and using that as the headline, in order to get clicks. I would assume that Windows 8 Embedded will have the same flexibility as previous versions, otherwise manufacturers will be looking for an alternative platform.