Computer Support Blog

Late last year, there was a news story that was anything but real news, despite how the technology and business press covered it: Verizon had outages.  Treated as huge news, because Verizon claims to have the “most reliable network,” Verizon was virtually tarred and feathered for having a few bad days last year, wherein the weather contributed to Verizon services going off-line.  What the sensationalists in the media and business sectors neglected to consider was that Verizon’s claim to be the “most reliable network” did not mean that the service would not fail; it is a claim that their network will fail less than its other major competitors!  Verizon, of course, got service back up and running, but there were weeks of analysis – i.e. how did this failure of service happen, who’s to blame for the failure, etc.  Now, it looks like tech sector enthusiasts are likely to endure a series of similar article. Read more »

One of the nice aspects of a successful product or service offered through the Internet is that frequently, clones pop up!  Every good idea offered by the Internet seems to be replicated for a different market or niche than the original site and it is interesting to see which services survive the competition and where the derivative sites outdo the original.  Netflix, for example, moved into the digital movie streaming business and when it found success with that, Amazon Prime and other, smaller, services were developed by competitors.  Now, there are many video streaming sites on the Internet, many of them specialized for a specific, niche.  For television lovers who want to be able to stream their favorite shows, there is Hulu Plus. Read more »

At last week’s Google I/O conference, many new products were introduced, not all of them ready for the marketplace just yet.  Most of the products were very much to be expected from the search giant who now seems to have its hands in everything.  Google, through its Android operating system has become more associated with gadgets in recent years, instead of just being considered an Internet software/search pioneer.  As a result, the fact that the I/O conference was used to generate enthusiasm (and preorders) for new products like Google Glass and Nexus devices was predictable.  What was truly audacious was the way Google declared war on Amazon and the Apple iTunes store by unveiling a new shopping platform: Google Play Store. Read more »

Apple enthusiasts are, in many ways, an ideal type of customer for a big business.  The culture that surrounds Apple products makes virtually every new product release a resounding success.  There is such enthusiasm for new Apple products that entire websites are devoted to leaking rumors to keep that enthusiasm active and engaged on a daily basis.  Add to that, Apple enthusiasts are very slow to quit on an Apple product or service.  To wit, despite consistently declining customer satisfaction rates with the service, virtually everyone who has an Apple iPad, iPhone, or iPod utilizes iTunes.  To reward Apple customers for years of putting up with a system that has not kept up with its other products, Apple is revamping iTunes. Read more »

Both businesses and individuals are finding increasing need for versatile data storage options.  Property owners, especially, are finding that having a security system is seldom sufficient; they must have increasingly thorough surveillance records in order for the system to be useful (i.e. in aiding in the identification of interlopers) and insulate owners from lawsuits (i.e. having visual records of events involving accidents and building repairs).  That is why, more than ever, a good security system must be paired with a data storage system that can accommodate large volumes of digital records.  That is where the V-Trak E-Class Fibre Channel Storage System excels. Read more »

It is developer’s conference time!  Following on the heels of Apple’s Developer’s Conference and the All Things D D10 Conference, where guests from all across the tech sector and media spoke, Google’s annual I/O Conference will start on June 27 in San Francisco, California.  The three day conference is sold-out and is expected to include a slew of new product releases that should reach the marketplace by the end of the year.  Rumored products being announced at the I/O Conference this year include: Read more »

One does not have to look very hard at the managers of tech companies, small and large, to find a company that is run exclusively by men at the highest levels.  Apple Computers, the most profitable company on Earth, has only one woman on its Board of Directors and none of the executives at the Senior Vice President level or above are female!  In many ways, the tech sector remains a “boy’s club.”  Working very hard to change that is Shaherose Charania. Read more »

California is the home to so many tech sector jobs that it is almost hard to believe that anywhere else in the country would have any tech jobs that needed filling!  Part of the reason so many start-ups and enduring tech sector businesses take root in California is because of the colleges.  Some of the world’s most renowned universities for science and technology are located in California: UCLA, Stanford, and the University of California at Berkeley, to name a few.  Many businesses work to recruit ambitious, technical-minded employees right out of college.  That is what happened with Alicia Chen. Read more »

Outside protecting business interests, there are remarkably few executives in the tech sector who make bold or frequent political statements.  In fact, the marketing gurus in the tech sector work very hard to make technology apolitical; the market should be everyone.  So, it is a rare thing when one’s personal politics overtly guide their corporate policy within the tech sector.  The fact that his loud dedication to free access to information clearly guides Wikipedia makes Jimmy Wales an exception to the status quo in the tech sector! Read more »

The technology sector is filled with people who appear to never have heard the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”  In the case of websites, especially social networks, programmers who originally design the site tend to strive for functionality over style.  One need only recall the iconic scene from The Social Network wherein Sean Parker and Mark Zuckerberg discuss monetizing The Facebook and come to the conclusion that it was too soon for that.  Cool things aren’t about monetizing.  The people who use websites at their inception and stick with the site do so because there is something enduringly interesting about the site that they cannot find elsewhere on the Internet. Read more »