Author: Bob Martens

On iPhone

Post author By Bob Martens
Post date September 12, 2013

Apple had a little event this past Tuesday.

Yes, every word is a different link. Really, you don’t need to bother clicking them, you probably know everything I just linked to anyway.

If you want to read some pundit writing and analysis, then you can take a look at these three pieces:

Yesterday’s iPhone by Marco Arment
Two Minutes, Fifty-Six Seconds by Ben Thompson
Thoughts and Observations on Today’s iPhone 5C and 5S Introduction by John Gruber

Yes, they are all Apple fans, so keep that in mind. I really don’t have a ton to add to that, so I’ll let them stand on their own. I DO recommend, out of the three, reading the one by Ben Thompson. They are all good, but I thought his take on everything was especially keen.

I’ll just end with a few words about what I am going to do with Apple’s new product announcements and how I will steer people with the new entrants into their product lineup.

First, I’m sticking with my iPhone 5 because I’m on-contract right now and I really don’t have the need to pay for an unlocked phone. It is just not going to happen. The iPhone 5, even with the iOS 7 GM on it, is really fast and by the time it starts getting slow, I’ll be able to pick up whichever iPhone is new at that time. I’m not someone who needs to update every cycle.

Second, the new iPhone 5s looks awesome. The additions are subtle in one sense and far-reaching in another. The speed increases are always welcome, but the subtle changes to the camera along with the added M7 coprocessor are more subtle and more far-reaching.

However, the iPhone 5c is the phone I will probably be recommending to most people who ask “which iPhone should I get when my contract is up”. I am saying that without having actually used one, but from the sounds of it, the polycarbonate (read: plastic) case might just hold up a little better than the glass or glass + aluminum back of the iPhone 4/4S/5/5s era. The iPhone 5 innards they have stuck in there are also quite fast, and the inclusion of a 32 GB model at $199 means that you can get twice the storage on your iPhone for what a “low-end” iPhone 5 used to cost.

Like I said, I need to take a look and feel what the 5c is like, but it looks like an awesome device for someone who wants an iPhone … not necessarily the newest or “best” iPhone.

Tags Apple, Hardware, iOS

Business Technology

IT Misunderstandings

Post author By Bob Martens
Post date September 10, 2013

Information and Technology (IT) services routinely has a bad name. We’re grumpy, grouchy, keep people from doing their jobs, inflexible … you get the idea.

Having been working as a sysadmin for all of a month (and working closely with our former sysadmin for many years, including sharing some duties), I think that many times there are base misunderstandings.

The main thing is this: we’re all on the same side. We all just want technology to work and work for us and not break and … you get the idea. IT doesn’t want to have to come down and fix things or to come and tell you how you should be using your technology.

Those are not the parts of the job I enjoy.

I DO enjoy talking with people about how technology might be able to better facilitate their work. I DO enjoy helping people if they have an issue with the technology they are using. I DO enjoy working on the “hard problems” of technology … like what the future might look like and how we might be able to better help people get there.

I DO like playing with technology, especially the new stuff, but even the older stuff I didn’t get to look at the first time. I DO like seeing people using technology to get their work done. That even includes those inventive ways they use the existing technology in ways we were not even expecting.

See, we are very much on the same side with this so let’s put down the battle standards, send the troops home, and get together to talk more about how technology might better serve everyone because that is where IT is positioned.

We are positioned in the middle of everyone and everything. Today, there is not much that IT does not touch in some way or one of our systems is not involved in … even if it is only for storing important files for that next presentation that needs to happen.

With that in mind, I do apologize. Sometimes I might seem to be dismissive because I know of another group with other needs where we can’t accommodate everyone so I need to make a decision … and sometimes it isn’t the best one for you. Ask me. Talk to me. Sit down and have a chat with me. I like talking about technology and the reason things are the way they are.

So, let’s get together so that we can get stuff done … together!

Technology

Looking at Novell Filr

I know that Novell isn’t exactly on top of the world of IT right now, but they have released some really interesting technology recently and I’m pretty pumped to be able to look at them right now for Martin Luther College.

Novell advertises Filr like this:

Feels like Dropbox. Acts like Fort Knox.

I think that just about sums up the idea behind the whole product. It is their replacement for iFolder (another older Novell product) as a way for users to have access to their files stored behind a firewall wherever they are. It syncs much like Dropbox (caching the files on each individual device and then syncing the changes back up), which is great for people (like faculty and staff) who do work outside of the confines of the campus’ network.

It also allows sharing of files both internally to the campus and externally with others, which is pretty cool too. Filr also allows commenting on files which can be useful for collaboration.

It all sounds great, but will it work as well as it sounds? I don’t know, but I want to be able to find out.

My ultimate goal would be to offer all students a “Dropbox-like” experience with their files. That would mean 2 GB of storage on our network file servers (also looking at upgrading to Open Enterprise Server 11 … sometimes my job can be fun) which can be accessed through the Filr client very similar to how Dropbox does it. They would also have access their files on their mobile device through the use of apps like Novell Filr for iOS.

That’s an almost 10-fold increase in storage space than now and a much better way for students, faculty, and staff to access those files from whichever device they prefer. That all sounds great!

Issue #1 with all of that would be storage space. With about 1000 active students any given semester, you are talking about 2 TB minimum to be able to offer anything like that for just the students. Add in 200+ faculty and staff into the mix and you then have a storage issue when, for the moment, you only have around 1 TB of storage total.

Issue #2 is one of backups. For example, if we have 6 TB of total storage (2 GB/student and 20 GB/faculty or staff), then you are far outstripping our current maximum single-tape storage capacity (we are switching to an LTO-5 tape drive later this week with 1.6 TB of native storage capacity and 3.2 TB compressed capacity). For a long while we would probably be fine as people start using the new capacity more and more, but in the future we would need a way to backup a total of 6 TB of space … and what if they need/want more in the future!? It is another thing to think about.

Issue #3 is serving those files offsite. Because Filr would be pumping out files into the world over our fiber line and then taking in those same synced file transfers, you would need to be prepared to have a big pipe standing by to handle that. Luckily, it looks like we will be having fiber run to our server room this year which will give us 200/200 access. A huge upgrade from our 50/10 we currently have.

Issue #4 is time. We need time to test things, find out how everything works, do training, test some more, do some more training and then get the word out there … after we deploy! It is going to take time, but I think it will be worth it.

More will pop up, but none of these are insurmountable AND it would start to move us toward a “mobile first” mentality. People want to be able to work wherever they are on whatever device they might have at the time. Novell is trying to meet that need with many of their offerings (looking at the new iPrint appliance as well).

I don’t want the future to be the “wild west of information technology” as many see in the future, but that means that we need to change how and why we make decisions in the server room. I’m happy to see Novell moving in that direction and am excited to see where it might lead.

Tags Filr, Novell

Gaming

Bringing Nintendo Back

First off, take this with a huge grain of salt because I own, as far as dedicated gaming devices are concerned, one Wii U and one Game Boy Micro. Here is also a list of all of the gaming consoles I have owned in my life:

Nintendo Entertainment System
Sega Genesis
Nintendo 64
GameCube
Xbox 360
Wii
Wii U
Game Boy
Game Boy Pocket
Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance SP
Game Boy Micro
Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS Lite

So, yeah, that’s a lot of Nintendo consoles including every home console except for the Super Nintendo. I went through all of that to point out that I really, REALLY want Nintendo to continue to function as Nintendo. I don’t want Nintendo to create iOS games, I don’t want Nintendo to exit the hardware business.

What I want is for a thriving Nintendo to continue to create awesome hardware and games. The question then shifts to this:

How does Nintendo position itself to continue to be able to crate awesome hardware and games into the future?

That’s a better question.

So what is the answer? Is there an answer? Is Nintendo just completely, totally, and irreparably doomed?

Is Nintendo Completely, Totally, and Irreparably Doomed?

I don’t think so. In order for that to happen I think that Nintendo would probably need to star creating games for other platforms. At that point, Nintendo is done and they might as well sell off their franchises for as much money as possible and get out because the Nintendo of the past is dead and they might as well choose a different name.

However, even though they are not doomed right now, there is still a ton of work to do to get the ship pointed in a better direction.

Is There an Answer?

An answer, as in one single answer to fix everything? Of course not. There are too many variables at play to focus on only a single answer to something as far-ranging as fixing Nintendo. That, again, is the wrong question. Here’s a better one:

What Can Nintendo Do?

Let’s start with the easy one: create really great games. I’m talking about shooting for the stars, multiple AAA, Ocarina of Time-esque, Mario Galaxy-caliper games for the Wii U and 3DS lines. I’m positive they are already doing this and we will see the fruits of this work in probably 2014 and beyond. That’s the easy one. If you create really excellent and compelling games the people will (probably) play them.

What are some smaller things they can do? Well, let’s break it down into areas of focus.

Online Stuff

They don’t need an iOS App Store-like hit as far as online services go, but there are things they can do to make it all just a little bit better.

First, just shore up the speed of the online services. Make everything faster. When that is done, then you can start creating a unifying account around a single person and their games and purchases are tied to that single account … not the system or anything silly like that. Have a person’s Nintendo Account be their window into all of Nintendo’s properties. Their 2/3DS games, Wii U games, scores, progress … everything will be tied to this account. When you have that, make it fast. You can start selling more things than just games then (like soundtracks … please) and milk your franchises even more.

I can’t help but think that would make some more money.

Relaxing some of the restrictions on indie game makers might bring a few more indie games to the platform and give the Nintendo eShop some more for people to buy.

This doesn’t need to be Xbox Live, but Nintendo has some work to do for certain.

Handheld Hardware

I, for one, like the move they’ve made with the 2DS. Cheaper, no hinge, plays DS and 3DS games. I’ve always had a fondness for Nintendo’s fixed-screen handhelds (Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Micro), and the price definitely makes it more likely to be purchased by me.

Console Hardware

Sadly, the Wii U seems to be DOA in many ways … probably ending up being a GameCube-like system for Nintendo. In some ways I hope that is true because the GameCube had some amazing games.

However, this also means that they should be back at the drawing board looking to accelerate the development of the next NIntendo home console. First, the Wii U hardware is actually pretty nice. It looks good, it is a big step up from the Wii, it brings HD gaming to Nintendo franchises, and the GamePad is a huge, untapped resource for many games.

Here is where I think they need to go:

Keep the same architecture, but “turn it up to 11”. There is something extremely elegant about the Wii/Wii U architecture so bump it up. More RAM, faster processor, more storage, etc. This one is a no-brainer. It doesn’t need to blow away or even beat the Xbox One/PS4 … but it needs to push the Wii much closer.
Go with a single SKU. I know that the entire industry has definitely moved into that camp, but go back to a single SKU and make it the best SKU you can possibly make it.
Continue with discs. I love those things (especially the rounded edges on the Wii U discs … so nice).
Multiple-GamePad gaming needs to come out and the more you can hook up, the better.
Focus ont he fluidity of the console GUI. Things should be instantaneous, menus should render quickly, eliminate all wait times, etc.

I don’t feel like they need to add anything else, really. The Wii added motion controls, the Wii U adds the GamePad … take a breather and use that hardware knowledge to refine what you have.

Software

Keep making awesome games. Beef up the software development houses and encourage them to create the best games they can. This is probably the easiest one.

Conclusion

Looking back, the real detriment that Nintendo has right now really doesn’t even revolve around their hardware but around their online services and some of the intangibles (the GUI interface is still slow). The software is going to come, but they need to focus better next time on getting a huge AAA title ready for the launch day.

Nintendo could ride out the Wii U for the next two years and then release a Wii U 2 (oh geez …), but they need to shore up some other things first. They are far from dead, but they also have a lot of work to do.