Author: Bob Martens

Categories
Business Technology

IT Getting Pushed Out

Bradley Chambers put up a good post tonight titled Managed Service Providers And Employees Who Don’t Need the IT Department. I recommend that any person working in IT go on over and take a look at what he has to say about the future of IT departments everywhere.

Server Cabling

While I don’t think I can agree with the entirety of the post, I happen to think that one key passage says a lot about where IT departments should be aiming at the moment.

You’ve got to become more than just a broke/fix person or a SysAdmin. You’ve got to help turn your IT department into a solutions department. You’ve got to be able to do things that the MSP can’t. You’ve got to be able to solve business problems with technology that create operational efficiencies (now you are paying your own way). You need to be able to connect puzzle pieces.

That about sums it up. It is not enough to just “keep the lights on” anymore, but it is time to start pushing things forward in different areas to try to stay ahead of what people are doing. Sadly, working in IT can be a very reactive place (the network is down, you need to fix that).

However, and I say this for myself, time needs to be spent on trying to find areas to help push things forward in a good way. It might mean that I need to get out of my comfort zone, but it also means that the zone might expand just a little bit at the same time.

Categories
Technology

Messing with openSUSE

official-logo-colorWhile it might be as “cool” as some other things, I’m gearing up to start looking seriously at Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 (OES 11) for some upcoming transitions for our main file storage solution. Since we already have time and effort put into Novell NetWare, and eDirectory specifically, that is what I am going to look at first.

While I have extensive experience with Ubuntu and OS X, I haven’t taken a look at SUSE or openSUSE for years. Since OES 11 is usually paired with SUSE Enterprise Linux I need to at least take a look at what is on the other side of the Linux divide.

So, if anyone has any experience or tips with working with SUSE and openSUSE, please leave them in the comments.

Categories
Life

An Audience of One

Patrick Rhone shared James Shelley’s In Praise of Private Correspondence over at App.net and I wanted to make sure I share it here.

Go and read the entire thing. This quote stuck out to me on the first read:

In this age that champions transparency, this confession may at first be scandalous: if you ask me a question on a public forum and then again during a private coffee date, you may very well receive two different answers from me.

I can speak only for myself, but this is entirely true. I censor myself and my thoughts in large open forums and a lot of it has to do with the mob mentality which seems to persist. Say something which a group might not agree with and be prepared to be shouted down by a large chorus of same-thought people.

Private conversations allow for disagreements and controversies without it needing to devolve into primal screams and survival instincts.

Great read.

Categories
Technology

A Potential Cheaper iPhone

So many caveats for this one I can’t even begin to list them all.

This entire post is based on a rumor from Mac Rumors where they took some “spy shots” of the casings for a new, cheaper iPhone and then paid someone to create a 3D model and then some “spy shots” of that 3D model.

Here you go:

Low Cost iPhoneSo, you have that. I don’t know if this is going to be released by Apple or anything similar, but I’m going to run with it anyway because there are some interesting reasons why Apple would release a second, cheaper iPhone now as compared to the past.

It boils down to four things for me:

  1. The Screen Problem
  2. The Connector Problem
  3. The LTE Problem
  4. The iOS 7 Problem

I’ll take them one at a time and try to outline why the “Low Cost” iPhone would make sense now as compared to the past.

The Screen Problem

The lineup, as it sits right now, is split between 4-inch and 3.5-inch devices (I include the iPod touch here as well). Half of the lineup is 4-inch (iPod touch and iPhone 5) and half is 3.5-inch (iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S).

If Apple would keep with its currently “plan” as it has been implemented in the past, you’d end up with a lineup that is three-quarter 4-inch (iPod touch, iPhone 5, and [probably] iPhone 5S) and one-quarter 3.5-inch (iPhone 4S). That really leaves that one iPhone out there on the edges.

It also would leave Apple trying to source screens at the 3.5-inch size for a single device. They didn’t even do that when they introduced the 4-inch size between the iPhone 5 and higher-end iPod touch were announced at the same time.

So, from a logistics standpoint, maybe it would make more sense for Apple to switch to a lower-cost iPhone with a 4-inch screen so that they would be able to eliminate the need for a smaller screen for a low volume product.

The Connector Problem

See the above but switch out the size of the screen for the type of connector (30-pin and Lightning).

I would imagine that this would also harken the end of the iPad 2 sticking around, or maybe a lower-cost iPad 2-ish product with a Lightning connector would be released as well. Apple wants to push ahead with this as quickly as possible, so eliminating the last three products they currently sell new in one move would be nothing but a net gain for the company.

Truth be told, the Lightning connector is such a huge win for consumers (forgetting that you need to buy new peripherals) that I could see Apple wanting to push it ahead as quickly as possible. It would also just make the whole lineup look better at the store with everything iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad having a Lightning cable attached.

The LTE Problem

LTE is big business right now as all four of the major carriers in the United States are upgrading their networks with Verizon way out ahead. If Apple continues with the past, you’ll have your lowest-cost iPhone (more than likely the 4S) without LTE, and that could be perceived as a negative.

However, releasing a lower-cost iPhone would allow them to offer the entire lineup with LTE from top-to-bottom. That would be good for Apple and good for the brand.

The iOS 7 Problem

My speculation would be that the lower-cost iPhone would include the A6 and not the A5 that would be found in the iPhone 4S. That would give it similar performance to the iPhone 5/iPod touch 5G … which is a bid deal for something like iOS 7 where the GPU performance is going to be key for people to have a good experience.

The blurring, the transparency, parallax, physics engine … you name it and it is going to require some horsepower to render at 60 fps (Apple’s stated goal). We already know Apple is shooting for the iPhone 4 with iOS 7 with a subset of those technologies included. While the iPhone 4S’s A5 was a big step up from the iPhone 4’s A4, it would be even better to have the A6 in there.

More power is better.

Conclusion

While I don’t know what Apple is going to do (obviously), I could see them releasing this lower-cost iPhone now because of the above reasons. I don’t care about colors, the case would be made of plastic and I would imagine the camera would be similar to what is currently in the iPod touch. Increase the thickness a little bit and I would imagine you can shave around $100 off of the iPhone 5 price (I’m just guessing here, I really have no idea) … and you hit your lower price point without losing any margin.

The best part? I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend such a phone to my family. It would “hit all of the high points” for me and also be the cheaper option. Offering LTE, an A6, 4-inch screen, and Lightning would make it a must-have phone while I would tell anyone to seriously consider an iPhone 5 otherwise.

So, there is my speculation. I now feel dirty.

 

Categories
Technology

WWDC’s Big Reveal

No, it was not iOS 7, OS X Mavericks, or even the Mac Pro.

I’m definitely excited about all three of those and Apple will undoubtedly be revealing more hardware and software to come. That much is certain. Apple seems to be set on a once-a-year update cycle for most of their project line and the fall of this year is going to be exciting to see.

However, the biggest, most important reveal during WWDC is that Apple is here to stay and that the current leadership team is ready to go with the future of the company … whatever that might be.

leadershipIt was late October 2012 that Apple posted this press release to their PR site which announced a rather large organizational shift for the company. The title for the press release is typical euphemism, but it boiled down to Scott Forstall and John Browett leaving and the duties being split between a number of other members. Most importantly it removed the barriers, at the leadership level, between OS X and iOS by putting Craig Federighi in charge of the software for both and putting Jony Ive in charge of design for all of Apple.

That was less than eight months ago.

I can’t imagine that trying to ship a major version of both iOS and OS X while also ushering through a Mac Pro redesign and who knows what else that is coming down the pipeline got any easier after that.

But they announced all of that at WWDC 2013 and the rest of the year is going to be a lot of fun as well. Their keynote was fun and loose (probably the loosest one they’ve had since Steve died) and it was the first time that Apple, as a company, came out swinging in a long time.

It was refreshing, and it was the big reveal of WWDC. Everything else is secondary (and subject to change).