Mar 09

Welcome back Microsoft

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Now I’ve always been a critic of Microsoft.

But not critical of the nature of their business and market domination (that doesn’t bother me), but critical of their lack of innovation and, until Windows 7, their sub-par operating systems.

With all the innovation, elegance and success of Apple it’s easy to dismiss the folks at Redmond as a dinosaur, a relic of the past. A software company surviving on former glories. To compound these views further, with the rise of Google and other increasingly important web companies – I was beginning to think Microsoft no longer matters in a world of cloud services and internet devices.

But I was wrong. Reading the tech news blogs last week I stumbled across a story, which, if true – has the potential to bring the cool back into Microsoft.

The leaked images and video of ‘The Courier’ tablet/journal, have quite honestly stunned me. If true, this product is everything the iPhone and now the iPad will never be. Aside from the book-like form factor, the video would suggest this device is the closest to experiencing an electronic ‘paper’ notebook ever seen. The combination of being able to write and draw on the device along with web integration offers genuine human interaction never seen before.

Okay it’s not an official product yet. But I can’t help but think that even if the final product is half as good as the leaked reports then the Courier promises to be special. Very special. So many pretenders out there churn out endless poor Apple imitations. Not Microsoft . They have taken their time to really think about what human interaction means with an electronic device.

No doubt we will hear more about the Courier in the coming weeks. But for now I’m betting something ground breaking is being cooked up by Microsoft.

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Nov 28

My top five applications and services when overseas

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I got thinking the other day just how web innovation and growth in broadband internet has transformed the ways in which we communicate and consume media both at home and abroad. But I’m not just talking about the internet and email – they are too obvious. A host of new applications and services have made staying in touch seamless. Here’s my top five must have applications for stress free communication and media consumption when overseas:

Welcome to Facebook! | Facebook5) Twitter & Facebook: Despite my views on Facebook – I have to concede that it matters. Pretty much everyone is on it – and it makes sense to use it if you want to keep in touch with your social network of friends and family. I post to it regularly via Twitter. Twitter, in my view, is superior. Much more open, cleaner and thanks to its APIs an array of clients support it.

Audible.co.uk - Downloadable audio books4) Audible.co.uk : Getting hold of the latest books is not always possible. Audible is a far more efficient way to get your fix. For £7.99 a month I get to download and own a new audio book a month. Great for long flights. I’ve pretty much given up on reading books…..audible is far more convenient.

Apple - Download music and more with iTunes. Play it all on iPod.

3) iTunes: Music, movies, TV shows and podcasts – iTunes is a central part of my ecosystem. Rather than lugging around DVDs and CDs I can rent and buy pretty much anything I want. Not always the cheapest option for movies and TV shows – but the cost, in my view, is off-set by the convenience of effortless downloading.

overview_solo_hero2) SlingBox: By plugging this fantastic gadget into either a cable/satellite  service of your choice back home – you can stream the content, in real time over the web and watch it on your computer or mobile device anywhere on the planet. The quality will depend on your bandwidth – but if you’re a sports fan or soap junkie – you can watch your favorites – any time or any place.

skype_logo1) Skype : A no brainer and pretty much the de facto voice/video client for everyone. However, my number one pick is the ‘SkypeIn’ service. For just €4 a month  I get a UK telephone number which roots through to my Skype account. The deal also includes being able to make unlimited calls to any UK landline. Not only does this reduce my costs of calling the UK but it eliminates costs of friends and family calling me. A fantastic, if relatively unknown service from Skype.

Sep 18

Apple – fantastic products – yes we know Steve

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Now I’m not one to post many YouTube clips on my site. But this one caught my attention. As a self confessed fan boy it does make me laugh. Welcome back Steve and keep giving us awesome, fantastic, real great and simple to use products :-)

Great stuff.

May 23

Running a podcast 20 shows on..

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TandridgeRadio.com, the weekly podcast I set up with my friend and local journalist, Kevin Black is 20 shows old today.

Hard to believe that the show has been running now since January this year.

I can honestly say I find it some of the most satisfying and creative work I have ever done. Firstly, I have always wanted to run my own business. The fact that I am in control and running all aspects of the work is incredibly rewarding.

Secondly, I am able to be creative. For some time now I have tried (and failed) to run a podcast. What I have known and what I continue to learn is that content is always the key to making a podcast work. Without it the audience will just not show up.

The most satisfying aspect for me is the sense of creating something. I often argue with people about the nature of web 2.0 and the digital commons more broadly. With such a wealth of information out there that people draw on daily – I often ask people ”what have you done to contribute to it’. People take from the web – but do they give to it?

As I gain experience in post-production my editing is getting much quicker now. I can turn around a 30 mins show in around 2 hours. I am learning more about subtle differences in audio levels and much quicker at pulling together jingles.

The show is gaining in popularity within the Tandridge community too. We have now introduced a monthly new feature with our local MP. The show is fast becoming a voice for the local community.

But there are small challenges. Sponsorship requires more work than the team can commit to right now. We are covering our costs – but we are a ‘ for profit partnership’ and we are running the show, in part, to make a living.

There are reasons we cannot reach out for more sponsors – which we are working on to overcome.

The most satisfying part of the work is responses from listeners. It is fast becoming a talked about feature of community life. We are moving towards even greater market share with a few sponsorship deals in the next few months.

Small steps. But I am at least a step closer to my goal. Within 10 years I want to be running in this space full time. My office will be a coffee shop and my tool my laptop. I’m getting closer and enjoying every minute.

You can catch the show by visiting : Tandridge Radio

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May 13

My hackintosh project: my Dell 9 netbook and OS X

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I have spent most of this last weekend preparing and setting up my new Dell 910 mini netbook to run OS X. 

As most you will know Apple’s success is based around their coupling and integration of hardware and software. Yet despite their pricey but excellent Macbook Air, Apple has yet to enter the netbook market. (Although it more than likely they will release something in June/July this year.)
For Apple fan boys like myself, our only options for a netbook is to use Windows XP or Linux based versions…..until now that is. 

Introducing Hackintosh

Back in October last year some hackers within the geek community came up with an exciting breakthrough. By exploiting Apple’s move to intel based architecture they were able to take the standard OS X (10.5) platform and hack a way to install it on non-Apple intel based hardware. 

The geek community worked tirelessly on this and pretty soon a bunch of  netbooks became compatible with the hack (to varying degrees). There is a compatibility guide over on BoingBoing .

As you will see from the chart the most widely support netbook is the Dell 910 8GB or 16GB SSD. So with that in mind – I got myself a refurbished model on ebay. 

The install process

The guidance says the install is not for your average user. I would agree to some degree. It is difficult. However, most of the challenges involve being persistent and patient.

There are multiple ways to run the installation. I opted for installing a paid for OS X licensed copy and imaging it on to a 16 GB thumb-drive  (I do not own an external DVD drive). 

I want to stress the ‘paid for’ copy in my installation process. There are alternative installs that use ’specially modified’ versions of OSX which are all over the torrents and P2P networks). I do not support this. So will say nothing more on this topic. 

I drew on the excellent tutorials over on MyDellMini.com .  It will take you through step by step on what to do. It is also an excellent resource – and will pretty much answer any questions you may have. 

 

You will also find this excellent YouTube tutorial helpful :

 

The end product

my hackintoshHaving been using my new Dell 9 OSX netbook over the last few days – I cannot begin to praise it enough. It is an elegant looking device and thanks to the SSD the netbook boots up very quickly. All aspects of the netbook work. I was even testing the video/audio today using Skype. It works a charm. The battery also seems to last for ages (I guess again thanks to the lack of moving parts in the SSD)

I am trying to us this (as best I can) as a ‘cloud’ device. Most of my work is stored online through google docs or my mobile me account. However, should you need more storage – the Dell 9 includes a media card slot (MMC/SD). So if I wanted a bit more local storage I can simply pop in an SD card. 

The Dell also includes a sim-card slot too. Apparently it does work (with a bit of modification). So I intend to configure my PAYG HSDPA Three Sim card at some point soon. 

 

In summary I am thrilled with this new piece of kit. 

Happy Hackingtoshing!

 



Apr 06

The trouble with blogging

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I often use my  time away from London to reflect and meditate on various things. (I know – slightly hippy behavior – but it works – honest).

The one item I constantly grapple with is ‘blogging’. Specifically, the guilt in the knowledge that I don’t do it as regularly as I would like. I don’t think it is deliberate. Rather, in my view, I can’t help but feel new media has moved up a gear and blogs are increasingly becoming yesterday’s medium.

It is far more flexible and efficient for me to post a Tweet . Sure it is a sentence or two. But within seconds, I can post a tweet which instantly updates Facebook, Friendfeed and, of course, this blog.

A new direction…

I am increasingly interested in the semantic web and see the live web as the next big leap forward. I think it would be interesting for my site to reflect this interest. As technology becomes more relevant in this space – jasonmonty.com will evolve into a central hub for all my activities in new media.

It may sound a bit abstract right now. But my ideas are evolving. I kind of see it as a central hub for all things jasonmonty. Watch this space. I’m quite excited by the opportunities.

Feb 13

My podcast experiment – 5 shows on part 1

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A significant part of my private time lately has been on managing and producing a new weekly podcast. www.tandridgeradio.com. I wanted share my experience, the first part is below :

1. Shifting the good idea to reality

I actually found the transition of the
idea to reality quite simple. I suspect, due to the strength of the idea and the genuine desire from the team to pull it together. From the very outset, the content flow was already there. And in our case, working with an extremely well known and connected journalist (who gets this new media stuff) proved the key.

2. The tech part

I am no expert in web design and certainly not media production. But I like to play and my past experience in this space certainly helped.

Pulling together the wordpress based site was simple. Editing the show in GarageBand was, and still is an absolute joy. As with anything, I learn and improve (I hope) after each show.

3. Awareness raising and support

We are fortunate to have access to a ton of good people who can spread the word locally about the show. But we need to be better. I suspect it takes time to get the message out but we keep pushing.

4. New and old media styles – a role for both

New media producers frequently jibe at old media people – claiming their approach is outdated and no longer relevant. I disagree. In our case we couldn’t have done it without our ‘old school journos’. Their understanding of good content and their interview skills is key to the show.

In summary – so far it is hard work – but equally a labour of love.

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Jan 14

A new year a new podcast

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For at least three years now I’ve had an itch to scratch. Being an avid listener and supporter of podcasts I’ve wanted to produce my own.

A few years ago I had an idea for a show based on micro finance. I think the idea was sound enough but my heart wasn’t in it and I could not see a sustainable route for gathering the content.

I recall listening to one of Leo Laporte’s shows where he talked about content being the key to any good podcast. Additionally the need for the host to be genuine about that content.

I thought about about technology as content . But quickly realised that hundreds of podcasts occupy that space. Any attempt by me would simply be drowned out.

So with content and sincerity of host in mind I assessed options. I quickly realised that the answer was closer to home. I would produce a local podcast, presented by a local journalist covering local issues.

Working with two local journalists in the Tandridge district of east Surrey we have put together Tandridge Radio. A weekly show covering news, views and interviews from Tandridge.

Early days yet. But so far so good. There’s a good team behind it and If we can keep the momentum going I think it might work out.

I know it will not have global appeal. That is not the aim. We are catering for a small niche – and , we believe, that niche audience is enough to sustain it.

I also genuinely believe in local voice and accountability. By providing a service to that little part of the world I think we are giving local residents a voice.

You can grab the first show (and subscribe if you like it) over on www.tandridgeradio.com .

Let me know what you think.

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Jan 01

Happy New Year

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Hi folks

Just wanted to wish you all a very happy new year. I also wanted to thank you all for reading jasonmonty.com.

One of my resolutions will be to post more articles on a regular basis in 2009. So look forward to a bumper packed blog full of views on tech and related topics.

I am also working on an interesting new media project. I am currently in talks with my business partner for the project. We hope to have something running by the end of January. Can’t say anymore right now. But needless to say I’m excited and I think it will work out .

So once again, Happy New Year and thanks for your support in 2008.

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Dec 30

Tech trends 2009

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As we head towards a new year I wanted to share my thoughts on some of the key tech trends for 2009.

1) Apple ripens

The phenomenal growth at Apple will slow down. 2009 will be ‘evolution’ rather than ‘revolution’ across all their product lines. I do not think there will be a big splash product this year. There will likely be ;

  • updates to the Mac Mini, 
  • new iPhone Nano
  • a revised iphone , up to 32GB

There is talk of a new media server from Apple.  This would logically fit into their line up. I suspect it will be more of a product evolution based on the Time Machine . Expect this annoucement in next weeks MacWorld.  

Despite  Steve Job’s resistence, I do believe they will launch some kind of netbook, combining touch technology and the Macbook. The market is growing in the netbook sector and Apple will want a piece of it. 

2) Low cost computing

UMPCs and netbook sales will continue to grow for two reasons. Firstly, as global economic difficulties continue, there will be less disposible income floating around for consumer IT.  Secondly, the growth of cloud computing will change the consumers need for power hungry top spec computers. 

3) Social Networking  matures 

In a similar vein to Apple’s evolutionary steps in 2009, I believe that social networking sites will continue to grow and mature towards the end of the year. Like any market, expect 2009 to see some of the smaller sites go under, as  the users decide what works and what does not.  

Services that aggrogate the numerous social networking sites will be the winners in 2009. For example, Friendfeed.com will have a good year. 

3) Twitter, Twitter & Twitter

Yes, I know ,Twitter is strictly speaking a social networking site. But I believe it warrants its own catergory. Despite the discussions about Twitter’s lack of a business model it will see huge growth in the market next year.  By the end of the year it will  be as widely known as Facebook.

Growth for all the social networking sites will be increasingly sustained by the mobile market. The success of the iPhone and other mobile devices will shift users of these networks away from their desktops and to their mobiles. Expect the big winners to be the smaller app developers of clients based on Twitter’s APIs. 

4) Linux in our lives

Embedded linux will continue to grow in a host of consumer electronics .  Google’s Linux based Android OS will be widely used in smartphone handsets and Palms new Linux based OS, Nova, will hit the market.

Ubuntu linux will continue to grow both in terms of new products but also installed on legacy products – giving a new lease of life to older hardware.  

Outside bets

5) As a Mac fan it pains me to say it -but I predict the retirement of Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple. I think, in a similar approach to Bill Gates, Jobs will remain part of Apple – but his day to day role will change. 

6) A good year for Microsoft. Yes I said it.  To dismiss Redmond is foolish. Microsoft tend to be at their best when they are behind the curve. And they certainly are at the moment. But they learn from their mistakes (Vista) and the successes of others (Apple and Google ). They got their fingers burnt from Vista and will put it right in Windows 7. Expect a much more elegant, lighter and cheaper OS from them this year.

Will that completes my predictions.  Happy New Year.

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