Degen.Net

So I admit it, I’m embracing a socialistic entitlement attitude, at least about my expectation for free WiFi in Airport terminals!

The Internet, specifically delivered wirelessly, has transcended from a luxury – “Nice to Have” – amenity in our nations airports, its a must have business commodity. And the time has come for it to be available in a uniform manor: free of charge, everywhere!

Portland, Oregon – PDX, for those of you fluent in “Airportiees” (language of the frequent fliers) – has done it right; great access, easy to use and best of all free. I find myself writing this entry from the Alaska Airlines terminal at PDX today, after checking email, Skyping co-workers, downloading the latest podcasts, etc. I think I make my point; computing is a connected experience these days, and with the magnitude of people killing time on their mobile devices while waiting for flights, the need for Internet access has never been greater.

But why does it have to be free? It actually has less to do with the cost and more to do with ease of use. As one who might find himself in three or more different airports each week, I have no idea what provider will be servicing the next hub at which I land. And I’m just not going to manage multiple accounts from the likes of Verizon/T-Mobile/Waypoint and the many others that you might encounter at airports. The other option is to sign up for an hour or day of access, but then I’m forced to fill out a bunch of customer information, not to mention enter my credit card over a wireless, unencrypted connection… not good!

Just Tax me already!

Yes you heard me right, if the argument against airports deploying free public WiFi networks is cost, go ahead and charge for it – but in the form of a small per ticket tax. No one is going to get worked up about buck or two per ticket fee to cover this. Many airports already pass on terminal expansion costs in in this manor. Airlines would collect the surcharge and administer it’s payment to the individual airports. Modest fee, uniform access – ah, life is good.

Don’t know if my idea has a snowballs chance in hell, but there are several airports already taking the lead in this matter. Here is a list I was able to find with airports around the world offering free WiFi.

So if you are lucky enough to have free WiFi at your airport, I suggest you enjoy Degen.Net from it, and tell a friend about the hotspot. In the meantime the rest of us will continue to suffer and look forward to finding a free access point.

With practically everyone losing their minds these days over feature rich phones boasting everything from Bluetooth to PDA to Music/Video Player functionality, it would seam a foregone conclusion that WiFi will be the next “Must Have” in any new cellular device. And why not – with free and low cost hotspots dotting the landscape around the globe; it’s only logical that consumers should be able to take advantage of this ubiquitous 802.11 goodness?

Sounds cool, right. Now that your even more convinced of your need for a WiFi enabled mobile – prepare for your hopes to be dashed. Here is the dirty little secret that your mobile carrier doesn’t want you know; WiFi is not a welcome addition to their business model. Think about it? If you are able to access your favorite services like web, email and (heaven forbid) VOIP via free WiFi access points, what do you need those expensive voice and data plans for?

Skype on your mobile phone plus WiFi equals no revenue for carriers. Up till now the relatively limited number of higher cost PDA style phones capable of running both WiFi and a VOIP client have posed enough of a bearer to entry so that wireless providers have been low key about the threat. However, as more next generation handsets begin to offer WiFi at lower price points, a whole new front on the consumer rights war is about to open between carriers and customers. Cell providers, who already infuriate consumers with costly contracts and locked phones, are not about to lose out on potential revenue on both voice and data services – not without a fight at least.

In addition to the financial threat that WiFi enabled phones pose to wireless providers, there is the intangible marketing value they place at risk. With WiFi enabled phones, arguments that carries like to squabble over, like Edge vs EVDO, become irrelevant. Since even the slowest 802.11 speeds are multiples faster then any “3G” technologies on the horizon. Why do I care if my network is 1XRTT or GSM-GPRS, I’m not going to use them anyway.

Screwed again! Since WiFi enabled phones pose such a clear and present danger to the established wireless providers, you can be certain that they will oppose them, or if they do provide them the best interoperability functions will be crippled. Since the vast majority of cell phones are purchased from, or in conjunction with wireless carriers these “nerfed” or crippled mobile devices will have limited value to consumers. Which truly does beg the question, “What’s So Great About WiFi?”

So I thought you’d like to read about something other than Halo 3 or yet another Apple iPhone story this week, I for one have pretty much had my fill, and there is no shortage of stories about these out there to titillate your pallet should you need. Instead let’s talk about a really sizzling product: Microsoft Office. /end sarcasm

About a year into the life of Office 2007 and I have to tell ya, I’m still scratching my head and asking, “Why did we need this Office Upgrade?” And from experiences working with many different customers they are asking the same question; opting not to adopt it as well! While some in the industry are arguing that this is due to Microsoft’s downward slide into technological irrelevance, and that is certainly a factor, Office 2007’s lack of penetration has more to do with it’s own failings as a product and other worth competitors stealing market share.

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt – or the DOCX format

In addition to a total menu redesign, that repeals existing Office users, the new DOCX format by default is causing many companies anxiety as they grapple with significant incompatibility’s between their existing Office versions. This is a major problem. Companies are faced with a tough choice – complete, wholesale upgrade to 2007, mixed 2000/XP/2003/2007 and deal with multiple format types, or just stay back on your tried and true version of Office.

There’s the core rub, Office 2003 and before are pretty dang good. Much like the XP vs. Vista conundrum, Microsoft is again competing against itself, and many users actually prefer the previous generation product.

Think Different – Think Free

Open Office is more then just fine, its a serious challenge. Free, powerful and portable Open Office, is not just a Microsoft disgruntles’ Linux only copy cat of MS Office. Besides the price being right (did I mention its FREE again), OO is winning hearts and minds for more than just fiduciary reasons.

While Office 2007 is running many away, due to it’s new file formats, some are running the the Open Doc (ODF) non-proprietary formats OO supports. In the spirit of full disclosure, this post was edited in Open Office 2.3. Personally I’ve found OO’s interoperability back and forth to DOC format (Office 2003 at least) to be superb.

Another extremely compelling aspect of Open Office is it’s cross platform uniformity and availability. Regardless of your environment, Windows, OSX or Linux, Open Office is basically the same application. This commonality across platforms is something I appreciate more and more move from machine to machine. Compare this to the Office family, and regard less of the price, there is no smooth transition between Windows and Mac, and no option on Linux.

It’s worth pointing out that Open Office is just part of a larger sea change that is rolling ashore on the computing coastline. Wonderful applications like GIMP, VLC and others are not only no cost, there best of bread, and quickly becoming the applications of choice for many.

So Good Luck with that Microsoft

MS Office has long been a cash machine for the company, practically like a mint printing out millions annually for the software giant. In the past companies marched in lock and step to the Microsoft dictated upgrade cycle. Now all that is being questioned.

With Redmond fending off the epic level of user discontentment surrounding Vista, the last thing they want to deal with is stagnant sales of Office, yet that is the situation at hand.

In the meantime I’ll keep using Outlook 2003 and Open Office as my migration path out of the Microsoft controlled upgrade ferris wheel.

How the mighty have fallen! With last week’s announcement that Palm will discontinue production of it’s yet to be birthed “Foleo” product many annalists are forecasting something that Palm loyalist have known for quite sometime – Palm OS is just a “dead man walking”

Palm, the innovator responsible for popularizing the handheld computer, is now teetering on the brink of obscurity, a jagged precipice that drops off into the great chasm full of once great, but now forgotten, technology luminaries that line the footnotes of computing history.

But how did this happen to Palm? It actually has much less to do with features or failings of a single product like the Foleo, and everything to do with a corporate culture lacking the bold leadership that created and defined the handheld market of the late 90s’. Think about it, just a few years ago Palm was in the driver’s seat; both in terms of market share and casting vision for the future of the Personal Data Assistant (PDA) marketplace.

The same cannot be said today. And its not that the iPhone is to blame as some might point out. Apple will play a major role moving forward, but does not account for Palm’s slide from prominence in the PDA/Phone space to date. No, Palm’s own internal lack of focus on innovative, yet easy to use devices and their corporate mis-organization is to blame. (You can read about that confusing history here if you don’t recall all the confusing dance steps of the PalmSource/3com/PalmOne/USRobotics/Handspring shenanigans.)

“Not so fast Eric!”, Say some of you who might not share my dire assessment of Palm’s future; pointing to the recent European product announcement of the Treo 500 as proof to the contrary. Hey, I’m a long time Treo user and fan of the platform, I want to believe in Palm, but a “sold out” Windows Mobile based revamp of an over 5 year old product is not going to be enough. BTW – remember that the Treo was never really Palm’s idea in the first place, rather a product that Handspring developed and was then absorbed back into Palm in the acquisition.

It’s that decision, to “sell out” to Microsoft Widows Mobile OS, that has doomed the Palm OS and they don’t even realize it. These new 500s are not even going to come with a Palm OS option.

I recall seeing the first Palm Windows Mobile phone, the 700w, at CES 2006. At that time I commented to the Palm rep that this pretty much spelled the end of the Palm OS – and by extension the end of software innovation at Palm – the truly great part of the picture Palm brought to the handheld party. The company spokeswoman was polite and assured me that Palm had no plans to cease offering the Palm OS, I smiled, but knew she was deluding herself.

I understand the Treo 755 comes in both “P” and “W”, flavors and technically the Palm OS is not dead yet, but the demise of Palm OS is getting closer every day. Announcements like we have seen in the past few weeks, to kill the Foleo and launch a new line of Windows Mobile only Treos, only serve to reemphasize Palm’s systematic and intentional abdication of its once mighty handheld hardware/software empire.

While this might sound like Palm OS fanboys rant against Windows Mobile its not. Ironically the future might prove that it is not Microsoft whom Palm has to fear, as Palm would make a wonderful handset hardware manufacturing division for Microsoft. Think about it. By 2008 Palm discontinues Palm OS and exclusively embraces Windows Mobile, shortly thereafter Microsoft acquires Palm and releases the Microsoft Treo 9000 (Zune edition) with wide-screen, WiFi and perhaps an exclusive deal on a CDMA network to counter a certain Apple product. Stranger things have happened?

Regardless how cozy MS and Palm get, I’m quite certain the future is not bright for the once dominant Palm OS, and for that I shed a tear.

Farewell Palm OS – So Long and thanks for all the fish!

I’ve had an epiphany; not everyone on the internet uses Skype yet, and some of these people are even in my family! If you are now shaking your head in disgust; you feel me, there is no need for you to keep reading. If on the other hand you don’t know of this “Skype” I speak of? Read on – your diligence will be rewarded.

Every now and then a program comes along the so redefines or expands how we use computers that it is termed a Killer App. WordStar and VisiCalc where some of the first such, defining and practically inventing the word processing and spreadsheet markets. In the 80s’ PageMaker, Photoshop and Illustrator did it for desktop publishing. More recently, Mosaic (and its predecessors Netscape, Internet Explorer and Firefox) redefined the way we think of the Internet.

Simply put, Skype is the “Killer App” of today’s internet. For its millions of current users, Skype is an indispensable part of daily life. What does it do? In addition to being a really good text IM client, Skype delivers excellent quality voice/video chat, and it does it for free. Computer to computer calls feature gorgeous clarity with support for up to 10 callers. Solid multi platform support, in addition to the Windows version, the Mac and Linux versions interoperate seamlessly – so no one is left out based on their OS. And for mere pennies a minute you can dial out from your computer to international phones. In fact you can buy a year of unlimited computer to domestic telephone service for a flat $30 – And you thought services like Vonage were a deal!

In addition to superb call quality and free or very discounted phone service, its one of the best VoIP (Voice over IP – or the whole idea of talking over the internet) clients I’ve ever used, due to tight integration with Programs like Outlook, IE and Firefox.

So what are you waiting for, go download it free now – I’m waiting to hear from you.

So on the off chance you are one of Apple’s blindly devoted fanboys (or fangirls) who already bought a $600 iPhone over the last couple of months all I can say is; here let me get you a little salt to pour in that open wound. This week, after just two months of being on the market, Steve Job’s gleefully slashed the 8GB iPhone price by a third to $399, and discontinued the 4 Gig model all together. At this point rumors are swirling and there are reports of people having mixed success getting refunds and credits, but this much is for sure; Apple has yet again managed to steal the media spotlight and create product buzz for the iPhone unlike any other cell phone manufacture before.

What’s most surprising is the outrage people are expressing over the sudden price reduction, not the price drop itself. But this is nothing new from Apple. Let’s face it, Apple has built the iPod economy around planned obsolescence and the disposability of their consumer electronics from the beginning. No removable/replaceable batteries in any iPods or the iPhone. No external expansion options for memory in any model. No credit is given towards a new model purchase nor is there any upgrade program. Apple has always been about pumping out units, not customer “satisfaction.” In fact, the more dissatisfied you are with a previous generation iPod (or Mac for this matter) the more likely you are to just chuck it and pony up for the latest flavor?

Take a cue from the photo I took at the airport last week. People now purchase $300 iPods as you would a bag of chips or a coke. And its not just the airport, these are popping up at malls, school campuses, heck I saw one at the Hilton in Vegas next to the elevator going to my room! Good Lord, have we gotten so trivial with our dollars and reduced our expectations of how long a piece of consumer electronics should last that it’s now normal to buy and dispose of them while walking down a hallway to a hotel room?

So why are the early adopters of the iPhone shocked over this sudden price drop? This is nothing new from their precious Apple. Besides, the same individuals that are so bent over this travesty are going to be the first ones in line around the Apple store next year to by the iPhone 1.5?

In fact that’s what they should be demanding, not a $200 credit for the price drop, but a refund on their time spent in line, we’ll call it “iLine.” It’s a fantastic new offering from Apple where you pay $599 for the privilege of camping out in front of an Apple store for a “limited” new product that will actually be readily available to anyone one week after launch, in fact they will have so many of them in stock two months after launch that there’ll be a price drop to entice sales in order to hit the 1 million unit projections for the end of September! Silly isn’t it, surely Mr. Job’s would never try such a thing.

So all you crazed iPhone users, while you are crying to get your technology tax of $200 refunded, why not ask Apple for a voucher to reserve your place in iLine 2008. Then you can again pay too much for an over-hyped, over-priced product that will again be discounted soon after you purchase it, and you can again swear how this is the last time you will fall under the sway of Apple’s marketing machine.

In a shocking move to diversify his limited Linux branding, Tux has been spotted at several South American cantinas enjoying spiked Horchatas and Tequila shots. This Degen.Net, exclusive was submitted by our roving technology aficionado referred to only as Agent Vic, and was captured while vacationing this summer below the Equator.

As revealed in the picture above, Tux is no longer content to serve merely as the symbol of the world wide open source movement; the very embodiment of Linus Torvalis’ Linux project. When questioned, the establishment’s proprietor was sketchy on the details surrounding the Petulant Penguin’s cross promotion plans, but did confirm that Tux was one heck of a party animal, and quite the ladies man as well.

“At first I wanted him out of my establishment; as he was distracting patrons and he didn’t seam particularly interested in ordering anything from the bar.” Hector Flores, owner of the Lucky Hombre, told Agent Vic in an interview earlier this month. “I approached Tux and asked him if he might not be more comfortable at the Internet Café across the street, that’s when things got a little intense.”

Hector continued, “We all thought this geeky little guy would just slink away, but let me tell you after he shattered a Jose Cuervo bottle over the bar and threatened to ‘cut’ anyone not using the 2.6 kernel, we realized this was no ordinary penguin!”

Mr. Flores shared that both he and the rest of the cantina staff developed a new sense of respect for Tux as he proceeded to drink all comers under the table. “We don’t really no nothing about Open Source stuff that Tux is into, but he makes a great mascot for our bar!”

So be on the lookout for other venues of expansion for Tux – heck what’s next a world wide deal with Budweiser?

Come young ones, gather around the tribal elder and he will tell us of a dark, unenlightened age. I time when futility ruled the earth, and vast expanses separated people who could not instantaneously share thoughts, ideas or youtube videos to complete strangers – dark days indeed! Now before you conclude that I speak of some distant era like the 1980’s (insert extra sarcasm here), I’m actually talking about yesterday. No really – Yesterday!

For those readers who might not know, I travel pretty much weekly out to many different client locations. When I walk in the door each customer is like a new come out roll of the dice at the craps table, you never know if you’re going to “win” with good unfettered internet access or crap-out before the roll even starts.

Last week, a typical scenario played out in my line of work: a new customer installation of our corporate product. Very standard, should have been a very simple couple of days work. Ah but the dice don’t always fall in your favor, for the site I was to configure was completely offline. No internal network, no network infrastructure (DHCP, DNS, etc.), and worst of all no Internet.

My trembling hands recoiled in horror as the “Server not found” message in my browser hit me like an ice cold roll of snake eyes on far end of the green felt table. But collecting myself I knew not all was lost, I’m an IT professional, surely I can conduct my businesses without the internet. After all, everyone knows the internet is just for Bittorrenting music and viewing porn right?

So first I needed to apply patches to both the OS and Applications… oh, well guess not. Next I discovered I could not register/license the commercial software just installed, as there was no internet – now this was starting to get ridiculous! Also on the no can do list, Corporate Email, IMs to co-workers, my hosted CRM system – Holy crap, you can’t do anything without the net!

What was truly disturbing about this experience is the way it demonstrates how very dependent modern OSes and Applications have become on an ever present internet connection. Not only does it become inconvenient/impossible to complete an install, but you have to wonder just how much background conversation is going on between your system and software manufactures’. If you are not worried about the privacy issues, consider the possibility of maliware or viral infection!

So what was life like back before we had all these IM client’s, myspace pages, blogs and RSS feeds filling our screens and minds with information? No, no, don’t worry, I’m not going to make some argument for technological regression, some new Luddite movement, but I can remember sitting at a computer working free from these online distractions and one word comes to mind; Focused.

See “back in the day”, our computers could not manage multiple simultaneous programs. Forget about multi-core, multi-threaded environments, you did things linearly – word-processing or connecting to a BBS on your modem or playing a game, you did not do all these things at once. Both your PC and your mind where “focused” on a single task at any given time, when you completed that task, project or diversion you moved on to the next thing.

Alas, times change. And with our new faster computers and increasingly sophisticated software came the connection that would enable ADHD to spread like wildfire throughout society – The Internet. Which brings me back to the original question – how did we live before having an always on Net connect?

If you have pre-internet memories I’d love to here them – post away!

Every once in a while Companies insist on reinventing ideas that – where bad back then, and are still bad today. An example of this might seen in current fashion trends, take bell bottoms, bad in the 70’s, still bad today. But fashion designers just cant resist the easy draw of “re-inventing” the same tired old packaging and re-branding it as new, innovative and trendy. And there is always another generation of mindless lemmings who are too narcissistic to acknowledge that they might not actually be the first ones on the planet to every have tried this before, who eat it all up.

Now as if this phenomenon is not dreadful enough with regard to the fashion industry, it is now invading mainstream internet content providers – Today’s case in point Yahoo. The other day I was browsing the web and saw this new section of yahoo “OMG.” Thinking that this could not possibly be as tacky as it turned out to be, I followed the link. OMG is right, why don’t we just call it what it is: Yahoo:OMG – The Trash Tabloid Online.

If you have missed this spectacle of wrongness, you have not missed much – its just pitiful to see this kind of format, copied from print, being adapted to a mainline web site like yahoo!

How did we all live before TiVo? As I have expressed many many times I LOVE MY DVR! the ability to time shift programing is one of the best consumer innovations in years.

But what if I was this goodness all manageable and available on my Notebook as I travel or simply miss an episode of my favorite show a few weeks back – enter   ShareTV.Org.

ShareTv is a fairly new TV programing enthusiast’s dream. with forums to discuss shows and links to sources for back episodes, you can find just about anything that is presently running as well as many canceled shows from the last decade or so.