Showing posts with label Hardware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hardware. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Microsoft and Vendors

PC hardware vendors should only hate Microsoft for removing "Computer" icon from Desktop by default in Windows 7.
"Less-hardware-minded users aren't keen to upgrade often..."
NB. The Recycle Bin is holding on.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

In search for ... a better keyboard

Have you noticed how keyboards get smaller and worse, over the years?

My Apple Pro keyboard (1999-2001) from the PowerMac G4 Cube died on me, and suddenly I was in the market for a decent keyboard.

And I did not like what I saw.

Apple have shifted production to a simple piece of aluminum, which fits my kitchen more than my desk (not to say my fingers). Later on, they cut down on this piece of aluminum, getting rid of the numeric pad. These keyboards, being shipped with Mac Pro, it's a pitiful sight now...

Then I found old bookmark to Matias Pro keyboard, but online research told me that they're loud, and have their own quirks.

Knowing Logitech and Microsoft usually make good peripherals, I am looking at their offerings.

What do you use and prefer, guys?

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Hardware Categories (Classes)

Let me share with you my vision of Hardware Categories.
To start with, it came to me once, that the rest of the [non-geekish] world has some pain determinig what can be done with a specific piece of IT hardware and what could not.

"Scanners, printers, faxes" may be easy to understand by the word of it, but "hard drives"?
"Flash" memory? RAM? CPU? GPU? NIC?
Multifunction copiers with secure printing and storage?
Heck, even that bluetooth spy stone for MI6 spy info exchange they found in Moscow http://www.bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/envirorights/info_access/41703

All those geek names are a hindrance for plain consumers.
And this only makes it hard for them to consume...
So what if we (the Industry) solve this problem by clearly categorizing all the existing hardware SKUs and put them into one or many categories,
clearly and unambiguosly indicating what that hardware does to the information flow?

I suggest they would go like these:
A - for Accumulating info
D - for Displaying info (making info sensible to us humans)
P - for Processing (modifying, encrypting, computing) info
S - for Sensing info (making it available to the hardware)
T - for Transferring info.

Let me show you some examples.
So, the whole PC does ADPST.
Printers do D (belongs to "D" hardware class).
Network card, routers do T.
Scanners do S.
Cryptocards, CPUs, FPUs do P.
Copiers do SD.
Faxes do SDT.
Telephones do T (belong to "T" hardware class).
Multifunction copiers with ability to store jobs on hard drive, send faxes and print do ADST.
Now, in order to see what you can do with a new device that is being marketed now, all you have to do is see it's hardware class descriptor.
Doesn't this make life easier?

Tell me what do you think.