TECH411.ORG

By Jon Cohen

So, the iPhone 4 has been out for over a month and no one can doubt that it is a best seller. In fact, most stores that carry Apple products are out of stock on a daily basis. I find myself being asked the question “should I upgrade or not”. This in fact is a question that I am personally asking myself. Since I have a iPhone 3GS and it has been working perfectly for me for the last 13 months, why would I upgrade now? The answer is not an easy one.  Once you set aside the hype and desire that Apple evokes we can look at features and needs. Yes the iPhone 4 has a better processor, thus making it a lot faster. It also has an amazing display (far superior to my 3GS), and yes it has a front facing camera that allows for FaceTime (video calls). With all these things being accounted for, the real question is do the new features outweigh or at least counter balance the fact that when the phone is held a certain way, it does not work?  In my opinion the answer is maybe, well I know maybe is the safe answer and certain people believe that you should not buy a product if it is not 100% perfect, while others share my opinion. The opinion that almost all manufactured products are never going to be perfect from the start is a fact of life.  In all industries we see that products go through testing and most of the time this gets rid of all and any issues, other times testing does not show a high enough error rate to warrant any action. Examples of both these outcomes can be found in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. As well computers are never bug free; just ask Sony after they recalled millions of notebook batteries due to randomly blowing up. Microsoft Corp. who produces one of the largest consumed products in the world “Windows” has been plagued with bugs and fixes for them for 15 plus years. Regardless, Apple nor any other company is not perfect and therefore a maybe answer to the upgrade question is valid.

My end feeling is that if you can wait 3 to 4 months and let Apple continue to tweak its software and hardware then you should! If you need a new phone right away then the iPhone 4 will be a great choice as long as you remember not to use the death grip. You can also count on Apple to have great customer service and be able to resolve most of your issues for the first year after your purchase date.

By Jon Cohen

By now you have probably seen, played with, or even owned a netbook. Does the world really need them? My answer is yes for right now. The computer world is in a transition and netbooks fill the gap when needing to upgrade from your 5 year old desktop or laptop.

Netbooks are small, lower powered, and ultra-portable computers that have been a favorite choice for most consumers who don’t have high computing needs.

Over the last ten years mobile computing has morphed in many areas. From cost, screen size, speed, weight, and price to name a few. In 2000 people were prepared to buy a computer with a 15″ display that weighed in at over 8 Lbs. and was priced at around $3000.00. By 2005, we started to see the shift to light weight computers with Wifi, and screen sizes of 14″. As of 2007, the move went to better value as we saw computer start being priced between $600-$900 with a nice set of features, finally by 2009 we see the 7″ or 10″ netbooks, offering battery life and a price tag sub $500.00.

With all these changes in the market over the last 10 years, the average consumer does not know what he/she wants. While standing in a local big box electronic store recently I overheard the computer sales man ask the young female customer what she needed the computer for. Her reply; school, pictures, and the web. He walked her over to the row of netbooks and said “these would be great for you!” with a smile. Then pointed at the price tag and said “what a deal!”  I found myself amused by the fact that this girl was going to buy the computer solely on price. Granted it was a cheap price, but what never entered the saleman’s mind or the customer’s mind was why is it so cheap? I later asked the girl why she chose that model and she told me because it was cute and a good price. Never once did she stop to realize that the technology in the unit was old, low powered, and really just a band aid solution for her needs.

It is my opinion that we as consumers are waiting for the next level of computing. Whether it be tablet computing or something else, the world is needing a new way to consume the vast amount of media and content from the web. Only time will tell what the next mobile computer will look like. For now netbooks are here, they are indeed cute and cheap, they fill a gap for consumers and will be one of the best band aid solutions for the next few years.

By Jon Cohen

Most thief’s steal from people they don’t personally know, and most people who have been robbed don’t find out until it is too late.

This article assumes that you are using the most common OS in the world, Windows.. if you are not a Windows user then some of the points will not apply to you.

Throughout time man has always had enemies. In today’s time our enemies are all around us thanks to the Internet. As over the last 10 years the use of personal computers at home, work, or on the road has grown so have the ways to steal from people. In the early days, hacker created viruses to destroy data or attack the computers OS (operating system) but the value to doing this was low when you compare it to hackers in the last 5 years who see the real goal for hacking your computer is to steal your information. I am not referring to information like files or documents that you have created. (Unless you are working for a high level of government or for a big company) What they are going after can simply be described as… YOU! They want your information. Your credit card numbers, your bank account, your personal information (DOB, SSN, etc.) they want to become you. Both in person and on the Internet. This crime is listed by most police agencies as “Identity theft” and it is one of the most common crimes in the modern society.

One may ask, how do I protect my self against identity theft? How do I stop my computer from being hacked? Why are they going after me?

The answer sadly to the first two questions is you can’t. We try to act smart online and try to be careful of what we open in email and website sites but the fact of the matter is that you can’t spend your life in a bubble and regardless of what you open in emails you will still be exposed to a virus and other malicious attempts to steal your information. As for why? the simple answer is why not. You are a target offer a large profit and your info has great value on the open market.

So we have now mentioned the Why and How but I have left out one emerging method that is becoming more and more popular. This new method is using an application like Twitter to get you to click on a URL (website) and once you go to that website then you have exposed yourself. The issue lies with the basic of two facts. First is the twitter is growing in popularity and the more people are using it the more people follow people they don’t know. [ The idea of following people you don't know is in my opinion one of the nice parts of twitter, this allows you to read the opinions of people who you won't regularly be in touch with]. The Second is the fact that URLs are made tiny to fit in to the twitter 140 character limitation and thus you as a twitter user don’t know what website you are being sent to just by clicking on a link. So the more you follow people you don’t know, or click on links that you are sent via people you follow the more you open your self up for trouble.

Is their a solution?

Yes, their is a solution, and a better solution then sitting and spending the rest of your days in a bubble and not using the web. The solution is to not open tiny URLs directly, instead copy them into google and let the search engine show you what the real URL is.

Lets hope this helps you not get a virus, and helps you protect your identity.

By Jon Cohen

Canada listen up, iPhone 4 is coming to you, and only a month after the US consumers. Questions will remain whether or not it will have the issues that the current iPhone 4 have with AT&T and signal loss. If in fact the issue lies with AT&T and not the hardware then the fact that Canada gets 4 different carries to provide service to iPhone 4 (none being AT&T) may prove to be the biggest advantage of using the newest iPhone in Canada. With Rogers, Bell, Telus, and Fido offering service Canadians will soon get access to some well deserved FaceTime (Apple’s new iPhone 4 feature that allows video calling between iPhone 4 users over WiFi).  July 30th is the date that Apple has set for  the Canadian release.

Only time shall tell if all the bad hype about the iPhone 4 in the USA will drive normally conservative Canadians away from purchasing. In most people’s eye Apple is perfect and people expect nothing but the best from them.

By Jon M. Cohen

With all the speculation running wild about Apple, the Internet is full of rumors.  I thought this would be a good time for me to jump in and propose my own predictions for the upcoming Apple media event.

The event is scheduled for September 9th, 2009, and the choice of dates is not by accident. You might ask yourself why this date? What does the number 9 have to do with Apple? Well their is a few things that need to be considered about this date. First, it is the end of the back to school promo. This means Apple should have sold most of the older stock of iPods and Macs. Secondly, if you are somewhat familiar with the music group “The Beatles” then you may also be well aware of the theory of the hidden messages laced in the track “Revolution Number 9“. The theory is that if you play the song backwards then you will find a hidden message. This is a belief that most music fans know about regardless of being Beatles‘ fans or not. With that being said, if Apple has finally been able to add “The Beatles” to its iTunes music store then it would be a great marketing idea to launch this new addition on 9/9/09.

Another idea that I believe to be true is that Apple will add a new model of iPhone 3GS to its lineup. Already featuring a 16GB and 32GB version of the most popular smartphone in today’s market, it is my assumption that an 8GB iPhone 3GS will be released and priced at $99.00 (with contract from cell phone provider). Once again playing on the theme of the Number 9.

I am certain that Apple will add new iPod’s to this product launch event. Included in this will be the new iPod Touch, now being offered with a 64GB capacity. Apple will maintain the 32GB, 16GB and the 8GB model as well. But the new pricing will show that the 8GB iPod Touch will be $99.00, if so, then that will be amazing value! Chances are that the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB editions will feature a camera as well. While the 8GB will be based on the older generation body style.

My next prediction is the addition of a new iMac that will either fit on the lower end of the price spectrum or be a super iMac that will be the new top of the line. But I don’t think they would refresh the whole lineup of iMacs at this point. I don’t have any idea of the new speeds and specs of the iMac, just a feeling that something new is coming.

So, with 9 days to wait for this big announcement I only have one last topic to mention. That would be the Macbook Nano (Macbook Touch). This long time speculated new device that will create a new category in the market. This will be a touch screen device like an iPhone but in either a 6″ or 10″ size category. This new product will most likely be announced on September 9th, 2009 but will not be for sale until January 2010 or June 2010. This 2010 release date will allow developers a chance to create Apps and port over any already existing Apps.

So their you have it, my September 9th, 2009 predictions, like most predictions that people make only time shall tell if I am right or wrong.

I leave you with this final thought; If Apple does want to capitalize on the marketing of “The Beatles” and playoff of the multiple decades of theories of “Revolution Number 9” then it would be a smart marketing idea to have all products revolve around the number 9, from pricing to the number of products introduced. By my count with 3 new iPod Touches, 1 new iPhone, 3 new iPod Nanos/Classics, and 2 new touch screen devices, and a 1 new iMac brings us to 9 new products being released on top of the addition of “The Beatles” to iTunes. Thus a fitting media event that would perfectly represent 09/09/09.