Dropbox

When I became a student again in August, I decided to upgrade my computing capabilities and bought an iMac and a MacBook Pro (I don’t play golf or tennis so I have rationalized that whatever I would spend on these sports would be more than I spent on new computers). I’ll have more to say about the Macs in another posting, but suffice it for now to say that they are incredibly easy to use than Windows PCs.

There is quite a bit here in patrickWeb about Cloud Computing, and the evolution away from the desktop to the cloud is well underway. One of the more clever and useful cloud applications that I have found is Dropbox. Dropbox provides file synchronization that simplifies many of the things I do. The initial motivation to get Dropbox was my use of Quicken. Quicken for the Mac is unfortunately inferior to Quicken for Windows, so I installed VMWare Fusion and Windows XP on the Mac. This allows me to run a Windows app side by side with Mac applications in a seamless way. VMWare calls this the Fusion view. Fusion solves the issue of being able to run Quicken for Windows on the Mac but it doesn’t solve the other issue which is the location of the Quicken data file.

The location of the file would not be an issue if I only used the iMac or only used the MacBook Pro, but when you use them both, depending on where you are, the location of the file becomes a major issue. Dropbox solves the problem. Here’s how it works. You install Dropbox on each of your computers. It takes a few minutes at most. The result is you now have a folder on your computer called My Dropbox. Anything you put in that folder is automatically uploaded to the Cloud (a server at Dropbox.com). The file is then automatically synchronized to any other computer you have that has Dropbox installed on it. The usage scenario is as follows. I run Quicken on the iMac using the local file which is in the Quicken folder in the My Dropbox folder on the iMac. After I finish using Quicken and close the program, the file is automatically uploaded to Dropbox.com and then downloaded to the MacBook Pro. No login is required and no actions need to be taken – it is all automatic. The next day I take a trip somewhere with the MacBook. I start Quicken and it automatically opens the latest version of the Quicken data file from the Quicken folder which is in the My Dropbox folder on the MacBook Pro. It may sound complicated but it is actually elegant and simple.

Drop box can be used for many other applications in addition to Quicken. Any application that has a data file and where you can specify the location of that data file can take advantage of the concept I described for Quicken. Another application that I have found quite useful is 1Password. 1Password maintains a secure database of logins and passwords for websites that I utilize. The database is stored in a folder in the My Dropbox folder. The 1Password application is installed on the iMac, MacBook Pro, iphone4, and the iPad. They all use the same file and are always in synch.

There are many applications that can take advantage of this concept. In fact, for $99 per year you can get 50 gigabytes of Dropbox storage. This has allowed me to put all of my data folders in the My Dropbox folder. This allows me to run any application on multiple computers and always have the same data. As a byproduct of this Dropbox becomes a backup repository for the data. The concept of desktop, portable, mobile, and handheld devices with synchronized data in the clouds is one that I expect to become pervasive.

Tags: 1password, cloud, dropbox, ipad, iPhone, quicken, sync

Kindle 3

The new Kindle 3 — “Smaller, Faster, Cheaper“” — arrived on Friday morning, a few days earlier than Amazon had promised. I would say that the new device will assure Amazon’s lead for some time. It is really fantastic. I had no complaints with the Kindle 2 — in fact I love it — but the new one has a nicer feel to it. The slightly smaller size allows you to truly read “one handed”. The power switch was moved to the bottom from the top and I find that much more convenient. The new color seems more with the times. A few other button changes but overall it is pretty much a refined version of the Kindle 2 which was a refined version of the Kindle 1. I am sure we won’t have to wait a year for the Kindle 4.

The Kindle 3′s new no glare screen has increased gray-scale contrast — it is clear as a bell and it loves the summer sun. The battery life is supposed to be one month. The migration from Kindle 2 to Kindle 3 was trivial. Took the new device out of the box, plugged it in, and turned it on. I clicked “register” and gave it my Amazon account id and password. I also gave it the SSID of my Wireless Access Point here at the Lake and that was it. In seconds I was reading the book that I had started on the Kindle 2 (and read parts of on the iPhone 4 and the Kindle app on the iPad).

I still love the iPad but when it comes to reading  books the Kindle is hands down better and with the Kindle 3 that advantage will be multiplied. The new Kindle comes in two flavors: one with WiFi for $139 and one with WiFi and 3G for $189. For most of us the WiFi model is more than adequate. If you are going on a trip you can download your favorite newspaper plus a book or two or more using your home WiFi and you are set. You don’t really need 3G for other applications because the Kindle doesn’t have other applications! That is what your iPad is for.

The magazine, book, and newspaper publishers still haven’t figured out what to do about the rapid adoption of e-readers. The iPad is great for reading news, but which news source is best to read?  The New York Times has the worst model. They offer a dozen stories and plan to charge if you want more. The Wall Street Journal charges $3.99 per week for their news on the iPad but if you want to read a WSJ story on the web or your iPhone they want you to take out another subscription. Wired and Time want you to pay $5 per issue of their magazines.  I believe people will be willing to pay for good content but nobody yet has the right model. I have experimented with quite a few news “readers” that display the RSS feeds of just about all publishers. I currently like NewsRack the best. None of the news readers are perfect but they are all getting better.

Meanwhile the Kindle DX has found a temporary home on eBay. The auction began Friday evening and already has 13 watchers and eight bids. The Kindle DX has been in use for airport and approach charts on the airplane but is no longer needed now that the pilots have iPads. This is a good example of where a “multi-purpose” device is better. There are many applications that are very handy in the cockpit and the iPad becomes an EFB (electronic flight bag). Hopefully, the pilots are not reading books while flying!

Tags: amazon, author, Aviation, efb, electronic flight bag, ipad, Kindle, kindle 3, kindle 4, publisher, WiFi

Amazon: Smaller, Faster, Cheaper

Smaller, Faster, Cheaper. That has been the mantra of the computer business for decades and it continues on. As predicted here, Amazon has announced a smaller, faster, cheaper Kindle 3 and it also turns out to be clearer. The new no glare screen has increased gray-scale contrast and it loves the summer sun. The battery life is one month and the slightly smaller size and 8.7 once weight means you can hold it in your hand for a long time with no fatigue. At a price of $139 this new Kindle will likely become something that every member of the family will have. I think Jeff Bezos has the right idea with his “single purpose” device combined with a strategy to make all Amazon books readable on all the devices no matter who makes them. I love my iPad but when it comes to reading  books the Kindle is hands down better and with the Kindle 3 that advantage will be multiplied.

The new Kindle comes in two flavors: one with WiFi for $139 and one with WiFi and 3G for $189. For most of us the WiFi model is more than adequate. If you are going on a trip you can download your favorite newspaper plus a book or two or more using your home WiFi and you are set. You don’t really need 3G for other applications because the Kindle doesn’t have other applications! That is what your iPad is for.

I have a small investment in Amazon and plan to hold on to it for a long time. I think their visiion and execution are outstanding as I have written many times here in the blog. The Wall Street pundits are not as bullish, however. In fact the latest stories on the company’s performance talk about “costs soar”, “investors spooked”, “expectations not met” and other negative phrases. Amazon was criticized for spending to expand it’s infrastructure. Apparently Wall Street would prefer that the company wait until they start dissatisfying customers and then apply bandaids. Amazon is adding 13 fulfillment centers this year and has hired an additional 2,200 employees over the last quarter.  As an investor I like the long term view that Jeff Bezos has taken consistently from day one. He ignores the pundits and listens to the customers.

What was the bad news that caused the stock to take a big hit this week? Amazon’s earnings rose 45% on a 41% increase in sales. Sales of electronics and other general goods rose 69% to $3.49 billion. Operating expenses such as marketing and distribution costs jumped 40%, almost as much as sales. They didn’t rise — they jumped. Rising less than sales was a very good thing when I was a CFO.  Another “negative” is that Amazon’s sales of traditional media, such as books and DVDs, continued to decelerate. That will be true for everyone as we all know. That is why Amazon is pushing the Kindle.

In spite of the “negatives” Amazon’s profit for the quarter grew from $142 million to $207 million while revenue rose from $4.65 billion to $6.57 billion. But analysts were critical that return on invested capital fell to 34% from 42% a year ago. Most companies would die to get 10%. The bottom line is that expectations get out of hand. An analyst puts a number in a spreadsheet for what they expect revenue or profit to be and those numbers become set in concrete. Somehow the analysts know more than Jeff Bezos about what his numbers should be. In the long run things adjust properly but in a quarter by quarter game the strategy and reality of performance are less important than what the expectations were.

Meanwhile Amazon reported it sold more e-books than paper books over the past three months. The company also disclosed an agreement with literary agent Andrew Wylie giving it exclusive rights to sell digital editions of certain older titles by authors such as Philip Roth and John Updike. The deal bypasses publishers completely. This is profound. The publishers are furious about the deal but for the rest of us it means fairly priced access to a large number of classics. The Kindle library now exceeds 600,000 and is growing rapidly. That should take care of a lot of summers.

Tags: amazon, author, ipad, Kindle, publisher, wylie

Kindle Sales Defy iPad

PC World Magazine says “Amazon Kindle Sales Defy IPad by Rising Each Month in Q2“.  This does not come as a surprise for a number of reasons. One is that the Kindle is a great product that is highly intuitive and easy to use. People get addicted to it and they tell their friends and family about it. I have been wanting to read Michael Lewis’s The Big Short but it was not available until recently on the Kindle. I waited. Great book, by the way. I know people who told me a few years ago that they had no interest in the Kindle but now are addicted. It was a popular gift item last holiday season and with the price reduced (again) it has become attractive to a much larger audience. Another factor is that the iPad is not the Kindle killer that some had thought. As described here a number of times, the iPad is great but not for for long periods and not for reading outdoors. Summer reading is the sweet spot for the Kindle.

Now we have the new Kindle DX.  The “old” Kindle DX was already quite nice.  We have been using it as an “electronic flight bag” for roughly 15,000 approach and airport charts. The Kindle reduces clutter in the cockpit but the iPad does a better job as an EFB since it has numerous aviation applications that enable pilots to calculate weight and balance, get the latest weather, and file flight plans directly with the FAA. Now that we have the iPad the DX can revert to the original reason we got it — reading newspapers and magazines. The DX is great for books too but the smaller Kindle is more comfortable to hold. The sweetspot for the DX is magazines, newspapers, and documents. Putting the DX on a stand and flipping through the Sunday paper is a treat. And now with the new DX it will be even better.

The new 9.7″ diagonal, high contrast e-ink screen has 50% better contrast than it’s predecessor. The Kindle DX display looks and reads like real paper, with no glare. With the free 3G wireless (no monthly payments and no contract) and the lower price, the DX is going to be a good choice for many people. Battery life is great too — read for up to 1 week on a single charge; turn wireless off and read for up to two weeks. The built-in PDF Reader has enhanced zoom capability to easily view small print and detailed tables or graphics. For professionals who have thousands of documents it will be a natural.

There will be a lot of competition for tablets and e-readers but from what I have seen so far the iPad and the Kindle, and the Kindle DX are the best. I love my iPad but for reading books the Kindle is better. I especially like being able to go back and forth between the iPhone 4, the Kindle, the Kindle DX, and the Kindle e-reader on the iPad and always have the bookmark synced to where I last was reading. As for newspapers and magazines the next move needs to be from the publishers who seem frozen with indecision. They want to charge a lot of money for their content but most of us don’t want to pay. Why pay for a New York Times app on the iPad when you can read the New York Times blogs on Pulse for free? As for magazines there is great potential for electronic versions but I don’t think people will pay the $4.99 for each new issue that Time and Wired are charging. I expect a lot of news about the news in the months ahead.

Tags: approach plates, Aviation, documents, dx, e-book, e-ink, e-reader, efb, flight charts, ipad, Kindle, kindle dx, magazines, New York Times, newspapers, pdf, time magazine, wired

iPad – Part 9: The Seventeen Month Review

Most pundits are adults — if not seniors. Perhaps we should get some input from the younger crowd. Much younger. Like one of my grandchildren. After just seventeen months in this world my grandson has a perspective worth knowing about. – and seeing!

iPad stories on patrickWeb
Other gadget related stories on patrickWeb

Tags: grandchildren, grandson, ipad, Kindle, pundit

In The Clouds (Part 4)

The August issue of PC Magazine began the “magazine’s” 30th year and I have not missed an issue, although this is the first one I read on the iPad with Zinio. If someone had described the iPad to me back in 1981 it would have seemed like science fiction. Even the PC at that time seemed an amazing breakthrough. The first PC had a 5.25 inch diskette drive and no hard drive. Anybody have their archives on 5.25 inch diskettes?I hope not because it might be hard to find a drive to read them.

The First Word column by Lance Ulanoff over at PC Mag this month was called Storage Evolution in which Lance discusses how storage has evolved from one type of media to another. When a new size or type of storage is introduced it always seems that the new paradigm will last forever. In the grand scheme of things the evolution looks more like pings on a radar screen. They come and they go.  Sony has just made a decision to end production of the 3.5 inch disks. When the CD became popular for backing up our files it seemed to be the ultimate. Then came the DVD and then double sided and double depth. External drives, zip drives, USB keys, tape cartridges, and perhaps holographic storage soon. Getting the latest and greatest to backup your data is the easy part. What about five years from now when you want to restore some data from your archived storage? Will you have a PC or Mac that has a device that can read the storage medium you had chosen five years prior? Maybe and maybe not.

Why not let someone else worry about all this? There is something about clouds that brings the term into our daily lives. We say “it is a cloudy day”, or “there is not a cloud in the sky”, or if we feel especially elated or happy we might say “I feel like I am on cloud nine“.  More and more people are answering the question of where is there backed up data with “it’s in the cloud”. Some people worry about whether it will be safe and secure in the cloud but from my perspective it is important to compare the risk to that of keeping such data on your own computer. In fact I would say that the risk of your data getting compromised at a cloud backup service is less than the risk of your hard drive crashing or having your laptop stolen at Laguardia Airport, or at some point of being unable to read the data because the storage medium is incompatable with your computer.

Cloud services companies have a lot more at stake than we do when it comes to maintaining high integrity for their operations. They will keep your backup data backed up and they will use whatever the most cost-effective storage media is. As new kinds of media come along they will adopt it and migrate all your data to it. Their problem, not yours. The argument for using them is compelling from my point of view. There are many companies that offer backup services including Mozy, Carbonite, and SOS. See PC Magazine for a review. I have been using idrive.com for quite some time and have found it very reliable. The services can be setup to automaticaly make backups while you are sleeping. You can have the backups run daily, weekly, or even continuously so that whenever a file changes on your computer a backup is made in the cloud. The best part is that you don’t have to buy any devices and worry about how compatible they may be in the future.

Is cloud computing for businesses or for consumers? It is for people. Businesses do not buy from businesses. People in businesses buy from people in businesses. People work at businesses and people work at home. Some people are students and some are e-tired. Clouds are all about making people more productive and increasingly the clouds will be where we will keep all of our data that feel is important.

Other patrickWeb stories that refer to “clouds”

Tags: backup, backup service, cloud, cloud computing, cloud services, diskette, dvd, holographic, ipad, media, pc magazine, storage, storage medium, tape, usb

iPhone 4 – Part 6: et tu, iPad?

The iPhone 4 is going strong. I took some pictures today and noticed how much faster the capture is — significantly faster than the 3GS. Between the faster processor and additional memory the performance for everything it does is better. One thing I had not anticipated, however, is the impact of the iPhone 4 on the iPad for those who own both. What I mean by that is the perception that the iPad is not as good as it could (and surely will) be in the Fall when it gets the upgrade to iOS 4.

Task switching is really nice and when you get used to the double push of the home button on the iPhone 4 you begin to expect it to be the same on the iPad, but of course it is not the same. It is not there at all. There is not multi-tasking on the iPad. I am sure Apple did not intend to have the iPhone make the iPad look bad but I think that for many users that have both of the new devices they will begin to get impatient that the iPad doesn’t have some of the advanced features of it’s little brother. The folders made by possible by iOS 4 are really great. In stead of 100 apps spread across 8 screens I now have many of them in folders and everything is contained on half as many screens. The same 100 or so apps are spread across the eight screens on the iPad and while some apps are unique to each device, many are common but in different places. I already finding myself thinking how nice it would be if the iPad had the Navigation, News, Aviation, Shopping, Utilities, Productivity, etc. folders that the iPhone has. Hmmm. Will I begin to get frustrated with the iPad? Maybe a little. The main difference for me is the session time with an app. With the iPhone it tends to be short while on the iPad it tends to be more for reading and surfing of longer duration.

And then there is the Retina display I described in the last post. The iPad has a great display but it is not Retina. Could it be? Seems likely. If you look a bit further at the specs you also see that the iPhone 4 actually has more memory than the iPad. Hmmm. So there are some clues as to what may be coming. Seems likely that we will see a new iPhone once a year in the summer and maybe a new iPad once a year before holiday shopping time. No regrets on my part having the “magical” iPad early even if it gets replaced with a lighter, faster, thinner, brighter one in six months. Gazelle will be there to take care of the “trade-in”.

Other iPhone 4 Thoughts
Other iPad Thoughts

Tags: apple, folders, gadget, gazelle, ipad, iPhone, iphone 4, iphone4, mobile display, multi-tasking, retina, retina display, task switching

iPhone 4 – Part 5: 2nd Day Impressions

Tags: amazon, apple, apple store, back lighting, ebay, facetime, gadget, gazelle, ibooks, in-plane switching, ipad, iPhone, iphone 4, iphone4, Kindle, lcd, micrometer, micrometre, mobile display, patrickWeb, proximity sensor, retina, retina display

iPhone 4 – Part 4: Hot Deals

Other iPhone 4 Thoughts
Other iPad Thoughts

Tags: amazon, apple, apple store, ebay, facetime, gadget, gazelle, ibooks, ipad, iPhone, iphone 4, iphone4, Kindle, patrickWeb

iPhone 4 – Part 3: First Impression

The Fedex delivery man pulled up at 10:30 this morning with an iPhone 4 in his hand — there were 15 more on his truck. The packaging is elegant and simple to open. After syncing the iPhone 3GS and Stainless Shuffle to be sure iTunes was up to date, I connected the iPhone 4. The first screen to appear showed my mobile phone number and asked me to enter my zip code and last four of the social for authentication. After agreeing to the Apple and AT&T terms and conditions the phone was activated and the copying of apps plus thousands of songs and music began. I went out for an errand and when I got back the iPhone 4 was loaded with my data. The next step was to set up the Google accounts for over-the-air syncing of my 1,500 contacts plus all the calendar entries and gmail. Minutes later I was good to go. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

One should not judge a book by it’s cover but when it comes to gadgets, first impressions matter. When it came to the iPhone 4 that impression was very positive. The industrial design is elegant. The weight is about the same as the iPhone 3GS but the 4 is thinner and flatter and hence feels more dense and substantial. It has a more contemporary look to it and it is a delight to hold onto. The only physical thing to critique is that when the phone is in your pocket you can’t reach in for it and tell which side is up like you could with the 3GS. No doubt getting familiar with where the buttons are and correlating that to how to grab for the phone face-up will be easy to learn.

Under the covers there are a number of enhancements in the iPhone 4. One reviewer claimed the new battery lasted 31 hours for him. The processor has been upgraded to Apple’s new super-fast A4 processor. A half-gigabyte of memory will also enhance the performance. The iPhone 4 specifications would be mistaken for a supercomputer not that long ago. The addition of a 3-axis gyroscope will enable developers to create some amazing games and along with the GPS there will no doubt be some undreamed of navigation apps coming. The new Retina display is truly brilliant. Icons have no rough edges and photos look like glossy prints. The two cameras and video capability are being raved about. I am not much of a photographer nor do I know much about video editing but it sounds like you can now create candidates for the Cannes film festival on your phone. If photography and video are of interest I would highly recommend reading the review done by Joshua Topolsky over at Engagdet. There are some really good YouTube videos included. As they say a picture (or YouTube clip) is worth a thousand words.

Of most significance to me is the software aspect of the iPhone 4. The upgrade to iOS 4 is available for the iPhone 3GS but the added power of iPhone 4 is able to take much more advantage of the software advancements. The breakthrough is multi-tasking which enables the iPhone to do more than one thing at a time. Not technically exactly really but we won’t know the difference. The best example is that you can start Pandora and select your music and then press the home button again and begin reading your email while you listen to the music. You could do this with the iPod app but not with Pandora. You can stop working on something in an app and switch to a different app and return to find that the prior app is running. For example you can be downloading a large file, go work on something else, and return to find the download completed, all while listening to Pandora. A double press of the home button brings up a new task manager which shows all the apps that are running. You no longer have to push the home button in between apps. I can’t wait for multi-tasking on the iPad — expected in the Fall.

Another breakthrough is FaceTime video chat. To put it in perspective, take a look at the AT&T PicturePhone product of 1969. The FaceTime uses the front camera to capture your face — or that of a grandchild. This could be the feature that gets reluctant grandparents to sign up for an iPhone. At this stage it only works between two iPhones although Apple is releasing specs to make it possible for others to interoperate. I have no doubt that a creative Android developer will implement the feature post haste. The other immediate limitation is that FaceTime video calls are only possible using WiFi. I don’t see that as a problem given the wide availability of WiFi. I think the potential for FaceTime to change the way we communicate is significant. Once multiple participants can be part of a video conference it will change how we think of a “meeting”. For now, I wish I knew someone who had an iPhone 4 so I could try FaceTime instead of just envisioning it!

Another feature that I have envisioned since I got the first iPhone is folders. It took Apple a long time to implement what I consider an essential capability. I have roughly 100 apps. It is amazing how the human brain can remember the content, color, and location of an icon but a way to organize the apps is a superior idea. If you drag a CNN icon onto the top of a BBC icon, the iPhone combines the two into one folder and names the folder “News”. You can drag up to 12 into a folder. Be nice to have more but a dozen is a good start and can allow organizing things into news, weather, sports, utilities, finance, games, etc. This is another feature I can’t wait to get for the iPad.

The iPhone enables you to use whatever email system you want but personally I don’t know why everybody doesn’t use gmail. I am actually glad everyone does not use it because then there would not be enough competition and the governement would step in and shut down Gmail! Whatever mail you use, it is now easier on the iPhone 4 as it has added threaded mail and an integrated inbox. This is yet another feature badly needed on the iPad but for which we have to wait for iOS 4.

The iPhone now has iBooks and syncing of bookmarks between the iPad and iPhone. This is a good thing but I still believe Amazon is ahead in this area. With the new pricing aggressiveness for e-readers I believe the “single purpose” devices will have a place and I look forward to getting the next Kindle this summer. Sunny day reading this summer at the Lake with the iPad or iPhone is not going to happen. The Kindle loves sunny days!

All things considered I am more than pleased with the new iPhone 4. I am sure there will be some things that may disappoint but so far it looks like the winner I expected. The Android phones are going to give Apple a big run for the money and that is exactly what we all want. In the short term the Android will attract techies, those that have poor AT&T coverage and want Verizon, and those that have an aversion to Apple and their high prices and proprietary ways. Over time Android will get better and better as their base of developers grows but for now Apple has a big head start. The only rock they have to drag is AT&T. Their network is not available to many and to many who have it they don’t like it. AT&T is making big investments to improve things and the new iPhone 4 has an improved antenna which some reviewers are saying make dropped calls much more rare. I have not been out of the house with the new iPhone yet but so far it is at least as good as the 3GS. Bottom line for me is that the first impression is a very happy one.

Other iPhone 4 Thoughts
Other iPad Thoughts

Tags: A4, amazon, android, apple, at&t, battery life, design, facetime, fedex, gmail, gps, gyroscope, ibooks, industrial design, ipad, iPhone, iphone 4, iphone4, Kindle