but what happens with technology combines forces with one of the most intimate acts a person is forced to commit (thank you Mother Nature) about a bazillion times a year?!
this
the worlds first six thousand dollar john by INAX (is there nothing those crafty small-handed japs can't do?! ^_^) that does everything from auto raises the seat when it 'senses' you approaching to washing your bum with two (because clearly one can't handle this dirty job) water jets that can be set to 'massage' AND plays soothing music that tricks your brains alpha waves to relax your body so you're the most efficient you can be when having to drop some kids off at the pool
lets me honest, as far as johns go, this is the Rolls-Royce in todays world but honestly, six grand so my butt can be massaged while being serenaded by soothing muzaks is a bit much
so it's been the norm tech trend to cut the cords and compute via the airwaves
i mean come on, kids today are using three to four times more technology they we did at their age, that's a huge increase in such a short period of time and it's is only going to get wider at the rate technology makes leaps and bounds forward
but in this country where one of the biggest contributors to pushing innovation is the US Government (we practically owe our commercial airline industry to its award of an innovative contract with the Wright Brothers many moons ago) it's a sure sign that 'Cloud Computing' is the new state of the art and if you don't know you betta ask somebody
enter the juggernaut USDA (US Department of Agriculture) with a workforce of over 120k strong announced recently that it's shifting its entire IT environment to Microsoft's Cloud Power
i for one as a Federal employee (who also understands the reasons why people are crying for a federal pay freeze but also think it's bogus when you really compare apples to apples the pay rates of Federal employees to their private sector equivalents you'll discover that Federal employees DO NOT make more in salary and are far more restricted if they choose to leave public service and land a better job within the private sector due to extensive ethics laws and regulations ... but that's another blog) and happy to see this major shift having worked within multiple Federal agencies and the gods know i know how much is spent to maintain multiple competing IT environments and the pieces needed to keep it all going on its legs
having a complete cloud environment may not cost less to maintain but overtime it gives the agency or company the ability to flex its IT muscles as the market demands or industry changes which would equate over time to less money needed
all that being said, how does any of this apply to a regular joe schmoe?
well i've taken it upon myself to look into it first hand but looking into totally free cloud'ish offerings from Microsoft such as it's Windows Live offerings to Google's Google Docs, Gmail, and now Google Voice (one number to RULE THEM ALL!!) offerings so if you didn't know it more and more people are running majority or pieces of their lives in the clouds
but are you?
i've been testing out the Microsoft's Live and Live Essentials to compare to my full time Google Gmail account and honestly, kinda digging the programs and features so far
it's totally a concept mobile phone (thank you Billy May) via Mozilla Labs but i have one reaction to the remote possibility of a phone like this being a usable product before i'm in a senior citizens home
I'm not sure how many of my fellow comments on here are major tech geeks as I am (DD, you're excluded from this statement) but I'm about as tech addicted as one can get.
Case in point: when friends have house sat for me they've complained of difficulty falling asleep in my living or my master bedroom because of all the 'stand by' lights from my electronics. I personally find them quite snoozing...like stars in the night sky
but different strokes for different folks i guess. @_@
Which brings me to this post, Apple and it's endless claim to fame new product superstar, the iPad. Now, I've been an advocate of Apple having used a Power Mac all through my first undergrad degree and loved it, but have since moved back over to the land of Microsoft and PCs with no major complaints.
Yet thanks to Apple's iPad I've been very fascinated with the increased consumer interest and applicability of tablet computers to my personal and work life and have delayed purchasing one for a few reasons.
My main reason being the release of Apple' brand new game changer, the iPhone. I was one of those crazies that after the first ones release June 29th 2007 (which I paid full retail for) no less than a year later Apple announced the pending release of the iPhone 3G July 11th 2008 at half the price and twice the tech!!
I know that technology refreshes at an alarming rate these days but I've never quite gotten over this painful stab in the back by Apple although I continued to buy replacement iPhone's and use this formate before switching to Verizon Wireless and the Motorola Droid 2recently.
Based on the above I haven't purchased Apple's iPad because I'm waiting for them to release the bigger, better, newer iPad within the year at half the price and because of increased interest in what some of Apple's competitors are ranting about such as Samsung and how other products will compare.
There's also a nifty video below highlighting what this new toy of the gods can do, check it out!
So, what's your take on the whole tablet craze?
Will this become the new mobile computing standard or is it just another passing tech fad that will die a quick but glorious death similar to netbooks?
Will Apple remain king of this genera since it's the first to make tablets popular and relevant again with consumers as it was and is via the changes to the smartphone market with the release of the iPhone?
