Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Virtual Desktops?

I've observed this phenomenon in the market place.  Its usually a combined VDI/Fat client solution that we end up with.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31114_3-20026660-258.html?tag=mncol

Quad Core Processors in the latest HP laptops

I've been excited to see this new quad core technology in laptops.  It would be fun to get my hands on one of these.  I'll wait for prices to come down.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20026658-64.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Monday, December 27, 2010

What about 3D TV

I was skeptical at first.  I had been to see Avatar at the best theater in 3D.  I thought it was cool but I was pretty sure this would not catch on.  Our TV was from 1999.  We were holding out.  I figured the TV's would just keep getting cheaper.  When the industry came out with 3D I thought for sure that I would not buy one.

What happened?  Best Buy had an absolutely amazing deal that was only on the 3D TV.  The problem we had was that we did not have high definition anything.  So when we purchased a new TV that meant we had to buy a blue ray player and get Hi Def service from the cable company or Direct TV.  Well you can get a decent BlueRay player for about $100.00  But if your going to do the "new TV" thing you will want to be able to download and stream movies to it as well.  So Best Buy had a deal with Sony where if you purchased the 3D TV from Sony they include a Sony PS3 which is a gaming console/Blue Ray player/Media center.  This is how I ended up with the 3D TV.

I like it.  I think a lot of people will buy this.  Last night I played a 3d Video game and it was significantly cooler than any game I've played.  When viewing a 3D movie its like a window into another world.  Maybe I'm a geek but I was pretty blown away.  You don't get the full effect when your checking it out at Costco or Best Buy.  There are too many distractions.  Once I sat down and looked at it and worked with it I was really impressed.  I think this a technology worth giving serious consideration

~pz

Rethinking the WiFi ready TV

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/27/technology/27hack.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig

Friday, December 3, 2010

Simple out of complex

Hello.

Sorry I've not blogged for a while.  I really have no excuse except i just had no words for a while. So if you are taking the time to read this.....Thanks.

Lately I've been helping a couple of new customers who have sought me out because our company is known for quality in the area of hosted VOIP solutions.  What is interesting to me is that the companies that are being left behind are not necessarily the cheapest.  I think the reasons people leave service providers seems to be complex but they are actually simple.  Customers 1. want stuff that works 2. if it breaks they want you to fix it 3. if it is going to take a while to fix it tell them what the process will be and keep them in the loop during the process.

What is interesting is that when it comes to hosted VOIP the formula to make stuff work good is pretty simple.  The problem is that a lot of service providers make it more complicated by trying to make it cheap and mass produce it.  I'm specifically talking about call quality.  The ingredients are known.  1. a high quality low latency internet connection.  2. a router that delivers and monitors the voice quality  3.  a company that takes action with the right people when there is a problem.

So thats it.  So why do some of the biggest providers still get it wrong?  I can't really say.  I guess it is just the almighty dollar.  We charge a bit more up front.  We are not the cheapest. Even so customers come to us asking for a solution that works.  It seems that hosted VOIP is not yet a commodity.  I think its pretty simple.  Do it right charge a fair price and you will have happy customers.  Why does everyone make it complex?

~pz