Connected

Practical Computing Ideas, Opinions

and Questions Answered

David's Newspaper Columns  (updated weekly)

Some of my Innovations columns are called "Connected" in print.  So if you can't find what you think is a Connected column here, look in Innovations -- especially if it's about a specific product.

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A more customer-friendly CompUSA might not be closing stores

Can an end to another era be upon us? CompUSA is closing more than half its stores as it tries once again to become profitable in the volatile electronics industry. To some, this may not seem like a shock.

CompUSA is the original big-box computer store -- the store that helped put ComputerLand, BusinessLand, and lots of other smaller computer retailers out of business in the then-rapidly expanding computer business. With its huge buying power, it was able to offer discounts on anything related to PCs. To many people, those discounts seem to disappear over the years -- but if you understood how to get them, you could get some very good bargains... <more>

The art of compatible appliance accessories

Product designers have to balance incompatible goals to achieve an optimal product for the consumer. Yet there are times that the outcome seems so senseless that you wonder what they were thinking.

Recently, my clock radio kicked the bucket after 20 wonderful years. This General Electric wonder had 2 alarms that could wake my wife or me with the sound of our favorite radio stations or to a buzzer. The display could be adjusted from near dark to penetrating light; and we could each wake to a different radio station. This early programmable model had lots of other features that made it the almost perfect appliance.

Finding a replacement has proven frustrating, despite the... <more>

Take me out to the ballgame -- please!

Another spring, another chance to buy baseball tickets for my hometown team. And another chance to be underwhelmed by the team's Web capabilities.

At 10 last Saturday morning, the Pittsburgh Pirates made tickets available to fans -- and I, like many other baseball enthusiasts, decided to get my Opening Day tickets quickly. A few minutes before 10, I jumped on my computer, connected to pirates.com, and got into the virtual waiting room -- that's Tickets.com's way of telling you that other people are in line before you.

Promptly on the hour, the waiting room opened up, allowing me to... <more>

'Wall of ears' eases work of headset designers

There's a huge discrepancy among the quality of the human-machine interfaces of various products we use. Some, like the Apple iPod, are so smooth that people are attracted in droves. Others, like various cell phones, evoke cries of displeasure -- even disdain. Why is there such a big discrepancy?

I recently brought up that question with Darrin Caddes, vice president of corporate design at Plantronics, a fast-growing producer of headsets. Mr. Caddes joined Plantronics two years ago after a successful career designing products for the automobile and motorcycle industries, including a stint at BMW...<more>

Spam and politics don't mix

I have trouble believing that the youngest major city mayor in the United States would resort to wholesale spamming to gain votes. Politicians of his generation, unlike older statesmen, are supposed to be savvy to the ways of the Web -- and that means knowledgeable of what turns people on and off about e-mail communications. But... <more>

Comcast wants your TV to be smarter

As telephone, satellite and cable companies have continued to play technological leapfrog, your service has been getting better.

Some of the enhancements have happened because of new technologies, some as companies buy other companies, thereby pushing existing technologies to new customers. So don't be surprised if this week or sometime in the near future, your television becomes smarter -- allowing you to gain access to more and better video-on-demand (VOD) programming.  <more>

Curtain to rise on Microsoft's major upgrades

In the future, we may look back on next week, and call it one of Microsoft's biggest product announcements ever -- the retail introduction of Windows Vista and Microsoft Office. Microsoft's two most important product lines are being revamped -- and it's... <more>

Beatles for sale?

Hints abound that Apple (and Apple) might finally let it be

Steve Jobs playing the Beatles. Just the thought of it made me think of the lyric on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album, in which John Lennon had to laugh while reading the news. Yet Mr. Jobs was right in front of my eyes -- playing a tune from the "Sgt. Pepper" album -- and showing off the cover of that same classic piece of vinyl.  At first, I thought it was an inside joke. After all, haven't the Beatles been at... <more>

Observing workers leads to new products

Ever wonder how they come up with those great product ideas? I'm not talking about the next fast computer or the software design that makes the user experience easier. I'm talking about those everyday hardware products that just make life easier or better. I often see products that seem so sensible that I ask myself why somebody else hadn't thought of it before -- especially why I hadn't thought of it.

So I asked...<more>

RSS, podcasts will change the way you do business

Much the way many businesses discovered the Internet in 1995, 2007 is the likely tipping point for several new technologies that will change the way we do business. The first of ... <more>

David's Weekly columns:

• Connected (addressing the impact of tech & tech news on you)
• Worry Watch (about viruses, spyware, ID theft, threats...)
• Innovations (they can change the way you work and live)

• plus, his Feature articles