Living in the Future

Tag: Review

  • Attrell Update – October 9

    Attrell Update – October 9


    Here’s my +Attrell Update for the week. A new book (which I finished last night after making this video, oops), a great podcast, and a possible new job. Keeping it simple this week.

    If you want to keep up with these videos, click on the “i” in the top right of the video and subscribe!

  • Windows 10 – A Better Way

    Windows 10 – A Better Way

    For those of you who love Windows as much as I do (I’m just a tech advocate, so I love pretty much all technology), you’re probably interested in hearing where Microsoft is going with the new version of Windows. I’m running Windows 8.1 right now, and in general, computer software versioning follows a fairly rigid convention. When you launch a version with a lot of major new features, you move to the next whole number (so the next version after 8.1 is logically 9). Most companies give their software code names, so between Windows 3.0 and Windows 7, they used names like Windows 95, 98, XP, ME, Vista, etc., but those versions also had official numbers internally between 3 and 7. This jump to Windows 10 (instead of 9) seems very arbitrary, and if you watch the video, they try to explain it, but to me it sounds like an arbitrary decision.
    One of the things that Apple has almost always been good at during product launches is making sure that they deliberately tell a story that makes sense within the context of the company, especially when it comes to naming their products. If there isn’t a linear succession of naming, there is a reason for it. So when this newest version of Windows was called Windows 10, I started thinking why that might be.
    This spring, at the Microsoft Build conference, Microsoft debuted some features that would be making it into the next version of Windows, including some updates to changes made between Windows 7 and 8 that many users found jarring. These changes were mostly seen as the company backpedalling on their Windows 8 vision with the tiled Start menu and touch-friendly controls. It was said that these updates would be coming in the fall, and most people sneered or derided the company for regressing in the look and feel of Windows.

    It’s not just me that thinks Joe Belfiore looks like Ed Norton, right?
    The new Windows 10 that was first unveiled yesterday is an early look at software that will be released to the public sometime in 2015. It would seem to me that internally, Windows 9 was deemed to not contain enough meaningful forward progress from Windows 8. From what I’ve seen, it mostly contained changes to placate enterprise users, as well as those who are still intent on running Windows XP in favour of learning the way a slightly different looking operating system might function. I’m not saying Windows 8 was perfect, but it certainly didn’t function THAT differently from Windows 7, and there were marked improvements made to the platform.

    So my thought is that Windows version 9 was named and tested extensively internally, but just wasn’t ever released to the public. The company wanted to really make sure they were making upgrades to the system that were simultaneously worthwhile to enterprise customers upgrading from XP or Windows 7 (let’s be honest, no enterprise updated to Windows Vista), while still appealing to Windows 8 customers who are familiar with the Metro interface. I think they have done that in Windows 10.
    I like what you’re doing, but the kerning on “10” is all wrong!

    Now, let’s get back to the story that Microsoft told yesterday about the name. They mentioned naming it Windows 9 as a successor to Windows 8, but hand-waved that away by saying it wasn’t something they wanted to do. Keep in mind that people were expecting a fully-functional operating system with this annual fall announcement, so it’s strange that we didn’t get that. Then they mentioned their lineup of products: Xbox One, OneDrive, OneNote, and said maybe they should call it Windows One. They then mentioned that it’s really too bad that name is already taken, showing a picture of Bill Gates holding an old Windows 1.0 floppy disk. They also mentioned the “giants that came before us”, but missed a major storytelling point in making the move to version 10. 

    In my vision of what Apple PR and execs would do in a situation like this (or really anybody in computer science would first think of in this situation), a compelling narrative would have been:

    We think Windows 1.0 was a huge step forward in the modern computing world, and we also think that the improvements and unification that we’ve built in to the next version of Windows are a whole order of magnitude better than the original version of Windows. 

    Then they could put up the Windows 1.0 text on the screen, animate the decimal to move one position to the right, and slowly fade it out.

    We’re taking Windows on every device to a whole new level, with Windows 10.

    This is a much more powerful and future-focused way of telling the story of Windows 10 than how it was done, and though I’m excited to try out Windows 10, I hope Microsoft know what they’re going to do to move the platform forward, if they can get enterprise customers to finally trust them again. 
  • Future Rant – Touch ID

    Future Rant – Touch ID

    In this video, I talk about how on the iPhone 5S, for the first year I’ve had it, the Touch ID sensor (Apple’s fingerprint scanner) hasn’t worked right for me. I’m really hoping the iPhone 6 will be able to help me out with this, but just know that there are people out there in the world around you for whom fingerprint scanners just aren’t an effective security solution.
    Post iPhone 6 purchase update: Well, so far the iPhone 6 fingerprint scanner is working a lot better! It’s fairly consistent, we’ll see if that changes over time.

  • Back to the BackBeat

    Back to the BackBeat

    Hey guys,

    Before I get started, kind of a major milestone coming up…This blog is about 120 views shy of 20000! In just over 2 years total of writing, I consider that a heck of an accomplishment! Thank you all so much for reading what I have to say, I couldn’t possibly find everybody that has found my work here and enjoyed it, but I wish that I could.

    I have taken to this forum several times in the past to review a product or service I’m particularly fond of. When I find something I like, I really tend to stick with it for as long as I can, so with that in mind, I’d like to take a look back at one of my favorite things, which I use every day, sometimes for multiple hours a day.

    Plantronics BackBeat GO Bluetooth headphones

    I originally extolled the virtues of the BackBeat GO headphones from Plantronics in this post, so I won’t go too far into a review here. Back then, I was only starting to really appreciate the wonder that is wireless headphones, and my love has only continued to grow the more I use them. I’ve now owned these headphones for a little under 18 months, and they are starting to require a little more attention from me.

    When they first arrived, I would charge them about once a week, and I was good to go. If I wanted to use them for a whole day, I would probably have to charge them at lunch, and continue in the afternoon, but for walks and commute, they were (and are) a dream. I still don’t think there’s really anything I would change about these headphones, the most they have ever tangled is in the photo to the left, where as you can see they have looped around themselves one time, forming a VERY loose knot. This, in addition to the incredible battery life, ease of use and insertion/removal, and how well they stay in your ears, are more than enough for me to recommend you buy these headphones right now!

    That being said, now that the battery on this particular pair is showing its age, I’m starting to wonder what the next step is. Plantronics have released an updated version of the BackBeat’s, called the GO 2. Since these are available in Canada (though not in major retailers that I’ve seen so far), I’m definitely thinking about moving up to the new generation when these guys do finally die. The improvements to the new generation are iterative, but you are making adjustments to an already excellent product, so not much is needed.

    If my next pair of headphones is anything like the current one, I will be the happiest person alive!

    Thanks Plantronics!

    You can find specs and info about these headphones here (in Canada).

  • My Favourite New Toy

    My Favourite New Toy

    This is a post I have been waiting to write for some time, and today is as good a time as any. I feel good finally doing another product review, it has been FAR too long since I did one, and I have gotten new toys in that time, so here comes what will hopefully the first of many reviews in the next little while.
    For those of you who are familiar with my previous posts, I love anything that incorporates Bluetooth technology, be it a phone, computer or peripheral device. I own 3 different computers or “smart” devices which have Bluetooth connectivity, and I use Bluetooth technology more than once per day on each of these devices. However, when trying to leave the house to do something that required I not take anything with me, I found I was at a bit of a loss in terms of listening to music.

    I have Bluetooth headphones (on-ear), but when I take them off they take up a lot of space, and can’t easily just be put away anywhere, which is inconvenient for running errands or places where I don’t have a bag or place to put things. Alternately, the first pair of Bluetooth earbuds I bought (which I decided did not even merit a review, more on that later) have a dongle at the end which contains the battery and Bluetooth transmitter. While this does allow for wireless listening, it does not make the experience any less bulky or cumbersome. The whole issue I have with wired headphones and wires in general is that they are prone to tangling, and the more wire you have, the easier it is to tangle.

    This leads nicely into my review for today, which is for Plantronics’ newest Bluetooth earphone model, the Backbeat Go. These earbuds are as simple as it gets, with all redundancy having been removed. Aside from the actual cord which holds together the earbuds and which carries in-line playback controls, these are essentially as minimal as earphones can get.

    Normally, at this time in a product review which starts off saying how simple a concept and design is, this would be the place for a caveat about sound or manufacturing quality, but such a drawback doesn’t exist for these earphones. They sound incredible, and are built very solidly, with no visible failure points. Another concern with earphones, especially ones which are not mechanically connected to any device, such as by a 3.5 mm connection, is that they might fall out of your ears and be lost forever. This doesn’t seem to be a concern with these headphones, as they also have detachable earloops on the buds which are perfectly designed to be flexible, but rest against the inside of the ear, feeling comfortable, but snug.

    The in-line playback controls under the right ear are absolutely perfect for changing tracks and volume, as well as answering calls and activating voice control (another wonderful product, Siri, also becomes much more useful when you don’t have to take your phone out of your pocket to pick new music, text, or make calls). I should do a review on Siri soon, though it would be more reflective than a review, as it’s been thoroughly reviewed in many other places. Is it against the rules of writing to refer to something in parentheses once you’re outside of them? Oh well, creative liberties…

    The cord connecting the two earbuds is also quite high quality, far above the plastic you would find in regular earbuds, and it is also thick in one dimension, resembling linguine. This means that the cord can really only bend in one dimension, and as such, there are far fewer tangles in the cord than would be found in normal gauge wire. While on normal headphones implementing this would be far too heavy, in practise on these headphones, with the weight of the wire resting on the back of the neck, there is no pull at all on the ears, and so no increased likelihood of the headphones to fall out.

    These earbuds have a battery life of anywhere from 5-8 hours continued use in my experience, and will last with minimal battery loss for several weeks. They charge by micro-USB, which is behind a flap on the right bud, and take about an hour to fully charge.

    When these earbuds were first announced several months ago, they were not available in Canada, and having them shipped here was almost prohibitively expensive. Now, however, they are available in Canada for $100 dollars, and if you are on the move a lot and like listening to music, I highly recommend these. If you have ever fumbled with earbuds and a shoulder bag of any kind, these are your sanity’s salvation!