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Windows 8 Is a “Colossal Failure”

May 7th, 2013

In all the talk about the never-ending debut of Windows 8—and there has been a veritable tidal wave of verbiage—there have been a few references to the inauspicious debut of New Coke in 1985. Last year, Microsoft tied a much-changed Windows 8 to its new Surface devices, wagering that a ton of marketing hoopla would establish them as competitors to our iPad rental. But the public isn’t buying it (or them). At the point in the New Coke story where the public made its preferences known, Coca-Cola did the right thing, right away. It brought the favored flavor back as “Classic Coke” while “unhitching the wagon” from the newfangled, widely detested recipe. Subsequent years saw huge sales increases for the firm.

The Coca-Cola chairman and CEO at the time, Roberto Goizueta, recounted the company’s New Coke maneuvers in a 1995 interview, declaring that company execs “really were ready to do whatever was necessary” to make things right. In Microsoft’s case, instead of acknowledging the problems, execs are doubling down on Metro. Many tech bloggers are ready to dump the “new, unimproved” Metro look in favor of getting Windows 7′s Aero UI back, or some of it, anyway. The question rang out on ZDNet: “Does [Microsoft chief Steve] Ballmer have the guts to admit he made a mistake and give users what they clearly want?” It’s a mystery, but there are a few clues, so let’s do some sleuthing…

Windows 8 and Windows RT sales

NetMarketShare regularly reports worldwide tech statistics, and the latest news about Windows 8 and Windows RT is not good at all. How “not good” is it? In April 2013′s report on OS use, Windows 8 was at a meager 3.82%, which means Windows 8 still lags behind Microsoft’s last OS failure, Vista, after about nine months on the market. Tablet PCs and other touchscreen devices with Windows 8 and Windows RT totaled 0.02% and 0.00%, respectively—and you read that last figure right. The launch of the Surface RT is probably the worst in Microsoft history.

Windows8Fail_Chart

The release of Windows 8.1 sometime next month will, according to top tech writer Mary Jo Foley, mark the return of the “lost” Start button, as well as an Aero-influenced UI. In a recent ZDNet debate, it was determined by a wide majority that Windows 8 had already failed, and the only remaining question was whether or not it could be saved. Now, there will always be the need for the desktop PC and general-purpose computer rental, so they’re not going away. So the next question is: Will Microsoft keep doubling down on Metro?

The future comes a day at a time

Sure, we’re moving into a new era, a “post-PC” future, with tablets and smartphones becoming more powerful, more necessary, more intimately integrated into our lives. Desktop PCs are not going away because of this, any more than mainframes disappeared when PCs debuted—because we regularly do any number of things that require an iMac or an HP Pavilion, things that can’t be done that easily with an Android tablet or an iPhone. Furthermore, even if it’s true that much of our computing (and even more of our storage) will be cloud-based, using a keyboard is still the easiest way for human beings to enter data besides dictation. (Think you can dictate an Excel spreadsheet?)

Windows 8 represents a colossal failure, and not just because of its bad design. If Microsoft stays the course it appears to have set—“appears” because so much is unknown, misunderstood, deceptive—it could be the end of Windows’ dominance in end-user computing. Such Wall Street denizens as KPCB (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers) and Goldman Sachs are on record stating that Windows market share has peaked. From here on, they imply, it’s downhill all the way to the dustbin of history. All we can tell you for certain is that we’ll keep you posted!

With wide-ranging, state-of-the-art expertise, our Account Executives can help you set up a new production workflow with a Mac Pro rental and mass storage, or show off your corporate pride with thoroughly modern and stylish trade show convention rentals. Call us at (877) 266-7725, send a message, or visit the Quick Rental Quote form if you know what you need. Whenever you’re ready, we’re here to help!

Windows Gets Apple-Style “8.1″ Moniker

April 16th, 2013

Microsoft will probably release the public preview of Windows Blue, now officially dubbed “Windows 8.1″ in the Apple style of “point releases,” at its June developer conference, Build2013. The Redmond firm is abandoning its traditional operating system release cycle, where every three years or so it drops a Big & Different OS on an unsuspecting user base. Some Windows 8 and RT users might pay to upgrade, but if Microsoft uses the Apple style of pricing, too, folks will be happy: OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) is $19.99.

What it is, what it isn’t

Windows runs on the majority of the world’s computers, so all the people that use company PCs, rent laptops, or have both at home have a strong incentive for the latest iteration of the OS to be good, not just “good enough.” Windows 8.1 is bringing targeted feature improvements, cosmetic refinements, and operational changes to an OS that has exhibited more than its share of quirky behavior since its debut. Interestingly, whenever inaccurate speculations began to get traction on the Internet over the last 15 or 20 months of discussion about Windows 8, a curiously well-timed leak would set things straight.

A fairly recent build of 8.1 leaked online and showed among other things that Microsoft has refined Windows’ internal search function: rather than divided among the three default categories (apps, settings, files), results are displayed in a single, easily scanned screen. You only click if you need to filter them. The poor search function is one of the major annoyances with Windows 8, so this would be a welcome change.

Evolutionary, not revolutionary

Apple has its iCloud service available to all its products, from an iMac running OS X to the latest iPad mini with iOS, and the cloud is critically important for Microsoft, too. (“Three screens and a cloud,” remember?) Along with new Live Tiles in a range of sizes and formats, plus revisions and upgrades to the OS’s bundled applications, Windows 8.1 will also feature much deeper integration with Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud services. (We will discuss this critically important move in an upcoming blog.)

Like all software (all science, one might as well say) Windows 8 is a work in progress. Following the first public showing of the Windows 8 concept, where Microsoft unveiled a partial build of the OS that was complete “in feature terms,” the company released a developer preview without e-mail, a consumer preview with time limits, and a release preview. After Windows 8 was officially released, its apps and communications programs were updated and extended. Windows 8.1 continues the process, and it looks like things are getting good.

CRE has everything from trade show convention rentals to office equipment, servers, and post-production gear for media pros. Call (877) 266-7725 or send a message and get fast, knowledgeable help. If you know what you need, then a visit to our Quick Rental Quote page will work every time—and any time, too, since it’s always open!

Outlook: Microsoft Declares Email War

March 5th, 2013

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft (MS), is feeling his oats these days. Lately he’s been trying to sic the Feds on Google, but the fact is that Ballmer has been calling his adversaries “insane” (and worse) for years now. Ballmer may have his own sanity questioned after MS committed to spending at least $30 million to wrest control of the world’s email from AOL, Yahoo, Google, and everyone else. All MS mail portals—Live, Hotmail, MSN—will close in favor of the single Outlook.com website, and if you have an account at any of the former, you’re being transferred whether you like it or not. (If you don’t do it yourself by summer, you’ll be absorbed in MS’s heavy-handed, Borg-like manner.) And whether he likes it or not, Ballmer himself will be judged on the success or failure of this major maneuver.

Frequent visitors with ID = cash

There are many reasons to use web-based email beyond the obvious convenience: extra security, universal access, more control, better tools. It certainly is “better” for the email provider. As you regularly check your inbox, or stayed logged in, you are established as a “frequent visitor with confirmed ID”—just what the sites need for selling ads (plus it keeps the service free). If you’ll be using CRE’s iPad rental and/or Android tablets at an upcoming conference, you’ll have an Outlook.com or other app tailored to the device you’re using. Unlike “mail” apps, which download messages (or at least transfer them for reading), these apps will directly connect to the webmail server—no muss, no fuss, no wasted space locally if that’s your preference.

Users can keep and continue to use their old addresses, and all saved messages, settings, and contacts will be transferred to the new Outlook.com. You may want to take the lead here if you have important correspondence to save (of course, you have a full backup, right?). Now that email is available on all your devices, from your phone to your iMac, it is likely more central in your life than ever. This is why email has become a big battleground—even as people increasingly use texting, IM, and Twitter, as well—and why Google, Yahoo, and MS are now spending major moolah revamping their web-based email services.

Outlook.com now “ready”

Outlook.com has been operating in a “preview” mode since last July, but is “ready to accept all comers,” and the feisty Ballmer probably loves the boxing lingo in all the PR emanating from Redmond. MS claims it is doing “the biggest marketing blitz in the history of email,” with Outlook.com ads running on primetime TV as well as the Internet, radio, buses, and billboards. MS touts such new Outlook features as the ability to attach files of “massive” size, even a thousand photos, to a single email. Also, as you access Outlook.com from your office MacBook, home PC, and mobile whatever-it-is, your address book stays updated and automatically adds new contact info from connections’ Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter posts. And compared to the Hotmail service, there are only about a third as many ads.

Not a single one of Outlook.com’s new features are particularly revolutionary. They’ve all been done before, and Google already has opt-in services and a new version of Gmail that allow larger (and/or more numerous) file attachments. And although Gmail doesn’t do its data-mining in LinkedIn and the others yet, it does fetch new contact data that your contacts post on Google Plus. MS wants to join Google in offering you all this “total connectivity” from anywhere—your PC desktop computer rental at work, your favorite tablet at home, and your trusty smart phone in the car. The question gets harder to answer all the time. You know the one: When am I supposed to rest when my computer, tablet, and phone are always on and my webmail is always in my face?

For Steve Ballmer, on the other hand, the question is rather more pointed: Will Outlook.com be in enough faces to win the email war?

From audio visual (AV) equipment rentals to the right post-production gear for that special project, CRE is your one-stop technology shop. One call to (877) 266-7725, a simple message, or a visit to our Quick Rental Quote form—that’s all it takes to get (or stay) productive. And we’re always ready for you!

The Woz: Apple “Worries Me”

February 21st, 2013

The headlines are scary: “Apple Disappoints Wall Street” appears one week, “Apple Losing Its Edge” the next. Is it the end of the road for the once-mighty House of Jobs?

Those particular headlines didn’t herald the company’s demise. They’re from 1997. Just 18 months later a reinvigorated Apple—under its “new and improved” dollar-a-year CEO, Steve Jobs—took its first step toward eventual industry domination with the debut of the iMac. Rather than honest assessments of Apple’s viability, we always seem to get the foregoing tabloid-style silliness. For Apple, even record sales aren’t good enough for Wall Street, so here come the naysayers again—only now they include Steve Wozniak. What’s up with that?

What the Woz?

In a TechCrunch interview in November 2012, one still being culled for tendentious quotes, Wozniak built his case against some of Apple’s high-profile failures (and he detests Siri). iPad sales numbers are still strong, so Wozniak knows the Cupertino firm’s upside. Still, in early February as Apple stock continued its slide, Wozniak spoke excitedly about the new home of “wow” products for the future: Microsoft. Yep, the “evil empire” of Apple’s original SuperBowl ad. What convinced him? The Xbox, Windows 8, the Surface Tablet? Nope. It was the rumor of Redmond’s work on simultaneous translation, a hardware/software solution far “more fluid [and more] colloquial” than Google, Siri, or anything else right now.

Wozniak says Microsoft, whose Surface line was one of our “Business Tech Hits of 2012,” is also making “strides in [the] voice recognition area” because smart folks are “sitting in their labs trying to innovate.” On the other hand, Wozniak says that Apple has settled for “cranking out the newest iPhone and falling a little behind, and that worries me greatly.” Apple has had smart, solid niche products like the Xserve RAID that get few headlines, but consumers don’t buy them in the millions as they are not iAppliances for 21st Century Work, Socializing, & Entertainment. (Watch for a blog with that title coming soon.)

Speaking of tweaking…

Tweaking, says Wozniak, is not innovating, and that’s all Apple has been doing to the MacBook and its other Mac models, which “is not Apple-style innovation.” Making bold moves is. He doesn’t think Apple is “turning its back on creativity,” but seems conflicted about CEO Tim Cook. Cook runs Apple in a buttoned-down manner, minus the art school dress code, notoriously bad vibes, and high drama of Steve Jobs. Wozniak and others may not like Cook’s style, but it is an advantage, not a hindrance, as Apple evolves into whatever a “leading edge firm” needs to be in the “post-PC” era.

Repositioning Apple as a mass-market consumer products firm is no small feat when you consider its multiple-personality past. Before iTunes, iPhones and iOS, Apple was known for both easy-to-use Macs and peerless pro-level powerhouses like our Mac Pro rental. Apple’s “towers of power”—loaded with Final Cut Pro, Shake, and other pricey software—dominated professional video, film, music, web, and print production for years. Now that Apple is the source of “iEverything” for the masses, professional users feel seduced and abandoned (again!)—and they’ve been grousing about it for two years now. We’ll tell you what they’re saying, and what it means for Apple’s shrinking share of the pro market, in a coming blog.

Remember, CRE is your one-stop shop for everything—from the first-rate event production rentals you need for next month’s conference, to the post-production gear you need this minute for a rush job. One call or message, or a moment spent filling out our Quick Rental Quote form, is all it takes!

Business Tech Hits of 2012

January 15th, 2013

The New Year brings new resolutions, another birthday — and the obligatory “year in review” articles. (We’ll get to the “what’s ahead next year” pieces, too, but first things first.) Over the next few weeks, we will take a look back at 2012 and run down the hits and misses, first in business tech (enterprise computing, strategy, IT) and then consumer tech (personal computing and consumer electronics). To keep it orderly, we’ll have separate blogs on business tech hits, business tech misses, consumer tech hits, and consumer tech misses, for a complete picture of the year gone by. Let’s go!

Responsive Web Design (RWB) — HTML5 was going to save the Internet from Flash overhead and other disasters but has only succeeded in muddying the waters. How are businesses responding? They are hitting back with responsive web design (RWD), which is a strategy and workflow for creating web pages that “query” the user’s device and, via “fluid grids” and scalable design elements, tailor pages to the device’s resolution and screen size. Build one web page, not four or five, that will look fine on a CRE iPad rental or your 70-inch home theater screen. Watch for more on RWD in a future blog.

Microsoft’s New Hardware Move — Apple’s original nemesis is using the Cupertino firm’s formula now and selling integrated systems, such as the Surface RT and Surface Pro. This is a departure from Microsoft’s historical focus on the OS. At the November 2012 shareholders’ meeting, Microsoft (MS) chief Steve Ballmer announced that “there is no boundary between hardware and software” that the company will allow to become an “innovation barrier.” Now, in a time when software profits are down and “computing devices” are a commodity item, MS can assure itself of profitability by bundling — a smart, long-term move.

In-Memory Computing — Everyone who has used a desktop computer rental knows the benefit of having the maximum amount of RAM installed: The more data you get into the nanosecond RAM realm the less time you waste moving it in and out of the hard drive. At the enterprise level with mainframe computers, in-memory computing dispenses with electromechanical hard drives, tape or any other media for storage. The amount of change involved in moving to the in-memory model is considerable, but the technology is approaching a transitional point. It’s been building momentum, in case you didn’t know, and is proving to be a serious productivity booster. The technology’s first adopters are in countries like India that have been working hard to establish themselves among the high-tech leaders of the world.

We have everything you need, from high-end post-production equipment to audio visual (AV) equipment rentals, so the solutions to your challenges, on-site or on the road, are a single call or e-mail away. Know what you need? Visit our Quick Rental Quote page!

CES 2013: Still Relevant?

January 8th, 2013

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is among the largest showcases of new technology every year, and this time around CES 2013 takes over Las Vegas from January 8 through 11. After Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave the company’s last-ever keynote at CES 2012, any number of industry pundits bemoaned the show’s supposed decline. So, is CES passé? A waste of time and money? A candidate for virtualization?

Still a “heady mix”

To judge from what we’re hearing, you’d have to answer a resounding “No!” to all of the above queries. CES 2013 promises a heady mix of keynote surprises, sneak peeks, and high-tech hullaballoo. Even more than usual, press leaks abound—all the better for us to bring you the latest, most useful information. Here’s some of what you can expect to see coming out of Las Vegas this week:

A “real” TV tablet: You can jump through a few hoops with our iPad rental and get TV shows, but RCA’s new DMT580D combines an Android tablet with an actual TV tuner for free over-the-air digital broadcasts.

A Google TV device or three: Manufacturers TCL, Asus, and Hisense are all expected to exhibit new Google TV “devices,” according to CES press statements. Google’s current partners Sony and Vizio will debut the recently upgraded TV service on “new devices,” as well. Interestingly, the term wasn’t defined so it could mean anything from set-top boxes to integrated screens.

Samsung rebranding move: It has the best-selling smart phone on Earth, but with its headline-grabbing legal woes Samsung is reportedly preparing a serious rebranding. Stephen Woo, president of Samsung’s device solutions division, will set the tone for the company’s new image in his January 9th keynote address. The company’s Full HD Super AMOLED display arrives at the show, perhaps mounted in the new, also-headline-grabbing Galaxy S4.

The birth of Ultra High-Definition TV: There will be plenty of these on display. To qualify as an Ultra High-Definition (UHD) screen, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA, parent of CES) requires a minimum resolution of 3840×2160, at least 8 million pixels, and a 16×9 or better aspect ratio.

The big Kahuna of CPUs: Intel is not the only chipmaker coming to CES 2013, but is expected to “show up big” and possibly announce a new mobile processor or two, as well as some for the iMac and Mac Pro lines. The rumors that Apple may not use Intel as its CPU provider resurfaced after Apple developed the A6X for the iPad 4—a CPU that is twice as fast as those in current iPads. We’ll keep you posted on this.

Nvidia debuting the Tegra 4: Nvidia’s Tegra 3 made its way into phones from HTC, Google’s Nexus 7 tablet, and Microsoft’s new Surface PC/tablet, which may be a big hit for Microsoft and future king of tablet PC rentals. It is likely that the firm will debut the Tegra 4 at CES, with initial clock speeds up to 1.8GHz and a target of 2GHz by mid-year.

CRE is your one-stop shop for convention rentals, computers, office equipment and all the top post-production gear. A call or e-mail puts you in touch with an experienced Account Executive, while the Quick Rental Quote page will get you in and out in minutes if you know what you need. Either way, we’re here to help!

Surface RT vs. iPad for Business

December 18th, 2012

Both Apple’s third-generation iPad and the new Microsoft (MS) Surface RT are in the same price range ($500-800), weigh about 1.5 pounds and run a touch-based OS. The Surface Pro model, on sale in early 2013, will run Windows 8 desktop software on x86 processors with full-fledged laptop power at the expense of battery life—it’s more like a hybrid between a tablet and an ultrabook.

Therefore, the only fair iPad comparison is against the RT—at least until the fourth-generation iPad, already on sale in India, appears in the U.S. next year.

OVERVIEW

RT: The RT includes a unique version of Office, but you need a business license to use it for work—and the keyboard/cover is an extra $100. For companies now using tablet PC rentals, the RT can integrate (somewhat) with enterprise-level users on Windows 7/8, giving it a slight edge with the IT crowd.

iPad: You can use third-party Bluetooth keyboards with our iPad rental, plus Office-compatible apps and honest-to-Office web services from MS licensees like CloudOn. All that’s a chore for IT folks to “harmonize.”

APPLICATIONS

RT: This is not your office’s Office—the RT version has Excel, PowerPoint, Word and OneNote, but no Outlook. For now you may need to rent laptops with Windows 7/8 to use some ”real PC” programs such as Outlook, as RT uses only specified Windows Store apps.

iPad: Apple’s App Store is heading toward a million apps (700,000+ as of October), while Windows apps are just getting going. For now the iPad has a huge advantage.

OPERATIONS

RT: MS’s cloud-based tool, Intune, will soon offer secure device management, while Exchange ActiveSync empowers synchronized messaging. Modern office computers, like our desktop PC computer rentals, will thereby maintain a degree of intra-office and -system interoperability with Surface devices.

iPad: Apple’s iOS supports Exchange ActiveSync, too, and third-party mobile device management platforms that even monitor corporate compliance. OS X Server on our Xserve units does all this, too, but properly licensing iPads for corporate use is complicated however you try it.

SECURITY

The RT owes its superior security to (1) a hardware-level “secure boot” that checks for tampering and (2) anti-malware that loads first. The RT’s hardware security module also does smartcard duty for authentication, and supports full disk encryption.

iPad: Although iOS provides disk encryption, as Mac OS X does for MacBook Pro rentals, the iPad’s boot routine uses read-only memory and offers no smartcard abilities.

BOTTOM LINE

Neither the iPad nor the RT are particularly strong candidates yet for an enterprise workforce. The Surface Pro may be, but depending on configuration a tricked-out Pro could top $1,350. The Apple comparison at that price is a MacBook Air or 13-inch MacBook.

As iPads and the Surface Pro both support virtual desktops, using PC/Mac software will sooner or later be possible. But hosted virtual desktops (HVDs) are expensive, says Gartner Research, increasing retail cost “by more than $600″ per device. We’ll keep you posted as it all shakes out.

What’s shakin’ with your company? CRE keeps you moving forward with first-rate event production rentals and the post-production gear you need. One call or e-mail, or a short visit to our Quick Rental Quote form, gets it done—and right now’s a good time!

Tech 2013: A Preview

December 6th, 2012

In our blogs about cool gadgets, we normally focus on the products rather than the incredible advances being made in the way they’re manufactured. We’ll give a nod to those gadget blogs with news from Sony and Microsoft about their iconic game consoles, but will reserve the balance of this article for information on the latest CPUs, touch technology, and “3D everything.”

A Heavyweight Bout

Nintendo’s Wii U, first of the eighth-generation game consoles, rolled out this year to a positive reception. Microsoft and Sony—makers of rival consoles Xbox and PlayStation, respectively—will respond in 2013 with the Xbox 720 and the PS4. The Xbox 720 is outfitted with a 16-core CPU (!) and a famously high-end graphics card. Sony’s PS4 is capable of 3D gaming in full HD (1080p), and can use its superior graphics processor for screen resolutions of 4000 x 2000 pixels, beyond even the Retina display of our MacBook Pro rental. This is a battle of heavyweights, as game consoles are among the most powerful off-the-shelf, consumer-level computing/display devices you can get.

Flexible Touch Sensors for Everything

Touch technology has migrated to flexible film and entered the tablet and phone manufacturing processes. As film-based sensors quickly evolve due to being flexible, cheap, light, and super thin, their use in industrial and consumer products will be widespread. Remember, the touch screens on our iPad rental or your phone represent but one application of touch technology. Watch for the new sensors on refrigerators, auto dashboards, light switches, cigarette lighters, and coming generations of our touchscreen LCD monitor rental. Products requiring touch control can now be sleek or textured, curved or straight, beveled or edgeless—and the sensors will work with all materials.

3D Grows to New Dimensions

We’ve heard this before. Wasn’t 3D’s “immersive realism” supposed to be irresistible—back in 2009 when Avatar was released? To be honest, although the pace has been surprisingly sedate, 3D is becoming an accepted element of TV, movies, the web, games and even tablet/smart phone apps – especially as passive 3D technology (no glasses required) develops. Beyond the Blu-ray recorders and players, tablets, phones, and game consoles that would employ 3D, its use in plasma display rentals and other large monitors would offer an exciting new design environment. For now, Apple’s Cinema Display rentals and Retina display are ideal for detailed graphics work.

Chips Down to 14 Nanometer Production Process

Without getting bogged down in geek-talk about nanometers (nm), Xserve RAID arrays, or chip-making equipment, the big CPU news is that Intel’s “next generation of microprocessor technology” includes a 14nm manufacturing process. (A carbon atom is one-third of a nanometer, or 0.34nm, to give you an idea of the Lilliputian scale of modern semiconductor manufacturing.) What it means is smaller transistors – and more of them – for faster, cooler, and more efficient computing power. Wait’ll the iMac has one of those babies!

From trade show convention rentals to the high-tech workhorses of post production, CRE has the solution. One call or e-mail puts an experienced Account Executive on the job for you, while a quick visit to our Quick Rental Quote page gets you what you need ASAP. We’re ready to help now!

Can an iPad Replace Your Laptop?

December 4th, 2012

With every new smartphone, tablet or multifunction-Wi-Fi-enabled personal doohickey comes at least one prediction that this latest device is really—really!—the long-awaited laptop killer. In the early 2000s, before mobile processors evolved to be as powerful as the ones found in the typical desktop computer rental, the notion of a “desktop replacement” laptop was only a dream. But now that high-end units like our MacBook Pro rental are more potent than many desktops, the battle is on to see which phone, tablet, or geegaw will emerge as the laptop replacement. As the frontrunner in the tablet race, Apple’s mega-selling tablet is first up: So, can an iPad replace your laptop?

Early Tablets

When the original iPad debuted in 2010, it was the “Year of the Netbooks,” those low-priced 9-to-11-inch mini-laptops that were generally far less expensive than the iPad. When CRE stocked its first iPad rental, it was something like a netbook without a keyboard—but it was also like a supersized iPod touch. Had it been built to run OS X, it may have qualified as a “little computer.” But it came with iOS, which limited your installation options, abandoned Flash, and came up far short of being a full-fledged computer OS. (The current version, iOS 6, still isn’t one.) At the same time, this brought improvements in its simple and ergonomical ease-of-use. The Windows-based tablet PCs had some of the right puzzle pieces—touch capability, handwriting recognition, convertible operation—but were, and arguably still are, works in progress. (Microsoft’s Surface Pro debuts in January 2013. Is it a laptop killer, or a new paradigm?)

Developments

Fast-forward now: The iPad 2 added cameras, the third generation debuted the Retina Display, and now the supply of iOS apps is in the zillions. Users are still quarantined behind the “walled garden” of apps, but web-based tools are proliferating – capitalizing on the user-friendly interface. There are any number of things that an iPad can do as well or better than a laptop (or desktop)—reading, managing e-mail, watching movies/TV, staying plugged in to social media, and gaming. These activities may also be work-related, though some people consider the iPad better for watching entertainment than producing it. Yet, with every new advanced app in every area of media expertise—content, production, PR, even event planning—this is changing.

For example, the newly updated iMovie and iPhoto apps are powerful enough for video and photo editing/management, capturing HD (stills, video), audio recording, and more. Media pros still use such advanced computer-based tools as our AJA IO HD, but can now integrate the iPad into their workflow, on-set and in the editing bay, for a variety of purposes.

The Conclusion?

Given its growing capabilities—running major office programs, leveraging cloud storage, doing lots of cross-platform tasks—the iPad can now probably be considered a replacement for that secondary laptop you use for traveling (or when the kids take over the PC). How long until it replaces your number one computer? Stay tuned…!

A single call or e-mail, or a simple visit to our Quick Rental Quote form, will get you exactly what you need to overcome every challenge and meet every deadline. We’re here for you, right now!

Windows 8: Hit or Miss?

November 1st, 2012

As Windows 8 neared its official release date, tech journalists kept the interest level up with leaks and rumors as computer makers busily prepped new models. Because Microsoft wants to draft mobile and touchscreen users into the Windows universe, this OS utilizes gestures and there are tons of touch-enabled devices coming soon, including more workstations.

Through 2011 and 2012, PC sales have sagged. For a while it almost felt like all the people in the world were holding their breath in order to release a single, synchronized, 6-billion-strong “wow!” on October 26th, Windows 8′s debut. Did you happen to hear anything?

Reports Start Coming In

Of course, there hasn’t been a unified reaction to Windows 8, but there will eventually be millions of individual ones. From gamers with water-cooled towers to secretaries with a basic desktop PC computer rentals, reports are coming in from every niche. Some users absolutely love the new navigation, while others have reported technical issues. Many may fear the learning curve of a new OS, are wary of upgrades after Vista, or are simply happy enough with Windows 7 to put off upgrading for now. If Windows 8 is going to succeed, it needs seriously deep and broad market penetration.

Overview and Impressions

Windows 8 brings a major performance boost. After noticing the snappier boot time, however, there appears the quite dramatic new Start screen.

The original Start menu, of course, was somewhat controversial when it debuted, but you now may feel pressured to buy apps and content if you tie your Windows account to an existing Microsoft account, all due to Microsoft’s “three screens and a cloud” strategy. You can avoid the hard sell by changing your default applications, or using a local account instead, but not tying Windows to your Microsoft account means you forgo much of what was hyped about Windows 8. The stripped-down RT version of the software would be particularly limited without a linked Microsoft account.

The Kids Are Right

At various times it was argued that age cohorts and media types would drive future OS adoption. Now it seems both are in play as the Windows 8 era has officially arrived, which for Microsoft means:

SkyDrive and other cloud-based company services;
a single, unified GUI (Graphic User Interface);
increased use of digital images, audio, and video; and
continuous, robust social media interaction.

The foregoing items are all associated with younger users, the same ones who use iPad rentals and watch YouTube. They may be more amenable to Windows 8 than other “old school” computer users, but only time will tell if Microsoft made the right move.

To Upgrade or Not Upgrade?

Windows 8 is not right for every PC user. Desktop power users who work with render farms and people who have nicely personalized systems have no compelling reasons to upgrade. But for mobile users who rely on the “Microsoft ecosystem,” and business pros who rent laptops to stay ahead of the curve, Windows 8 is a must. If you are somewhere between those two endpoints, it’s worth a close look. We’re keeping an eye on things and will let you know everything we find out about Windows 8 specifics in the coming weeks.

Remember, CRE keeps you moving forward with event production rentals and massive amounts of mass storage. One call or e-mail, or a visit to our Quick Rental Quote form, gets it done. Do it now!

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