Technology

Dec 18 2009

Smart Phone Market Share

Market share of products is important to keep track of so that software developers will know the most profitable area to focus building applications. comScore conducted a survey over several months to determine the number of people using smart phones. The survey was reserved for American mobile customers over the age of 13. They were asked what phone they owned and from this, the operating system was determined.

The results of the study are the following:

Source: comScore

The numbers surprised me somewhat. From all of the hype around the iPhone, I thought that this would have been the been leading smart phone, but Blackberries still maintain a large lead over it. I was also surprised at the large market share that Microsoft has in spite of complaints over their lack of success in the smart phone arena. I prefer Windows Mobile myself, since its easy to develop for it using Visual Studio, but Microsoft needs to create an OS that resembles an iPhone if they want people to continue using it in the future.

By Johan • Technology • 0

Nov 24 2008

Super Duper Computers

Back in university, we were using Amdahl terminals running off a mainframe running the MTS operating system. The speed we got from this machine was around 1 MHz. I wasn’t very impressed since my home computer was running at 4.77 MHz. However, the area where the mainframe wins is throughput. It could have hundreds of users and still run at 1 MHz. My home computer would slow to a halt if 10 users were on it simultaneously.

Mainframes will always be useful, and supercomputers even more so. Beowulf clusters are no match against a modern supercomputer. The New York Times recently published a chart showing world wide super computer usage, Mapping the World’s Fastest Supercomputers.

It shows the United States in a clear lead in the number of supercomputers in use and their fastest speeds. Other nations are catching up however. Western European nations and China are the biggest threats to dominance.

America will dominate for quite some time and even far into the future if the nation maintains its entrepreneurial spirit where inspired individuals push technology to its limits and create new technologies beyond it. All that you need is the freedom to innovate which is what drove the nation in the past.

By Johan • Technology • 1

Sep 4 2008

Wireless Networks and Children

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer
German Philosopher (1788-1860)

Ask most people today about the dangers of cell phones, wireless networks, and microwave ovens, and they’ll probably laugh at you and dismiss any negative thoughts you may have. These things are in everyday use by almost everyone so they must be perfectly safe, right?

Source Restore Once More

Technologies that generate strong magnetic fields have always been a concern to parents. They are blamed for numerous health issues for those who live in close proximity to power lines.

Wireless routers which are very convenient are also of great concern. Schools in response to activism in parents are beginning to remove wifi transmitters (see Health fears lead schools to dismantle wireless networks).

How safe are these technologies? When your dealing with children and their developing bodies, they don’t have the same immunity and protection against harm that an adult has. There are many compelling arguments for and against wireless networks (see Cell Phone Dangers — What They Don’t Want You To See). The question is, do you want to take a chance with them on your children? Its better to err on the side of caution and avoid their use.

Wireless routers tend to be flaky anyways. A wired connection always gets better results and you don’t have to worry about eavesdropping hackers.

By Johan • Technology • 1

Jul 3 2008

PDF Becomes an ISO Standard

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) will now be in control of Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF). The new standard, ISO 32000-1, Document management – Portable document format – Part 1: PDF 1.7, is not only an excessively long name but its also based on version 1.7 of PDF.

The PDF format was created in 1993 and has become the standard format for creating documents for viewing and printing. The format does have several problems. Fonts that require a licence do not get embedded in a PDF which causes all sorts of problems when trying to print the document. Instead of the correct font appearing, it will default to Courier instead. Colour separation and colour matching are also difficult to do in a PDF.

There are many PDF creators and viewers, but the only ones that really work properly are Adobe’s products. I haven’t used anything displays documents as accurately as Acrobat Reader, and Acrobat Distiller still produces the cleanest PDF’s.

All of this may change with the ISO standardization.

By Johan • Technology • 0

Jun 5 2008

30 Years of Intel’s x86

On June 8, 1978, Intel released the 8086, the world’s first 16-bit microprocessor. This CPU was vastly superior to the existing 8-bit processors used on computers at the time. The family of x86 refers to the instruction set of microprocessors used from the 8086 to today’s modern Pentium 4 processors.

Intel has effectively won the war for microprocessors. I remember the intense competition in the 80′s and 90′s between Intel and Motorola. PC’s used the Intel chip, and Apple, Commodore, and Atari used Motorola’s 68000 series CPU’s. Eventually, Commodore’s Amiga and Atari’s ST computers were discontinued, and Apple recently switched to Intel to drive their new Macs.

In 1965, Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors in a semiconductor chip will double every two years. This has been accurate over the last 30 years with Intel’s CPU’s. There is concern that we’re approaching a physical limit to Moore’s Law, but a new technology may emerge which could continue it.

Intel will likely dominate the next decade with its microprocessors. Its only real competition is with AMD, a company that creates x86 architecture CPU’s.

By Johan • Technology • 0