Computer Support Blog

One of the nice aspects of a successful product or service offered through the Internet is that frequently, clones pop up!  Every good idea offered by the Internet seems to be replicated for a different market or niche than the original site and it is interesting to see which services survive the competition and where the derivative sites outdo the original.  Netflix, for example, moved into the digital movie streaming business and when it found success with that, Amazon Prime and other, smaller, services were developed by competitors.  Now, there are many video streaming sites on the Internet, many of them specialized for a specific, niche.  For television lovers who want to be able to stream their favorite shows, there is Hulu Plus. Read more »

At last week’s Google I/O conference, many new products were introduced, not all of them ready for the marketplace just yet.  Most of the products were very much to be expected from the search giant who now seems to have its hands in everything.  Google, through its Android operating system has become more associated with gadgets in recent years, instead of just being considered an Internet software/search pioneer.  As a result, the fact that the I/O conference was used to generate enthusiasm (and preorders) for new products like Google Glass and Nexus devices was predictable.  What was truly audacious was the way Google declared war on Amazon and the Apple iTunes store by unveiling a new shopping platform: Google Play Store. Read more »

Apple enthusiasts are, in many ways, an ideal type of customer for a big business.  The culture that surrounds Apple products makes virtually every new product release a resounding success.  There is such enthusiasm for new Apple products that entire websites are devoted to leaking rumors to keep that enthusiasm active and engaged on a daily basis.  Add to that, Apple enthusiasts are very slow to quit on an Apple product or service.  To wit, despite consistently declining customer satisfaction rates with the service, virtually everyone who has an Apple iPad, iPhone, or iPod utilizes iTunes.  To reward Apple customers for years of putting up with a system that has not kept up with its other products, Apple is revamping iTunes. Read more »

No company, within the tech sector or outside it, is able to handle rapid growth without having an incredible staff in place or hiring individuals who fast become a team that achieves amazing results.  Neither the assembly of a great staff over time or its rapid development happens as an accident; it is the result of great human resources management.  Choosing personnel who will be successful and might make your company successful is a skill that is mastered by individuals who understand people, understand the specific workplace for which they are hiring, and have incredible instincts.  Michelle Lo has a great track record in staffing tech companies for exactly those reasons. Read more »

While much of the news in the mobile phone industry is usually about mergers and new products, the rise of a new company or the influence of a new technology in smartphones, the days of excitement for the company Research In Motion may be behind them.  Despite having bold plans for the BlackBerry 10 operating system that RIM executives have been promoting as the product that will turn around the company’s cash flow problems, there have been signs that RIM may be too weak to survive until the BlackBerry 10’s release. Read more »

As the world moves away from print media and more toward the dominance of digital media, it is unsurprising that more products and services that we used to have printed now are easily available on the Internet.  Already, the rise of e-readers and tablet computers has made a significant impact on how people read and purchase books.  The greeting card industry has been scrambling to use the Internet to remain financially viable.  That might be a hard sell, though; like so many things on the Internet, there are some great free e-card sites.  One of them is 123greetings.com. Read more »

Both businesses and individuals are finding increasing need for versatile data storage options.  Property owners, especially, are finding that having a security system is seldom sufficient; they must have increasingly thorough surveillance records in order for the system to be useful (i.e. in aiding in the identification of interlopers) and insulate owners from lawsuits (i.e. having visual records of events involving accidents and building repairs).  That is why, more than ever, a good security system must be paired with a data storage system that can accommodate large volumes of digital records.  That is where the V-Trak E-Class Fibre Channel Storage System excels. Read more »

Getting individuals and corporations to think differently about technology can be a difficult thing.  Many businesses consider the bottom line and Quarterly earnings above all other factors and most consumers are not keen on taking the time for someone to educate them on the full impact of their technological choices.  But education is a key factor in the success of many technology companies, especially when it comes to consumer products.  Attempting to get private consumers to invest in products that they have traditionally associated with business and industry can be a real uphill battle.  Few executives know that like Suresh Panikar. Read more »

In the course of a company’s stock, there is a natural movement; no goes constantly up.  It is perfectly natural for stock values to rise and fall based on any number of a multitude of factors.  Yet, within the last twenty years, there has been an unrealistic expectation that tech sector stocks will go homogenously upward, even though there is ample evidence to prove that the stock market, especially as it pertains to the tech sector, is far more volatile.  Perhaps no tech sector company offered stock with more expectations and more difficulty in recent memory than Facebook. Read more »

It is developer’s conference time!  Following on the heels of Apple’s Developer’s Conference and the All Things D D10 Conference, where guests from all across the tech sector and media spoke, Google’s annual I/O Conference will start on June 27 in San Francisco, California.  The three day conference is sold-out and is expected to include a slew of new product releases that should reach the marketplace by the end of the year.  Rumored products being announced at the I/O Conference this year include: Read more »