talkingDigital

photo credit: ajmexico

Believe it or not, there are still people switching from dial-up to broadband Internet. For almost a decade, these people have been saying stuff like, “I don’t really need fast Internet,” or “All I really ever do is email.”

If you are one of these people who is just now discovering that dial-up and broadband are really two totally difference species of Internet access, here is where you should go to discover a whole new universe of fun and productivity.

1. Google Earth – You have to download and install it, but Google Earth allows you to look at any place on Earth in dozens of different ways. View the Vegas strip in 3D, pinpoint every McDonalds on the planet, stroll down the street you grew up on.

2. Skype – Skype lets make video and audio calls to any other broadband user in the world for free. If you want to pay a little, you can also call any telephone in the world for prices far below anything your telephone company would ever offer. Many soldiers stationed overseas use Skype to call their families on a weekly basis.

3. Smithsonian Online tour – You may have to use Internet Explorer and download a browser plug-in but this great site lets you tour the Nation’s greatest museum.

4. Online Video – Once you discover the video that the Internet has to offer, you may discover that you can save even more money by canceling your cable or satellite bill. Try Hulu, TV.com or Joost for movies and TV shows, YouTube for goofy stuff and useful stuff alike – YouTube is a great tutorial database if you want to learn how to change that hard drive in your laptop or the kitchen faucet. There are dozens of other online video sites out there. Be careful though, some (i.e. Break.com, MetaCafe.com) allow more controversial content than others.

5. Flickr – Flickr actually works pretty well on dial-up as long as you are just looking at photos. Uploading photos on the other hand is impossible with dial-up. Flickr gives you the ability to share your photos with friends and family and the world.

6. Google Docs/ZOHO – Remember when you used to need Microsoft Office or WordPerfect to do anything productive with your computer? With broadband all you need is an operating system (Windows, Macintosh or Linux) and a browser – which they all come with out of the box. Both of these online office suites allow you to create projects online that can be accessed from any computer. In other words, no need to start a document at work, save it to a flash drive, then find out that you can’t open it at home. If you create a document in either of these online suites, you just log into that site when you get home and everything is there.

7. Online backup – There are dozens of these services but we like Mozy and DropBox the best depending on your need. You have probably also heard of Carbonite which is also very good. Online backup services allow your computer to backup information online so that if your computer crashes, burglary occurs or some other catastrophe causes you to lose information stored on your computer, you can restore it via these online services.

8. FlightAware – This one might not be for everybody, but it comes in handy when you need it. FlightAware lets you track any flight or any airport in near real time. Pick an airport and you can watch the airplanes by flight/tail number and track information such as altitude, speed, arrival time, etc. It is so close to real time that it allows you to feel the power and potential of broadband Internet.

9. Poisson Rouge – This one is for the little kids but it will occupy any kid of any age for several hours. Poisson Rouge is a website that I recommend to anyone who needs to practice with the mouse a little more.

10. Any other website out there – Remember when you could look a recipe up in a book faster than you could online? Not any more, try Food.tv or AllRecipes.com. Remember when you used to have to look a word up in the dictionary? Not any more. Now you can have the definition quicker than it takes to read the next three steps (assuming you can type 25 words per minute or faster).

Open your web browser.

• Type define broadband in the little search box in the upper right corner.
• Hit the ENTER/Return key.
• Poof! the first link at the top will take you to the definition of broadband.

By the time you go to each of these sites, you should be wondering how you ever did without broadband, and we haven’t even gotten into Netflix, iTunes, Last.fm or future technologies like Google Wave.

• RT @twobears29: Everyone will remember the great Eggo famine of 2009. http://ow.ly/Dvql #
• We have a caller from Pennsylvania asking us a question – feel free to do the same kafmradio.org #
• Waiting to go on air at kafmradio.org. Tune in to 88.1 in #gjco or on the website from anywhere. We air in about 20 minutes. #fb #
• http://bit.ly/2FUac3 grabbing a bite before going on air on kafmradio.org #
• RT @nerdvana: New guests announced for Phoenix Comicon http://bit.ly/2wvUJ4 in reply to nerdvana #
• I uploaded a YouTube video — Very important video by Cochran http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRI2qNqmz48&feature=autoshare_twitter #
• Exchanged my Palm Pre. The new on is the same but different #
• Almost ready to go home. #
• Abe Lincoln is working as a janitor at the Rimrock Walmart http://bit.ly/48JW9x he shaved so nobody will recognize him. #
• I favorited a YouTube video — Ariunbold Mijiddorj plays the morin khuur at the Denver Museum of Nature… http://bit.ly/4mAATj #
• The XBox 360 Live update comes out today – They are adding Facebook, Last.fm and Twitter. Hope they get Pandora at some point. #
• Are there any legal problems with pay per post and pay for tweets of CES coverage on a press pass? #CES2010 I don't want to break any rules. #
• Just upgraded my pre to OS 1.3.1 seems snappier. #
• RT @scottammons: Whose idea was Monday anyway? #StuffCathyWouldTweet #
• RT @HelpMeRick Less than 84,000 views to 1 Million on my #YouTube channel. Help push me there by January 1? Thanks! http://bit.ly/23dq36 #
• http://twitpic.com/prry9 – Allen in guitar lessons #fb #
• RT @greggrunberg: Watch #Heroes tonight!! It's a matter of life or death… for Matt Parkman!! in reply to greggrunberg #
• RT @Smashburger: It's a big week for all you Texas burger lovers! Smashburgers are opening in Dallas, Sugar Land and San Antonio! in reply to Smashburger #
• FACT: You could make 43,212,000 Indian headdresses from the feathers of all turkeys eaten this Thanksgiving. #
• FACT: An estimated 5,469 feet of human nose are removed by plastic surgeons in the US each year. #fb #
• I can see both the good and bad in the Psystar verdict http://bit.ly/3abXHV #
• Bresnan is very slow tonight in the north end of #gjco #
• RT @kevinrose: Stopped at ILM (yoda fountain) during bike ride I am http://yfrog.com/ebc7wj in reply to kevinrose #
• I am at the @sprint store on Saturday. So are 19 other people. Not counting the 3 employees. 3 more customers just came in. #
• If you like your brand name – trademark it. http://bit.ly/1iLuT8 #
• I favorited a YouTube video — Michael Jackson – Black or White http://bit.ly/KnX1h #
• Google Chrome OS to launch within a week http://bit.ly/3RHfu0 #
• RT @AbleGoodman: Ron Paul Responds to Michael Moore: It’s Corporatism, Not Capitalism http://bit.ly/12Zsd4 and http://bit.ly/Dp1u3 #
• Got to talk to Massad Ayoob this week about XD9 vs XD40. I am going with the 9 – I think. #fb #
• I like to see how many times I can get a single Chick-fil-A employee to say, "My pleasurem," my record is 17. #
• RT @crunchgear: Twitter, Facebook come to Xbox 360 on Nov. 17 http://bit.ly/34yLB4 #
• Anyone know of a polynesian island with broadband access who needs a guy who is good at all things digital? #
• I hate tweets about eating lunch. So I have chosen to tweet on another matter instead. This is that tweet. #
• I guess a lot of people had problems logging into Twitter yesterday, so they changed their passwords and caused more problems. #
• I was a Twitter bug victim. They fixed it and all is right in the world TWEET! #fb #
• Why can't I log into twitter from any browser?? It works fine on my phone but Twitter has locked me out when I try any browser. #
• I can log into and post to twitter via my Twee but not via my computer – any browser. #
• This is a test #
• RT @apelad: The fetus Natalie Merchant sang about in "Eat for Two" would be turning 20 years old this year! <- interesting observation in reply to apelad #
• Ya. This car is parked and unoccupied. http://twitpic.com/p53rr #
• I can almost predict which idiot followers are going to get hit with the "IQ quiz" or "is this you" Twitter worm. #
• Dang! I forgot my watch at home. I hate that. #fb #
• Off to teach my own class and sub for a couple others at Mesa State College. #fb #
• John Allen Muhammad is dead. Now is when he finds out he has 72 virgins waiting for him on the other side – but they are all burly men. #
• STOP TAKING IQ QUIZZES ON TWITTER!!! THEY ARE A WORM THAT HACKS YOUR ACCOUNT!! #gjco #
• When you find something that no one else is doing. Learn to do it then charge for it. #
• RT @the_gman: The Anatomy of a Website: Which Pages Should Be on Your Website? http://su.pr/30weX7 #
• I use hootsuite when I am not around my TweetDeck. http://hootsuite.com #
• RT @kwbridge: All of the google logos for the 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street http://bit.ly/1SDomh <– I loved seeing those last week #
• Kareem has blood cancer. http://bit.ly/311KhB #
• RT @kettlewell: I just tried to zoom in to a Google map by zooming in with my fingers… On my desktop #iPhone #
• OS 10.6.2 is out. Maybe I will make the move to Snow Leopard now. Maybe not. #
• It looks like @deltacraig is the winner – bathroom stall in mens room at Borders! #
• Testing out fleet tweet on the Pre. Pretty cool app. #
• http://twitpic.com/owuhe First person to identify the exact location where this photo was taken gets mentioned in all my tweets today. #
• I subscribed to ashelaine13's channel on YouTube http://bit.ly/2xG2Ru #
• I subscribed to MesaStateASG's channel on YouTube http://bit.ly/12SPVk #
• I subscribed to BacchusKMSA's channel on YouTube http://bit.ly/LcVsT #
• RT @roxybalboa: Got Pull up? We do! http://bit.ly/4prr4F I love the @alexalbrecht technique. Getting some cardio done at the same time. #
• If you don't know about flightaware.com – you should. Very cool site for tracking all airport activity everywhere. #
• Sprint won't say whether Android 2.0 is coming to the Samsung Moment #
• So. I can't get Internet on my Palm Pre unless it's WiFi. They can't get me a replacement until next week. Dang! #
• hello world #
• Does anyone know if Sprint's Internet is down in Grand Junction, CO? #
• EVDO is not working on my phone. Is it my Pre of Sprint? #gjco #Sprint #
• When shopping for a computer guy look for one with a broken website and a photo of the cops from Reno 911 – http://bit.ly/4evmb5 #
• Just ran into Ned Ryerson. You never forget friends like him. #fb #
• I need an OEM projector lamp for my Optoma EP719 please direct me to a place where it is $250 or less. #
• I am in Fruita for the day but I am exercizing will and budget by not eating at Munchies. #fb #
• I am thinking about changing my #CES10 reservations from the Best Western to the Greek Isles. Any comments? GI = better price and reviews #
• RT @ahjobslist: Before you hire a social media consultant, read this….Ten Things Social Media Can't Do….http://adage.com/u/6L75Ha #

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photo credit: roland

In the tech world there are many debates. Mac vs. PC, FireWire vs. USB, Dell vs. HP. The list could go on.

One argument has been declared over by too many people. CNET, TechCrunch and others have declared that the netbook is dead as an independent platform. As notebooks have grown smaller and more powerful and features have been added, many tech writers have decided that there is no real difference between the netbook and the notebook.

Netbooks still have a place. The problem is that netbooks are dying because companies who make them have forgotten why they caught on in the first place.

The appeal of the original netbook was not the grand set of features or the speed. Netbooks were wonderful because they fit a niche.

The talkingDigital.org criteria for what makes a netbook a netbook:

1. Size – a true netbook features a keyboard that can be used with two hands and a screen that can fit a 1024 web page. The keyboard should be full but “full size” was not a requirement.

2. Instant on (or as close as you can get) – Netbooks were not a replacement for notebooks nor are they a replacement for smartphones. People don’t want to take out their notebooks and wait for them to boot up just to use Twitter and check their Facebook. They also don’t want to spend 20 minutes typing out emails on a smartphone.

3. Web apps are all you need – True netbooks don’t need CD-ROM drives, 160GB hard drives etc. If you need a device that will store all your photos, edit video and play games, you need a notebook. A netbook needs a web browser, a webcam, a microphone and a few USB ports. The netbook is  a portal to Web 2.0 and The Cloud, 8 or 16GB should be plenty of storage space. You shouldn’t need Microsoft Office when Google Docs or Zoho will do the job even better.

4. OS is a utility not a platform – Whether a netbook runs on Linux, Windows, Android or BeOS shouldn’t matter in the least. As long as it runs a Webkit or Firefox browser that supports Flash, Java and other web platforms, that should be all you need.

5. Battery life – a true netbook will sacrifice most other features for longer battery life. Screen brightness is great, but most people turn their screen brightness down in public places to conserve battery and keep people from snooping over their shoulder. Solitaire runs great on a Pentium II and the Internet never even pushes the dual core capabilities of any system. A small processor, low powered screen and lack of moving motors give a netbook a longer battery life. Adding these features cuts down battery life. Netbooks need battery. If you have to sit next to an outlet to use your computer for more than an hour, you might as well get a true notebook.

A netbook is a supplemental computer. It is not intended to replace a notebook or smartphone. It is designed to be used for for stretches of an hour or two at the most, but to go long stretches without needed recharged. You should be able to keep it in a portable bag or purse so that it is always handy if you find yourself needing to kill time in a hotspot. It should be small enough not to annoy those around you but large enough to use comfortably.

Before buying a netbook, we suggest you go with a notebook instead if any of the following apply:

1. You want to use it to store or edit photos

2. You want it for World of Warcraft (or any other 3D game) on the go; bejeweled, solitaire and Zuma will work fine on most netbooks.

3. You want to store your music on it.

4. You need to run Microsoft Office, Photoshop or any other specific application to get your work done. If web apps won’t do the job, go with a notebook.

5. You expect it to replace your notebook or your smartphone. If you expect it to replace any device you currently use, you will be disappointed. Netbooks are a device in an of themselves. They will do jobs that you can do with both notebooks and smartphones can do, but they will do them better given the right circumstances.