The Age of the Disposable Computer

You've just purchased a brand new MacBook, Windows 8 Tablet or any of the other new tablets or smartphones on the market.

You've paid $1,000 plus for it and you are very, very happy. After a period of time, usually a year, your warranty runs out. You are very, very happy.

Then the unthinkable happens and it just stops working. No problem you think... I'll just call my computer guy and he will fix it and make it better... And that is when it dawns on you.....

You're pretty much screwed and you have to buy a new one. You've just spent $400, $700, $800 or spent over a $1,000 a little over a year ago and you cannot get it fixed?

Your computer guy is nowhere to be found because he's out of business. He used to build computers for people, replace hard drives when they broke etc..... That's OK because you know where he lives and you call him up for help but... he cannot do a thing for you. Why?

When you bought that shiny new MacBook, PC, Laptop computer or tablet, what you didn't realize is that the manufacturer had built it NOT to be serviced.

• That shiny new MacBook was built with the hard drive, and memory sticks soldered to the motherboard. None of it can efficiently be replaced by a neighborhood technician. Many Microsoft based ultrabooks are built the same way. Soon all laptops will be built that way.
• The shiny new laptop that you paid for is built in such a way that a technician has to take the entire thing apart just to get to the hard drive. The labor costs to do this are prohibitive so you just replace it.
• All of a sudden you realize that shiny new desktop with Windows 8 you bought last year didn't come with recovery media to reinstall Windows, didn't offer to help you create recovery media yourself and doesn't even have a label with the Windows activation key. 

What the hay! That sickening feeling comes over you..... You're sunk.

So there it is. It may not be environmentally friendly but those are the economic metrics of todays high tech sector.

If you read my previous post on the Big Switch, you probably know just one of the driving forces behind all of this.

Not all is lost. The economic metrics will give birth to new businesses that will help you in many cases. Desktops for example, are still reasonably easy to service for example and there will still be methods to deal with those in a cost effective manner. Custom built desktops for business will be a viable option although you will pay more for them.

Those shiny new ultra thin, ultra light devices are something else however.... still, someone may come up with something. After all, they are selling millions of those aren't they? Then again, I said that about the millions of smart phones being produced.

The Big Switch is happening, get it. If you didn't read my post, maybe this will help. When you watch this, think about whatever shiny device you just bought.

The Big Switch - An unstoppable Force

The book "The Big Switch" by Nicholas Carr is a fascinating look into what is happening with Computing  and computers today. It's a succinct and compelling story of the current move to the Cloud.

Compelling because we are so exposed to it that most of us don't even realize it is happening.

Carr goes into great detail about the last big switch that happened over a 100 years ago with the advent of electricity. It tells the story about water powered manufacturing, Edison and the societal revolution he started with his invention of a system that distributed electricity to it's users.

Edison had to invent an entire system, the first distributed networks:

• Devices to produce the electricity,
• The electric light bulb that he hoped would replace gas and oil fired lamps,
• A method to measure how much electricity you used and
• A way to get that electricity to you at a lower cost than alternate sources of light and power to drive manufacturing.

By the time the Edison General Electric Company became General Electric, there were many thousands of small central stations that produced electricity to homes and small business over a one mile square grid. Direct current being generated couldn't be transmitted over long distances and manufacturers built their own power plants using those components that General Electric and other competitors sold them. At the turn of the century, private electric plants numbered over 50,000 whereas there were only 3,600 plus central stations.

It took one of Edison's own protégé's to see beyond his own vision.  Samuel Insull switched to alternating current and built giant utilities that soon displaced the private electric plants and smaller central stations. He made the production of electricity so inexpensive through economies of scale that users of electricity simply could not afford to ignore his new distribution system.

Carr likens that revolution which transformed our lives in such a big way to what is happening today with computing. Like the distribution of electricity, the economies of scale just now coming to bear with giant cloud utilities will make the move to cheaper more reliable forms of computing inevitable.

Like the evolution of distributed electricity, the current move to the cloud will displace a workforce which is no longer needed and, over time,  will create a whole set of new opportunities.

Just a little example.... Only 10 years ago, migrating your stuff from one computer to another was a complicated affair. Most people hired techs to do the work because it was just beyond our abilities. These days, many of us have made the move to the cloud. We buy a new computing device, log in to our cloud accounts and it's all there. This 100% ease of migration isn't available to everyone of course.... not yet.



And, as they say, THIS is what inspires me. I  want to ensure that every small business that I help manage, takes full advantage and sharpens their competitive edge.

Windows 8 - Setup your default Tile - I useful reason for it.

There is no shortage of guides for learning Windows 8 basics, starting with Microsoft’s guide to new features. Here’s an article that goes through the basics of the Charms bar, the Start Screen, switching apps and snapping them to the sidebar, printing from apps, and more.

Instead of writing a tutorial, I’ll be giving you a series of tips that aren’t as well known – settings that might make Windows 8 more comfortable and easier to adjust to.

Most of you will see Windows 8 for the first time on a new computer. Your immediate goal will likely be to make it as similar as possible to Windows 7, which will mean spending most of your time on the familiar desktop with the taskbar.

There is one simple but profoundly important change that I urge you to do on your first Windows 8 PC.

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TIP

Find the “Desktop” tile on the Start screen and drag it to the top left position.

The top left tile is the default tile. When you’re on the Start screen and you hit Enter, you’ll go immediately to the Desktop.

Applies to: Windows 8 on desktop PCs and notebooks Does not apply to: Windows 8/Windows RT on tablets or phones

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The minute that Windows 8 starts and you see the Start Screen, hit Enter. Bang! You’ve bypassed the Start Screen and you’re at your desktop. If you’re in a full-screen Windows 8 app and want to go back to work, hit the Windows key to go to the Start Screen, then hit Enter. Bang! Back to work.

It will be easier to stay in the desktop if you put your most-used programs on the taskbar by right-clicking them on the Start screen, then clicking on Pin To Taskbar. You’ll be able to run Windows 8 for days at a time without ever visiting the Start screen.

The urgency fades away as you become familiar with Windows 8. The Start screen becomes familiar, the full-screen apps turn out to be useful after all, it becomes natural to hit Windows key + C to bring up the Charms bar, and gradually it’s not as important to dive to the desktop right away. Even then it’s still easier to have the desktop tile in that upper left position because you’ll primarily be using desktop programs on your computer for the foreseeable future.

Don’t be afraid to get Windows 8 on your next computer! More tips to come.