We're chaging things around

So after debating and debating about what to do with this site, I have decided to devote it to the thing I have been doing on message boards and mailing lists for years - commenting on the technology that I use in my day to day life.

I hope that whoever out there in the Blogsphere is reading this will find the information useful and informative, and please note that I will gladly answer questions about any thing I post. Just send the questions to 'blog at bonerosity dot com'.

Enjoy!
--Yonah

Wow, I got to update more often...

Hey everyone, I know its been a while, and I still need to put together my wishlists. I hope to be updating more in the future. I am also getting a new camera phone with a megapixel camera, so hopefully I will be able to review it, as well as use it for Random pictures on the blog.

The Battle for the MP3 lowlands...

I have been unabashed about my desire for an MP3 player - both on my blog as well as with my wife. If last year's big story was about the iPod locking up the high-end Digital Audio Player market, the story of 05' (as evidenced by CES and Macworld) is going to be about the low end. Make no mistakes, Steve Jobs doesn't want to make the same mistakes he made in the 1980s by trying to attract some of the low-end market.

So Apple has introduced the minimalist chic iPod Shuffle. While I think that this will go over great with the Jogging and low-budget fashion concious individuals, I am not sure this will help him tie-up the low-end MP3 player market. While the 1GB iPod shuffle is probably the most affordable 1GB mp3 player on the market @ $149, for $50 more (and probably less than that after some dilution) I can get a Creative Zen Micro 1GB? Or a Rio Carbon 2.5GB with 2.5 times the capacity? Oh, and both of those devices have real navigation and an LCD display.

The Zen Micro seemed to be just as hot as the iPods this holiday season, with most retailers running out of stock. Zen Micro now introduced 3 new capacities for the Micro - 1,4,and 6 GB join five, and interestingly enough, there is only about a $20-30 price difference between them. (Which means that the least popular sizes will be on sale soon :) ). They also introduced the Zen Micro Photo with 5 and 6GB capacities, and at $300-350, they are a bargain when compared to the iPod photo at $499. Granted, the iPod photo starts at 40GB, but my laptop hard drive isn't even that big.

Ah yes, it's going to get interesting.

Waiting for CES

I decided to hold off my 05' wishlists and predictions until after CES. This will give me ample time to decide what I want from the cream of the crop.

My wife and I were sitting on the train today next to someone with a 4G iPod, and I was staring at it. My wife just looked at me and sighed.

Maybe apple will introduce a flash-based iPod that even she can't say no to?

Stagnation and Innovation on the WLAN front

For a long while I would lurk on the Wi-Fi Planet Forums, and answer and ask several questions. I was really into Wi-Fi and help set up and troubleshoot lots of SoHo and residential Wi-Fi networks. Over the past few months, I haven't been in the loop, so to speak, on what's going on in the wireless world. For the most part, there seems to have been a lack of progress on the standards front with almost every device now being compatible with 802.11b or it's faster sister 802.11g.

Yes, a lot of companies have SpeedBooster technologies in place to make your WLAN go faster, but in reality, if your DSL or cable connection only affords you ~1.5MBps downstream, it really doesn't make much difference if you are talking to your router at 11,54, or 108 MBps. Therefore, my reccomendation for most people is to go with 802.11b for now, because the prices of 802.11b routers have now dropped below $30 in most cases. Even 802.11g routers have dropped below $50. By comparison my first crappy 802.11b router that I bought in 2001 cost me $250, had only one lan port and couldn't work with more than one wireless computer connected to it.

Given this erosion in router prices, some companies are still innovating by taking the technologies that they have and making them just a little better. Here are some examples:

1. There is a major proliferation of gadgets and devices with Wi-Fi built-in to them - like PDAs, Laptops, Media Players, And more. I guess there is a bigger market for these now that everyone and their brother has wireless network.
   
2. Consolidation is a big trend, as people use their broadband connections for more and more things - like Wired, Wireless, and VoIP. Some companies are adding VoIP gateways to existing routers.
   
   
3. Other companies are realizing that the disparate needs are eating up bandwidth, so they are building in bandwidth throttling utilities to determine what applications get priority. D-Link actually has a new Wi-Fi Gaming Router who's major selling point is its ability to designate more bandwidth for Gamers.
   
   
4. VoIP is also creating another type of Device - Wi-Fi phones like the WiSiP from Pulver Innovations. Even RIM has announced that a Wi-Fi blackberry will be available soon.
   
   
   

I guess innovation isn't just about creating new technologies, but finding new ways to use or improve existing ones. Still, despite the proliferation of Wi-Fi devices, there still seems to be a dearth of routers with USB print servers built-in. Maybe the wi-fi companies realize that they can make more money by selling these as separate devices?