Hardware

In today's podcast: IBM announces new Power7 processor; PayPal suspends payments in India; and Google reduces Nexus One termination fee.

Microsoft has concluded that last week's story about batteries failing due to a Windows 7 bug is bunkum. Sadly, it doesn't seem to have satisfied the users, who are complaining louder than ever. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers try to figure out why. Not to mention GNILLEY: gaming by yelling...
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By selling the iPad at a low price, Apple risks cannibalizing its Mac business.

Have you taken a look at Apple's Mac market share numbers lately? They're almost unbelievably good. But they also point to a potential crisis for Apple in the not-too-distant future, one that the iPad will almost certainly help the company avoid.

Is refusing Flash in the best interests of future iPhone 4G and iPad customers? The growing war of words between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch is amusing to watch, but how helpful is it? In IT Blogwatch, bloggers take sides.
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While technology blogs nitpick the iPad over missing features and inadequate specs, they're missing the point of the device, which is to create a tool that people love to use.

"From a techie point of view, one could say, oh, my gosh, it didn't have this feature, it didn't have that feature. And I think a lot of the blogosphere has gone along with that line of thinking. But I think [Apple] is after a different market entirely," said ArminasX Saiman, an Apple enthusiast and IT manager for a large multinational company.

Having a security freeze in place slowed down my approval for an "instant" 12-month interest-free loan on an iMac -- and gave me time to rethink an impulse purchase.

In today's podcast: Intel ready to ship Tukwila; Nexus One update fixes 3G connectivity problem; and Google developing customer service operation for Nexus One.

Windows 7 users are up in arms over a long-standing battery charge problem. Their batteries are dying prematurely, and they're blaming Windows 7, which is popping up the message, "Consider replacing your battery. There is a problem with your battery, so your computer might shut down suddenly." In IT Blogwatch, bloggers consider replacing their operating systems. Not to mention iPad reality distortion...
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President Barack Obama's administration is cutting NASA's moon mission funding. His budget plan for reducing the deficit kills the Constellation, Ares, and Orion programs, but opens the door to private enterprise. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers wonder what it all means. Not to mention Facebook (you're doing it wrong)...

Net admin pilot fish is walking through the office one day when he comes across a user who's on the phone -- and screaming at a support tech halfway across the country.

Apple's upcoming iPad includes the iBooks apps, which combines e-book reader software with an iTunes-like service for selling books. I was somewhat surprised by iBooks. I had just assumed that Apple was going to let existing e-book distributors like Amazon.com and FictionWise install apps on the iPad and sell books that way. But I should not have been surprised. Why wouldn't Apple want to have its own e-book store?

As a Second Life enthusiast, I really want the iPad to run Second Life. There's no reason why it shouldn't. As my friend Wagner James Au points out on the blog New World Notes, the iPhone already has a couple of rich, text-only Second Life clients, and the iPad now has the horsepower and screen size to support Second Life graphics.

The iPad looks like a winner. It's an e-book reader, video player, game console, and netbook, all in one sexy package. I want it. I'll buy it the day it comes out. Millions of other people will buy one too. Apple will make billions of dollars off this thing, and revolutionize an industry or two in the process. But that's just my opinion. Here's what some other people are saying.

Newly hired networking pilot fish is tasked by the almost-as-new IT director with helping to create a cohesive network for the company's 14 remote sites -- and that's no small task.