Thursday, November 28, 2002

Golly gee Wally, the 'net's not invincible? "The study seems to be aimed in part at arguing for the decentralization of major internet hubs... moving them away from large cities and proliferating more lower-tiered peering connections, yet again this seems rather obvious. The problem with decentralization is, of course, cost." [Ars Technica] 8:36:47 AM

CNN: New credit cards dangle from keychains. Jeordan Legon reports on the new keychain-based payment devices. Firms are using radio frequency signals, scanners and stronger plastics to make it easier for customers to give in to impulse. It's too soon to know whether the new plastic will go the way of the 8-track. But analysts say in the cutthroat credit card business, impressing finicky customers counts -- especially when a product makes it faster and more convenient to get through a checkout line. [Scott Loftesness] 7:23:00 AM

Pew Internet: Online Banking. The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released a new study on the adoption and use of online banking by American consumers. Why do they do it? Convenience, period. Convenience is the number one attraction for all online bankers, but younger Internet users are the most passionate about saving time. Eight out of ten (79%) e-bankers say that convenience was "very important" to their decision to first bank online - 82% of 30-49 year-old e-bankers agree, compared to 73% of 50-64 year-old e-bankers. Seven out of ten (71%) e-bankers say that the idea of saving time was "very important" to making that leap - 79% of 30-49 year-old e-bankers agree, compared to 66% of 50-64 year-old e-bankers. [Scott Loftesness] 7:21:39 AM

Immobots Take Control By Wade Roush, MIT Technology Review, December 2002/January 2003 From photocopiers to space probes, machines injected with robotic self-awareness are reliable problem solvers. ...Quite unlike the metallic contraptions that march stiffly through sci-fi movies or the mindless, stripped-down devices that heft parts on our assembly lines, the new robots have more brain than brawn. Each possesses a detailed picture of its own inner workings[~]encoded in software-based models[~]that gives it the ability to respond in novel ways to events its programmers might not have anticipated. Because many of these inward-focused, self-reconfiguring machines don[base ']t move, some computer scientists call them immobile robots, or [base "]immobots.[per thou].... 7:15:47 AM

Here is an amazingly understated article about how the "PC" disappears into the environment. In our heart of hearts we know it has already - if we stop and think about the various chips and operating systems embedded all around us. But here we see the glimmer of when there is no PC but simply a digital world. PCs shape up as masters of disguise By Michael Kanellos, Staff Writer, CNET News.com November 27, 2002, 12:54 PM PT ...Although manufacturers have tried, and mostly failed, to turn computers into fashion statements for years, the tide may be changing, say Brown and others in the PC industry. The catalyst for change looks likely to be the popularity of digital music, digital video recorders and DVD movies, which has carved out a place for the PC in the home entertainment pantheon as a vault for pictures and other media. As a result, the PC should gradually adopt the design flair of the consumer-electronics world.... The growing popularity of wireless networks, which make devices easier to move around the house, is also prodding the trend. "Wireless networks enable a platform. Clients become more varied and interesting," said Bob O'Donnell, an analyst at research firm IDC. In addition, declining PC prices continue to make it easy for consumers to justify having a second or third home computer. The $199 PCs being sold by Wal-Mart aren't going to new users, Brown said, but to experienced PC owners. Via's chips are used in these low-priced Microtel computers, sold on the retailer's Web site... The $199 PC's aren't sold to new users? Most interesting! 6:57:04 AM

© Copyright 2006 Russ Savage. Last update: 5/8/06; 8:54:22 PM.