Digital Living

Joseph C. Wilson -- The Father Of "Modern Office Systems"

While for many Joseph C Wilson might not as famous nor as familiar as Thomas J. Watson, Sr (of IBM), nor Henry Ford (of Ford Motor Company), nor Akio Morita (of Sony), Joseph C Wilson is indeed one of the great innovator of modern office systems -- and modern way of people working/living.

Without his years of struggle to make Haloid -- the small little tiny company that many times almost go broke to daringly pursue its research and vision -- and to make its "crazy idea" of photocopying happening, the photocopy machines, the photocopy business model, and digital modern office systems that modern offices rely on today around the globe would never been happening.

Innovation matters. In many ways, innovation seem indeed change society for the better, either directly through the massive business it created, or through influencing others (in the next generation) via its spirited dream.

If J C Wilson don't build Xerox into reality as it could become, Steve Jobs perhaps would never had seen XEROX PALO ALTO, and Bill Gates probably had nothing to "imitate something from Apple" to become Windows later on. Without such, our would then would have been so much different.

In that retrospect, the great dedication passion and work of Joseph C. Wilson is something that we -- innovators and inventors of next generation office systems -- shall always need to admire and remember.

No modern office systems might have been happening without the initial dedicated work, steps and dream of Joseph C. Wilson. In many ways, he's probably the father of Modern Office Systems. Among the first person that instinctively understand the power of documents, the business model around that document systems, and the power of people working together (through documents that being exchanged).

In the similar tradition of following the amazing struggling years of Pixar, following the story of tiny almost broke yet dedicated and never surrender Haloid to become a gigantic Xerox company, and the entire new business model that it created and invented along the way is indeed very respectable. It's amazing to see how this people who was once considered "crazy" because of their pursued dedication, dream and vision, many years later after their years of passion becoming successful reality, their "crazy ideas" become the new standard of how the world function, live, work and operate .. until today.

Innovation matters. It change society for the better.

What Is "Windows Cloud" Anyway ??

Mr. Ballmer recently said and announced: "We need a new operating system for the cloud .. and for now we will call it Windows Cloud".

Technically speaking: What is an operating system for the cloud? Who need such?

Horizontal architecture scaling technique, along with various techniques to achieve reliability and scalability and interconnectivity has been around on the web for years. All these can be built with "existing OSes".

Technically speaking, the web doesn't seem to need a new operating system for it to expand nor operate. HTML/DHTML as a base, popular programming language/script for the web, web API and cloud infrastructure services that the web developer need to do magical stuff on the web is already exist, and widely available.

We now can do cloud computing on Amazon EC2. We can do scripting for the web using many tools and language. We can implement messaging and horizontal architecture to enable scalability. 

In the future we might have OpenID for identity, we have facebook API, Google API, and many more things coming in the picture. Combined together, these are "cloud computing infrastructure", that we all already have access to.

While room for improvement for the "next web" is many, there doesn't seem to be a need (nor urgent need) for a "new OS" that is specifically designed for the web itself.

So:

What does Mr. Ballmer really mean by "new operating system for the cloud"? A bunch of new Windows API exposed on the internet? A couple of Silverlight "front-end" components embeddable/mashable on Desktop or HTML pages?

While such might be "cute", .. all these are not technically constitute an "OS" ... These are just would be APIs, or "service in the cloud" -- as may other APIs and embeddable/mashable object available on the web today. Should we call these the "new OS"  after all??

So 3 questions remain:

1. What is a new "OS" for the web mean anyway?
2. Who need such new "OS" for the web anyway?
3. Is it a real technical "thing"?, or is it really is -- actually -- just a "marketing jargon" used to differentiate Windows OS "traditional licensing policy" from the "massive web licensing" scheme?

Being "totally confused" by all these, I come to this "assumption": probably this is just a "marketing jargon". Understanding its potential technical irrelevance, "such new gimmick" perhaps need to be created by Microsoft to allow room for Microsoft to define a new "licensing model" for "the web".

That means: the new "OS" probably will come up with a new licensing scheme that would allow hundreds of thousands of Windows to be deployed for massive web infrastructure, with reasonable licensing fee, instead of being bloated by its current traditional licensing structure.

When the market can start to perceive this "new windows" as "Windows cloud", then the pricing & licensing model for that "Windows Cloud" could be made totally "new" , and it won't affect the pricing & licensing structure that "traditional" Windows provide.

At the core of it, although it might have been declared as a "new OS", speculative assumption on the real meaning of this probably is this: This might be just the "same" OS with a couple of Windows API exposed for the internet, and a TOTALLY NEW PRICING SCHEME MODEL attached to it.

Could this be the case?

We will see and understand what this really mean, and what this really is, as the "real" thing being announced by Microsoft shortly -- around the end of this month.

Re-Experience "Google" - Y2001

In honor of their 10th birthday, Google brought back their "year 2001" search engine, and allow us to re-experience "Google" as if it was in the past (year 2001).

Here's the link to the site: http://www.google.com/search2001.html. Do give it a try: it's breathtaking, dazzling, exciting, "crazy" and fun!

I tried accessing the site myself just now. Here's how the 2001 Google site looks like:

Notice the old Google logo?

Out of curiosity, I try to search Arvino Mudjiarto. Surely what Google displayed really looks like how it was capable to searched, crawled and displayed in 2001.

It's not as complete, as uptodate (nor as most recent) as Google that we experience today. Yet even such, the Google search & discovery capability already really amazing. For example: I don't even remember that once upon a time I had an email at Altavista (arvino@altavista.com!). But Google does! Google -- at that time -- already "know" about that fact. How amazing ! :-) :-) :-)

Out of bigger curiosity, I try to search Worxcode, the company that we happen to founded in February 20, 2002.

Surely Google can not find the company at that time. (Worxcode was not even born at that time). My conclusion: Surely this is a real "Google 2001 engine" stuff! It's not a "fake".

Such makes it even more exciting :-) :-) :-) because it means we could explore and experiment further to experience many other thing that we would "remembered" (or re-experience back), in the past.

I try to find out what people would find if they search the word "iPod" in 2001. This is what I found:

Notice that Google in 2001 still don't even have capabilities to search "image" at all!

As we can see: in 2001 there's no mention about iPod that is associated with Apple at that time! ... [Apple at that time is still in the process of crafting its cool back in the industry through its iMac, and the iPod probably at that time is still in their "lab"]. :-)

Hmmm ... may be this is the "web search result" that folks at Apple "saw" back in 2001, when they decided to name their new portable player "iPod" ?

We don't know for sure about this fact, but being able to "see that possibility" infront of our own eyes is truly exciting! ;-)

Contrast that with our search for iPod using Google today (2008) :

iPod is totally associated with Apple, these days.

For Google to do something like this during its 10th anniversary is really creative and imaginative.

1. It allow people and society to refresh their memory about how the web looks like, how it feel, the kind of limitation and the kind of capability that it can provide in the past.
2. Such give us all the sense and feel of how powerful Google & the web has become these days, how "lucky" we are today, and how it has all these great progress affect us all in a great way.

This showcase also becomee a great chance for us all to re-experience "our past"; to "reflect back" how the web (and how Google) really looked from the lenses, experience and eyes of the past.

Such experience is truly rare; something that probably we could re-experience once every 10 years, or 20.

Do give it a try everyone.

"New" Exciting Product From Apple?

I saw this picture, and I asked myself: are these a series of a great new upcoming product from Apple??

iTablet

iCamera

I don't know the exact answer. But I do sincerely hope so. :-) :-) :-)

Above pictures are just artist's mockup and rendering of what might be coming out "soon" from the Cupertino lab. Nothing is confirmed yet because -- as as we all know -- Apple never reveal anything, until it finally really released.

That makes this upcoming season/product announcement from Apple truly exciting. I really hope such kind of product would be really be announced. If that is the case, such would be truly awesome.

How Microsoft Respond To Competition

It is interesting to see Microsoft response to the iPhone challenge. Instead of tackling it directly, on their website Microsoft advertise something like this:

"Windows Mobile -- Over 20 3G phones to choose from".

Reading such respond, and comparing it to similar approach that is taken by Microsoft in defending Vista, perhaps we can now postulate Microsoft "overall approach" in tackling its innovation and excellence based competition:

• If competitor threatened with perfection, answer such perfection with abundance of selection that only Microsoft can provide.
• If competitor threatened with product/design excellence, answer such excellence with scale of market domination that only Microsoft (currently) had.

That means:

• If other company (e.g Apple) threatened Microsoft domination based on perfection of their new product, Microsoft would try to answer that with selection. They might argue: "Why choose 1 (perfect) phone, if you got 20 variety of phones to choose from" ?
• If other company (e.g. Apple) threatened Microsoft domination based  on excellence of their innovative product, Microsoft would try to answer that with dominating market share that Microsoft currently had. They might argue: "Why choose the (excellent) MacOSX, if dominant number of people around the world uses Windows" ?

At a glance, this seems like a perfect answer.Yet as history repeatedly show, such arrogance could be dangerous. It usually also not last very long. Across time: customer typically would choose the most perfect product, at the most affordable price, with the most excellent innovation around.

If such "wording game" continue being used without significant innovation and excellence being introduced back into the company and its product, eventually customer preference might change, and gradually -- as time goes by, the company's product and existence increasingly become irrelevant.

Case 1: at IBM (1980s)

• During the dominant era of Mainframe, IBM people reportedly used to say: "Nobody gets fired buying IBM". Such is a true statement of that time when IBM was dominant, and IBM Mainframe product is a must.
• Yet few years later, when Mini and PC innovation fast forward at rapid pace, unless Lou Gertsner turn IBM to become the "Watson Sr's IBM" as it once was, the fate and future of IBM was in serious danger.

Case 2: at Microsoft itself(1980s)

• During the reign of DOS, Lotus (at that time the largest software company in the world) reportedly used to say: "The Windows market is minuscle (compared to the DOS based 123 market of that time), that way: Microsoft Excel (innovative) development would definitely have small chance to destroy domination of Lotus' DOS-based 123.
• Yet years later, the innovative Microsoft Excel (which runs on Windows) outpace Lotus 123 (which runs on DOS) in its development, innovation and market penetration, and turns Microsoft to be the new king of spreadsheet and office productivity tool of the future.

Lesson learned:

• Perfection could not be answered with abundance of selections.
• Excellence and innovation can not be answered with (current) domination.

Instead the only thing company can do to ensure its survival in stiff innovative/excellence based competition is perhaps to continuously keep its innovation going; and to keep on producing "perfect", "excellent" product that resonates very well with the market preference and needs.

Only through this the company's leadership in the marketplace could be secured; and only NOT through this the company's future could be risked and jeopardized significantly.

The First Android Phone Finally Arrive In The US

Finally the first Android phone arrive in the US. Called G1, this phone is being offered by T-Mobile and start becoming available in the market.

For those who get curious how it looks like, here's a peek:

Function wise this phone start to have some unique personality which in the future might differentiate it significantly from the iPhone offering and concept. For example:

1. This phone provides physical keyboard, which shall make it very easy and convenient to type in data, versus iPhone "soft keyboard approach" that tends to be slower (and less easy to do).
2. This phone will support and will provide Adobe flash capabilities, which the iPhone lack.
3. This phone OS is opensource and it can be embedded inside any machine, which is totally in contrast to iPhone OS's iPhone-only approach.
4. This phone comes unlock -- hence can be used on any data network -- versus iPhone's exclusive AT&T network scheme and approach.

Indeed the phone is not pretty as iPhone yet. But considering that the mother of this phone is HTC, we surely can predict (and safely bet) that in the future there would be continuous stream of hardware innovation comes into it.

As for Apple iPhone, if this marvelous phone is kept being locked-in as it is today, the old history of the Mac (vs PC) in the 80's might have a very likely chance to happen again. The ongoing development of Android phone might need to be watched out very very carefully.

Asus Announces World's First Skype Video Phone!

While skype is probably one of the most beautiful thing that the world experience over the internet today, one of skype's greatest "annoyance" is that we almost always had to turn-on our computer before we would be able to use it.

Well, perhaps not anymore, because recently Asus announces the release of the world's first video phone:

Basically what this device does is enabling people to skype over the internet, using this video phone, yet without needing any computer at all.

Now that's something cool, very useful, nice and superbly awesome! I think if the device has arrived and it is indeed as good as we expect it to be, I think there's no reason why not buy one.

Recently Asus is doing and pioneering alot of pretty amazing thing. After pioneering the Eee/NetPC phenomena a few months back, now they are becoming the first to introduce this? This is really superbly awesome.

Microsoft "Un-Mojave" Experiment: Have These People Being Shown A Mac OSX Before/After They Are Being Shown Vista??

Microsoft Mojave experiment try to tout the "beauty" of Vista by sharing to the world how people get "ooh ahh" by the sheer beauty and magnificence of "Microsoft's future operating system" which later they found out was VISTA!

They said people really "Oooh Ahh" about it, as they never thought such great operating system was VISTA!

Hmmm ... this is so Ballmerian "trick" by nature. >:-(

I think this experiment "miss" ONE key important point:

• Have these same people and audiences being shown Mac OS X BEFORE they are being shown Vista?
• Or at least: Have these same people and audiences being shown Max OS X AFTER they are being shown Vista?

If they have been shown the Mac OS X before (or after) they have been shown Vista, what would then these same audiences feel? Would Vista be still "feel" the "same" ??

 

This is what I called the "UnMojave Experiment". ;-)

Oh, Mr. Ballmer, your "old dirty trick" is such a "tard".

The Team That Develop "Google Chrome"

Google took 6 years to develop their "chrome" browser. The project involves many people with different expertise and extraordinary gifted talents. During the past 6 years, these people come to Google through  hiring or through series of strategic acquisition.

Here's a picture of the team involved:

And here's the fascinating story behind "chrome" great effort and development:

http://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/2008/09/google-chrome.html

During the great days of Windows (1990s), we always remember names like Brad Silverberg and the bunch of team that created Windows. During the era of the excellent Mac OS X Tiger we remember names like Avi Tevanian.

I wonder who now develop the "boring, dorky" IE ??

Is The Apple "iTablet" Coming Soon?

It was told that Apple was filing patent for new methods of inputing data through touch interface; onto a "touch-screen-device" that is larger than an iPod or an iPhone.

Would this marks the emergence of Apple iTablet? An early indication that "something" is really being worked on at Apple. An "early clue" that indeed "soon" Apple might introduce an "iTablet" to the market?

We'll see how the future goes.