The Information Technology industry is a very competitive one. With so many IT related courses, it is hard to maintain an edge over everyone else. Is our computer knowledge and skills relative to our education? One would say that a good education would instantly lift us up a notch over other programmers, but i believe otherwise. Although we are fortunate to have a good and reputable education, not everything we learn comes from school. Practice and experience makes us good at what whatever it is we do, not just our education. Programmers are not equal, even within one university. My point is - any school could produce successful programmers, and good schools could also produce the worst for that matter.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Marketing Strategies
With so many competitors in the computer market its hard to choose which brands to pick. As the industry continues to grow, many new promos and packages pop out to entice consumers. Typically, we choose the best performance for the least cost. Although it would be ideal to pick the less popular but cheaper brands at pretty much the same performance of high end products, sometimes it would benefit in the long run to pick the more well-established brands especially in terms of quality.
Based on personal experience, i've been quite disappointed a number of times in picking the less popular brands of computer parts. Sometimes I end up spending even more for repairs and replacement. I do not believe that prices are always relative to quality, but its often the case. It is said that some products are more expensive just because of the brand names they carry, but in my opinion, the name would not be as popular as it is if it hasnt satisfied that much customers. Yes, not everything we see in the commercials is true. However, with all the fierce competition, leading brands would not risk having too much disappointments. My point - If you want to be truly satisfied, then don't deprive yourself of quality. Sometimes the little extra you spend goes a long way.
Based on personal experience, i've been quite disappointed a number of times in picking the less popular brands of computer parts. Sometimes I end up spending even more for repairs and replacement. I do not believe that prices are always relative to quality, but its often the case. It is said that some products are more expensive just because of the brand names they carry, but in my opinion, the name would not be as popular as it is if it hasnt satisfied that much customers. Yes, not everything we see in the commercials is true. However, with all the fierce competition, leading brands would not risk having too much disappointments. My point - If you want to be truly satisfied, then don't deprive yourself of quality. Sometimes the little extra you spend goes a long way.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Obsolescence
What is obsolescence? According to Wikipedia, Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when a person, object, or service is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. If followed by strict definition, an object may be obsolete even though it may still be in good working order. Then why is it shoved behind the shelves once the next best thing comes out? After just purchasing the fastest processor or video card, something better comes out after just a few months. Does this mean that what you have is obsolete?
Several years ago, the computer market catered almost only for the wealthy class. The earlier computer parts were priced relatively high compared to what we have today, considering how far weve gone in terms of computer technology. Not so long ago, the latest 20GB hard drive was priced almost just as much as the 80GB hard drives available today. At the rate were going in terms of technology, prices just keep dropping. But when is an object actually obsolete? As long as your equipment still serves it's purpose faithfully, i believe it is safe to say that it is merely out of date but not necessarily obsolete. Knowing this, is it good to keep buying the latest thing in the market? or should we just wait for the next best thing to come out so that the item we want will become cheaper? I believe it's all a matter of personal choice and experience.
Several years ago, the computer market catered almost only for the wealthy class. The earlier computer parts were priced relatively high compared to what we have today, considering how far weve gone in terms of computer technology. Not so long ago, the latest 20GB hard drive was priced almost just as much as the 80GB hard drives available today. At the rate were going in terms of technology, prices just keep dropping. But when is an object actually obsolete? As long as your equipment still serves it's purpose faithfully, i believe it is safe to say that it is merely out of date but not necessarily obsolete. Knowing this, is it good to keep buying the latest thing in the market? or should we just wait for the next best thing to come out so that the item we want will become cheaper? I believe it's all a matter of personal choice and experience.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Size Matters
Its hard to imagine how computers that could occupy an entire floor have now been reduced to the size of a small box. Today, even handheld PDAs have their own processors and memory; Mobile phones are shrinking every year, otherwise a load of new features are crammed into an already decent sized handset; Hard drives are decreasing in size while increasing tenfold in capacity.
In a much broader aspect, technology has gone a really long way over the past century. Come to think of it, even for just the past ten years we have already seen several significant technological advancements. Nowadays, smaller in physical dimension ofcourse means much bigger in the world of electronics. Smaller hardware gives us a higher "power-for-size" ratio, and in turn also allows us to use more portable gadgets. With this rapid change in technology, integrating it into our lifestyles has already become the norm, keeping us in tune to the latest trend in gadgets. In a span of one person's lifetime, we've witnessed the advent of powerful machines, architectural marvels, and even artificial intelligence. What else will we see in our lifetime?
In a much broader aspect, technology has gone a really long way over the past century. Come to think of it, even for just the past ten years we have already seen several significant technological advancements. Nowadays, smaller in physical dimension ofcourse means much bigger in the world of electronics. Smaller hardware gives us a higher "power-for-size" ratio, and in turn also allows us to use more portable gadgets. With this rapid change in technology, integrating it into our lifestyles has already become the norm, keeping us in tune to the latest trend in gadgets. In a span of one person's lifetime, we've witnessed the advent of powerful machines, architectural marvels, and even artificial intelligence. What else will we see in our lifetime?
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Technology in Society: Government
Lack of funds and resources has long been a problem in our government. If i start on how much of our annual national budget goes to waste and why, then one post would probably not be enough. Let us put aside the obvious problems of corruption and ask ourselves: Does the government really know what they are missing in terms of technology?
The latest in technology may be widespread in our country, from personal computers, mobile phones, to mp3 players, but we have yet to appreciate the benefits of integrating technology in our society in a much larger scale. Technology does not only exist for convenience and recreation, but to solve real-world problems that our leaders face in a day-to-day basis. One concern we often fail to focus on is the inefficiency of our crime management system. To this day, blotters are still done with ink and paper and stored in notebooks kept in each precinct. These ofcourse can easily be tampered with and it takes ages to locate a single record. With the technology available today, reports can easily be uploaded to a centralized database which can be accessed anywhere, at anytime. Although our local authorities at NBI are already utilizing a database to store criminal records, the same system can be implemented in other institutions or organizations for ID purposes. We have also yet to integrate recording of DNA, which we all know is a fool proof way of identifying people for whatever reason, be it finding a suspect, or even finding your long-lost family. Obviously, we still have a long way to go in terms of exploiting technology. Why? that's a different story altogether.
The latest in technology may be widespread in our country, from personal computers, mobile phones, to mp3 players, but we have yet to appreciate the benefits of integrating technology in our society in a much larger scale. Technology does not only exist for convenience and recreation, but to solve real-world problems that our leaders face in a day-to-day basis. One concern we often fail to focus on is the inefficiency of our crime management system. To this day, blotters are still done with ink and paper and stored in notebooks kept in each precinct. These ofcourse can easily be tampered with and it takes ages to locate a single record. With the technology available today, reports can easily be uploaded to a centralized database which can be accessed anywhere, at anytime. Although our local authorities at NBI are already utilizing a database to store criminal records, the same system can be implemented in other institutions or organizations for ID purposes. We have also yet to integrate recording of DNA, which we all know is a fool proof way of identifying people for whatever reason, be it finding a suspect, or even finding your long-lost family. Obviously, we still have a long way to go in terms of exploiting technology. Why? that's a different story altogether.
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