Five years on – still a market leader?

Amazingly it is five years ago that Apple changed the way we all interact with our phones. Yes there were smartphones before the iPhone, and they were very capable things – I used various Windows-based units and they could run lots of program’s much like the iPhone does – but the similarity ends there.

The iPhone brought with it an idiot proof interface – having and using a smartphone was no longer the preserve of the ‘geek’ or ‘techy’. The beauty of the iPhone OS is that it just works – sounds really obvious to us all now, but those familiar with the old Windows mobile OS’s will remember the constant need for reboots or the crashes! Also the user interface was just plain clunky compared to Apples iOS!

So in five years the iPhone has made huge progress in its market place and is now able to offer the majority of the functionality that the old smartphones offered (but in a far more user-friendly manner). It has also been ‘copied’ by Google’s Android OS, this is a very capable system and now has some very capable hardware to run it on – and this is where I am going with this blog. Apple need the next iPhone to be very, very good. They are now constantly in the courts with Samsung trying to stop their phones being sold – and that can only be because they fear them!

From my recent trial of the new Samsung S3 I can see why, it is very good. The screen is larger than the iPhone 4, it is thinner, lighter and a much nicer shape (I am not a fan off the square sided 4 if I am honest, (I loved the 3GS).

So, much as I love my iPhone I am worried that if Apple don’t produce an awesome iPhone next time around they will lose the lead in the smartphone market which would be a very sad turn of events. So here’s hoping for a good one!

 

The Virgin chronicles – a brief update!

Nice adverts Richard - now how about sorting my problem out?

As anyone who reads this blog will by now be aware I have ‘a bit of an issue’ with Virgin Mobile/Media that has now been rolling along for 17 days. I am beginning to get slightly confused as I was originally dealing with Virgin Mobile and was under the impression that they were a separate entity to Virgin Media (certainly the deal I am attempting to use was sold to me on that basis). However things have moved on…..

I am now definitely dealing with the Virgin Media complaints department – I have a direct number if anyone needs it. I am also now onto my fourth ‘expert’ within the department – and more exciting I have an extension to ring now that will put me straight through to Matthew who is my new contact.Is this an indication that they are finally taking the matter seriously – or just that I have now educated them in the ways of good customer care?

Matthew has got off to a shaky start – I asked for any calls regarding the matter to come via my own mobile number and not my son Sam’s, (it is his number that we are trying to sort out), but he tried ringing Sam’s first. However a quick email to me subsequently saved the situation! Plus point also for contacting on a Bank Holiday!

But, we are now into week three with no answer in sight. I am told that the IT department are still ‘looking into it’, however I would hope they may move to ‘doing something about it’ anytime soon!

I think I may have finally worked out Virgins customer complaint game plan – make it take so long to resolve that when it finally happens I am really appreciative? Hate to tell you Virgin but when it is finally sorted that is only the beginning…

 

More climate change issues?

Climate change is an issue that always causes people to react strongly – either accepting it exists or not!

The argument normally comes back to the fact that “it doesn’t affect me so why should I believe in it or bother with it”. Well a recent report from the Government suggests that it may have other more tangible effects on our life style.

According to the report Wi-fi internet access and other communications are at risk from global warming unless measures are taken to protect them from rising temperatures and storm weather. Apparently higher temperatures can reduce the range of wireless communications, rainstorms can impact the reliability of the signal, and drier summers and wetter winters may cause greater subsidence, damaging masts and underground cables.

This threat posed by climate change to internet and telephone access is a rare example of when the developed world would be hit harder than developing countries, which are in general more at risk from increased floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

The report is on how the UK’s infrastructure – from road and rail, to power stations, to water supplies – needs to be made more resilient to climate change. It raises a series of other potential risks. In addition to the impact on range and reliability, warmer temperatures and more intense storms may cause communications infrastructure to be flooded, or damaged by an increase in trees falling onto overhead lines. There is even the suggestion that changes in the plants that grow in the UK could affect how radio waves travel!
The report highlights that the UK’s entire major infrastructure will be affected by climate change, with examples of measures being introduced or needed including:

• • New types of road surfacing to prevent the tarmac melting during hot spells
  • More heat-resistant rail tracks to prevent buckling
  • The bolstering of road and rail embankments and bridges to protect from flooding or subsidence
  • Better flood protection for nuclear and fossil fuel power stations
  • Wind turbines designed to withstand stronger winds
  • Stronger overhead power cables to avoid wire expansion and sagging in hotter summers.

£200bn is expected to be invested in the UK’s infrastructure over the next five years to start to address these issues.

 

Mobile phones or transatlantic flights – which is greener?

The big thing these days is reducing your carbon footprint, and everyone is at it, both individuals and big corporates. As an example, Google has recently invested $5 billion on an offshore wind farm project in a bid to reduce the company’s carbon emissions. 

So what are the carbon footprints of the most popular gadgets and every-day technology used by us in our everyday lives? Some of these are fairly obvious as they have an obvious connection to an energy source (i.e. a computer) but others are less obvious – like making a search on Google or using your mobile!

1. Apple MacBook 2010

The MacBook 2010 produces 9g of CO2 per hour while the product is idle. The average 60 watt lightbulb produces 48.4g of CO2 per hour.

(Apple, which has a company footprint of 9.6 million metric tons, claims to have reduced the MacBook’s carbon emissions by 12 per cent in the last four years despite increasing the power of the machines.)

2. Google search

This is a scary one! Reports have suggested that 7g of CO2 is produced per Google search, making two searches roughly the equivalent of boiling a kettle (15g of CO2). However, there was a lot of controversy around these figures, which in fact derive from the power of the computers used to perform the searches. Google claim that actually a simple one-hit search produces only 0.2g of CO2. It was estimated in 2009 that more than 200 million Google searches are performed every day  – that’s 40  tonnes a day on Google’s figures or 1,400 tonnes on the other figure world-wide!

As green as it can get?

3. Mobile phone

This one amazed me – Every minute spent on a mobile phone is estimated to produce 57g CO2. And for those who talk an average of an hour a day (not difficult I would suggest), a year’s usage is equivalent to the same amount of emissions as flying from London to New York one way (125 million tonnes CO2).

In 2009 there were 2.7 billion mobile phones in use around the world, giving a total of 125 million tonnes of CO2 emissions were produced – making it one-quarter of a per cent of emissions worldwide. Using a landline phone uses one-third of the power it takes to make a call on a mobile phone.

I realise this is not really significant in overall terms but it should make us think about how to reduce our own carbon footprint – and perhaps will stop so many people complain about transatlantic flights!