Archive | Features

Are Mac Users Worried About Security? Our Survey-Takers Are…But Only a Little.

Posted by Harry McCracken on December 8, 2008 at 10:59 am

macvirus2Last week, I got curious about whether Mac users spend any more time wrangling with security problems than in the past…or at least stressing about potential security risks. I decided to conduct a quick survey to get real feedback from real Mac users. The results (via the wonderful PollDaddy) are in, and for the most part they confirm what you might guess: Most respondents aren’t too concerned about security, don’t run much in the way of security software, and have never been attacked by viruses or spyware. Strong security is one reason why they choose the Mac over Windows. But they’re justifiably concerned that the growing percentage of computer users who use Macs could lead to more assaults by the bad guys.

First some disclaimers: We did no screening of survey respondents, so their take on things may or may not map to the Mac population at large. (For what it’s worth, some of the ones who expanded on their thoughts via our final, free-form question are clearly advanced users who are familiar with OS X’s Unix-based underpinnings.) 175 people took our survey–a small pool,  but a statistically significant one. Bottom line: The opinions expressed below are those of the folks who chose to take the survey. (I think they’re interesting ones, and I thank everyone who took the time to participate.)

Full report after the jump…

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How to Produce Great Web Video in a Whole Lot Less Time

Posted by David Spark on December 5, 2008 at 10:38 am

[David Spark (@dspark) is a veteran tech journalist and the founder of Spark Media Solutions, a storytelling production company that specializes in live event production. He also blogs and does a daily radio report for Green 960 in San Francisco at Spark Minute.]

speedvideoTen years ago when I worked at ZDTV (later to become TechTV) I made all the mistakes a first time producer can make in video production. I shot too much video. I didn’t set up a shoot schedule. I didn’t have an outline of what I wanted. And I ended up reshooting projects because I didn’t plan correctly.

Video production can be insanely time-consuming. Some of that is just a result of rookie mistakes made early on, but many production processes are simply unavoidable. Even though everyone has adopted non-linear video editing, watching video must be done linearly. A good producer can reduce time considerably if they plan better and learn how to more efficiently work their equipment. But even when you cut out all the fat, you still end up with the realization that  video production is slow.

About four years ago, at CES in Las Vegas, I started to see a new crop of software and devices specifically targeted at reducing the time it takes to produce a video. No single product or technology has shown itself to be the panacea for speedy video production, but when you use these tools and tricks in aggregate they can save you an enormous amount of time. Here are some suggestions that everyone can use. These tips are not just for professionals, but anyone looking to cut down the time it takes to produce video. I know I’ve left a lot out, so I look forward to you adding some of your own recommendations in the comments.

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The Single Greatest Year in Tech History, Part One: The 1970s

Posted by Harry McCracken on December 1, 2008 at 11:34 am

With movies, it’s unquestionably 1939, the fabled year that saw the release of Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, Dark Victory, and Goodbye Mr. Chips. With baseball, there are multiple contenders, including 1924, 1949, and 1998…but I’m a Red Sox fan, so let’s just say it–it was 2004. Rock music? Maybe 1967, the year of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper, Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced?, The Doors’ The Doors, The Who’s The Who Sell Out, and Aretha’s I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You.

But what was the greatest year in technology history–the one that saw the highest number of significant products appear and/or other important events transpire? As far as I know, nobody has ever asked that question, let alone attempted to answer it. Will you join me in trying to figure it out?

In the coming days, Technologizer will recap significant moments, year by year and decade by decade, and give you the chance to vote on the years that made the biggest difference. For reasons of practicality, we’re beginning all this with 1970–we’re pretty sure that the greatest year, whatever it may be, happened in the past 39 years. (If you want to advocate for an earlier year, we’ll give you the chance to do so at some point via write-in votes; anyone know for sure what year the wheel was invented?) We’re also defining technology to cover personal technology relating to information and entertainment: PCs, Web stuff, TVs, MP3s, phones, and GPS, but not airplanes, cars, or clones. Eventually, we’ll winnow down the contenders and determine a winner.

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The Bizarre, Misleading World of Cell Phone Prices

Posted by Harry McCracken on November 13, 2008 at 6:09 pm

curvecurveHow much does a new cell phone cost? How much do you save by committing to a contract? If there are savings to be had, how substantial are they? These would seem to be simple questions. They should be simple questions. But the strange, sneaky games that phone carriers play make it startlingly tough to get answers.

I was reminded of this when I checked out pricing for the BlackBerry Storm earlier today and found Verizon trumpeting a price that involved filing paperwork and waiting for a $50 debit card to show up in the mail. Rebates and gift card offers should be treated as gravy, not subtracted from the price you pay–they’re a hassle even when you get ’em, and it’s far too easy to forget to file for them. So I decided to do a little more digging at the sites of major phone purveyors to see just how clearly they say what customers are going to pay.

I picked the BlackBerry Curve for this experiment, since it’s available in similar versions almost everywhere, and checked out how much it would cost at Amazon.com, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. (I didn’t attempt to factor in the cost of service plans or determine which deal was best–I’m a journalist, not a masochist.) After the jump, the ugly results.

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Please Vote for the Best and Worst Windows Versions of All Time

Posted by Harry McCracken on November 2, 2008 at 11:38 pm

It’s the most popular product in the history of personal technology. It’s also the one that’s inspired the most angst–not to mention a landmark court case or two. But Windows isn’t one product. Over its twenty-three year history, it’s been available in dozens of variations. Some got glowing reviews; others still cause those who remember them to wince at the mere thought of them.

But which version of Windows was the most impressive one ever–and which one was the most awe-inspiring fiasco? I have my theories. But I thought it would be more fun to let you make the call.

Hence this article. I’ll recap some of the essentials on twenty editions of Windows, from the prehistoric (version 1.01) to the futuristic (version 7, available today only in a pre-beta incarnation); you can click on the title of each listing for more information over at Wikipedia. Once you’ve read up, please vote on the best and worst, and use Comments to praise or rant at greater length if you choose. We’ll use this feedback as the basis of an article we’ll publish in the not-too-distant future.

This survey involves only desktop versions of the OS that ran on x86 CPUs–sorry, Windows NT for DEC Alpha and Windows CE buffs–and I haven’t included each and every version, just the major ones and some others with a reputation for being particularly outstanding or excruciating. You can also cast write-in votes if you’re an aficionado or enemy of Windows/286 or Windows XP SP1 or another version we skipped.

The rundown that follows includes pros and cons for each edition, but I won’t pretend it’s entirely dispassionate–it’s hard to write about Windows without expressing opinions. Don’t be swayed by my slant on things, though. Just vote honestly (hey, it’s anonymous). The list starts after the jump, but if you don’t need to brush up before voting, you can head straight for the poll. Oh, and please tell your friends about all this–the more opinions the merrier…

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10 Ways to Avoid Emergency When Your Web Services Disappear on You

Posted by Harry McCracken on October 30, 2008 at 7:22 pm

Venture capitalists telling the startups they invest in that the good times are over. Big companies hunkering down. Layoffs, layoffs everywhere. You’d have to be a wild-eyed optimist not to come to the conclusion that a lot of cool consumer Web services aren’t going to close their doors before the economy turns around.

And you’d have to love living dangerously not to gird yourself for the possibility of some of the services you depend on going away. After the jump, ten tips to help you and your data survive disaster with as few headaches as possible…

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Is the New MacBook Expensive?

Posted by Harry McCracken on October 19, 2008 at 11:38 pm

When I first tried to compare the cost of Macs versus Windows PCs, I said that “Are Macs more expensive?” is one of computing’s eternal questions. It’s not, however, one with anything like an eternal answer. And the pricing analysis I did in that first article was rendered obsolete last Tuesday when Apple unveiled its new MacBook–which turned out to be a substantially slicker computer at a higher price point.

So it’s time to compare Apples and oranges Windows computers again. Let’s begin with a standard Mini-FAQ on the research effort that follows…

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The Thirteen Greatest Error Messages of All Time

Posted by Harry McCracken on September 18, 2008 at 5:28 am

”To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.” So goes an old quip attributed to Paul Ehrlich. He was right. One of the defining things about computers is that they–or, more specifically, the people who program them–get so many things so very wrong. Hence the need for error messages, which have been around nearly as long as computers themselves..

In theory, error messages should be painful at worst and boring at best. They tend to be cryptic; they rarely offer an apology even when one is due; they like to provide useless information like hexadecimal numbers and to withhold facts that would be useful, like plain-English explanations of how to right want went wrong. In multiple ways, most of them represent technology at its most irritating.

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Twelve Bizarro Googles

Posted by Harry McCracken on September 6, 2008 at 1:05 am


When Google got going as a company–ten years ago this Sunday, by one method of accounting–it was an obscure latecomer in a market dominated by killer engines such as AltaVista and WebCrawler. It wasn’t all that long before it became an international obsession. And then it began inspiring what I like to think of as Bizarro Googles: Oddball alternate-universe parodies that, for the most part, actually function as search engines…usually providing real Google results, or subsets thereof.

Google has apparently been known to make trouble for Bizarro Googles when it feels that its trademark is being abused. But it is, among many other things, a company with a whimsical sense of corporate humor, and for the most part it seems content to let Bizarro Googles live in peace–and it’s even created some of its own.

So here, in humble tribute to a decade of Google, are my twelve favorite Bizarro Googles. Every one of them is ultimately a compliment to the world’s biggest search engine. After all, I don’t recall anyone caring enough to create Bizarro AltaVistas or Bizarro WebCrawlers-or, for that matter, any Bizarro AOLs, MSNs, or Yahoos…

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Twenty Thoughts About a Microsoft Ad Campaign I Haven’t Seen Yet

Posted by Harry McCracken on August 21, 2008 at 12:29 pm

The big news in the blogosphere today involves new details about Microsoft’s upcoming $300 million Windows ad campaign: It will apparently feature Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, use the slogan “Windows, Not Walls,” and begin on September 4th. I’m not a professional ad critic, and I can’t even play amateur critic before I’ve seen the ads in question. But I can’t stop my mind from racing ahead, either.

So without any further ado, lemme throw out ten initial questions, impressions, and reflections about the campaign and Windows marketing in general–all of which are subject to revision and retraction once the ads hit the airwaves in a couple of weeks.

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