The iPad does a great job in advancing the ability to pick up an instantly available interface to web content and a range of other data services. Devices such as the iPad provide great availability; they don’t provide any concept of shared access. I’m sure vendors would love everyone to have one (or more) pieces of hardware each, but who wants half a dozen 10 inch LCD panels on the coffee table?

Availability means it is ready to go the moment I want to use it. No waking from sleep mode, no finding a power lead due to low battery charge, no clumsy net-book sitting on the coffee table (my wife doesn’t like it). I don’t want to wait 30 seconds to take a photo to use my digital camera and I don’t want to wait that long to access information.

Where all current technology falls down is the personal aspect. Concurrent logins is how a laptop can have more than one person logged in at the same time, each seeing their own personalised view. This provides good separation of information but consumes more hardware resources (including power) and is relatively slow to switch from one person to another – it is simply inconvenient. In practice you end up with a laptop sitting around relatively unsecured with the inconvenience of having to log in and out of facebook etc every time you pick it up.

So what do I want to buy? I’d like something instantaneous like the iPad with a simple interface to provide a personal view. Are you listening Apple?

For the first time since I established an online presence back in the 80s, my web site was hacked this week via a security issue with Joomla version prior to 1.5.6. I appear to have recovered and content should now be okay.

After surviving a liberal dash of scotch and water and me putting up with the 2/@ key not working as the only apparent lasting damage, my poor laptop started abruptly shutting itself down and I knew that I would have to survive alone for a while.

I have this strange sensation during the day when I reach out to where it normally sits to check my email or surf the web only to find empty space. It’s almost as bad as when my internet connection is not working and I think to myself that I might just read some email while I wait for the connection to come back. *doh*

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In the morning my laptop was happy to boot but the keyboard was not functioning. I took a deep breath and decided to dismantle my laptop to examine the extent of the problem and hopefully speed up the recovery process.

I found some really nice instructions at

Mac/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Core-2-Duo/115/”>MacBook Pro 15″ Core 2 Duo Disassembly: MacBook Parts and after a couple of outings to my local hardware and electronics stores for a #00 screwdriver and a T6 torx driver, I had the laptop in pieces including the keyboard itself which is now sitting on a heating vent to dry out the obvious moisture.

I thought I’d summarise my experience so far in case there is not a successful outcome and I need to get my MBP professionally repaired, which will no doubt result in a blog entry of a far different tone than cautiously optimistic.

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Despite a few slick titles on the XBOX, the most exciting use for that hardware was the hacked mediacentre that made it a very nice media server; despite Microsoft’s attempts to block the hacks.

I see no significant innovation in XBOX360, which is not dissimilar from the PS3 in offering nothing really new other than gruntier hardware. I have no doubt Microsoft are in for the long haul, but I doubt XBOX360 will see them take a significant seat in the gaming market.

It is interesting to see that Nintendo have chosen to stay out of the “mine’s bigger than yours” battle and instead try to turn the industry in a new direction, most noteably with their new split controller.

Like the DS, the new Revolution controller promises an entirely new user experience. Only time will tell if software titles are sufficiently novel to create a separate market segment for Nintendo.

I think the future is rosy for Sony, uncertain for Nintendo, but gloomy for Microsoft. It will be interesting to see what happens when all three products are in the market place.

By then DVDs will most likely be starting to be replaced by much high density and more robust technology. Surely discs will finally go the way of the dinosaur, although that may take a little longer.

SINCE LAST TIME

I’ve had very little time to do anything but read my email and do some surfing. *sigh* But as the father of a small boy, one tends to lack time to code.

But, I have a friend who is keen to code *anything*, and we have been discussing some potential projects. Some of the software on the index page may link to something soon…

PEDRO

Microsoft Small Business Server 4.5 with Service Pack 5 and occasionally RedHat Linux 5.2.

• ABit TX5 motherboard with Pentium MMX 200 Mhz processor
• 128 MB of memory
• PCI Matrox Millennium II with 4 MB of memory
• Netgear FA310TX 100 Mb ethernet card
• AWE64 Value edition
• 2.1 GB Quantum harddrive
• 6.4 GB IBM Deskstar 5 harddrive

EMMA

This runs BeOS R4.5.1 and Microsoft Windows 98.

• Asus P2B BX motherboard with Pentium II 400 Mhz processor
• 128 MB of 100 Mhz SDRAM memory
• AGP Matrox Millennium G200 8 MB
• Netgear FA310TX 100 Mb ethernet card
• AWE64 Value edition
• 4.3 GB Quantum harddrive
• 6.4 GB IBM Deskstar 5 harddrive

JULIAN * being setup *

This runs Redhat Linux 5.2.

• FX motherboard with Pentium 166 Mhz processor
• 32 MB of DRAM memory
• S3 ?
• 1.2 GB harddrive
• No sound

NASHI

I don’t expect this one before late Q3 1999 at the earliest; my first dual processor machine!

I would buy it earlier, but I want to leave more time for Be to improve hardware support, and Intel will release a few more processor updates and reduce existing prices in the meantime!