Island Web Works

The Apple iPhone and latest offering the iPad have been slated by many ‘technical types’ as lacking connectivity and stymied by the need to use the iStore to download apps etc., however, I am beginning to realise that they have not only got it right, but will start an explosion of this type of self contained device in the coming years. My reasoning behind this is simple - a lack of (or desire of) understanding.

For an ageing demographic with money to spend and a desire to connect with the world at large - modern technology aka the P.C. is simply too complex.

When I started in IT in 1988 we had DOS, followed by Windows 2, 3, 3.1, 3x,  95, 98, millenium edition, 2000, XP, Vista and now Windows 7 (which I love), roughly 14+ Microsoft versions of OS not to mention the plethora of alternatives from IBM and the like. Add to that the various versions of word processing software etc.,  from Lotus, Microsoft, and the rest -  and you can see a very worrying trend. The software - or rather the seemingly infinite choice of software is overwhelming - even for “IT professionals”.

I had to test a client’s web site security recently - with their approval of course, however, in my search for a suitable program I found myself downloading software from an unknown/un-trusted source. The amount of time I spent following this exercise - just to ensure my PC was ‘clean’ was significant… and I am supposed to know what I am doing. The threats I was checking for are everyday threats faced by the masses. WHY? - because the modern PC allows you to download and install whatever you want to! Which is why (I think) Apple are ahead of the curve.

Think about it - the average user just wants to do whatever they want to do - surf the web, email friends, share photo’s etc. Wouldn’t it be great to know that no matter what you download - it cannot harm your ‘device’.  By building devices that are restrictive - i.e. you cannot install any old software on them, also means they are secure – e.g. neither can anyone else.

Prescribing software you have access to may limit choice, however, would the demographic these devices target really care? I think not, all many of us want is simplicity and peace of mind. Would they pay ‘over the odds’ for this – apparently so, and indeed they are doing, American sales in May for the iPad exceeded the 2 million mark – and demand in Europe is expected to reach similar proportions. This I think mark’s the start of a massive shift in the way we buy technology; little black boxes that do fewer things but provide peace of mind! It is starting to sound good to me.

Charles Articles Apple

There are never-ending arguments raging in our offices regarding the potential future in the field of technology.  One of us might state that Apple is on it’s way out, or that cars will be auto-piloted in a few years.  This immediately triggers the other colleagues to retort in the strongest possible manner.

To settle these arguments once and for all we got the idea to publish our predictions for the technological future in a blog post, allowing you to comment and perhaps ultimately decide which version is the most plausible.

	Nathan’s predictions	Charles’ predictions	Andreas’ predictions
	Battery powered electric cars competing with regular cars with similar price/performance. (Con/Lib Transport policy will implement national charging network, Jet engine for Electric cars) Microsoft buys Yahoo outright after share price slump Apple lose market shares in mobile market to Google who will have bought HTC and terminated their Windows Mobile development	Price and performance of battery powered electric cars will be similar to regular cars Governments will legislate to limit performance of petrol cars.	Fuel cell electric cars competing with regular cars with similar price/performance Microsoft Bing disappears as a search engine Satellite phone functionality integrated into most mobile phones Electronic glasses available for mobile phones and netbooks which will project a 3D virtual screen
	Fuel cell electric cars competing with regular cars with similar price/performance Self-modifying line of business applications that adapt to usage in real-time	Holographic television becomes available There will be another World War probably over oil and gas resources	Petrol stations no longer allowed to sell petrol or diesel fuels Battery powered electric cars cease to exist Auto-piloted cars available NASA’s space program terminated permanently Batteries replaced by nano-engines
	Organic chips replace silicon computing chips “Table-top” fusion personal power plants available	Depends who wins!	Illegal to drive cars manually without a (very expensive) professional licence Hot fusion replace fission nuclear plants Quantum/light computer chips appears on the market

So there you have it.  The future according to Island Web Works.  Which version do you think is most likely to be correct?  Or perhaps you have your own predictions?  Let us know!

Andreas Articles Technology, The future

The internet is a great medium for users to be able to access choices in just about anything they can think of. One of these choices is the application used to browse the web, the web browser. There have been battles in this area for years, often resulting in court action and sometimes in the demise of the product. Just like you “know” your detergent is better than all the others, you also know your chosen web browser is the most secure, fast and friendly browser available.

There are a number of web browsers available at the moment, such as the incumbent market leader Microsoft Internet Explorer and the “new kid on the block”, Google Chrome. Other browsers exist, each targeting specific features such as speed, platform (mobile phones, etc.) or privacy. The chart below from MarketShare illustrates the performance of each browser in the last 2 years or so. (Download the PDF)

Browser version market share since July 2008 (click to zoom)

As various versions of the web browsers are released and market-affecting court action is announced, it is clear how browser share is affected, particularly with the decline of Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 and 7 (towards version 8 ) and the increase in adoption of alternative browsers. The recent European Court ruling that users should be given a choice has resulted in Windows 7 users being presented with a browser election screen will be more forceful in that choice, giving users who wouldn’t otherwise be aware of alternatives the opportunity to move away from the “operating system browser”, Internet Explorer.

This choice is good for the user, but presents us with challenges. We need to embrace the latest technologies such as those offered by HTML5, but this needs to be tempered by implementation of those technologies by browsers and ability for older browsers to be able to provide an equivalent experience for users. A challenge any web developer [should] have is being able to facilitate users of Internet Explorer 6 (”IE6″). IE6 has been around for years. Shipped as part of Microsoft Windows XP, it is “stuck” in that users of Windows 2000 who upgraded to IE6 cannot upgrade to IE7 and corporate/enterprise users can’t perform upgrades themselves and as such are restricted to whatever the IT department dictate. Therefore, there will be a “hardcore” contingent of IE6 users for years to come yet, particularly as official support for Windows XP (and therefore IE6) only ends in July. These users need to be catered for, regardless of your market persuasion.

This morning, Scott Hanselman drew attention to a CNN article claiming that Internet Explorer 6 was about to die for good, having decreased to 4.7% of browser market share in the US. This seemed to be very optimistic, based on the figures we have seen.  Our understanding, provided by MarketShare and being a global metric, is that IE6 continues to retain 17.13% of the browser market share. (Which also illustrates the disparities in statistics collection) So while its death is surely coming, it’s too early to arrange the wake and we will continue to support IE6 in the meantime for the sites we develop.

Nathan Web Site Development Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 6, MarketShare, Scott Hanselman, Windows 2000, Windows 7, Windows XP