|
|
|
Jewish World Review Dec.30, 2011 / 4 Teves 5772 The tech year we're leaving behind By Mark Kellner
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Almost nothing that happened in 2011 in the tech world was as it was expected, perhaps more so than any year your columnist can recall. As with so many people in so many spheres, I believe the tech community will not beg for a repeat of the year now ending.
Even still, there were some wonderful advances, of which several deserve special recognition:
HARDWARE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR: Apple, Inc.'s iPhone 4S -- While the number "5" appears chiefly on the on-screen telephone dialpad, this new addition to the iPhone family raises the bar for smartphones. Not only is "Siri," the voice-response service that's very good, an innovation others will try to duplicate, but also the vastly improved built-in camera, the addition of full HD video recording and the doubling of available memory to a whopping 64 Gbytes -- all these add up to the single most impressive smartphone on the market today. And unlike any competing Android-based model, you don't have to recharge an iPhone 4S every 30 minutes or so. (I exaggerate, but not greatly; Android phones are huge battery killers, in my experience.)
That Apple was able to bring the iPhone 4S to the Sprint network is another plus, giving users of almost every major mobile carrier (except T-Mobile) an iPhone of their very own, if they so desire.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR, ALMOST: Amazon.com's Kindle Fire tablet, which at $199 boasts a smaller price, and smaller screen size, than Apple's iPad 2, released earlier in the year. I was somewhat underwhelmed by the Kindle Fire when it first arrived: the interface is a bit clunky, in my opinion, and not all Android apps worked on the device. But Amazon says it's updated the Kindle Fire's operating system to handle some issues; unfortunately, I can't verify this since my review unit went home a while ago.
Still, Amazon deserves plaudits for attempting something innovative in the tablet space; if enough people buy it to make a dent in the multiple millions of iPads sold (and used) out there, it could be something. Even Google itself is said to have its own "highest quality" tablet in the works for sometime in 2012. (Of course, Hewlett Packard thought their TouchPad tablet would upset the, ahem, apple cart, but it turned out to be a $1 billion mistake.)
But the fact remains: the aforementioned iPad dominates the tablet market. Now there's a chance that Microsoft Corp.'s upcoming Windows 8 operating system, due in a super-tablet-friendly version, could take a swipe at the iPad, but, then, some of us exhibited a similar kind of "irrational exuberance" after the first three weeks of the 2011 Washington Redskins season.
SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR, PART I: Glo Bible Premium (http://www.globible.com/), which truly brings the Scriptures alive for users of Microsoft Windows-running PCs, Apple Macintosh computers and iPhone and iPad devices. This is not the kind of software some scholars might gravitate towards, but rather it's the kind of program which allows readers to experience one of the most important books of Western civilization, the Bible, in a comfortable way. The list price of $89.99 has been cut to $39.99, a 55-percent discount, but only, the publishers say, "while supplies last." If you're interested, you'd want to order quickly.
SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR, PART II: Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, for Mac and Windows users, $79.99 from http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html, and possibly less expensive elsewhere.
I don't know of a better, more comprehensive and more widely useful piece of software for the "active amateur" photographer who wants to organize, share and edit their photos with more than the "standard" approaches available. Elements 10 is a great product at a very good price, and one that has stood the test of the marketplace over time.
Here's hoping that 2012 will bring not only some new and dynamic tech products, but also some good news on the economic front that would allow more consumers to participate in their use.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here. © 2011, News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
