Technology Updates
So much has happened the last couple of days that are big technology news I decided to get a jump-start on things and give a quick synopsis of things that have been happening. Some of them, like the release of iOS 5 and Ubuntu 11.10 were expected, though the seeming failure to launch (at least well) of the iOS update was not anticipated. Similarly the death of Dennis Ritchie, computer scientist and developer of the C programming language was not expected. And oddly, I feel out-of-place sitting in a coffee shop using a non-mac based machine – who would have ever thought that?
- iOS 5 – For those missed it, part of the big deal with the iPhone 4S is the release of a major update to the iOS that powers it, moving from version 4 to version 5. The really nice thing about this update is the availability to other iOS based devices, including other recent version the iPhone, both versions of the iPad, as well as some (I am not sure which ones) of the more recent iPods. That all sounds great, especially considering some of the updates that are supposed to be included in the operating system upgrade. However, with launch yesterday all the news was not about how cool it is, but rather how the upgrade was just now working. Most of what I have read suggest that retries resulting in subsequent errors that ultimately ended in vague messages and no one knows what to do now. I did not get hit in this, as I am generally one to wait until things test out unless I am installing it on a throw away machine – I strongly recommend on this score you do the same.
- Ubuntu 11.10 – This marks the second release of the famed Linux distro that to some, has indeed become synonymous with Linux itself, using the Unity desktop/interface. I personally did not put 11.4 on any of my machines, partly because I was the middle of moving and re-arranging machines at the time and partly because of the pretty bad reviews that most folks gave Unity as an interface. This release is being made available today and at least on the surface seems to be a good move in the right direction. First is the better support in the 64 bit world, both for 64 bit usage and seamless backward for those apps that really are more than fine in a 32 bit mode – which is the big thing I am interested in. However, it is said in almost all the reviews I have read of the product that the Unity interface has a much more polished look and feel and the back-end of it seems to also have been served well by the same effort. Definitely looking forward to giving it a try sometime after this weekend – which is likely the soonest my schedule is going to allow – sigh.
- Mac user base – Okay, I know am the usual odd ball running Linux on my Intel or sometimes AMD based processor system, but generally in the past when I look around in a coffee shop I usually see about an equal fifty-fifty split between PC based and Mac based architecture, though most often slightly in the favor of the PC. Today when I looked around I felt almost like an outsider. Of ten machines that I have seen in the shop being used, nine of ten have been Mac based. I am the odd man out with a dual-boot Linux/Windows machine – though even I have an iPad in my bag. Is this reversal due to market share? Not really, if you look at the numbers. Perhaps the coffee crowd is more cool and hence gravitates toward the more cool (and more expensive) Macs?
- Dennis Ritchie – Last on this list, but certainly not least. He passed away of late, though I am not sure if early this morning or sometime yesterday. Most folks have little idea of who is, unless you are computer scientist/programmer. For those that do, they know he is the father of the C programming language and at least a co-developer of the Unix operating system. I know back in the day, I used the K & R book, considered to be the C bible – of which the R is for Ritchie, the co-author of the tome. Discussions on the innovation factor loss with Steve Jobs occurred between many and myself last week, but now begin the comparisons between the two. And of course they come in three, so they say, who will be next?
