The Cold Cut

Last week my dad ordered a brand new computer from Dell, complete with a 2.4 Ghz dual-core AMD processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 256 Mb Nvidia Geforce graphics card, a 320 GB hard drive, all in one printer and a 19" ultra sharp LCD screen. And to top it all off, we got a free version of Windows Vista Professional. Not bad for the £800 price tag, hey?

Well, the computer arrived yesterday morning, and we had it up and running by the evening. The shipping notes said that everything was installed and ready out of the box, yet as soon as we booted up the machine and plugged in the network cable, there was an instant message saying the PC had to be restarted, as updates were installed. I did so, as I thought 'this is the first startup, so thats okay'. But then as soon as we restarted the machine, more notifications popped up on the side of the screen. This has been the case every time the machine has been turned on, and internet forums say that this will happen for the next 6 months!

I have to say, I was a bit skeptical when my Dad asked me whether it was worth getting Vista. The only reason we got it was because it was free with the computer. On first impression, it alls seems really good: visually, it is leagues ahead of XP. The colours are more vivid, and Microsoft has obviously taken a leaf out of Apple's books- they have included gadgets on the sidebar, which are amazingly similar to 'widgets'. But the problems lie beneath the attractive surface. It seems as if Windows have rushed the operating system; there are compatibility issues with printers, speakers etc, and I have already mentioned the constant updates.

I know its fairly recent, but there shouldn't be this many issues this early on. Have many of you out there updated to Vista from XP, and if you have, what do you think?

The 1st generation ipod was released in 2001, to mild acclaim. I reckon it was about the 3rd generation when it started to become the modern icon it is today. As the owner of a 5th generation ipod and the previous owner of a 3rd generation ipod, I am a proud part of this phenomenon. I should probably say now that I got a 5th generation ipod because my first one broke... so why do people keep coming back for more?

Well, I will first point out that the ipod is more than just an mp3 player: it is a piece of art. The looks of the ipod are striking enough that people wanted one just from the adverts. Initially, Apple was ahead of the curve in terms of its user interface as well, so they were giving the full package. In the time it took the other mp3 companies (Sony, Creative) to catch up with the ipod, it had all of us hooked.

Apple are very good at keeping up with technological developments; they release a new generation of the ipod yearly, keeping the consumers interested and willing to wait for the next version. For example, the rumour-mills say that a new widescreen ipod will be on the market within the year. The only current issue I can find with the ipod is the batterty; the quoted life on the 30Gb video ipod is 18 hours of music, and I get about 10 on a good day. Another problem is the fact that the ipod is essentially, just a nicely presented hard-drive. Hard-drives are made of lots of small components and a small rotating reel, and are likely to fall apart is moved around. So think about the fact that many people use their ipods for running: its no wonder so many of them break!

I'm sure many of you out there have ipods; have you had any problems with yours? Do you keep coming back for more? And if you haven't got one, whats your view on this iconic piece of technology?

I recently heard that Google, the new owners of Youtube, are considering rewarding their contributors by giving people specific sums of money if their videos are watched. I think this is a really cool idea, and it's good to know that they want to repay the people who have made them so much money, but I think they have missed out a really important point...

It is inevitable that as soon as an object becomes valuable, people will be looking for a cut of the money. To put this into context, if a person receives money for a video containing popular music on Youtube, then the person whose music it is will file for a lawsuit unless they get a portion of the money. This can only be stopped by people who make completely original videos, which are few and far between. Does anyone have any ideas as to how we can counter this?