MooPig's Archaeology Update :: "Office Relics"

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | Nov 11, 2012 | Bryan TX

7 office gadgets headed for the graveyard - Slide Show - MarketWatch: "NEW YORK (MarketWatch) —

1. The Rolodex is first up on a list of office tools that may soon become obsolete. Invented in 1956, this rotating filing system for business contacts remained a fixture on most office desks well into the computer age. But some 58% of the 7,000 professionals surveyed by LinkedIn say the devices will likely be seen only on exhibit at the Smithsonian within the next five years. "

'via Blog this'

2. Fax machines: The demise of the fax has been predicted for years, but these office workhorses may finally be put out to pasture, according to 71% of those surveyed. Indeed, they are No. 2 on LinkedIn’s soon-to-be-extinct list. Some of those who regard their paper-eating ways as environmentally unsound have even filmed themselves smashing their faxes to make their point.

3. Desktop phones: Now that email and instant messaging have rendered most phone conversations unnecessary, 35% of professionals say the desktop telephone will soon be merely decorative. This may not be as far-fetched as it sounds, especially if home phones are anything to go by. Only a decade ago, 97% of American homes had a land-line, compared with just 74% of homes today, according to a study by Pew Research.

[Picture LINK and LINK]

4. Tape recorders: When Mark Spoonauer, editor-in-chief at LaptopMag.com, wants to record an interview, he uses the record function on his iPhone. Smartphones are already replacing digital recorders. It’s no wonder that some 79% of those surveyed by LinkedIn say tape recorders will soon be obsolete.

5. USB thumb drives: Around 17% of professionals in the LinkedIn survey say USB thumb drives — the successor to the floppy disc, Zip drive and re-writable CD — will fall out of favor within the next five years. But Mark Spoonauer, editor-in-chief at LaptopMag.com, says they will probably be obsolete even before then. In addition to becoming unnecessary, the devices — which are typically plugged into many different computers — are increasingly being blamed for the spread of computer viruses, he says.

6. Business cards: Why carry around decks of business cards when social networking makes faster — and stickier — connections? LinkedIn says 15% of those surveyed expect business cards to become obsolete. Apps like CardMunch now allow people to hand out an endless supply of digital business cards.

7. The office cubicle: Call it corporate glasnost. Nearly 20% of those surveyed say management will tear down the walls of cubicles and replace them with open-plan work-spaces  But while such layouts may foster teamwork and brainstorming, a recent survey by the Berkeley Center for the Built Environment says people are more sensitive to noise in open-plan offices.

_____________________________Reference
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/7-office-gadgets-headed-for-the-graveyard-2012-09-29?link=MW_story_insert
http://www.steampunklab.com/

MooPig Site Review :: "PC Magazine Tells All -- Only Four Big PLayers, Y'all!"

Retrieved for Ed Porpoises by Pat Darnell

[SOURCE]
Unless the government steps in, we'll see what the wireless carriers want us to see.
Google's deal with Verizon to give up on wireless net neutrality shows that the phone carriers want to have an absolute lock over the way the mobile Internet will run. And unless the government steps in, they'll run it for their benefit, not yours.
There's a ton of commentary on the Net about the Google/Verizon position on net neutrality, but let's just focus on wireless: basically, the two companies said that the wireless Internet is what carriers say it is. Carriers should be free to speed up, slow down or block any traffic they want. Implied in that, floating in its penumbra, is the desired right to lock phones, block applications, or install un-deletable bloatware on your phone.
This is a far cry from the utopian dream Google's Erick Tseng described to me back in January. The Google Nexus One Android phone, he said, was the beginning of a new era for U.S. wireless. You'd soon be able to get a Nexus One from any carrier, he said, and even switch them between carriers. Google would provide a retail channel to challenge the carriers. (For more on this see my column, "Nexus One: Google's First Step?") Android was freedom!

Google Acknowledges That Verizon Owns Your Internet

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By: Sascha Segan

• 08.11.2010

That was nonsense. Google realized it was more profitable to play along with the wireless carriers than annoy them, so they never really marketed the Nexus One and only sold a handful of phones. The announced Sprint and Verizon versions of the phones never appeared, and Google killed the whole project after less than a year. Meanwhile, Android is becoming every wireless carrier's operating system of choice for smartphones, largely because of its flexibility in creating completely carrier-customized phones. Tseng has left the company, and there will be no Nexus Two.

The wireless industry likes to say there's plenty of competition out there, and the four big players are cutthroat on some things - for instance, they're building 3G and 4G networks like maniacs. Problems arise when they start agreeing on things that aren't customer-friendly and acting like a cartel. As a consumer, I see that danger in fees for "preferential access" to their networks.

The Myth of the Unlocked iPhone
Yes, the Copyright Office recently said that you can unlock or jailbreak your phone, but that's a smokescreen, because the Copyright Office didn't say carriers have to support those phones. You could find yourself with a happily unlocked phone that no carrier will activate.

Once again, the specter of the iPhone floats in the air here, but in a slightly different way than it did in December 2009 when I said that "Google is not the messiah." Way back in 2007 when Apple introduced the iPhone, pundits speculated that Apple might start their own wireless carrier to show the industry how things should be done. They didn't - they signed a perfectly conventional contract with ATandT.

Yeah, yeah, sure, Google (or Apple) could have entered into a wholesale contract with a 3G provider to offer service under their own name, but don't fault them for not doing that. No wireless reseller has made money in U.S., because the spectrum-owning carriers structure the contracts to prevent wholesale customers from skimming off their most profitable users.

Because there are no requirements for reasonably-priced 3G roaming or wholesale contracts, companies like Apple, Google, and my "10 Small Carriers With Great Phones" can't jump into the national scene and challenge the big boys, and the big boys like it that way.

The biggest threat to the major wireless carriers' business models comes from mid-sized spectrum owners like Cricket, who last week declared a $55/month smartphone service plan. Since Cricket owns their own network, they're not beholden to the bigger guys. But even Cricket is now potentially in danger; to go national, they signed a wholesale agreement with Sprint that could potentially let Sprint turn the screws on them down the road.

Starting to Feel Marginalized?
Cricket is a renegade on pricing, but they stick with the party line in terms of freedom. They control your access to the Internet. Like all wireless carriers, they say they're doing that to protect their network from predatory users who might download more than Cricket is comfortable with. I don't want to single out Cricket, of course - everyone does this.

There are reasonable traffic concerns involved. Carriers seem to be spreading the idea that their networks are horribly fragile, gossamer things ready to collapse at any minute under the load of desperate Internet users. That's why Verizon overpriced the Microsoft Kin into oblivion and why ATandT has been lowering their data caps.

I think that after six years I can tell the difference between greed and fear, and the whole data-cap thing looks like fear. They're not price-gouging as much as they're just trying to keep their pathetically overburdened networks from collapsing. It's a sad statement about the inability of these companies to provide the Internet capacity Americans demand.

Epilogue
But there's a world of differences between purely traffic-related restrictions and content or hardware-related ones. The Google/Verizon proposal reserves to Verizon the right to define what gets to be seen on the Internet, who we can see it through, and for how much. If we want any kind of wireless freedom, we can't look to the carriers; the FCC has to step in.

Decisions for 2008

There is no shortage of communication devices and plans. Despite so, it concerns me there is no increase in communications. Lots of gizmo's, not so much communicating.


Thus, my decision for 2008 and my own voice over Internet protocols will become sweeter. You can bet my prioroty is my output at lowest cost. I want to find suitable communication Tech-nique to get around contracts and phone plans, text advertising, scams and folderole of the like.


I will not however ease up on blogging. I realize MooPigWisdom is a single sided perspective editorial, me,,,and mine -- but at least I am old and opinionated. Old means Wise, didn't you know?

Appearing here as December grinds down, more information on my communications Jones, that I seek, as I find answers to questions; will be a study for us all. So keep you ear to the tracks, and your nose to the wind; the wolves will be vigilante, you can count on it!
For instance:
Why is there bad cellular service in Brazos Valley?
Why can I hear you, but can't see you?
Is this all there is?
What is Text-ing supposed to do?
Which devices are recently gone the way of the pager/beeper?
>pd