J. Rhoads Research / formerly MobyApp

Say the words "tablet computer" and ten bucks says it's Apple's iPad that springs to mind or so says CNN.com But that doesn't mean other companies aren't busy building their own version of a touch-enabled, multimedia-sporting, slab of portable computing goodness. Dell's first effort at a tablet will be the Mini 5 (a name that is still in beta) -- a slice of plastic and glass with a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen that according to Michael Dell will debut "in a couple of months." The Mini 5 will sport a 5-megapixel camera on the back, a separate front-facing camera that can be used for video conferencing, a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1-GHz processor. (source cnn.com) Wow, I am seeing a pattern here, PC’s may become old school. However I will not be getting rid of mine anytime soon :). Looks like the iPad will have some competition, let’s see if Dell is going to jump into the Cloud and offer a...

Actually the picture on the top is a hoax. The picture on the bottom is the real thing, located at the Smithsonian's "Fast Attack and Boomers: Submarines in the Cold War "exhibit. The hoax claims that this would be the first PC. Notice the steering wheel --I guess it is a 1950's mouse......

I remember reading about books going the way of the dodo bird . Looks like the iPad is going after the Kindle market in a way no-one would have ever thought --Comic Books. Neat huh? Actually this is very a smart concept in regards to cloud computing. I call it in the Pepsi approach to Paradigm Back in the day (mid to late 80’s), Pepsi had a tough time beating out Coca-Cola or Coke. This was after the Pepsi challenge successfully demonstrated that Pepsi tasted better than Coke. So, why was Coke number 1? In a word, Paradigm --people do not like change. Pepsi was took a new approach; they changed their slogan to “ Pepsi, the choice of a new generation ". Hence they went after the kids –me. See the adults wouldn’t change their Paradigm, Pepsi realized that kids grow up and buy things –like a Pepsi Cola. Now as I approach 40, I buy a lot of Pepsi and my Kids drink it. My Parents and Grandparents are Coke fans. So why is this article on my Techie Blog? Well, you see many are skeptical...

Seems like this should be a simple question to answer, however it is not. Maybe we should ask ourselves what IT (Information Technology) isn’t. In my opinion IT is not desktop support, printer replacement, deployment teams, service desks, and project management teams. The first four (desktop support, printers, deployment, and helpdesk) are outputs or byproducts of IT and the latter is an input. The reason I bring this up (see previous blogs)? How many of you in the IT world are asked by friends and family “Can you fix my computer”? All you have to do is google the problem. No training required right? Frustrating huh? I will attempt to explain why this “break/fix computer guy/girl mentality dooms many an IT department. What is IT? In a nutshell, (my opinion of course) IT is about the applications, and the infrastructure required to deliver those applications, that support your company’s primary mission. Example, say you work at a hospital and your case management system goes down –your ...

I have to admit that when the iPad came out, I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping for a Mac Tablet, much like my former Acer Windows XP tablet. To my dismay, the iPad is a big iPhone/iTouch. Why would I want one? I have an iPhone. What I wanted was a MAC tablet, one that would replace my MacBook. This device simply won’t do. What is the purpose of this device? So I though of how Apple is always competing with Microsoft and [I] came to the conclusion that a fat PC OS (Operating System) is so old school. The iPad was never meant to compete with Tablet PCs. It is a cloud device and this is a definitely a shot across the bow of Google --the iPad could be a Chrome killer. After all Chrome isn't a full (fat) OS, it is a light OS and all apps are delivered via the cloud. Granted hardware specs are inferior to the PC/Mac, but this isn't a PC or a Mac, it is a simple device. All the processing power is needed on the backend, processing and memory on the iPad should be minimal. After a...

Saturday I went to the GW EMIS Capstones. For those of you not in the know, EMIS is the Executive Masters [MSIST degree] in Information Systems program at the George Washington University's School of Business. The Capstones are like a Thesis Paper that a Master's student would deliver in order to satisfy the requirements of their degree program; the Capstone is a team project. The goal of the project is to deliver a working product with a business plan demonstrating a feasible ROI and expected profitability timelines! Good work and best of luck to the (fall) class of 2009

What? Yeah I am going to pursue a PhD to forgo my student loans! All kidding aside, why do I want to pursue a PhD and on what subject? I am going to do my dissertation on IT Right Staffing. Remember IT is about the people ! (Check out the hyper link and read it) The dissertation will focus on designing a functional organizational chart, with the necessary education and skillets of the positions. I am going to focus on everything from Helpdesks/Service desks to Project Management Offices and everything in between such as Engineering and Operations up through [Enterprise]Architecture. They [Engineering and Operations] are not the same as many non-technical managers seem to believe i.e. Engineers design and Operators operate and fix! To give you a little idea on what I am doing research on (and writing about): For example, I am going to focus on what an Operator and an Engineer are. An Operator will have some college and certifications as well as a break/fix mindset (hence the cowboy). An...