I remember that — back in the 80s, when I was working on my advanced education — the whole college textbook market seemed to me to be a huge scam.
Every semester, I would buy several new textbooks for up to $75 apiece.
At the end of the semester, the used-textbook salespeople would offer me between nothing and $8 for each of my used textbooks.
Then I’d [more...]
Yeah, we know — this year, you’re finally going to lose weight.
And exercise more.
And stop smoking.
Those are all great New Year’s resolutions — for you.
But none of them [more...]
How much does it cost to go to the movies these days?
I’ve been told that, around here, it’s normally about $10 (USD) per ticket, but you have to pay about $8 more if you want to see a 3D movie.
That’s $18 per person. I just can’t imagine any movie that my wife and I would be willing to pay $36 to see.
In fact, the last time we went to a movie theater, it cost [more...]
It’s not a war against all computing.
But it’s definitely a war against general-purpose computing.
More and more people are buying smart phones, tablets and other special-purpose computers. Some of them have even written articles, bragging that they now do all of their computing work on those devices.
Instead of on relatively big, bulky general-purpose computers, like mine.
One result of the mobile computing movement is that [more...]
Doctors know a lot more about how our bodies work than we do.
And they know all about the latest options for treating debilitating diseases and conditions.
And they have access to all of the medicines, equipment and expertise that can prolong life.
Doctors have also seen a lot more people [more...]
A few days ago, I described the methodology that I would follow if I wanted to try to predict the next few years of technology.
in a nutshell, look at what’s currently out there, and think about where it appears to be heading — sort of like aiming a gun ahead of a moving target.
I presume that financial speculators use that same basic methodology to help them decide which new companies to invest in.
And it sure looks to me like [more...]
They’ve been on the market for years, but my wife and I still don’t own a digital LCD TV.
All of our TVs are the old, analog, CRT models, and they all still work just fine.
Two of our TVs have only a coaxial (cable TV) jack.
While the one in our living room has both a coaxial jack and composite video and audio jacks.
No DVI. No HDMI. Not even [more...]
If I were to sit down and try to make some technology predictions for the next five years, I would probably focus on evolutionary changes.
Evolutionary changes are much easier to predict than revolutionary changes.
Just look at what’s already out there, and think about any realistic changes or improvements to those things that you think most people would like to see.
You might also consider different [more...]