Lack of Space

Frustrated with lack of space on my iPod nano (only 8 GB were offered at the time I bought it), I broke down and bought myself an iPod Touch ("as a graduation present," I told myelf to make myself feel better about the purchase). I bought the 32 GB version to insure myself that I don't run out of space. Sadly enough, it has almost as much space as my laptop computer (which was purchased over 4 years ago). I am running into the same problem with my computer as it continues to tell me that I'm low on disc space. I have to go in and delete programs on my computer that I am no longer using. Therefore, both of these are perfect examples of how quickly technology grows and becomes out of date.

When buying my ipod nano, I thought that 8 GB was plenty of space to last me. I was wrong. Honestly, I never gave any thought to the amount of space I would need on my laptop. With technology growing, how much space do I need? Should I have purchased the 64 GB iPod? I am not one to really go buy the newest technologies just to have them. I just want to have enough space to have the capabilities to do what I need to do. But how much space is that?

Since I just spent a good chunk of money on a new iPod, I can't afford to spend money on buying myself a new laptop right now. So what can I do to solve my hard disk space issues? The major consumers of hardisk space are system restore snapshots and temporary internet files (history). Running the disk clean-up utility can be a real help in finding out what is clogging up your free space. If you are having the same problems as me, try removing temporary internet files, downloaded program files, Windows temporary files, and don't forget to empty out your recycling bin.

Sources:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/space.htm

Apple vs. Microsoft

On Tuesday's class, we got into a pretty lengthy discussion about the Ipod's stranglehold on the mp3 player market as well as Apple's growing grasp on the consumer market. Being an avid Apple product user/die hard fan, I had a lot of bias in this discussion. Upon further reflection, I had some extra insight on the "who can take and keep control of the market" debate and these are some of the thoughts I was having.

To me there are basically two markets: Business and consumer. Now, these two markets are quite unequal in size since businesses obtain computers and associated products in bulk and use them every day. The consumer market is also quite large, but since it breaks down to individual people buying individual products, there aren't as many items being sold in quantity. Since businesses rely so heavily on information systems and IT these days, it would be quite time-consuming and expensive to completely ditch the systems they've been using for years and years for a newer, different system. I like to think of it as if America decided to use the metric system. Of course it would make a lot more sense on the whole considering every other part of the world uses it, it would be a huge hassle and very impractical because we are so used to it. For this reason, I believe Microsoft will continue to keep their grip tight on the business market and since it is quite larger than the consumer market, continue to stay on top.

Apple on the other hand has definitely made their presence known for the individual, which is exactly what their business model must be focusing on. There is a lot of money to be made from the consumer, and what Apple does best is they keep innovating and creating wonderful computers and peripherals that are so user-friendly that it is a no-brainer for somebody to purchase. As long as Apple continues to stay on the cutting edge of technology and continue to make more and more accessible user interfaces without sacrificing quality and durability, I don't think Microsoft would be able to touch Apple with a ten foot pole.

Both of these companies can co-exist in the computing business as long as they realize what their individual strengths are as a company and strike that with full force.