Superfast Internet [10,000 times faster]: The bandwidth saga continues

"THE internet could soon be made obsolete. The scientists who pioneered it have now built a lightning-fast replacement capable of downloading entire feature films within seconds. At speeds about 10,000 times faster than a typical broadband connection..." [source]

What would you use it for?

Of course there are uses for high bandwidth [such as improved video-conferencing capabilities], but Entertainment remains the primary usage of internet currently. And of course, bandwidth is like money, no matter how much you give people, they will always want more.

However, the reason internet has not progressed to faster speeds at a faster rate is because there are ideas for usage of it, but no realization of these ideas due to the strict restrictions on
online-content-sharing and -delivery. Consumers want things free, but there are restrictions on what content can be delivered for free, and how it can be delivered. By content, I refer to movies, music, and other entertainment forms that are enabled by increased-bandwidth. And when it comes to these media, there always exists the battle of license, copyright, piracy.

Unless the music and film industries come together amongst themselves and set standards and procedures to enable and drive such IT innovations [as increased bandwidth, and media delivery services], these inventions will never be of use. The construct needs to be reformed, and instead of increased-bandwidth enabling increased-content-provision, content providers need to enable increased-bandwidth. IT customers [including music and movie industry leaders] need to push and drive IT, by providing the appropriate standardization enablers.

[Concepts derived from Mochella, David (2003). Customer-Driven IT: How users are shaping technology industry growth, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts, USA].

Definition of a System

Consider what Edison wrote about his invention of a system of electric lighting, i love this phrasing and it is a perfect definition. It shows how inventors of those days spoke with words and not only formulas and numbers, it shows the literary artist inside every technical thinker:

"It was not only necessary that the lamps should give light and the dynamos generate current, but the lamps must be adapted to the current of the dynamos, and the dynamos must be constructed to give the character of current required by the lamps, and likewise all parts of the system must be constructed with reference to all other parts, since, in one sense, all the parts form one machine, and the connections between the parts being electrical instead of mechanical. Like any other machine the failure of one part to cooperate properly with the other part disorganizes the whole and renders it inoperative for the purpose intended." [source: Thomas Edison].

Evolution [Stagnation] of Operating Systems

The Windows Vista debate is at large and over discussed and probably expired, but i will still attempt to add my two cents.

Send to menu:
By using the Send To command, you can quickly send a file to different locations including a floppy disk, your desktop, another person using e-mail, or the My Documents folder. The SendTo folder contains the shortcuts for the destinations that are displayed on the Send To menu. Every user on the computer has a SendTo folder and can customize its contents.

I understand if you want to customize your "send to menu", simply go to the "sendTo folder". Now windows vista has a feature in the start menu that adds shortcuts to frequently used programs to the main start menu. Why is it then, that shortcuts to frequently used folders cannot be automatically added to the sendTo folder and thus the send to menu?

They claim to be advancing so much, but most of this advancement is focused on the core system, and not on increasing or innovating the Interface to be more futuristic and provide more utility or functionality. This is the true purpose of information technology and the innovation and technology industry. There are so many simple additions that can be created, yet they choose not to implement them because we are conformed and dependent on the software and accept whatever it is they give us.

I will not go into a detailed discussion or argument of linux versus windows, but this is the reason open source is so much more "open" to innovation and promotes development - since if i wanted this to be done in linux, i could simply create and code it and submit it for approval.

Our rate of advancement is not fast enough, the human race today should be in a far richer technology status than it is currently.

We're all super-stupid-users [PEBHAC]

Man [and woman] is a self-conscious but self-centered and narcissistic race. We do things without thought of other people, with only our own perspectives in mind, we think within the box, we see only what we want to see, we use whatever knowledge we have to demean other people and gain power over them.

OK: this may not be true for all of mankind [women included], but we must all admit that each and every one of us has experienced some feeling like this before. It doesn’t have to be portrayed as arrogance, aggression or any definite mal-emotion, but may be apparent subtly as a thought or a simple change in the tone of voice, but it’s there nonetheless.

We often hear about IT people [system administrators and helpdesk personnel] hammering their heads on the wall at a customer who put a coffee cup on the CD tray thinking it was a cup-holder, or the other customer who can’t turn on their PC, only to find out that there is no electricity in the area. IT “professionals” tend to lash out at customers subtly with secret jokes such as ID-10-T errors, or PEBKAC; and aggressively sometimes by yelling at customers, degrading them, etc. [in the professional world this is probably done more subtly than aggressively, but the thought is there nonetheless: that the customer is stupid.]

The fact that an IT person knows more about an IT topic more than a user does, may make that person a stupid user, but it doesn’t make that user a stupid person.

If for instance an IT person is put to learn a language, not programming but linguistic; say French for example. Linguistics is not logical but maybe more creative and has rules that make no sense to IT people, and cannot be learnt by the manner of thinking associated with programming. That IT person, who was a super user in his/her realm, is now a stupid user in another [the French teacher now becomes the super user - empowered].

This all came about as I started to learn French. Now, I don’t lash out at customers, but if my sister asks an IT question that just makes me want to yell “stupid!”, I’d just really think, “why is it that some people can’t see the logic and the greatness of design of the application and just figure it out on their own like I do”.

This is what blinds IT people and designers. They forget the H part of HCID [Human-Computer Interaction/Interface Design]. Problem doesn’t exist between keyboard and chair [PEBKAC], it exists between human and computer [PEBHAC: I just made that up! Remember I coined the term!]. What lies between the human and computer, for those who don’t know, is the interface. We design based on what we think is usable to us, but we need to design for people [humans] who don’t think like us and who are actually going to use the interface/product – that’s what determines good design – weather an average [or below average] person/user can use it immediately without reading the instructions.

Anyway, I strayed from my point, steering back: My sister [Sanya T. Ramjattan] ranked first [1^st] in the Caribbean in French – so you can say she’s a “French super user”, she started to teach me French, but then started to ‘cuss’ me for my utter stupidity for the language. I must admit I made some mistakes [mostly with pronunciation – which is what got me: I see something and I read it a certain way in English, but its pronounced completely differently in French – how illogical!!!], but I was doing pretty alright. My point is: she had a similar reaction to a stupid user in her field as an IT person would have in their field. The same goes for when I was teaching her to drive, I raised my voice a little at her when she made a mistake rather than explain what she should do [our roles switched here - she now became powerless, and I, the super user]. It's all human nature.

The world is filled with talented people; we wouldn’t have been the dominant race if there weren’t talent. [Off-topic: I know there are some serious ID10Ts out there, but they appear stupid mostly because they don’t apply themselves or they aren’t applying themselves in the right fields.] Everyone has their own niche. We just need to realize that everyone [including ourselves] is a super-stupid user [that is: a super user in some fields, but a stupid user in some others].

When next you think about reprimanding a customer for not understanding something in your line of work, think outside the box, put yourself in their shoes, view various angles and perspectives, and offer helpful explanations and advice, train them, most of all remain HUMBLE. And if all else fails, bang your head on the wall and yell PEBKAC.

101 year old gets bandwidth; 21 year old suffers.

Take a read of this: 101-y-o 'techo' gets free lifetime high-speed Internet access. It’s enraging! It’s unfair! I need this more than him, why can’t I have it! Ok but seriously, I have nothing against senior citizens, but Trinidad needs to implement more of these social perks.

In the United States students and senior citizens are treated like gods! They have benefits everywhere: better loans, free internet, cheaper housing, cheaper magazine subscriptions, discounted tickets at movie theaters, airlines, museums, and a lot more.

In this country the only thing that students get is free entry to Zen on Wednesdays; I guess now we know where our priorities lie.

I suppose I’ll have to wait till I’m 102 in this country to get some bandwidth.

Sacrifice

So, The electricity was cut today for over three hours, forcing me to forfeit my weekly viewing of Grey’s Anatomy.

That’s another technological or infrastructural downfall of this “sweet T&T” country of mine. If electricity isn’t cut at least once a month in this nation, then something just has to be wrong. The sole company [T&TEC] that manages and supplies electricity for our country certainly is not capable of doing its job. Do you ever see Manhattan loosing power unless as a result of some natural disaster? But of course we can’t compare apples and oranges [Manhattan and Trinidad]. I realized today that this country is the simple life, and these little [or major] quirks – like power going down for hours, low bandwidth, and the worst customer service – are the price [sacrifice] we pay for the simple life. Welcome to the Caribbean, savvy!

Ok that was my rant, now back to the point: so, having nothing to do in the dark, I decided to retire to bed. After 30 minutes of rolling and tossing, I heard the click of my stereo coming on, power was restored! And instead of “great, goodnight”, the only words that came to my mind were: “must…………check………….e-mail…………”

And here I am; sacrificing sleep for connectivity. I think I have a problem.

Hi, my name is Jevin, and I’m a weboholic.

--
Internet & Information Junkie

Salary Upsize = Decreased Downtime

["Service"? What's that? Is that even a word in the Trini dictionary?]

I have always complained about service in Trinidad. The fact is, service in Trinidad, as compared to many first [and even second] world countries, is way below the standards that it should be at. In layman's terms, one might even say: it sucks!

The moment I lay feet on this island, as I stepped off that plane, after spending a year in New York, I was immediately drenched in the poor service of this country, and still am up to this day.

My initial assumption was that Trinidadians were poorly versed in customer service and care, and that companies should invest more in such training for their staff. Everyone knows that the key to success in any business is great customer service, so companies should not have a hard time finding justification to invest in it.

I have been on such a customer service course, and it has proven to be a wonderfully great big waste of my precious time, since the key points are already embedded in human nature and thought to us all by our mothers and grandmothers ["say please...."]. These are ideas and concepts and methods of quality service that we all already know how to do but that we don't implement.

So tonight it hit me: the true secret to great customer service is not education but motivation.

Let me explain: I worked late tonight since one of my web servers suddenly crashed [:S .. nightmare!] and I needed to get a particular "customer's" website back online. The motivation that drove me to do such a thing was the mere fact that I'd learn new technical concepts in the process. Now in Trinidad, learning is not a popular motivator.

Take for instance my [TSTT] internet line which has been down for the past two weeks and been disconnected as such, almost like clockwork, every two months. They claim that people are stealing their copper lines [don't ask me why they do this strange things in this country]. Luckily I have my other phone line to use to get online [it's still an inconvenience though]. So, i was thinking: why is it that these tech at TSTT don't just plug in a wire and fix my problem!

Ok it may not always be that simple, but truly, in all of my IT jobs, a lot of the customer related problems have a very simple fix - plug in a wire, press a button, type in some commands, etc. So why is it they don't just do that? Because in Trinidad we value our time, when it's lunch, we take lunch, when it's home time, we go home - promptly.

So now you ask: why is it that the staff of first world countries don't mind going the extra mile, don't mind working through lunch or having lunch at their desks, or leaving later or arriving earlier? Simple! Because they get paid! YES, Trinidadian employers do not pay! And for those employers reading this blog - if you don't believe me check the statistics. Pay is the leading motivator for a lot of people [except me of course - I'm not money hungry :)]. In Trinidad, employers tend to pay as low as possible, do not pay over time as much as it is avoidable, they stretch the hours as much as possible, and take advantage of the youth[since they are inexperienced].

American job advertisements even post the full annual salary for any job position they are recruiting for; yet in Trinidad it remains a tight secret until the very last moment of the entire process. Check the newspapers, you might be lucky to see one of the embassies advertising, and they post the actual annual salaries.

With that said, please remember that caring customer communication is genuine, timely, specific, and sincere.