Top Bananas | Monthly Archives: January 2016

The iPhone’s Camera

Posted on January 31, 2016 by admin Posted in Hardware Leave a comment

What it is: Mobile phones have had built-in cameras for the longest time. With each passing year, the built-in camera has gotten better and better.

In the early days, professional photographers claimed that film cameras were superior to digital cameras and they were right — right up until the time they weren’t. Then professional photographers claimed that dedicated digital cameras were superior to cameras in mobile phones and they were right — right up until the time mobile phone cameras caught up to previous generations of dedicated cameras.

Dedicated digital cameras will always be superior to built-in cameras in smartphones simple because a dedicated camera allows longer lenses and additional accessories not to mention the space needed for crafting and holding better lenses. This is the same argument that mainframe computer users used to make deriding PCs as toys. Dedicated supercomputers will always be superior to a PC, but a PC has displaced dedicated mainframe computers in a huge variety of tasks to the point where PCs are good enough for most people and only dedicated supercomputers are needed for a handful of researchers.

In the same way, dedicated digital cameras are still needed for some professional photography use, but the built-in camera in the iPhone rivals the best of last generation’s dedicated digital cameras. A professional photographer recently used the camera in an iPhone to capture various images during an Indian wedding, which are known to be colorful affairs prime for picture-taking. As you can see in his photographs, the quality of the pictures is excellent.

The photographer states that the quality of pictures depends more on the skill of the photographer than the equipment being used, but it also shows how the built-in camera in the iPhone is good enough for professional use.

The next time someone dismisses technology because it’s not good enough as existing technology, tell them to use wait. Change happens faster than you think. Even though professional photographers will always be able to claim that dedicated digital cameras will be superior to built-in smartphone cameras, the convenience and ease of use of the iPhone camera is something that dedicated digital cameras will never be able to match in the same way that a laptop is far easier and more convenient to use than dragging a supercomputer around wherever you go.

Sometimes technology is good enough for the majority of people and that’s all that really matters.

The iPad vs. ChromeBooks

Posted on January 30, 2016 by admin Posted in Education, Hardware, Software Leave a comment

What it is: The iPad has been losing sales in schools to ChromeBooks.

Apple has always been strong in education ever since schools started using Apple II computers in the classroom. However, PCs soon took over most schools when the Apple II faded away, and the Macintosh has always been too expensive for most schools to purchase. That’s why most schools tended to chose PCs instead.

Now that same scenario seems to be replaying itself all over again. At first, schools were buying iPads for students to use. Now schools are using much cheaper ChromeBooks along with Google Docs because that allows students to do basic word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations without the need for expensive software like Microsoft Office. More importantly, ChromeBooks are much less expensive than iPads and require less maintenance as well.

That’s why Apple recently purchased LearnSprout, a company focused on education technology. Apple also plans to allow multiple user accounts on iPads so multiple students can share a single iPad. The goal is to make iPads easier to maintain in the classroom.

The ultimate goal is to capture the imagination and loyalty of kids early so when they grow up, they’ll likely use the same technology that they learned in the classroom. Yet what’s more likely is that by the time kids grow up, the technology will have changed. Today’s adults grew up with Windows PCs, but they the world has been flooded with smartphones and tablets. Today’s kids are using smartphones and tablets along with ChromeBooks, but tomorrow’s technology will likely change by the time they become adults.

What schools really need is to teach skills irregardless of the specific technology. What companies such as Apple and Google need to do is develop products that can allow kids to learn easier and more enjoyably than before. Schools love ChromeBooks because they’re cheap and easy to use. Beyond cheap laptops, the real benefit is learning to use Google Docs to get work done.

Students love iPads because they’re more fun and flexible to use than a laptop. Yet they’re also more expensive than ChromeBooks, which limits the number of schools that can purchase them. So schools looking at cost are focusing on ChromeBooks while schools that value something more than just cost are willing to look at iPads.

Maybe a ChromeBook might be better for students in some cases, but maybe an iPad might be better than a ChromeBook in other cases. Schools need to focus on the needs of their particular students. In poor school districts, limited budgets and the danger of theft makes ChromeBooks far more attractive. In more affluent schools, iPads appear more sophisticated than ChromeBooks even if the school has no idea how to maximize their use for student learning.

Most likely ChromeBooks will still dominate the education market and leave Apple with a much smaller share. however, that smaller share will likely have chosen the iPad for specific reasons related to the iPad’s features rather than focusing solely on cost. Schools offering iPads to students will likely be wealthier, which pretty much mirrors the demographics of Apple products anyway.

ChromeBooks are fine for students to learn how to use a computer. iPads are fine for versatility than a laptop can’t offer such as interactive e-books or specific learning apps only available on the iPad. There’s no single best answer for everyone. The ultimate goal is to make technology prepare students for the future, so whatever students learn today will likely be obsolete or different tomorrow, and that’s just the way schools have to deal with technology from now on.

Bloated Software

Posted on January 29, 2016 by admin Posted in Software Leave a comment

What it is: Apps for mobile devices used to be lean and focused. Now they’re getting more features than many people don’t need.

Every program in Microsoft Office contains tons of features. The problem is that most people only use about 10% of each program’s features. The bigger problem is that no two people tend to use the same 10% of features. To accommodate everyone, Microsoft just keeps cramming more features into their programs, making them harder to use and more confusing to understand.

That same problem is starting to creep into mobile apps. Initially mobile apps were meant to lean and focused on a single task. Now to compete against rivals, apps are starting to pile on the features, even though most people will never use all those features. Developers seem to be piling on the features just for the sake of having more features. Unfortunately, this makes the app larger, slower, and harder to use.

The best software isn’t one that contains the most features, but the one that makes it easiest to accomplish a specific task. Designing software that helps users achieve a specific task is hard. Designing software overloaded with features crammed in a confusing user interface is easy. That’s why so many programs are so hard to use and confusing to understand.

Look at the difference between Microsoft Word and Pages. Microsoft Word is far more capable and if you need advanced features like automatic index or table of contents generation, or macros, then you want to use Microsoft Word. If you just want to write documents, then Pages may offer just enough features to get the job done. The question is whether you want features or simplicity.

For some people, they need Microsoft Word. For others, they don’t need Microsoft Word. Since every person is different, every answer for the best software will be different. If you’re just learning how to use a computer, trying to torture yourself into learning Microsoft Office can be like learning to ski by tackling the highest and steepest ski slope possible. You might survive, but chances are good you would learn to ski much faster and much safer by starting off with a beginner slope.

Likewise, you can earn basic word processing with any program such as Pages, and then if you find you need more advanced features, feel free to upgrade to Microsoft Word. Don’t jump straight to Microsoft Word any more than you might jump to the most difficult ski slope when you’re just learning to ski. You want to spend more time achieving results and less time wrestling with your software.

Machine Learning

Posted on January 28, 2016 by admin Posted in Programming Leave a comment

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What it is: Machine learning is about creating algorithms that can sift through data and make connections faster than any human could possibly do.

Ever wonder how Amazon knows which books you might like after you make a purchase? Or how Netflix can recommend older movies you might like based on what you’re watched recently? Maybe you’re curious how Google knows which ads to show you based on your recent search queries. It all boils down to machine learning.

In the old days of artificial intelligence, people tried to encapsulate knowledge into a program such as expert systems. The idea was that if an expert poured his knowledge into a program, that program could then behave like that particular expert. Hence the name “expert system.”

Two big problems killed expert systems right away. First was the hassle of finding an expert willing to dump his or her knowledge in a program. Not only did this take time, but it required converting an expert’s knowledge into the precise syntax needed by the expert system.

Even if this was successful (and it was more than often not), the second big problem was that real experts keep learning. In comparison, expert systems contain knowledge up until the point the expert stopped creating it. That meant over time, expert systems became rapidly obsolete as their knowledge remained stale while the world around them changed rapidly.

That’s why expert systems pretty much fell apart despite all the early hype. That’s also why machine learning is far superior. With machine learning, you write an algorithm that goes out and sifts through data, making connections. The more data it gets, the more accurate its knowledge can be. Machine learning doesn’t require encoding an expert’s knowledge and it can learn on its own as it receives new data, so it will never become obsolete.

Think of how spam filters work. Initially they’re designed to catch most spam, but as spammers come up with new methods to slip by spam filters, the spam filters have to adapt. When you mark email as spam, the spam filter now can recognize newer types of spam. Based on this new information combined with its older knowledge, the spam filter progressively gets better at filtering out spam.

The same process works with Siri, Cortana, and other voice recognition assistants. Getting Siri to recognize voice commands alone was remarkable, given the different types of voices people have and the different languages people use. Now machine learning not only helps recognize voice commands, but also learns to get more accurate over time. Human programmers simply can’t keep up with improving voice recognition so machine learning algorithms have to learn on the fly from millions of voice commands it receives from people all over the world.

Machine learning is part of the future by reducing complexity in programming. No longer do humans need to keep telling computers exactly what to do. Now humans can tell computers what to do and let computers learn more from that point on, which is faster and more accurate than any humans could do given large amounts of new data every second. Think Google’s programmers are actually studying search queries every second of the day, or do you think machine learning algorithms are doing that automatically without any human supervision whatsoever?

To learn more about machine learning, read “The Master Algorithm,” which explains the major approaches to machine learning today, their current limitations, and their strengths in tackling specific types of problems. Fortunately, the book doesn’t bog readers down with mathematics or technical details so you can learn about machine learning without becoming a Ph.D. candidate in computer science to do it.

If you’re interesting in machine learning, you can learn more about various open source machine learning frameworks that various companies are offering. To read a list of different machine learning frameworks you can play with, click here.

Apple’s Services

Posted on January 27, 2016 by admin Posted in Hardware, Software Leave a comment

What it is: Apple doesn’t just sell hardware and software. They also sell services like iCloud as well.

There’s a common belief that Apple only makes money selling iPhones. That’s why Wall Street panics every quarter because they think there’s no way apple can keep selling more iPhones than the previous quarter. Never mind the fact that Apple sells more than just iPhones. Besides the Macintosh and other hardware devices like the Apple Watch and Apple TV, Apple also sells services.

Last year, Apple sold $19.9 billion in services. If Apple’s services were a company by itself, it would have generated more sales than Southwest Airlines (LUV), Starbucks (SBUX) and the Gap (GPS).

While $19.9 billion pales in comparison to the billions Apple makes from the iPhone, earning $19.9 billion in one year is still a great profit stream that other companies would love to have. Every time you use Apple Pay, Apple gets a cut of the purchase. Every time you buy music through iTunes or an app through the App Store, Apple gets a cut of that sale. Pay for more iCloud storage and Apple makes more money.

How do other companies like Samsung and HTC make money? They sell inexpensive smartphones and tablets and try to sell as many as possible. To keep costs down (and profits up), they use the cheapest materials possible. Once they sell you a smartphone or tablet, they have little incentive to provide you with operating system upgrades because that costs them money, so they’d rather wish you would just buy a new device from them instead.

In other words, without services, most companies have to rely on one-time sales of products. To keep making money, they must keep selling to new customers and (hopefully) repeat customers.

On the other hand, Apple sells products and once you buy one of their products, you might pay for one of their services as well such as Apple Pay, iTunes, or Apple Music. The more people use Apple products, the more likely they’ll use one of Apple’s services too. The more people use Apple’s services, the less likely they’ll switch to a rival product in the future.

By making superior hardware, Apple grabs the premium share of the market whether it’s in computers, smartphones, tablets, or wearables. That premium market is far more likely to spend more on additional services.

With Apple’s rivals, they make copycat products targeting the mid to lower end of the market. That market has far less disposable income to spend on services, but even if they did choose to purchase additional services, that money doesn’t go back to the hardware manufacturers. That’s why Samsung is trying to promote Samsung Pay (similar to Apple Pay) to make money from services and keep people loyal to future Samsung products.

The big problem with Samsung Pay is that it competes with Android Pay but is only limited to Samsung devices. So why not use Android Pay instead of Samsung Pay? That question right there means far fewer people will use Samsung Pay than Android Pay, and that also means far fewer merchants will want the hassle of supporting Android Pay and Samsung Pay if Samsung users could just use Android Pay instead.

Apple’s services provides secondary income after the initial sale. Samsung and other companies have little or no secondary income after the initial sale, so they earn far less and rely solely on making additional sales of hardware. Since they’re competing against each other, their profits in hardware is far less than what Apple makes.

Apple’s services have positioned the company to earning a steady revenue stream as more people use their products. Rivals don’t have that luxury so they can’t spend as much to keep up with Apple. Look how long Android manufacturers took to get 64-bit processors or fingerprint sensors. As Apple moves forward, rivals will struggle to keep up. In the meantime, Apple will make the majority of all profits and rivals will not.

The future increasingly looks bleak for companies like Samsung and HTC. They can continue making money selling multiple products, but they can’t hope to compete directly against Apple. They simply don’t have the money.

Eventually Android manufacturers will find it increasingly difficult to make money and drop out of the smartphone and tablet markets just like companies like Sony dropped out of the PC market. When you can’t make a profit making something, why bother? That’s the future Android manufacturers will face in the near future.

The future for Apple looks fine. The future for everyone else looks chaotic and dismal. Guess which company will likely be around and continue defining new markets for everyone else to copy?

Anti-Malware for the Mac

Posted on January 26, 2016 by admin Posted in Software Leave a comment

What it is: Malware can infect any operating system, including OS X. Just because the macintosh doesn’t have as many malware as Windows doesn’t mean your computer will always be completely safe.

One reason why Windows was so insecure for decades was because Microsoft developed Windows without thinking about security. That’s because few people cared about security since it wasn’t that important at the time.

When malicious hackers started writing viruses, Trojan horses, adware, spyware, and rootlets, Windows (and the rest of the world) were totally unprepared. Suddenly everyone (including Microsoft) had to start taking security seriously and start designing robust operating systems that wouldn’t leave so many vulnerabilities open for hackers to exploit.

Now most modern operating systems are fairly secure, but that doesn’t mean you can get complacent no matter what type of operating system you might use. There are far more malware targeting Windows than OS X, and far more malware targeting OS X than Linux. Despite Apple’s firewalls and programs like Gatekeeper to block most malware from installing on your Macintosh without your permission, the vast majority of malware can infect your computer by tricking you.

Such tricks include seemingly harmless messages with file attachments or links that guide you to a boobytrapped website. Since it’s fairly easy for anyone to get tricked into making a mistake once, every computer is vulnerable to malware. For safety reasons, you might want to install Anti-Malware from Malwarebytes. This company provides free anti-malware programs for both Windows and OS X because their goal is to get more people using their products. Once people start using their products, they’l likely recommend a company pay for the commercial version to protect corporate networks.

For most people, malware won’t be a problem until one day it suddenly will be. Play it safe and install and run some sort of anti-malware program periodically. With Anti-Malware from Malwarebytes, protection for your Macintosh won’t cost you a think and you’ll be able to rule about malware as a possible problem if your Macintosh starts acting flaky. Then you’ll just have to figure out how to fix any possible problems if it’s not caused by malware.

To download a free copy of Anti-Malware for the Mac, click here.