Innovation in harddrive technology

I decided to do a little research on the current hard drive technology after my previous article, and guess what I found. It turns out that Fujitsu has already promised better storage technology. Though the basics of recording upon a spinning disk through magnetism hasn't changed, Fujitsu has promised a hard drive with much greater density than previous models. The process used, "patterned media", enables the storage of data upon more densely packed tracks. In the future, Fujitsu is aiming to create 13mm nanoholes which would allow up to 4TB per square inch of data storage.

At the same time, another issue that arises with the increase in storage - retrieval. Yet again, Fujitsu has made innovations in the field. The main improvement in data transfer speed is the revolution per minute (rpm) of the disk. Fujitsu boasts about their new hard drive - the MHW2 BJ series - which is capable of 7,200 rpm whereas Toshiba's, the current leader, only runs at a mere 4,200 rpm. Transmission speed is said to be boosted up to 300 Mbps.

With greater storing capacity in smaller physical unit combined with faster retrieval speed, there is great hope for the future. I myself would like to see some truly innovative technology advances, such as new method of storage or a new storage unit.

The information age

IDC estimated that last year the world generated 161 exabytes, or 161 billion Gigabytes of data. This is including both originally produced data as well as replicated data. Regardless of the data type, this poses the question - how are we going to store all this data? It is estimated that by the year 2010, we will be incapable of producing sufficient storage to keep all the data that will have been generated by then.

The year 2010 does not seem nearly so far away. That is a mere 3 years ahead in our future. Compared to the energy crises and oil crises that are estimated to climax around 2050 or so, 2010 seems just a blink away. Well, what are we going to do about this upcoming issue?

Several possible solutions:
1. Better storage units - innovation from the traditional hard drives
2. Master copy of data - maintaining only one master copy of data allows replications to be deleted when not needed
3. Deletion of old data

Personally, I am hoping for the first of the three. I feel that when the need arises, companies will naturally seek out new and better ways of storing data. With ever improving nanotechnology as well as miniaturization of computer components such as CPU's, I believe that we will be able to find more efficient methods of storage for data as well.

What about the little guys?

Even though the lastest high-tech developements are always interesting, the small advances in common technology are also important. With things like vista coming out, its easy to forget that the majority of people aren't up to that level yet.

So what about the common person, or even under-priveledged people? The One Laptop per Child program is interesting in its aim. Instead of trying to be the fastest and costing ridiculous sums, it provides an affordable option for kids to learn. "The OLPC Foundation mission is to stimulate local grassroots initiatives designed to enhance and sustain over time the effectiveness of XO laptops as learning tools for children living in lesser-developed countries."

What would be interesting is if this type of initiative could be taken for the lesser-developed in general. Instead of creating a computer with lots of options and features that people who can barely use a computer will not be able to operate, why not create a computer with only the essentials? This will create much more affordable prices for those who are having a hard time buying a new computer, yet the computer will still be able to perform needed actions.

The Launch of Vista

We've all heard about it on the news and we've all read about it on various forums and sites. Microsoft has taken 5 years to release their latest operating system - Vista.

As an employee of Best Buy, I am glad to say that we have had a glimpse of the many features included in the brand new package.

Major works have been done in turns of user interface, rendering the desktop much more aesthetically appealing to the average user. The new Aero interface generates a glass-like look which simulates depth and gives you a better idea of what's going on with your other windows. Another cool feature that has been implemented is that alt+tab provides live view of your applications, even the videos.

Browsing has been made a lot easier, search feature improved and some new features in terms of viewing options. Folders now give you a glimpse of the various files contained within for better browsing. Live icons give you an idea of the file content rather than generic icons. Start menu has been made to be more compact, no more annoying window sized "all programs" bars. I have to admit, I like the ease of browsing under the new windows.

Ready Boost is one of the cool features in addition. We've all had experience tweaking the settings of windows to boot faster for our needs. Who wants to wait 30 seconds for windows to boot up? Microsoft has designed Vista with ready boost buttons which will focus on certain programs when booting up and ignoring peripheral applications. for example, if you use ready boost to start up media center, it will load up media center before other programs, giving you much faster boot times.

Security underwent some changes. There's better control over program installation. For the price of windows asking you to confirm every action you take, you get the convenience of a spyware free computer. I suppose that the security of Vista will be tested in the upcoming months. I'll have my fingers crossed.

There has been a new feature in terms of Battery Management for laptop users.

Packaging has been changed up a little for better merchandising. Vista comes in four editions - Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate.

Home Basic - it's the skeleton of Windows Vista. It meets the basic needs of the average computer user, internet, email, etc. (lacks features such as Aero)

Home Premium - Home Basics with specialization in media center. Essentially it is for the younger generations. More dedicated towards videos, music, entertainment. One cool feature is the compatibility of Vista with TiVo for extra storage space.

Business - The name explains it all. Dedicated to small to medium sized business owners and has better security features. Other features that aid business owners are applications such as meeting place, think of it as skype.

Ultimate - The whole package. It has all the features listed above.

Cons:

Much higher system requirements:

Premium package(minimum requirements):
1 GHz processor
1 GB RAM
128 MBs video card
40 GB harddrive with 15 GB free

This almost reminds me of the latest trend in video games, focus on graphic upgrades. Anyone heard of the move towards Counterstrike: Source? It has greater graphic demands so of course the big companies are going to be reeling in some more moolah. If you want Vista to run smoothly, I would recommend getting above those requirements.

Conclusion: I was fairly impressed with the changes Microsoft has done to their system. Definitely a viable upgrade in the future. I'm not quite ready to do major upgrades to my system yet. However, the required hardware are not so outlandish in today's computer industry, so it is definitely a consideration. There ARE some features which resemble OS X from Apple, but it wouldn't be the first time competing companies have imitated each other's products. But Vista includes features beyond those features and should be given consideration.