Dell does Tablet Computing

I hate to part with my four-year old Dell Latitude notebook, but now that the E key is causing me grif, I am rady to gt a nw on.

While looking for a replacement, I came across the new Dell "convertible" called the Inspiron Duo -- it switches between being a netbook and a touchscreen tablet.  Like an Apple iPad, accessories like speakers convert it even further into an entertainment center.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Dell priced this tablet computer just below the Apple iPad.  See it here. 

University takes iPad into Trenches of Pompeii

Years ago I took an archaeology course at the University of Cincinnati.  At the time, the professor considered the appropriate technology choices for recording ancient finds a clipboard, paper, and pencil.

Using a gridded piece of paper you brought to the dig site, you drew a major physical landmark as a reference point in a topmost grid and then marked all of your dig finds relevant to that spot. This sheet of paper became a valuable work artifact for the archaeological project.

Of course, your paper might get dirty, wet, partially destroyed, or lost. Plus, somebody later had to decipher and transfer all of your pencil marks into an electronic document for computerized analysis.

The common archaeological task of recording field data is changing. To this point, computers have not been portable or durable enough to take down into a dirty pit nor have they had adequate battery life.  Today, touch-screen tablets may have overcome those issues and could provide a great platform for dirty field work.

On a recent project, the University of Cincinnati adopted the Apple iPad to simplify the massive data collection involved with archaeology. Steven Ellis, the assistant professor of classics at UC, used a half-dozen iPads to digitize his team's findings from excavating an entire neighborhood in Pompeii.

The team used iPad apps such as  FMTouch, Pages, iDraw, and OmniGraffle. 

For more information, read about the Pompeii project in general and the use of iPads on the project, or see the UC case study on the Apple website.

Enterprise Mobile Today Article - Mobile BI on the Apple iPad

See Gerry Blackwell's recent Enterprise Mobile Today article on using the Apple iPad for BI.  He asks the question, why isn't your BI vendor doing mobile business intelligence on the iPad?

Gerry and I had talked about my opinions why the iPad was a great platform for business intelligence.  Gerry also investigated a variety of BI products already available on the iPad, such as Extended Results' PushBI, MeLLmo's Roambi, MicroStrategy, and QlikTech's QlikView.

Rather than being locked into any particular front-end, smart companies today are looking for BI applications to become "universal."  BI should not just be on the desktop.  You should be able to get to the information on your phone or mobile device, regardless of the brand you selected.

Facebook Modernizing to C++

Facebook is improving its website by converting PHP, a web scripting language, to the low-level C++ language.  I'm shouting hallelujahs!

Worried that C++ was too dangerous for the web in the early 1990s, the software industry ripped out scary features, made it run from a managed server, and renamed it Java.

Almost a decade ago, I searched everywhere for books on how to write C++ web programs and could not find a thing. Due to my obstinate nature, I moved forward anyway and created my own custom C++ modules to communicate with web servers and dynamically generate HTML.  Today, my browser-based automated BI translation tools all utilize a simple C++ web architecture.  They are super fast and function effectively.  

Using plain old C/C++ for web applications is a great idea but few seem to know about it.  I am happy to see that big-name companies like Facebook are on board with it.

See the Facebook story here.

Apple in the BI Space?

Earlier today, Lizette Chapman at Fast Company wrote about Apple's $46 billion in cash reserves.

Investors are asking the company to use that to pay out dividends, but Steve Jobs wants to keep sitting on the dough.  Steve says:

We know if we need to acquire something--a piece of the puzzle to make something big and bold--we can write a check for it and not borrow a lot of money and put our whole company at risk.  The cash in the bank gives us tremendous security and flexibility.

If Steve wanted, he could take a small chunk of that money--not much, perhaps just a billion or two--and buy one of the few remaining pure Business Intelligence software vendors.  Apple could then leverage the acquired BI infrastructure and and build a nice BI front-end for the iPad.

That would classify as "big and bold."  Today, the BI software space is dominated by four mega-vendors: IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP.  All of these big companies acquired BI vendors.  Why not Apple?

My blog gets hit constantly by people looking for information about BI on the iPad and other mobile devices.  People want it.  Apple could buy it.  It would work.

Apple already has a Business Intelligence webpage showing other vendors' BI apps on the iPhone and iPad.  Using some of its cash, Apple could be a winner in the BI space.

Candidates for Steve to buy include Actuate, MicroStrategy, and Information Builders.  Personally, I would suggest that Apple acquire privately-held Information Builders' for their BI product WebFOCUS and their enterprise integration technology called iWay Software.

The WebFOCUS architecture works well as a powerful BI engine for Safari-based web applications.  So it already works today on the iPad.  Just to take things to that "big and bold" level, however, Apple could implement a beautiful touchscreen BI application to sit on top of WebFOCUS.

Of course, the product name WebFOCUS is right up there with "horseless carriage."  Apple will surely change that to something snappy like iBI (which is what most people call it today because of the vendor's initials), Apple Info, or Apple Knowledge. 

The iWay Software already has the Apple "i" at the beginning!  Still, I would make a name change recommendation--since enterprise integration is plumbing, the glue that holds things together, etc.--I would go with Apple Sauce.

With $46 billion in cash, Steve should have no problem becoming one of the BI software mega-vendors if he wants.

Why Amazon and Apple Will Not Kill Each Other

When Farhad Manjoo is not battling angry tweeters over his allegedly racist Slate article on "blacktags," he is writing interesting material about hot technology topics.

In the most recent September 2010 issue of Fast Company magazine, Farhad wrote a Tech Edge article called "The End of Winner-Take-All."  Farhad predicts that certain tech markets will result in stalemates instead of one company wiping out all other contenders.

As examples of two potential market dominators, Farhad points out the Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad. Rather than be enemies, Amazon and Apple might just have reasons to play nicely. 

I use Amazon's Kindle app and think it is the best e-reader for the iPad -- better than Kobo, Stanza, eReader, or even Apple's iBook.  Thanks to this app, my iPad becomes a front-end to the Amazon bookstore, which I prefer to those from competitors such as Borders or Barnes & Nobles.

Farhad writes:

Speaking to investors, [Amazon CEO Jeff] Bezos pointed out that because Kindle books are delivered across the Internet to a range of devices--including the iPad--Amazon might actually benefit from the Apple tablet's popularity.  The more iPads Apple sells, the more potential Amazon customers.  Bezos is wise to ignore the calls for Amazon to make the Kindle more like the iPad.  The Kindle will be a gadget whose only purpose is to read books.  Bezos concedes that such a device isn't for everyone, but 'serious readers' will always prefer a dedicated e-reader.

This cooperative thinking is foreign to the BI software market where each mega-vendor wants to supply the entire "technology stack" for a company's architecture.

Personally, I hope that Farhad is correct and Amazon and Apple will be buddies in the competitive e-reader market space (I love them both!).

The UI for which You Will Shave Your Head

Researchers from down under in Australia want to bring the user interface up on top -- the top of your head, that is.

While it evokes images of Star Trek Borgs and jacked-in softies from William Gibson's matrix stories, a new "brain-reading" headset may just change the way we work with computers.  The tagline for the Emotiv EPOC brain-computer interface is "you think, therefore, you can."

Because each brain is different, Emotiv EPOC comes with software for calibrating each individual's thoughts.  You select a mental activity (e.g., pull, push, go left, go right, or disappear) and think about doing it for a few seconds while the application listens in on your brain's neural snaps, crackles, and pops.  Using EEG signals from the headset, the software records your brain-wave patterns. 

When you use other software, the headset watchs your EEG for similar activities, decides on your mental objective, and passes that command to your computer application ("Hey, WoW!  The gamer is thinking about moving to the right!").

In addition to capturing brainwaves, the headset watches for head tilting and facial movements that can be passed along as commands to an application.  One practical example of use would be for an individual in a wheelchair who is unable to use a joystick to control movement.  Instead, he or she can command the wheelchair to go left, right, straight, or back mentally and/or through head and facial movements.

While the technology's capabilities seem out of this world, its price is realistic -- just $299 for the headset and then some extra expenses for software that knows what to do with your brainwaves.  For developers and researchers, Emotiv offers a variety of software options, from a "lite" SDK for free download, all the way up to an "enterprise plus" development license for $7500.

You can watch a recorded live demonstration of the headset at the TED website.

If this really takes off, be prepared to see technology innovators with unique haircuts!

Our Future App Society

Here in the United States, we believe that each person has the right to own a house, a car, and a variety of sundry items. Thanks to our consumer mentality, we have a sophisticated advertising industry, a financial crisis, a government-sponsored "Cash for Clunkers" program, a burgeoning storage unit industry, and very few stay-at-home parents.

In the not-too-distant past, Americans had public pay-phones and party-line rotary telephones.  Today, even children have their own pocket-sized mobile phones.  Most American families have at least one television and computer.

Of course, America is not like the rest of the world.  About 93% of the world's population does not own an automobile.  If you make over $50K, you are in the top 1% of the world's wealthiest people.

How far will America go?  I'm predicting that each American will soon have....

His or her own App.  Musicians like Madonna have their own apps. NFL players like Chad Ocho Cinco are also blazing the path for personal apps, partnering with others for their app software development firm.  See Chad's app (wait, don't just see it -- buy it!) on his webpage or in the Apple app store. 

Also emerging with their own personal apps are our elected officials.  See the American Congress personal apps at Sympatico's webpage.

When will you have your own personal app?

Q2 Results Make MicroStrategy Giddy -- Giving Away Their BI Software!

After announcing 2010 Q2 results of a 41% year-over-year increase in license revenue, MicroStrategy is giddy.  So much, in fact, that they are giving away BI software!

Russell Lantier, a Business Development Manager for MicroStrategy, let me know about these two great offers:

MicroStrategy Free Reporting Suite: http://www.microstrategy.com/freereportingsoftware

MicroStrategy Free Mobile BI Suite: http://www.microstrategy.com/freemobilebi


For the Free Reporting Suite, MicroStrategy is giving you a one-CPU server license, 100 named user licenses, two developer licenses, and two licenses for the "full end-user experience."

MicroStrategy claims that their BI offering for iPhone/iPad and BlackBerry is 100x more impactful than using BI on your desktop.  Check out their offer and decide for yourself.

QlikTech meeting Consumer Expectations of BI with QlikView

Erica Driver at QlikTech just blogged about the difference between the technologies we use at home (such as the Apple iPad) and those at work (such as a Windows workstation). 

Wait...should there be any difference?

Why would your employer force on you a user interface that you wouldn't accept at home?

See how the BI product QlikView meets the "consumer" expectation of Business Intelligence software.