What's new in the digital and computer world? Here's the latest scoop.
* Digital Cameras: The product field has leveled off; there are many excellent cameras out there now. Prices are holding steady. There have not been any major new announcements lately.
The Sony Memory Stick type of digital film storage has now become the second most popular type of storage, behind Compact Flash (CF). Smart Media (SM) has fallen to third place, mostly because of price and lack of large size memories. Since Sony is the practically the only line of cameras that uses this technology, that tells you something about the sales volume of Sony cameras!
* Computers: prices now are cheap, very cheap. It's probably a very good time to buy. I just bought three - no, I don't use them all - two are for the grandkids. Got an AMD 1.4 GHz. processor, 512 MB of DDR RAM, 60GB high-speed hard drive, Windows 2000 Pro, etc. Hope it ships soon...
They say that flat panel display prices have fallen, but they are still too high for me. You can get a good 15" display for $500 or so, but there are still some limitations of these units, especially in photo editing and DVD playing. I will stick with CRT technology for now.
Software is very stagnant right now - no "killer aps" in quite a while. That is one of the reasons that the PC market is in a slump - no new applications to eat up all your processing power and motivate you to get a new machine.
* MP3 and Digital Music: Napster is all but dead, and no successor has arisen (or will) due to copyright problems with the music industry. The establishment has retaken the high ground and you should expect to pay big bucks for your music once again. The only question in the future will be whether you have to pay for an entire album (most of which is junk) or whether you will be able to pay by the song. There will always be bootleg music MP3 files around, but often of dubious quality, as a lot of the stuff on Napster was.
The music format scene is also in turmoil. A new MP3 format (MP3 Pro) was announced, but there is really very little in the new format to interest users. It is able now to create music files that are 1/2 size of previous files, but the Windows Media (WMA) format has been doing that for a year now. There are also more contenders waiting in the wings. My prediction: chaos in the near future. I would not recommend buying any portable or MP3 equipment until this settles out, unless you are happy with the basic MP3 capability.
* Online and the Internet: Many of the free Internet websites that collapsed recently did so because they were based on advertising revenue. The advertisements were mostly banner ads, which nobody ever clicked on anyhow. Banner ads have now been replaced with ads that literally fight for your attention - popups, color, movement, sound, etc. Expect this to continue and get much worse. Software may be able to filter some of these ads, but it will be difficult for this software to differentiate between desired text and ads.
* Handhelds and Personal Digital Assistants: Yawn. Nothing much new here at all. Manufacturers (Palm, Handspring, Compaq, etc.) trying all kinds of ad-ons and networked units, but from what I can see, nobody is buying except for the basic PDA package (address book, calendar, notes). The manufacturers are hurting, big time. Penetration of these units into business segments, such as real estate, has been minimal to none. I know of no local realtor that uses a Palm Pilot to help them with appointments, keep track of listings, etc.
So things are in general pretty quiet; its time to hit the beach. Perhaps there will be some new activity when ramping up for the holiday sales season.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com).