Doc's Computin' Tips: Of fads & fashion

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Saturday, October 15. 2011

Doc's Computin' Tips: Of fads & fashion

"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"

"What doest thou, Throk-Anon?"

"Hail, Harib-Thon. I chisel 'The Great God Ascends' here in Pharaoh's tomb."

"Pray, continue."

"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! There's the 'T'. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! There's the 'h'. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! There's the 'e'."

Welcome to the wonderful world of text messaging.

As every American child learns at his father's knee, newer is always better. Text messaging is newer than the telephone, right? Therefore, it's better. And simply everybody does it.

A few months ago my under-warranty computer had a slight problem so they had a service guy call me. Excuse me, I meant "call" me. I suddenly get this text message from him asking for the model and serial number of the machine. I spent five friggin' minutes tapping in what could have been accomplished by voice in twenty seconds. It was ridiculous. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Come a long way, haven't we?

If the following has that based on a true story feel about it, you're right.

Suddenly, your CD-ROM is obsolete. Why? Because suddenly it's become fashionable for the tower manufacturers to put little cover doors over the ROM drive, and the spot they picked for the 'Eject' button doesn't line up with the one on your unit.

Suddenly, you find the keyboard that came with your new computer is harder to use. Why? Because suddenly it's become fashionable to replace the large Enter key with a sleek, modern thin one, thereby making the ever-valuable backslash key even wider for quick and easy access. Morons. The answer is to hunt down a keyboard like the Keytronic. I use the 'Classic', top of the list.

Suddenly, you're frantically scrambling through the Best Buy, Office Depot, etc, sites as you desperately try to find a black tower to match your present system. Why? Because suddenly silver towers have become faddish. I finally found one in the last place I looked, Circuit City. Hmph.

Suddenly, it's two weeks ago and my monitor goes on the blink. No problem, right? Got an Office Depot just a few miles from here.

Then I looked through their online site. And what did I see?

Aka, 'wide-screen' monitors. Among the 100-plus monitors streaming down the page, I believe two of them were the standard size.

Uh-oh, I thought to myself.

And, you guessed it, they didn't have a single 'normal' monitor in the store. They checked with the Marathon store (about 40 miles south) and they didn't have one, either.

Uh-oh, I thought to myself.

I'm just guessing here, but I gather the reasons for the new rage in wide-screen monitors is:

1. Wide-screen DVD movies fill more of the monitor, although it's a little strange that the industry would suddenly decide that computers should be turned into movie theaters.

2. The techies will argue that it "gives you more workspace", and they're right, it does. And here's a perfect example:

Because, like me, I'm sure you spend most of your computer time working with two database tables, right? Hell, who doesn't?

I can't think of a #3.

When it comes to surfing Ye Olde Web, you end up with this:

Because, like me, if there's one thing you need next to your browser, it's plenty of empty work area, right? I usually keep a Notepad file open to jot down critical points, and an Excel database to record my every movement. Perhaps one could open a smaller browser window and put a video news feed in the empty area. I'm sure it wouldn't be too distracting.

So, much like the keyboard geniuses removing the large Enter key, I'm at a loss how this has swept through the industry. You know all that Wall Street protest stuff and how they're complaining about corporations controlling our lives? Well, anyway.

All of the other computer sites were the same way, even places like Wal-Mart and CostCo. They all had, like, one of the normal type, and all the rest were, um, movie theater screens.

So I ended up ordering one of the few on the Office Depot site. It was the cheapest of the bunch, a $150 Acer, but it had a bad pixel that burned bright blue and there was something wrong with the video response. Dark scenes in movies looked a little blotchy. So I blew another 30 clams and bought a ViewSonic from them and it looks great.

Well, I'd like to talk more, but my neighbor just IM'd me and I need to text her back.

"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"

Posted by Dr. Mercury in Dr. Mercury's Computer Corner, Our Essays at 10:10 | Comments (22) | Trackbacks (0)

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This should solve all your monitor problems!

http://www.stocktradingtogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/multi-monitor-computer.jpg

#1 Pete on 2011-10-15 10:59 (Reply)

That's what I was telling those guys at Office Depot! "Why can't this store sell me a PROPER monitor!?"

And, if I had sixteen eyeballs, I'd actually be able to use it!

#1.1 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-15 11:02 (Reply)

Learn to shop the internet - for electronic components above all. Google the reviews for what you want, parse the newsgroups for troublesome products, then shop newegg.com, chiefvalue.com, tigerdirect.com, directron.com, or similar well-regarded, quick shipping, good-return-policy component vendors. Don't fool with Best Buy, Office Depot, Costco, Walmart.... In my opinion, they're only interested in big-ticket stuff. Takes awhile to learn to do this right, but sure makes life easier after you have mastered the sport. Been doing it this way for years. By the way, you done good selecting a Viewsonic monitor.

#2 BillH on 2011-10-15 13:06 (Reply)

Bill - I actually did cruise by NewEgg at some point, and they had the same 99-to-1 ratio of wide-screen to regular monitors that everyone else did. Sheesh. I tend to shop for items like monitors at the big box stores simply because they have more distribution outlets and usually arrive fairly quickly. I ordered a mouse from Staples a few years ago on a Sunday afternoon and it arrived Tuesday morning, regular ground rate.

Price is a funny thing, though. That original Acer monitor I bought was something like $153 at Office Depot, thirty dollars MORE at Best Buy. So, even among the big box stores, it pays to shop around.

"you done good selecting a Viewsonic monitor."

Thankee. I read through a handful of monitor reviews and people seemed to like it. I play one of the quickest first-person games ever created (Duke Nukem) so response time was important. The last monitor was 10ms (I think), so the 5ms of the ViewSonic made a noticeable difference. It also has a real high contrast ratio (1000:1), which blows the doors off LCD monitors that came out even a few years ago. As I recall, when I bought the one that burned out, 450 was considered "high". All in all, a very nice product.

#2.1 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-15 13:30 (Reply)

Come on up to Jacksonville Beach - I saw three standard sized, flat-screen monitors at a yard sale this morning.

Bought a Keytronics keyboard at your suggestion - it failed after about eight-months - now I'm looking at Unicomp http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/
the current makers of what was originally called the IBM Model M keyboard. I still have a Model M with the five pin connector, plugged into a PS-2 adapter that still works great. Big enter key, big backspace key, and keys the correct size for folks, such as me, who actually touch -type.

#3 Juan Paxety (Link) on 2011-10-15 13:09 (Reply)

A Keytronic failed on you? Damn. I put mine through hell, but at most a key will stop responding because a bit of dirt worked its way into the plastic layers, but they're fairly easy to take apart and clean.

"I still have a Model M with the five pin connector"

Bwah-hah! A true antique! I thought dropping the big plug and going to those ditzy PS/2 jacks was stupid. Smaller plugs = smaller contact points = less reliable. On the other hand, both beat the hell out of using USB. Speaking of fads.

#3.1 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-15 13:39 (Reply)

Wide-screen DVD movies fill more of the monitor, although it's a little strange that the industry would suddenly decide that computers should be turned into movie theaters.

The computer industry didn't decide this. Users did. As far as I can tell, at least. Streaming video and movies to the desktop.

Personally, I see absolutely no reason to try streaming a movie over DSL to my desktop PC monitor when I can watch it straight from the DVD on my much larger TV screen for a fiver.

I can't think of a #3.

I can. Not for the user, though -- for the manufacturer. Monitor sizes are measured on the diagonal. If you do the math, you'll find that a widescreen monitor or TV gives you less screen area for the same diagonal distance than a standard-size screen does. So a 24" widescreen monitor is cheaper to manufacture than a 24" standard monitor, but the manufacturer can still advertise OMG! LOOK AT THIS HUGE SCREEN!

It's all about the benjamins. Always.

#4 wolfwalker on 2011-10-15 14:25 (Reply)

It was not the computer industry that decided it, or the users.
It was movie rental companies finding themselves being outcompeted by Amazon who'd sell you DVDs cheaper than they were renting them.
So they started Netflix etc., selling you pay per view over the internet.

It becomes popular, but kids missed their widescreen TV like looks, so wanted wide screen computer monitors.
Those of course already existed for the professional market (yes, I and many others do benefit from being able to put a lot of stuff on screen side by side, so much so that I have 2 widescreen monitors side by side, and would love to have a third) but at the time were rather expensive. Increased demand lowered prices :)

#4.1 J.T. Wenting on 2011-10-16 00:43 (Reply)

Wolfs - I thought about streaming video, but it's hard to believe that most, or even many, people would want to watch a movie on a computer screen from their little computer chair, when all they have to do is wait a day and watch it on the big screen TV from a comfy couch. And that's especially true if more than one or two people are involved. Computer tables get mighty crowded, mighty quickly, and LCD monitors don't look their best from the side.

And that's a good point about the screen size. Bigger is always better, right? Now the ads can scream '24 Inches!!' at us. 24 is bigger than 19, right? And there ya go.

"It's all about the benjamins. Always."

Too true, although I usually use "Money, power and sex" as the prime motivators. If something seems a little 'off'; a situation that doesn't seem to make common sense, look for money, power or sex to be the motivating factor behind the scenes. But yeah, most of the time, it's the benjamins, no question.

Look at the way Hewlett-Packard dropped the lowly PS/2 jack from their latest round of towers, forcing everybody to use USB for mice and keyboards. But they probably saved a nickel on every tower, and you know how those nickels add up. Cheap bastards.

#5 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-15 14:43 (Reply)

I don't understand the complaint. I just bought an LG 22" LED from e-bay (Tiger Direct was the seller) for $135. That thing is so clear I can't believe it. 1920 X 1280 resolution and weighs about 3 lbs. It blows away my other flat screen 24" monitors that I paid $800 and $1000 several years ago and they weigh like 13 lbs or more.

The Tigerdirect Gateway Sandy bridge processor powered i3 with no video card is so small that it sits under my printer laying on its side. I think the compactness of these new computers is a huge improvement. I used to always build my own, but the time it takes and the cost of component parts being 3 times the costs of this tiny Gateway (granted I probably won't be able to fix it) is a huge leap forward. The small keyboard is still full size and I don't see the enter key size as a problem at all. I would say you are getting old Doc and you need to get with it but I am old too as far as computers are concerned to say that is the issue. Doc you are just a hard head.

#6 jpm on 2011-10-15 15:14 (Reply)

Nah, it's just that I spend most of my computer hours using a browser, either surfing or editing, and web sites and editors are designed for a 4:3 ratio. Anything else is just a waste of space, like in the above pic. If I spent most of my computer hours transferring data from one table to another, that'd be different.

#7 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-15 15:27 (Reply)

Gee Doc, a wonderful reposting of your column from 1950! I assume it came from your Way Back Machine, because I can't believe anyone who fancies himself an IT person would hold such, well, archaic ideas about computers.

Who would want a wide screen? Right, who in the 1950s could ever foresee someone needing to work on a wide multicolumn spreadsheet? Or opening two documents side-side-by-side so they could be compared just scanning them by eye instead of reading the details (such eye/brain coordination is a miracle of creation when it comes to this kind of task)? And who would EVER want to open two browser windows on the same screen to compare, say, two reviews of two different cameras? And surely no one would ever want to keep a mail message open while he was checking some details in it on the Web or in another app like MS WORD that is running side-by-side with the email. Yeah, no one would ever find it handy to do that! And video or photo editing is always more conveniently done in a squarish 4:3 or 1:1 aspect screen; a 16:9 aspect ratio is so faddish.

As for watching movies or TV programs on a computer monitor instead of a big screen TV: pish posh! Dumb as a rock. Well, then again, maybe not. When my wife, who's a light sleeper, goes to bed early, it really is a lot less annoying to her if I watch a program or movie on my computer in my office than on our TV. My Apple HD Cinema Display may not offer the intense brightness and dark levels of our TV, but shouldn't politeness to one's spouse be a +1 for a wide screen computer monitor? Yep, I think so.

#8 Agent Cooper on 2011-10-15 16:40 (Reply)

If that's your idea of sarcasm, don't quit your day job.

Learn how to use the Alt-Tab combo, okay?

#9 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-15 16:52 (Reply)

If that's your idea of a reasonable reply to my comment on what you wrote, then I'm surprised you even have a day job.

#9.1 Agent Cooper on 2011-10-16 04:52 (Reply)

Hey, I remember you! You're that moron who doesn't know the difference between a geek and an IT guy! And you dare to opine on computers? Pretty cheeky of you, I must admit. I guess I'll go find some nuclear physics forum and starting blathering away, just to see how far I get. Like you, about one sentence would be my guess before the jig is up.

Here's the deal, assbite. If you need a wide-screen monitor because you're so lame you don't know the Alt-Tab combo, then by all means buy one. Then you can put two browsers next to each other and do all the comparing you want. In turn, I promise not to leave any nasty, acerbic comments on your blog site. Fair 'nuff?

You know what the problem is with people like you? By turning any article you happen to disagree with into a personal attack on the author, you hurt both the narrative and your fellow readers. If you had listed out the ways you find wide-screen monitors a plus in a cordial manner, I might very well have updated the article, giving the commenter full attribution as I've done in many articles. That, in turn, would have both made the article more fair and balanced and given those thinking about it a better range of options.

But the second I saw it was a personal attack, I just glanced over the rest of the screed and moved on. No update, no enhancement for the readers. So what good is your presence here?

#9.1.1 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-16 05:40 (Reply)

I hear ya on the keyboards. I've got a stack of them that I bought from all the big names, and they're all less than usable and friendly. So . . . I went hunting for one with mechanical switches, and found this one with Cherry Blue switches, backlit, ports:
http://www.ione-usa.com/ione-scorpius-u9bl-backlit-mechanical-keyboard.html

You can get them with other touches than the Blues, but my next choice would have been Browns. It's been a year, and I haven't felt one bit of wear in these suckas. Wears like iron.

#10 steve in CT on 2011-10-15 17:37 (Reply)

Steve - The lit one would drive me crazy. :) But nice looking gear. I've thought about buying a combo keyboard/trackball before and dumping the mouse. I'd be looking for a model that put it in place of the numeric keypad, rather than squishing the keypad in with the normal middle keys, like these guys do. Unless you deal a lot with numbers, there's no need for it. I use it to inject Alt keys, but that can be done almost as quickly with Character Map.

And thanks for the link. I'll shove it to the side in case KeyTronic ever goes out of biz.

#11 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-15 17:46 (Reply)

Doc, the backlit keys are controlled by the user, and the default is OFF. Hit ctrl-8 to light it up. I forgot about character map, I guess it's still in Win 7. Thanks.

#11.1 steve in CT on 2011-10-15 21:53 (Reply)

Logitech, 7 years old and still going strong. BIG keys where and when I need them.

New isn't always better. Long live good simple design.

#12 Peccable (Link) on 2011-10-15 21:14 (Reply)

Pecs - No big Enter key, though, alas. If they had, I'd probably be using one. I love their mouses. I'd be simply lost without my double-click scroll wheel. Every now and then I'm working on someone's computer and actually have to (gasp!) double-click on icons to open them, thereby having to perform TWICE the work! There ought to be a law against such outlandish wastes of energy. Don't these people realize we have a planet that needs cooling down??

"New isn't always better."

I would have used the word "rarely". :)

#13 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2011-10-16 05:56 (Reply)

Yup, I hear ya on the disapperance of proper 4:3 MONITORS (it's not a g-d TV!). I noticed it about a year ago. We've practially come full circle back to the bad old days when you hooked your Coleco to whatever old junk TV you could dredge up.

#14 DerHahn on 2011-10-16 18:36 (Reply)

COMMENT_DELETED

#15 hurf durf on 2011-10-19 23:58 (Reply)

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Saturday, October 15. 2011

Doc's Computin' Tips: Of fads & fashion