Stories by Mike Elgan

  • While Windows sleeps

    Dell, Intel and their partners announced this week new technologies that represent major leaps forward for mobility. The companies seem to have discovered the secret to making such bold leaps: Cut Microsoft out of the deal.

  • Will gadgets make knowledge obsolete?

    In the 1984 cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer , author William Gibson describes a future in which people can acquire knowledge by buying special chips called "microsofts" that plug into a surgically installed jack behind the ear. Once you plug in the chip, your brain can access its database and - voila! Knowledge!

  • In search of the super easy super phone

    MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte railed against complexity in mobile phones, recently, and said that "simplicity is the biggest challenge that handset makers face."

  • Hyperconnectivity: Friend or foe?

    An April 2007, Time magazine feature called, "The Hyperconnected," was illustrated with a picture of a person's wrist handcuffed to a mobile device. This image faithfully conveys a common and growing reaction to the explosion in connected devices and communication applications in our culture.

  • Why not give users what they want?

    Flashy new technology always gets attention. But after the chatter fades, users are often left with frustration over products' failure to do basic, common-sense functions.

  • Sweet new service backs up while it syncs

    A company called Sharpcast last week rolled out a new service that syncs your data across PCs, Macs and phones. That sounds simple enough, but the service, called SugarSync, and it's believed to be the first of its kind.

  • Why iPhone will change the (PC) world, part II

    More than a year ago, I wrote a column called "Why the iPhone will change the (PC) world." In that piece I described how the user interface of future operating systems -- the next-generation Windows, OS X and Linux UIs -- will have iPhone-like elements such as multitouch, gestures, 3-D and minimal icons.

  • The new two-laptop minimum

    Ten years ago, every frequent-flying, executive-platinum mobile professional required a desktop PC back at the office and a laptop for the road. "Ultra-portables" or extreme mini computers were an expensive and optional luxury for serious enthusiasts or big shots with expense accounts. But in the last year, all that has changed.

  • Making the phone-PC connection

    It seems these days that every Tom, Dick and Harry -- or, more accurately, every Dell, Acer and Apple -- wants to get into the mobile phone/handset business.

  • Was Windows XP Microsoft's last good OS?

    Everybody's talking today about "Drivergate" - internal Microsoft e-mails that show senior Microsoft executives personally struggling to use hardware products sporting the "Windows Vista Capable" sticker. The e-mails also show that Microsoft lowered its standard for some hardware compatibility, apparently to help Intel impress Wall Street.

  • Wi-Fi wants to be free

    Public Wi-Fi hot spots have been popular for about eight years. During that time, companies providing the service have been groping about, trying to figure out how to monetize it. The dominant model to date has been to simply charge for it. Pay us US$20 a month, and you can log in at any of our many locations.

  • Personal Tech 2008: Top 10 trends

    With each passing year, personal technology -- phones, gadgets, media electronics, and more -- gets better, smaller and cheaper. With the introduction of the Apple iPhone and other milestones, 2007 was an incredible year.

  • Who wants a custom mobile phone?

    Two different companies this week announced two different visions for customizable mobile phones. Are we entering a new era, where mobile phones are used and sold like laptops -- where you snap on extra functionality on the fly or have them built to order?