Fire-Wired Blog

This article was first published by dmcityview.com With Apple’s announcement of two new iPhones, it’s safe to assume tech writers everywhere are losing their minds while whispering tear-soaked thank-yous to the ghost of Steve Jobs, right? Well, not this one. While there were a few intriguing updates to the latest iteration of Apple’s wonder product, I personally met the unveiling of the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s with an audible yawn. See, there are three certainties in life: death, taxes and commoditization. If you’re born, you will one day die; if you make a buck, Uncle Sam is gonna take his cut; and if you revolutionize an industry, eventually the industry will catch up with you, and all you’ll have left to do is battle over the price. Apple was once the unquestionable king, but those days are long gone. While smartphone manufacturers continue to cram more and more pixels onto their screens, upgrade cameras, speed up processors and balloon storage space, none of that really ...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com Sam Goody, Suncoast Videos, Borders Bookstores and Circuit City; what do all these stores have in common? They were all brick-and-mortar stores that laid to waste by the rise of e-commerce, and the big box tech store has been hit the hardest. Still I occasionally find myself wandering the aisle of the few brave businesses left that refuse to shut their doors and give in to the “inevitable.” A couple weeks ago, when I purchased a Windows Surface tablet to test run, I decided to use the opportunity to evaluate the in-store tech purchase experience. In my life, no business has taken more of my expendable cash than Best Buy. The mountains of CDs, DVDs and video games I bought in Best Buys through the years easily ring up into thousands of dollars. However, in the last five years, I bet I’ve spent less than $100. The disadvantages far outnumber the few advantages of buying a computer in person. For starters, the salesmen push you to t...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com Last week Steve Ballmer surprised the tech world by announcing that in 12 months he will be stepping down as CEO of Microsoft. According to the rumor mill, Ballmer is not so much retiring as being gracefully shown the door due to the failure of Microsoft’s Surface line of tablets. Having personally spent a week with a Surface RT, I wholeheartedly agree that someone needed to lose his or her job for this piece of garbage. Since taking over for Microsoft founder Bill Gates in 2000, Ballmer’s CEO tenure has seen Microsoft miss the boat on MP3 players, smartphones, Internet search and now tablets. Besides being four years late to the tablet market, the entry level “Surface RT” falls short on virtually every count to the gold-standard iPad. As far as specifications go, the Surface loses on camera quality, screen resolution and third-party application availability with slow, frustrating operating systems. When considering design, the S...