Tag Archives: Writing

Turning points in technology

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Every industry has crucial events that have changed the course of history. My feature article for InfoWorld this week looks at some of the most prominent ones for the tech industry.

Whether it’s Louis Gerstner’s famed turnaround of IBM or Apple ditching the PowerPC for Intel chips, each of the 15 turning points I cover has helped to craft the computing world we know and love today. There are probably countless more that I’ve missed, too, so if you think there’s an area that I’ve failed to cover, sound off about it here or on the InfoWorld message boards.

What’s happening to the browser?

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InfoWorld posted my latest feature this morning. This one is a look at some of the new technologies that are now appearing on the market aimed at developers of so-called rich Internet applications (RIAs), including Adobe AIR, Mozilla Prism, and Google Gears.

The title they chose to go with was “Is the browser going nowhere?” (or “Do new Web tools spell doom for the browser?”). I guess sensationalism is always a useful way to sell articles, but the actual article isn’t quite so melodramatic. The idea is that the traditional browser experience might not be ideal for every application on today’s Web, and that a number of companies are addressing the need for new tools. What tomorrow’s browser might look like — or to what extent it might disappear altogether — remains up in the air.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Unsung technology gets its day

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Over at PC World, my latest fun feature looks at some of the most important technologies you never think about.

Consider, for example, the humble battery. We all bemoan the fact that our portable devices don’t last long enough (or, occasionally, that they explode). But have you ever stopped to think how advances in battery technology have changed personal technology? Without modern lithium-ion batteries the iPod would hardly be possible, and your mobile phone would still look like a brick.

Among the other technologies given an airing are XML (it really is everywhere); managed code like Java and Microsoft .Net; and the mysterious world of digital signal processing, where incredibly complex mathematics gets packaged into chips to let you play your MP3s. Who knew?

Check it out and let know what you think.

Fatal Exception blog launched

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After a few technical glitches at the outset, my new InfoWorld blog is at last online. If you’re interested in the geekier aspects of computing, drop on by and take a gander at the first-ever installment of “Fatal Exception.”

Astute observers will recall that I’ve owned fatalexception.org for some time, so the choice of titles isn’t entirely a coincidence. But it also means something, which I’ve tried to explain in the first post. » More... » →

More bloggery to come

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As you’ve no doubt noticed, even though I’m no longer an employee at InfoWorld, I still do a fair amount of work for them. Now it looks like my role there is due to expand even further. Recently I’ve been in contact with the InfoWorld editorial staff, and they’ve extended me the opportunity to launch a new blog on the InfoWorld site.

Expect a bit of a departure from my Neil on Software blog at PC World. Instead, this one will take me back to my roots, looking at news, trends, and issues for software developers, with a particular emphasis on the new generation of “Web 2.0” technologies (hate that term). » More... » →

A strange news day at InfoWorld

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InfoWorld is covering a bevvy of bizarre news stories today … I’m really not sure what to make of it all. First, two of my own recent stories were really unexpected. First, it turns out that Dell and Intel will be collaborating on a new project to compete with the OLPC. Then I found out that IBM is expanding its mainframe line with a new product specifically for IBM Global Services customers.

But that’s not all. A lot of other reporters have posted really unusual stories this morning. It’s so confounding that the InfoWorld editors have organized the more dubious items into a special report.

PC World blog now live

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The good people at PC World Business Center have flipped the switch on my new blog there, so we are officially rolling. You can see a little RSS widget with the current headlines along the right-hand side of this page.

It should be interesting to see how this pans out over the coming weeks. I’ll be looking for feedback on how I’m doing, so feel free to leave comments on the site (or here, if you prefer). It’s a work-in-progress at the moment, but my goal is to steer it in the direction that best serves PC World’s readers.

And, if you’ve got any interesting news in the area of business software, send them to my “tech” address as usual, which you can find on my contact page.