Hunterdon Computer Club

By Lon Hosford

PC Sales 1Q 2013 dropped 14% According To International Data Corp in this article, PC Outlook Darkens as Sales Slump Deepens in 1Q, posted by Associated Press.

One reason given is the consumer’s move to mobility devices such as smartphones and tablets.

If you define a personal computer by its appearance and its mobility, then you see a major change. If you define a personal computer as how you use it, then we have an explosive growth in personal computing that is unmatched in the history of computing.

For example email, social networking, web browsing and entertainment have moved to mobility devices. As well there is a movement of business and personal productivity functions such as video conferencing or time and to mobility devices like tablets. Education needs are all well met by tablets. You can read books, take tests and watch instruction on mobility devices.

So a key reason for personal computers, their usage, has moved. Actually has spread out.

But more so the physical components of a personal computer have spread out.

If you remove a personal computer or laptop’s processor and storage you basically have a television screen. The mobility devices can wirelessly use that screen and regular television screens.

The processor is now, a bit less powerful but with more efficient software, located in mobility devices with some software.

Storage has moved to mobility devices, but not completely. A lot of storage was already on the move to cloud storage. Google Drive and Apple Cloud are good examples.

The input device has become a a fully portable touch screen with the additional capability to view the output. Users choose to use the touch screen or attach a traditional physical keyboard as well can choose to use the touch screen or broadcast to a TV or computer monitor for a larger view.

Software has become distributed. Software may run completely on a device but the trend is software running as a service or some say in the cloud. The mobility devices contain only the needed software functions to deal with the device local storage due to loss of network connection plus some security information and information about where and how the device is used such as in GPS and network access portables detected.

The personal computer as one unit is in decline, but has exploded into many devices all still performing together as a personal computer has in the past.

There are still productivity function where a large monitor, good keyboard, mouse, touchpad and stylist is needed. Some software just demands powerful local resources like these. Drafting, 3D animation, software development tools and even still productivity based word processing seem to retain the need for the traditional personal computer as one unit.

The mobility devices we see today, tablets and smartphones, are going to evolve and become part of mobility suites of devices you have. We have smart watches and smart glasses on the way.

The personal computer of the past will become woven into login to your mobility device suite. You might being tracke each time you open the fridge or even will tell you what is in the fridge while you are shopping.

Consider Google glasses. Another mobility device on the horizon. It could detect help you shop gathering information from your kitchen and helping direct you in purchases. It might advise you about economical quantities to purchase to avoid spoilage.

When you shop for personal computing, you will find thinking about the mobility device suite available to you and to some extent who share similar mobility device suites.

You may even find purchase will include a set, rather than making each item a separate purchase decision. That set may include a TV sized monitor, a few input devices of the past like a wireless keyboard and mouse, a table, a smart phone, a watch, a set of glasses and more as inventors think of them.

At the first meeting of the club for 2012, we had 26 members attending, all interested in getting back to learning more about our computers and the new, useful products and software out there to make our lives easier.

A member talked about her new iPad which she received for Christmas and had found very useful.  Some of the best features are the email capabilities, FaceTime to connect and talk visually with others, the Kindle application download to purchase and read books from Amazon or the Overdrive application to download free books from our local Hunterdon County Library, the camera for pictures and videos, and many other capabilities. Bruce recommended using Calibre software, http://calibre-ebook.com/, to find and read free books on any reader.

Thanks were given to Paul Glattstein for keeping up the membership list and doing name tags for each meeting. Paul suggested putting out a list of members names, but will wait to hear from the members as to whether or not to proceed with this. If no list is prepared, we can communicate with our members through our Yahoo group site.

Barbara Middleton is unable to continue taking care of the bagels and coffee set up before each meeting, so there will be a rolling group of members to do this. Whoever arrives first at the meeting will check to be sure the coffee and bagels are set up. If not, that person is to go back to the cafeteria in the hospital to ask for our coffee set up for the meeting. If there are no bagels, that person will go to the bagel shop at the front of the hospital and purchase one and a half dozen assorted bagels and cream cheese and pay the cost of them. The person will be reimbursed by the club treasurer at the meeting.

Presentation: Microsoft Fix-It Center, Bruce Arnold, Presenter

Bruce introduced us to a new solution from Microsoft, Microsoft Fix It. You can find it at www.microsoft.com/fixit .   On the home page of this new software, you can select the Windows product with which you are having trouble and then select the type of problem you are having. The software will run and then display solutions it has found.   The “Solutions Center” of the software provides you with an opportunity to type in the name of the product you are having trouble with. Answer any questions that appear on follow up screens in order to help the Fix It Center diagnose the problem. Trust the software since it is from Microsoft and allow it to download the fix. Accept any legal contracts that appear. This software will diagnose the problem and automatically fix it and than ask if the problem has been fixed. If the problem has not been fixed, start the process over and choose different selections to get to the solution needed.

If it is not an Internet connection on the computer that needs fixing, go to http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal . You will then be able to download the Fixit software to your hard drive. During installation you will see a Troubleshoorters screen that you can use to select areas where you may be having trouble. Try this software first when you have problems. It most likely will correct your problem and save you a trip to the repair store.

Thanks, Bruce, for making us aware of this new aid to help us when we have trouble with our computers.

The next meeting will be held on March 17.

Meeting was cancelled due to weather uncertainty. Next meeting is February 18th.

The club now has a Linked In page. If you are a Linked In member, you can search for Hunterdon Computer Club in the Companies tab.

Then choose to Follow.

Or here is a short cut: Linked In Page

As well you can “Share” our page with other Linked In connections. This will help spread the word about the club.