Making Money from Computing in the Post-Microsoft Age
By 2004 the Internet (or more correctly "The Web") has become a very important part of everyday life, at least for those of us in developed countries. This explosion of connectivity would never have been possible without the PC, which has become indispensible for practically every business and home. It seems that computers are everywhere. Have we reached saturation point? Is there any money to be made for businesses just starting up in the computing industry? Or has every angle been explored on ruthlessly exploited?
To a casual observer it would seem that Microsoft has acheived one of its original goals: "A personal computer on every desk and in every home". It seems to have a farly convincing monopoly on the desktop. Indeed Microsoft is a very successful company, and has worked very hard to get where it is today. Most people who own a PC have one or another of the Microsoft Operating Systems on it and possibly many applications written by Microsoft too.
But Microsoft also has a bad reputation. At corporate level it often appears as a bully. Its business practices in the past left a lot to be desired. It quite often attacks a particular market, usually quite brutally, releasing a product for little or no cost, just to put a competitor out of business. It also releases software which is tied quite tightly into it's operating systems. Why is that a bad idea? Why shouldn't they get some benefit from the special knowledge and work they have put into the OS. They are after all in business to make money, and to make as much as much as possible for their shareholders.
Unfortunately this kind of attitude makes enemies, and can cause ill-feeling in the industry and eventually in your user base. And Microsoft does have a lot of enemies. Bad feeling leaks out, in comments here and there, articles, and eventually it goes round and round and eventually a spiral of distrust and hatred is formed. Not good news for Microsoft. But to be fair they have often not helped this process, some of their products in the past have just not been up to standard, with particular regards to security. Mention Microsoft in some techies circles and sniggers and insults are often traded.
So Microsoft has become a dominant supplier for Operating Systems for home and office desktop use. They have made huge inroads into the server markets, replacing many smaller UNIX based systems. They have entered pretty much every sector of IT and have either made money out of it or squashed all credible competition. But they have done so at the expense of many other companies. And I would argue that their "dominance" is far from total, and that we have not reached "saturation point" for IT. I think we are only at the beginning.
Where is there to go with all of this? Well, Google is a good model of how you can make money even though Microsoft apparently has the market pretty well sewn up. Google is the best search engine on the Internet. Period. Its great idea, which makes it powerful, is that it ranks pages or results depending on how many times a particular pages has been referenced or linked to. The more links, the higher the page rank, and the higher up the page you appear in the results. And the entry and results pages are free of clutter, most of the time no adverts at all, sometimes a few carefully targetted text ads. Very clean, just the stuff you ask for. Google sells ads and targets them precisely to people who are looking for something. They make lots of money.
So soon other companies want Google to search their own websites for them. To find documents in an intranet etc. No problem, Google comes up with a box which does exactly that. Very successful. But Google doesnt stop there, now they acquire the entire newsgroup archives going back 20 years, and give you the ability to search it, plus all the current archives. This is good news for techies, all techies now love Google. It is very good marketing, plus you get to sell more adverts. And all the while Google is ploughing all of this money its making back into its infrastructure, expanding its hardware. By this time it is amassing a huge number of servers, all built from off-the-shelf components, with an Open Source OS to run it all. That clean screen with its simple text box to enter a search and a few lines of links hides a HUGE network of servers with a lot of storage. The users though dont have to think about it, and Google doesnt talk about it. The Google philsophy - give the user what they ask for and no more. Keep the complexity away from the user.
Google then adds Froogle, a search engine for sites that are selling stuff. All the time Google are adding extra functionality without making thinks more complex and still while selling more ad space. The one day Google drops a bombshell. They are giving away a free web-based email account. Nothing new there, everyone has done that. The difference - it has 1GB of free storage. 1GB! Gmail has 1 Gigabyte for each user. Hotmail at the time offered only 2MB for each user, and at the time of writing - at least for my account - hasn't increased it. Plus the fact the Gmail offers a unique - simple - way of managing email that the other suppliers cannot match, along with the sophisticated search that one expects from Google. All paid for by adverts which accompany the emails - unobtrusively but to some people it is seen as a threat to privacy. The only dark side we have seen so far!
Now rumours are doing the rounds that Google is developing an operating system, or maybe just a browser. We have gone in a fairly short time from a company that just did search to a company that is being viewed as the next big competitor for Microsoft. They did it by stealth, by making money in solid core areas, by using advertising, and without being EVIL. They are making money in new and interesting ways, and they are doing it without annoying industry or customers. And also without obviously encroaching on Microsoft's core businesses (although if they realease a browser that may well change..)
So where does that leave us if we want to repeat any of this, to make money from IT? How do we make money now? I would argue that there are areas that computers have not gone yet, or if they have they are small and relatively underpowered at present. We are thinking devices that are smaller than PC's - like PDA's, personal servers, control systems for houses, even web enabled fridges and cookers. And by web enabled I mean they have web servers on them, you connect to them to do stuff, take control, get information. Web services everywhere. That is one area where there is still money to be made. And advertising space to be sold! And to do it you must learn from the mistakes and sucesses of the past, from both Microsoft and Google. Learn from the past and apply it to the now.
Natural Elements
In an earlier article I looked at the study of Feng Shui and its relevance to house design. I discussed the compass school and its reliance on measurement and calculation, but now I'm going to talk about the forms schools because I think that it is particularly relevant to finding a plot for a house.
It's quite easy to see how the forms school arose. People would probably noticed over the years how houses built in certain locations seemed to fare better than others. Maybe a house halfway up a hill, facing south, laster longer and its occupants seemed to be healthier that those living in a house in the bottom of a valley or on a north facing slope where they may have been subsceptible to flooding or damaged by North winds. As time went on, these snippets of information would get passed on and get wrapped up in other theories until a formal theory of Feng Shui arose. It was thought that a force, ch'i, circulates in the earth, churning round and round. Where it goes near the surface, the land is good. Where it recedes from the surface you get deserts and bad land.
So you must consider your surroundings when you go to buy a plot of land. Remember:
1. Grass and Plants: If grass is green, ch'i is good. Brown, yellow or bare spots on the lawn indicate ch'i flowing away from the surface. Look for "dragon points" - bright green areas where vegation is thick and flourishing.
2. Garden: Good flowers and trees, avoid land with sickly or dead plants or where flowers do not bloom.
3. Animals: Wild or domestic animals are indications of good ch'i. Cats with good fur, healthy dogs, birds etc.
4. Neighbours: If your neighbours are doing well, thats a sign of good ch'i. Healthy looking friendly neighbours are an excellent sign. Appealing convivial neighbourhoods obviously attract successful people!
5. Bad Omens: Look out for chance events, like lightbulbs going, dead animals, unpleasant smells. If this happens keep on looking!
Shape of Landscape
Avoid slopes that are too steep, gentle grades are best and these give the best drainage. If possible build on the flatter side of a hill and never on the top of the hill or cliff or under a cliff. Houses near or within view of water are also good luck (as long as you are not on the flood plain!). The water should be clean and clear though, not sluggish or muddy. Ponds and lakes are good, although again you should ensure that ponds are kept clean and well stocked with fish.
Well, I hope that has given you something to think about about when you go to buy a plot of land. I will talk about the compass school of Feng Shui next but for now if you want to find out more about Feng Shui you can read
Interior Design with Feng Shui: by Sarah Rossbach, which is where I got most of the information for this article, which can be bought
here from Amazon.
0140196080
Relatively Speaking
There is a
new website here that is dedicated to family history. Not a lot of content at the moment but I hope to be able to bring it up to speed quite quickly. It should be a general resource for people wishing to research family history rather than a specific family site.
Feng Shui of House Design and Layout
The Chinese have used the ancient arts of Feng Shui to help them design and lay out their houses for thousands of years. The words Feng Shui mean "wind, water", and this is the key to using Feng Shui, looking at nature, learning from it - from its shapes and forms - and understanding that you need to work with nature, and not try to artificially "force" against it. The forces of nature, and the balance between the masculine and the feminine, or the yin and the yang, need to be balanced and kept in check. Too much of one will overpower the other and cause illness or suffering.
Different Schools
There are many schools of Feng Shui, some based in ancient Chinese tradition, some on Korean and other neighboring countries. The two main schools are based on either the form school, which relies heavily on observation of nature, and the compass school, which relies on compass settings and complex measurements.
The form school emphasises the layout of the land where you are going to put your house. From a design point of view it is easy to see how the form tradition arose. It would make perfect sense to anybody that to put a house in land that is too low lying or by stagnant water would be a mistake. It is also important to look at shapes inside the house, and also the shape of the house itself. Chinese houses are not usually complex shapes, as they are considered inauspicious or unlucky. They tend to keep to vaguely rectangular shapes in plan. An "L" shaped house is not a good shape either, as tension is created between the two halves. The shape is considered to be like a cleaver, and depending where the bedroom or kitchen is located can bring very bad luck on the occupants - unless you take steps to remedy it. More about remedies later.
The compass school of Feng Shui concentrates on the direction and orienation of the house and its layout, i.e. is the front door west facing, east facing and so on. It also looks at the direction of the "fire mouth" or cooker, in Chinese culture food and eating is at the core of family life and if there is upset in the kitchen it is almost as bad as an upset in the bedroom, sometimes worse! Measurements are also taken to ensure that work surface and desk heights are correct for house occupants. These compass settings and height measurements are calculated using a complex series of tables and correspond to the occupants date and time of birth. It is sometimes difficult to work out how such directional and height recommendations can come from your date of birth, but strangely it does often seem to work.
Remedies
What if you are forced to use a plot of land that may be considered inauspicious because of its shape or location? Or you are living in an "L"-shaped house with a cooker facing the wrong direction? Dont worry, there are a large number of "remedies" that can be applied to ensure that you dont come to harm! I will talk about some of these in a later article! I will also look at some good shapes to look for when buying a plot of land.
Have you switched to Firefox yet?
I was interested in how many people have switched to using Mozilla Firefox from Internet Explorer. I switched several months ago, mostly because of the amount of spyware which was invading my machine (from my 15 year old stepson's daily wanders around the Internet). Now my web logs show that more than a third of the people coming to this site are using Firefox. There is an interesting article on Paul Thurrotts Winsupersite on
Internet Explorer Alternatives which explores the reasons why you should consider changing, and the alternatives out there. When people like Paul (he is hardly a Windows hater, far from it) start to make a fuss, you know there is something wrong. Read the article, and if necessary
this more in depth one, and make up your own mind.
Spaces and House Design
We are used to speaking about our homes as a series of rooms - living room, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and so on. By using these terms, we limit the scope of what we can do in our homes. In the book
The New Natural House Book by David Pearson he explores the home in terms of "activities" and "processes" rather than "rooms". He asks to consider instead of thinking "bathroom", think "bathing and cleansing". Instead of "bedroom", think "peaceful sleep". Consider your lifestyle, how can you use the spaces in your home to enhance your lifestyle, and how can you move to a healthier and more conserving lifestyle.
Also he asks us to consider the transitions between spaces in the home, how space can overlap and be combined. Doorways and windows are also transitions between different spaces, between inside and outside spaces. Consider having spaces that cross traditional boundaries, between inside and out, such as a bathing space linking indoors and out. Try to create intermediate spaces too, such as glazed porches or sunrooms that extand the living areas to the outside but also add another layer - a buffer if you like - between the private space and the public space.
PeteHaus: October 2004: "PeteHaus is now open" The dark blog is now here. Be afraid.
Creative Commons Licence
I have placed everything here unde a
creative commons licence, so that you can quote or use anything on this site just as long as you give me credit (I crave glory) and dont use it for commercial gain. Other than that, well - feel free to copy away.
I think that the Creative Commons licence creates a good balance between those who just copyright everything (and in the process stifle creativity and in the long run society in general) and those on the other side who argue that everything should be free of all copyright (and free of charge too). Why should I even contemplate copyrighting a bunch of largely selfish rants that hardly anybody will ever read? And on the other hand, what if I have a simply
GREAT idea one day and blog it here drunk in the middle of the night, and then next week somebody runs off and makes a
million dollars out of it (and buys a whole load of sharks with freakin' lasers on their heads). I would be mightily pissed off. No, the Creative Commons CC mark is the most level headed thing I have seen on the Internet in a long time, and I wish the people over at
creativecommons.org all the best.
SQL Server 2005 Beta2
Received a copy of SQL Server 2005 Beta2 in the post this morning, plus the resource kit, so will get to work and try it all out today. Saw demos of it while I was at TechEd Europe in Amsterdam earlier this year and I have to say it looked pretty impressive. For me the major benefit will be the integration with CLR (Common Language Runtime) which should enable me for the forst time to get hooks into SQL from my VB.NET apps directly. No SQL commands!
How to Design and build your own House by Lupe Di Donno
This How to Design and Build Your Own House
is a book that comes highly recommended, even if some of the methods are a bit out of date it is good for working out the initial design of the house, deciding how it is all going to work as a building.
Building your own House
Many people build their own houses these days, and companies are making it easier for us to do so. As I mentioned in an earlier article some companies do complete home-build kits, which take you from getting the money for the mortgage, finding the plot of land, getting planning approval, helping you design the house and getting it put up, through to getting buildings approval and receiving the final deeds. You just act as project manager for the build. Hey they even help you source local builders to do the work.
This is probably going to be the route I choose as I source the land and decide on a design for the house. Although it would be quite possible for me to design and draw initial plans (I am also an architectural illustrator) I think I will probably leave the final designs to an architect. My biggest challenge at the moment is to talk my partner into the idea - she is happy here at the moment, and the kids are still in school, so it would not be fair to move them right now. I assume that this is going to take a year - maybe two to achieve anyway, so we are right at the beginning of the process now. But as Lao T'su said:
"a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step",
so I think I've just taken that step - and that is the hardest part, isnt it? We'll see.
Why's Poignant Guide to Ruby Chapter 5
The latest installment of
Why's Poingant Guide to Ruby has been released. This is a strange and sometimes disorientating text, which wraps up information about the excellent Ruby programming language in a humorous (cartoons supplied) rambling adventure. Who knows if you can learn anything from it, I was too disturbed by the end to care but still liked it. You might get more out of it than me. There is no doubting that Why knows his subject though, and he is quite active on the comp.lang.ruby newsgroup. I recommend a read.
Building my own Home
I am going to build my own home. Not such a mad idea these days! In the UK alone 20,000 new homes were built by self-builders last year. And it's not so much a struggle as you might imagine, there are good kits and home-building companies who will walk you through every step of the process. Companies like
Potton Homes are a good place to start to find out more.
My home is definately going to be a timber framed structure, possibly with a kit from Potton Homes. Although I am leaning towards a Japanese style timber house, although it is quite difficult to get planning permission for houses that do not "fit the mould" - local planning authorities in the UK can reject a design just because of the wrong cladding or window frames, let alone what the actual shape is!
There is a great site
here which has some good pictures of buildings in and around Kyoto. There is also a link to a page of optical illusions, be prepared, some will make you feel sick.
