email : Webview : [TECHNICALLY SPEAKING] Microsoft upsets the apple cart and are Loyalty Programs doomed?

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Dear Friend,
If you're having trouble keeping up with the tech players, you're not alone. Just one example - Jeff Bezos controls Amazon and the Washington Post. At the same time as the Post gave the new Apple TV a rave review, Amazon stopped selling it - because it competes with their Amazon Fire TV. Bezo's own newspaper claims Apple TV is a great product but Amazon won't sell it. If Apple plays tit for tat, they'll drop the dozen or more Amazon apps from their app store - stay tuned.

I think the most important story in this issue is the one about Microsoft's new laptop and tablet computers. When the world's dominant software maker goes into direct competition with its partners, that's a really big deal! The PC market might change dramatically if Microsoft succeeds. Let me know what you think here.

And finally, if you missed last month's popular story about protecting your ID by freezing your credit information click here.

Until December, Gary

How scammers could kill Loyalty Programs
If you receive a dozen fake notes with offers from your favorite coffee shop or retailer you learn pretty quickly to ignore them - they are mostly scams. But if they look like real offers, how will you recognize and respond to a legitimate offer - we just delete, delete, delete . . . Could this spell the end of many loyalty programs? The reward for clicking on an authentic offer might be a donut or five dollars off while the penalty for clicking on a scam link could be theft of your ID. With those unfavorable odds more and more people might just shy away from all the offers - why take a chance.

End of the line for Flash
While Adobe Flash is often associated with a type of video, it is much more than that - it's an entire web development system. Most people gave it little thought until Steve Jobs drove the first stake through its heart when he did not allow Flash to work on iPads. It took several years for others to acknowledge the flaws in Flash but it's finally happening and others are tossing in the towel. Read all about it here.

Google is the new "Alphabet" - sorry teacher!
Google officially changed its name to Alphabet a month ago and the new name is showing up everywhere without the usual (formerly called Google) qualifier. I still don't like it when companies take a wildly popular word and name their product or company that. What did IBM name their 1981 version of a PC - the "PC" - how creative! From now on we will have to say every time which Alphabet we are talking about. To this day when someone says PC there are times when they mean Windows devices and other times all "traditional" computers - Apple included. How long will it be before every first grade teacher has to say "no, not the Google Alphabet, the other one".

New Apple iOS 9 improves productivity
Apple's latest mobile operating system iOS 9 adds a number of nice features and one that I think is outstanding. You can now split the screen to view or work on two documents at a time. If an email mentions a date, I can slide my calendar in, check the date, maybe schedule an event and switch back to the email which is still visible. I also write a lot on my iPad (almost all of this newsletter in fact) and now I can refer to information on a website that is visible on one side of the screen while writing on the other - ditto for creating slide presentations.

Apple also played catch up with Android by installing a "back button" that is customized for the situation. If you tap in an email to open a webpage, there will be a "back to email" button at the top of the screen. There's no confusion about whether "back" means back to the previous webpage or back to another app and the button is only visible when it is needed.

Life could get messy for Windows fans
Mostly great reviews of the new Microsoft Surface Pro tablet and Surface Book bode well for the future of Windows computers but it complicates the current business model. Microsoft now sells both the hardware and operating system as Apple has done from day one. The big difference is that Microsoft has hundreds of PC partners who have been making the hardware and they are now also competitors. MS has the inhouse advantage of controlling both hardware and software so not only will buyers be more confused - get a "real" Windows computer from MS - but business relationships are likely to be strained as well. Read this story about those partnerships

And while we're talking Windows you might want to check out this "Handy guide to upgrading to Windows 10"

PICTURE THIS - optical discs are dead - long live optical discs
It can be a shock to realize your brand new PC or Mac doesn't include a CD/DVD drive. Not to worry says the sales rep - nobody uses those anymore - it's all about "streaming from the cloud". It turns out Mr. "wet behind the ears" isn't entirely correct. New optical recording technology could in fact be the best bet for storing your personal and business records (and photos) for the very long term. I've written before about deciding what photos to save and this great article from PC World will help you decide where to save them.

November 2015
Issue 73

Who I am and what I do

My lifetime passion has been explaining technology to non-technical audiences. I've been a programmer, project manager, system designer and independent consultant. I've taught at the high school and university level, published numerous articles and given hundreds of lectures across the US and abroad. In my spare time I volunteer for several social service organizations and enjoy my photography hobby.

How I can help you

I will work with you to develop an educational program suited to your association, business or other group - long or short, basic or advanced. Popular topics include:

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• How mobile payments are changing the way we do business
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• Technologies and companies to watch

• Why good cameras take bad pictures

• How things work - from your PC to the Internet

Click here for more information on these topics.

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