Episode 0074, 11/08/2008
Title/Description: Obama Tech, IT Hammered, Free Netbooks
Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 74, recorded November 8th, 2008. This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information. This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.cengage.com/coursetechnology for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.
Story 1 - Obama Wins with Technology
A big factor in president-elect, Barack Obama's winning campaign was his use of technology and the Internet to win supporters and campaign funding. Within his first days as president-elect, Obama has made it clear that he intends to bring the power of technology to the White House. For the first time, there will be a Chief Technology Officer, or CTO, to manage federal information systems and technologies. The person who wins that position will be charged with ensuring that the federal government uses best-in-class technologies and implements best practices. Within a couple days of winning the election, the president-elect set up his first governmental Web site: change.gov. The Web site provides information about the transition and calls for citizens to share their ideas to bring positive lasting change to the country - a concept that Obama calls Open Government. It is clear that our new president doesn't want to lose the millions who have been following and participating in his campaign online, but instead is looking to transition them to be active online with the new administration.
Sources:
Google-enabled government starts with Obama's CTO [Computerworld]
Change.gov you can believe in? [Ars Technica]
Story 2 - IT Hammered by Economic Slump
Warning, this story will probably leave you feeling depressed. Fast forward if you wish to continue with your cheery day. The failing US economy is having a big impact on the tech industry. This week, chipmaker AMD laid off 500 employees, and Nokia announced that it will be laying off 600 employees. A Web page at TechCrunch has been set up to track Tech sector layoffs. Other companies that you might recognize that have laid off portions of their workforce over the past few weeks include Circuit City that laid off 800 as it plans to close 155 of its stores, Pandora laid off 20, Bit Torrent laid off 18, LinkedIn laid off 36, Coxx Communications laid off 500, Symantic 880, EA Games 600, Qwest 1200, Motorola 3000, Dell 8900, Yahoo 1500, eBay 1500, Freescale Semiconductor laid off 2400, and NXP semiconductors 4500. These last two huge layoffs by semiconductor companies relate to a recent report from IDC that foresees a dramatic reduction in chip demand as consumers tighten their budgets. IT staffing company, Yoh Services, reported that those able to get IT jobs are being offered wages that are on average 6 percent lower than they were a year ago.
Sources
AMD Lays Off 500 Workers Worldwide [Information Week]
Nokia announces fresh round of job cuts [vnunet]
TechCrunch Layoff Tracker [TechCrunch]
Chip Shipments Could Face Slow Growth [PCWorld]
Circuit City to Close 155 Stores, Cut U.S. Workforce [Bloomberg]
Story 3 - Free Netbooks?
This may cheer you up. In an interesting Computerworld article, Mike Elgan predicts that netbooks - that is small low powered notebook computers designed to be used primarily for Internet use, will soon be as cheap as cell phones. The idea is that with the price of netbooks dropping to below $400, it is possible that cell phone companies might provide netbook subsidies with data plan contracts. So just as it is possible to get a $300 cell phone for $99 with a 2-year cell phone contract, you may soon be able to get a $400 PC for $99 with a two year mobile broadband contract. As wireless broadband becomes increasingly common and less expensive, and as netbooks become less expensive, it is possible that a cellular data plan could get you a free computer within the next few years. It is reported that netbook manufacturers are already in talks with the cell phone carriers to make this happen.
Sources:
Elgan: Why netbooks will soon cost $99 [Computerworld]
And that brings us to News Briefs.
·
After months of
debate, the FCC voted unanimously to open the unused television spectrum known
as "white space" to help improve Internet access in urban and rural
areas. The move is expected to ramp up competition in the wireless Internet
market providing consumers with increased access at lower costs and exciting
new Internet devices.
FCC
head, Google co-founder see cheaper Internet [Reuters]
·
In the same
meeting, the FCC voted and approved Verizon's purchase of Alltel, and Sprint's
partnership with Clearwire. It would appear that the FCC is fully behind
ramping up competition in the wireless Internet space.
FCC
OK's Verizon/Alltel and Sprint/Clearwire deals [Reuters]
·
Google has
pulled out of its partnership with Yahoo due to regulatory objections leaving
Yahoo hoping that Microsoft might make another offer. Microsoft's Steve Balmer
stated that Microsoft is no longer interested in acquiring Yahoo. Microsoft
previously offered $33 a share for Yahoo, an offer that Yahoo rejected as being
too low. Now the company is selling at just below $12 a share.
Microsoft
CEO pours cold water on Yahoo interest [Reuters]
·
Microsoft has
signed a deal with LG to collaborate on new mobile technologies.
Microsoft,
LG sign mobile collaboration deal [Reuters]
·
A recent study
shows that Apple and its wildly popular iPhone has overtaken RIM and its
Blackberry smartphone to become the second largest smartphone vendor globally.
Nokia is still number 1.
iPhone
sales give Apple 2nd place in global market [vnunet]
·
A research
project from Nokia and University of California, Berkeley uses GPS data from
cell phones to monitor the flow of traffic. By monitoring the movement of cell
phones, the system is able to provide the fastest, least-congested route to a
destination.
Project
turns GPS phones into traffic reporters [Computerworld]
That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at coursecasts.course.com. E-mail us with your suggestions for the show at course.coursecasts@cengage.com. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!