Technology

You better get used to paying with your phone. It’s already a popular method of making purchases in places like Japan and even some countries in Africa, but in the United States it hasn’t caught on quite as quickly. While so-called tap-to-pay methods have been around for a number of years already, Apple’s recent announcement of their own mobile payment service, called Apple Pay, has sent a new wave of excitement through the technology community.

You’ve probably heard of the Internet of Things (IoT) and how it’s set to completely transform the world. Some may view thguestis as an exaggerated take, but there’s little question that companies across the globe are taking an intense interest in it. The central concept of the IoT features tiny sensors and other machines that are all connected to the internet, allowing them to communicate with people as well as each other. Some experts are predicting that by the year 2020, there could be as many as 20 to 30 million items that are part of the Internet of Things.

What do we ask for? Consistency. What do we get from Consumer Cellular? More than a dozen ways to configure our Google Nexus 5 to their network. Unfortunately, many of those recommended settings don't work. Luckily, time is on our side. In the past 6 months Consumer Cellular and Nexus 5 owners have settled on APN settings that actually work properly on the Consumer Cellular network.

When Google announced in 2012 that they were bringing Google Fiber to Kansas City, my father called me and said he was interested. As an information technologist, I was excited. I told the “old man” that Google Fiber was going to change everything. Last month, Google Fiber finally came to my parents' neighborhood, and I made the six-hour drive to visit the house I grew up in.

A couple years ago, my wife and I took advantage of the post-housing bubble low interest rates and upgraded to a larger home. We came across a pre-owned house built in 2006 that came with the price, size, and style that just screamed to us "buy me".  As a family, we carefully reviewed our finances and listed our pros and cons before making the purchase. My wife and I were excited to finally have a bathroom connected to the master bedroom. Our then young son was excited that he finally had a family room that offered him fun and adventure. Secretly though, what sold me on the house had nothing to do with these things. What impressed me most was that this house had a network distribution panel.

What I want from tech vendors: "I need them to listen, learn and be honest and realistic about their capabilities. Many technology vendors are still more interested in selling than in listening to what our real challenges are."

- Steve Mills, CIO, Rackspace, CIO Profiles: Steve Mills Of Rackspace, InformationWeek, March 13, 2013

"So much ink has been spilled deriding the false concept of a "Facebook friend," but I can tell you that a "Facebook friend" is better than nothing."

- Paul Miller, I’m still here: back online after a year without the internet, The Verge, May 1, 2013.

"We can now send people through their own personal industrial revolution in 90 days. So if you're a bright guy, a bright gal, you got an idea you can turn it into reality. Just like you could do it in code 15 years ago, now you can do it in hardware."

- Mark Hatch, CEO Techshop, Interview by Robert Scoble in "America's most important startup?",  Video published on Mar 25, 2013 via YouTube

"Telling people about the power of a technology is great. The story just needs to placed into the context of the business need."

-Laurence Hart, Checking the Industry Trends, Word of Pie, October 1, 2012

"51 percent of respondents, including a majority of Millennials, believe stormy weather can interfere with cloud computing."

Wakefield Research, "Most Americans Confused By Cloud Computing According to National Survey, News Release", Citrix Systems via ZDNet