With India and China now working in league, where will the European IT world be in 5yrs from now, or even you?

Putting their previous problems behind them, India  are investing heavily in Chinese IT companies, and China themselves are building deep-water ports around India (to facilitate bulk shipping vessels), and also Power Plants there.  I can predict that both South Korea and Taiwan will bury their past differences with China/India, only to jump aboard the new trade and manufacturing possibilities there.  It’s going to be a major jump forward in trade not only in the Asian area but the whole world.

The signs are there, India’s students are learning the Mandarin language and the Chinese Students are learning Indian languages!  The Indian and Chinese Hardware houses are recruiting British and European Teckies, and investing heavily in “New Wave” Technologies, technologies we haven’t even seen in the UK yet.  I have already written about these products on here, so major manufacturers watch out, the carnivorous appetite of the Asian electronics giants will soon be eating up your market!

What does it mean? Well great news if you are a High Street “Box Shifter” loads of cheap White and IT goods.  Bad news if you are supplying all the associated services onces enjoyed by supporting a UK distribution Market.  It will be cheaper to replace than repair, much cheaper than it is now! Again, my prediction is complete PCs and laptops both under £200 each, and that is a scary thought if you are currently selling IT goods in the UK, with very little profit margin, as it is at the moment! It’s bad enough that Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s sell PCs, Laptops and TVs.  I mean what do they know about the product, how do they support it (thats if they even try to, probably you have to phone India for support) and why are they even going into a market place they know very little about?  As an IT guy I don’t sell Brussels Sprouts (something I know nothing about),  so why do they sell White or IT goods?  The only answers here is profit!  It’s a one stop shop for all you household needs, maybe next they will also sell cars on their petrol station forecourts? Maybe even have your car washed, MOT and serviced while you shop in store for you food… Ummm They won’t be doing that  for me, even with extra points!

Imagine a High Street shop with a host of new brands.  So sorry Mr “Sony Shop” forget your market-place presents, with Mr “Joe Hong-Kong” high quality marketplace clone products, selling at your half the price of yours, in the shop right next-door to yours!

Trade and import limitations will not stop the flood of the goods hitting our shores. Imports mean “Import taxes”, sales of imported goods means more VAT taxes and TAXES make the government VERY happy.  This will herald the end of free enterprise for the independent White goods and IT retailers….

Will there be any room for the UK support personnel also? No, not with the outsourced support from English speaking “Call Centres” in India & China!

I really hope I am wrong, but I fear times are changing lads and lasses, so be warned.. It’s on it’s way and sooner than you may wish to believe…. And will you survive with even more cheap imports on the market?

Dare I say have a prosperous New Year?

While we are all used to working with cutting edge (or close to cutting edge!) IT, this is less often the case in developing economies. However, the team at Computer Aid are working to change this and we recently launched our first solar powered Internet cafe in Kenya with our partners Computers For Schools Kenya (CFSK).

The Internet cafe made its long journey from London to Nairobi in the guise of a standard 20ft shipping container, normally used to transport refurbished computers. On arrival the container converted into a fully functional Internet cafe for 11 users at a time. The cafe requires little power due to the thin client network, which includes 11 flat screen monitors that run off a single Pentium PC.

Six solar panels have been fitted on the roof enough to provide 18 hours worth of electricity everyday. The panels will last up to 25 years. The container can be placed and used anywhere on the planet, with no mains electricity or wired connectivity needed. To function it only requires power from the sun and the internet access is acquired through cellular data connection, WiFi or VSAT.

This is pretty cool in itself but in rural areas the developing world it means that ICT can be provided to schools and community centres in areas that don’t have mains electricity.

The project is off to a successful start and we are planning to set up several more solar Internet cafes in sub-Saharan Africa over the coming year. But this is only one of the ways in which Computer Aid can help bring ICT to rural communitites. Over the past 13 years Computer Aid has professsionally refurbished over 175,000 PCs for use in agricultural, health and education projects in more than 100 countries, predominantly across Africa and Latin America.

Computer Aid always need donations of monitors and laptops to send to schools and hospitals in developing countries so if you’re looking to get rid of your old ICT equipment, please do get in touch. We guarantee that all data will be wiped using UK secret services approved data destruction, provide asset tracking of all equipment donated and accept full legal liability. We also guarantee compliance with the WEEE directive and we ensure that any equipment we are unable to reuse is fully recycled in the UK with zero per cent going to landfill.

No doubt many of you have had a stocking or pillowcase full of bright and shiny new IT goods, maybe a new PC, a new Laptop or even a new phone. 

So  you will have to think about what to do with the old item that Santa has so kindly replaced for you.  Yep, you could bang it on Ebay (and maybe only get a few quid for it).  You could use one of those recycling firms that advertise on TV (and perhaps get a few quid more)… or you could donate it to charity?

Yes, there are loads of good causes, the Third World for starters…. They need PCs and Laptops for schools, and mobiles for communication between remote areas…

 For your mobiles (and other Teckie-Toy left-overs for that matter)…

 http://www.recyclingappeal.com/

 For your old PCs and laptops.

 http://www.computeraid.org/donate.asp

(Don’t forget to remove the hard drive first! Just incase)

But please don’t forget that the Third World Needs Capital Not JUST Charity.

Also see http://www.computersforcharities.co.uk/news/diary/0/22/

The other option is giving it to a UK charity that helps the elderly or disabled.  We have a local “Virtual Neighbours” group.  They give old  recycle and refurbish PCs to house-bound people that can’t afford to buy a PC for themselves.  Then they are set them up on a network to allow them to keep in contact with family, friends and neighbours. This provides the new owner with a way of letting people know that they are OK by daily contact, organise and share taxis for much needed shopping trips, outings etc or keeping  in touch with loved ones.  This all promotes independance and provides a new interest ….

Check you local charities to see if they run such a group, or if they are willing to start one.  Just one for starters :-

http://www.cftd.co.uk/cftd.htm

But please add more links if you know of a good cause that could make use of our old IT related stuff …..

Personally I would rather give my old Teckie-Toy to charity than sell it for a fraction of what it is worth on ebay..  And if only 1 in a 100 people reading this donates a PC, then that could give a Third World school a classroom full of PCs!

Happy New Year.

I have seen with great interest the latest development in the Xbox, the Xbox 360’s Kinect  motion controller.. WOW!  If I had that (and the Xbox 360 to go with it) I wouldn’t lose another 52” Flat Screen TV to a wayward Wii controller and Wii Golf!

So how come we haven’t got something like this, a Kinect motion keyboard and mouse for PC?  Without the need for an actual keyboard and mouse.

I see that the Japanese are working on wireless power for charging or using your gizmo without the need for plugging in to a socket. Ummm, and after all that fuss about mobile phones pumping microwaves into your brain.  We are all going to glow like Christmas tree lights now, as we absorb all those stray volts flying around the home or office!

What about this new operating system from Google “Chrome” is going to be half as good as the hype or will it be just another half-hearted pop like others that went before it? Will it have as much built in spyware as MS products? Ummm, probably.  Will it be 3d? Guess not, it was another flop in the world of great IT must have inventions. A nice toy for the first few days or so and then soon gets turned off to give the processor some of its power back.

Then there are these new Android Tablets and Concept Tablets, is the age of Star Trek nearly here?  I think these will upset the Apple Ipad market, especially when you see the spec and features. Ah poor old Apple eh? Oh and not to mention the new Android phones, bang goes some of the  Iphone Christmas sales!

But how about that voice activated PC we were going to have? Whatever happened to those then?   OK you can make a farm on a Nintendo DS and have all your friends play on it via WiFi.. Amaze your friends with a virtual pet on your mobile. Oh and save the human race in some war on some made-up planet with Halo on your Xbox, all while you play online with people you have never met …Whoopee-do!  but can we talk to the PC and does it answer us with a cheery robotic nearly human response? Nope, you still have to point and click or type like it’s the dark ages.  That breakthrough still looks a long way off. Yes we get faster PCs and Laptops but some burk keeps making the OS bigger and bigger and slowing them down again! 

OK it seems to me all the best gadgets are for everyone else and nothing ever happens in the world of computing apart from another flaming Windows update, and another, and yet another, followed by a new BIGGER version of Windows and yet even more updates! Has the IT world come to a grinding halt, while we wait to reinvent the wheel (or should that be Windows)?

Come on you inventors out there, invent something really useful for the IT world, not just for the gamers and please make it really good and useful for a change!

I want a PC with a chip-based OS and Apps that viruses cannot attack because they are hard-coded chips and can’t be written to. The PC clean boots every time you turn on booting from that hard coded chip.  The hard-drive just used for data and encrypted so only I can create/open/save or read files. I want a consistent connection to WiFi or Broadband that is fast, fast as opening a local file even if that file is 3gb and 1000s of miles away.  I want to be able to control the mouse with my eye, open files or apps by voice command and type by talking and without having to train the voice to text software for the next 3 years. I want error codes that actually mean something if/when they pop up, oh and can you have it all ready for Christmas please

Most already know that I feel most Uni IT courses are sadly out of date and out of tune with the real world of IT.  As some have already said an IT degree in Twitter or Tweet-ing isn’t any good if we are going to be back on the top as world leaders in the IT race.  Also it seems that most “Silver surfers” are getting a better course at the local U3A!

A lot of the Uni grads I get to work alongside with can “Tag”, “Poke” and play “Halo” like it’s an Olympic sport but can’t tell you a Network fault from a lost Video Driver! Why is that? Has the course failed them? Were they playing Halo instead of going to class? Or are we not telling the Colleges and Universities what we what to come out of the courses and from our graduates?

It’s bad enough for these would be IT Gurus but the latest news of the Universities “Charge what you like” course fees will put many out of the race to get any sort of real qualifications, not matter how out of date the courses are.

I really feel that the UK academic system is getting worse. The Asian countries beat us hands down not only in the quality of their courses but also the students and their dedication to learning.  Many Asian students could teach here in the UK with what they already know and without the bonus of the certificate.  OK, I know their standards are higher and if they don’t keep an 83% pass rate going they are “Sacked” from the course, but it really works to keep the standards up.  Consider this thought, education is a gift not a right, that is what they say in Asia.  This drives the student to achieve more, and they are glad to study and to achieve the best they can.  The best students in Asia are not always the ones that can afford to pay the fees.  They are the ones on scholarships and sponsorships because they have earned it and want it more than our students living off the “Bank of Mum and Dad.”  The lecturers are better too, they are the best of the best and could easily command much higher salaries working for big world corporations.

So if the UK Universities and Colleges want to be considered “Businesses” and have the right to charge what they like, then the rating system we have for them is all wrong.  They have to deliver more than what they have in the past and fit in with what is current and future thinking in the work place. It’s not about the pass rate, it is about what is being taught and it’s RELEVANCE in the real world.  We, the employer, should grade the Universities, based on the intake of graduates abilities in the workplace.  Most companies cannot afford to retrain those fresh out of Uni, and we shouldn’t have to.  So why are the Universities and Colleges sending out IT Graduates with poor IT skills?

It shows the lecturers are not monitored  or held accountable nearly enough.  I want to see the lecturers graded like the students.  As they say, “Those who can do, those who can’t teach”.  Sadly that is so true of so many of the UK Lecturers today, and many can’t teach that well either!  So like the students, if they fail their targets and objectives, they should be penalised for it or even sacked.  If not the students are not getting anything for the higher fees and the standards go down yet again.

For all you would be students, it’s time for a real think about the Uni or college and the sort  IT course you will take.  Be aware, sadly many courses can only be deemed as “Blanket Courses”, they cover a little bit of everything but not enough to teach you anything long term useful.  Great if you want to be a “Jack of all trades”  and plan to learn “on the job” what you need. I know, “But you need that bit of paper to get your dream job” in the first place.

As a student you must…

1)      Choose your College or Uni well, make sure it fits with what you want. Remember they are a business, if the product is shoddy, don’t buy it!

2)      Check it is the right course for you. i.e. if you dream of being a programmer or a hardware engineer, check that this is the key element of the course, not just one small part of a bigger  ”Blanket Course”.

3)      Get a full syllabus of the course, and the timetable.  (Ensure that all the lecturers have been employed to fill the course time, often they are not!).

4)       Talk to those on the 2^nd and 3^rdyear of the course, get their views and find out what problems they have experienced. You will be surprised to hear what is wrong with the course. How many people bailed on the course ‘cos it was boring, not consistent, underfunded etc. You will be shocked as to how many have gone back to their old job because the course was a flop.

4a)    What is the pass/fail rate for the course? And what were the grades?

5)      Course fees are only a part of it. What is the local area like, housing cost, work chances (if any) and do a pretend shop, see what it’s going to cost you a week/month to live.

 6) Plan your week, work, rest and play. Make sure you have time for all that and also get your assignments in on time.

7)  If any of the above comes out badly, rethink your plans and go for the one that ticks ALL the boxes for YOU the student, THE CUSTOMER!

P.S Don’t live off the “Bank of Mum and Dad!”  Do it all yourself.

As an employer we all should be talking to the Universities and Colleges to ensure they are teaching what we need to fill the future market place.  I am on two panels for the Technical development of IT courses.  Even with my extreme views of some Windows and Apple products (Evil Grin), the realisation of practical training based on real world experience has made courses more fitting to the employers needs.

Of course this is not a definitive list, and I hope others will add to this.  Some of you out there already working in the world of IT may have sons or daughters who wish to follow in your footsteps.  What would you tell them?  Post it here too…

What would you want your new fresh out of Uni, IT guy to know when he starts work with you on Monday? Have you told the local Uni or College this?

Putting “being an IT Heretic aside”, computing is a fascinating world. It has done me well for over 30yrs, taking me all around the world, and I have seen somethings I can tell you (both good and bad).  Both my sons have joined my company until their own passions took them off to other areas of IT.  All I can say, with the course fees going up, and the salaries getting smaller, think long and hard about what you want out of your career, and what you are prepared to do to get the money.  Sadly you can earn more aboard as a good Techie or Lecturer than you can here in the UK, but if you plan to have a wife and kids.. This may not fit in with your family life or the places you would like to work (some are very grim places, believe me very grim).

I have seen many IT firms go to the wall.  So finally, as a student you can easily expect a 30-40k debt with these new fees, is it worth it? You could study to be a solicitor or an accountant instead and earn much, much more… Just a thought.

All the best

Being aboard for so long, you yearn for something British.  Sorry HBO is American, the BBC World Service seems to be stuck in the 1970s?  Forget having a Sunday roast, and so even something as simple as ordering a burger in McDonald’s or three pieces of Chicken in KFC becomes a nightmare when, you are asked if you want rice or noodles with it (What no chips!?!).

So what do you do? Well, after teaching English to those that want to practice, seeing umpteen temples and ruins, watching badly dubbed foreign films, Tweet, Twitter and Blogging become your new life. You have to find something to do when it is too hot to be outside, and not do the ”Mad Dog and Englishmen”  bit.

I was overwhelmed as to how many “Blogs” there were and over how many subjects!! Within hours, I was blogging on sites everywhere from The Far East to the Far Out West.  I was amazed as to how many comments I was getting and to how quickly I was accepted into this cyber-publishing arena.  I really enjoyed getting the odd Tweet or Twitter from things I have posted or I have subscribed to, and it was a great way to keep in touch with people, show others what I had been doing or where I was.

I also found that there were millions of great posts, buried away from sight due to “Sponsored” blog sites taking the glory away from the genuine posters with something important to say to the world. The more I dug, the more I found.. and of course there was a lot of rubbish posted out there too LoL. 

There also there seems to be a blur between Blogs and Forums in some areas, and many people not really knowing the difference between them or where they should post what…

Sadly so many of the sites are un-moderated and un-supervised.  I was amazed as to how many genuinely honest posts were destroyed by “Trolls” (as they are called) with little better to do than rip someone’s post to bits over content, spelling or grammar, and themselves use  bad language and obscenities in the process, and often aimed at the younger or “Newbie” posters.

It wasn’t just limited to the ad-hoc or fanatic sites, it often appeared on major commercial sites too!

No, I do not want a “Nanny-State”, but would expect that some censoring of language used should happen, especially expletives, should be edited out (or the whole post or reply deleted). They do it on most sites when external links or personal details are used, so why not foul language? If you imagine your young son or daughter posts on a site only to get a hail of fouled mouthed abuse, would you not want some censorship, if only to protect them? Funny thing was, I never got any foul language on any of my posts, but several I followed got huge amounts of abuse. Sometimes because their posts were not considered important or relevant to the “Trolls”, sometimes because they were newbies asking for genuine advice. These very same people who should be acting as the Peer Group were, rude, unsupportive and generally offensive to the very people they should be encouraging to contribute to keep the sport or interest going.

I personally would love to see the Blog sites moderated and supervised so that foul language is kept out (unless of course it is an adult only site, rated as such and members only). If the owners of the Forum or Blog can’t or won’t moderate or supervise their site, then it should be forced to close, to protect the younger, would-be posters.

Also I feel that Blog sites should be un-sponsored, or else they become no more than advertising space for everyone with a chequebook and no real opinion is made in case the sponsors pull the funding. After all, blogging is about opinions and not advertising. My own personal site is not sponsored and it will never be, as I want to write about what I want without it being a conflict of interests when the praise or gripe is about the same firm that is paying me to write. I don’t even advertise my own blog on other sites, find me if you can lol.

Even Ebay is more like the local newspapers small ads section, with adverts pestering you on every page and nothing to do with what you are searching for!

But seriously, there is no need for the “Trolls” on any site. If they have to get their fun let them have their own site, with controlled membership, like the proverbial “Porn” sites do. Where they can snipe and dig at each other and stop them having an unnecessary go at the younger, newbie or genuine posters.

Same goes for “Sponsored Ads”, these should be kept to a minimum or else the Internet becomes worse than American TV… More adverts than content!