510 Blog 4

I am a person that is always willing to learn. I do not know a lot about computers and their parts so all of this info is new and useful to me. I don't know if I will ever use a lot of this information but that doesn't mean that it is useless. I will never build my own computer, nor will I probably ever do my own upgrades or major troubleshooting. I do find this information useful when it comes to buying a computer. As we begin to talk about computer components and how to build the perfect computer, understanding what certain parts do and how they work makes it easier to make an educated decision when buying. I understand RAM and memory pretty well, but in this class I have learned about things like motherboards, processors, and virus software. When we are done with this class, if I can discuss computer parts more intelligently and make good buying decisions then it is worth it. The only addition I might make to this class is a resource listing full of links and information on the topics we research just to make finding quality information a little easier.

510 WK 3 what would I lose?

My laptop and I have not been getting a long for about 3 months now. When we started this program, my laptop often decided not to boot up or would not turn on at all. That computer has all of my music and about 4 years worth of college and work related files. Most of that stuff I have backed up on an external hard drive, so I am okay if it decides to die. The computer I am using now works great but all of my work is web based so I do not have to worry about it. If my work computer at school died, I could have issues. I have done a lot of work on that computer in the last two years. At the end of the year I backed it all up on my external hard drive and all year this year I have been meaning to do it again. If it crashed over the weekend I would be lost. I have a ton of files on there right now that are not backed up. I have letters, curriculum, power points, and pictures all saved on that computer. I have been thinking that I need to have an external hard drive at school at all times so that I am more likely to back up on a regular basis. Online storage is also an option, but not one that I prefer. I like the external hard drive because I know right where all of my info is, but if we had a fire or if someone stole it I would again be out of luck. This weeks data recovery assignment really made me think about what I am going to do for my school computer. I am glad all of my course work to date is done online and I have really begun to love google docs. I will probably end up backing up again at the end of the year and kicking myself if anything happens again. This is one of those problems that is easy to fix if you can just get yourself to do it!

510 wk 2 microsoft desktop future

I think this is an interesting topic. This blog is going to end up being a lot like my response to triumph of the nerds. No one can tell where this industry will be in one year much less five or ten, but the one thing I do know is that it will be constantly changing. When you talk about PC's and desktop computers, I think we are already seeing the change with PDA's, Iphones, and blackberrys. These types of mobile devices are quickly replacing many forms of computers that we currently use. As for Microsoft, I don't believe that they will fall out of favor with the world becuase if nothing less they will be able to provide services to business for many years to come. But for the general public, I think software as we know it will change. In the future I think that cell phone companies will provide all of our internet service because we will want to be mobile and have access all the time. As this new technology (mobile access) develops that will give opportunities to other companies to come in and supply the customer with the software and operating systems that we need. The consumer will always be looking for something newer, better, faster, and easier. That type of demand will always provide customers for business like Microsoft and any others that want a piece of the pie.