The Knockdown, Drag-out Fight Between Hard Drives and Solid State Drives

We've talked about hard drives in the past, and what causes them to fail. Today, we're going to discuss the difference between the standard spinning drive and a newer technology, solid state drives (or, SSDs).

Spinning hard drive on the left, solid state drive on the right.

Your hard drive in your desktop, and most likely laptop, is a platter of magnetic discs that spin with a laser that reads back and forth to capture the data. The spinning hard disk drive is ancient technology in computer terms; in fact, the IBM computers from the late 50's used twenty inch platters that held an incredible 3.25 megabytes of data -- about the size of a three-minute mp3. Though our storage capacities have increased since then, the technology remains the same. Now, most desktops have a 3.5" hard drive, and laptops generally contain a smaller 2.5" drive.

In the early-2000's, solid state storage became more capable and now your iPads, smartphones, tablets and even some laptops use what is called solid state or SSD storage as their main drive. Solid state drives contain no moving parts with the storage based on flash memory chips, much like what you find in thumb drives (except faster and more stable than thumb drives, but that's another discussion entirely). 

Because SSD's do not have to spin a disc to read data, you find response times much faster than a hard drive. Some computers with SSD's installed can boot in under 10 seconds! If you've ever had a hard drive fail because of the read/write mechanism, and lost all your files, you know how frustrating that is. However, because SSD's have no moving parts, your device can survive a tumble without worrying about the hard drive failing.

Unfortunately, it's not all roses and rainbows -- solid state drives do have their downfalls. Namely, price and storage capacity. Whereas hard disc drives can be had in upwards of 4,000GB (or 4TB), SSD's currently top out at about 1TB, and even then they are incredibly expensive. It's a newer technology, and it's harder to increase storage capacity in flash memory chips, so solid state drives are unfortunately much more expensive than their spinning disc counterparts as well. It's not uncommon to find a 1TB (1,000GB) hard drive for under $100. Most 256GB sold state drives run close to that price point. For people who need to store a lot of data, such as people who do a ton of video editing, HDD's are still the way to go.

For others, though, SSD's can give their existing system markedly improved speeds in boot-up time and data reading. It really depends on your individual needs on which storage solution you should use in your PC.

The Guide to Music Streaming

Before our iPhones, there was iPod. It revolutionized the way we listen to music, and changed the music industry itself. Since then, music has become an ever-increasing part of our lives. With further technological evolutions, we can now stream music wirelessly using devices like Sonos and Bluetooth speakers (such as the Beats Pill).

An even bigger change now, though, is how we buy music. The days of paying .99 cents per song are waning. Services such as Spotify, Google Play and the newest Beats Music are the new way people get their music fix. By paying a subscription fee, usually as low as $10 per month, users can stream all the music they want, whenever they want. With so many options, though, how do you know which one is for you?

"[The record companies] won in court. Do you want to buy a Tower Records, Eduardo?" - Sean Parker (as played by Justin Timberlake) in The Social Network. 

Spotify (Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Ubuntu Touch, PC, Mac, Linux)
When Spotify started in 2008, it was initially available by invite-only. I was elated when I received my invitation back in 2009. Accounts were available for free, and allowed ad-supported playback on your computer. The basic premise was you could listen to any album by any artist, as well as curate specific playlists or even shuffle through genres, artists, etc. For $9.99/month, you could add offline downloaded playback and streaming on your mobile device. Though competitors from Google and Beats have arisen, Spotify is still my favorite.

Pandora Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Ubuntu Touch, Web)

Pandora is the original ubiquitous streaming service. This is the one that broke into the mainstream. Create a Pandora account, tell it what kind of music (specific artist, song, genre, etc) you want to listen to, and Pandora would immediately begin playing  a "station" of music that matched it. By employing the Music Genome Project, their playlists were smooth. My Matchbox Twenty station included Goo Goo Dolls, Vertical Horizon, Creed and U2 to name a few. Pandora is free, but ad-supported and you can't specify what song or full album you want to listen to. Just hit play and let it do its thing.

Google (Platforms: Android, PC, Web)
Last year, Google got into the streaming business with its Google Play offering. Available only on Android devices, this is basically Google's answer to Spotify. You can stream or download any album available in the Google Play store with a $9.99 subscription fee. iPhone with Google accounts are out of luck, though. However, iOS devices can take advantage of...


iTunes Radio (Platforms: iOS)

iTunes Radio is baked right into iOS 7, and is an iTunes-specific streaming service more akin to Pandora than Spotify. You specify what artist, genre you want, or the mood you are in, and iTunes Radio will begin playing a playlist that matches. It it culled and created from your purchase history from iTunes, so the artists you like are featured. Free of charge, with ads.

Beats Music (Platforms: iOS, Android)

Beats Music is the newest addition. The conceit of this streaming service is that the playlists are curated by music professionals. The service began as the project between Dr. Dre and Trent Reznor. As a user, you input your favorite artists, and Beats Music creates a playlist culled from your musical tastes. Its $15/month gives you access on several devices or for several family members.

OUTLIER: Songza

Songza is a bit different. It's a free app for iOS and Android. You can't specify what album or artist you want to listen to. You can't even curate your own playlists. Songza's playlist are offered as a music "concierge." You tell Songza what mood you're in or what you're currently doing, and you can choose a playlist that fits the mood. It's free, it's cool and it always offers something different depending on what you're doing.

Microsoft's New CEO: Initial Thoughts

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

Back in August  , it was announced that Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft since 2000, would be stepping down, retiring, and the search for his replacement would be under way. Several names were bandied about, including Nokia head Stephen Elop. Even Jack Dorsey's (the guy behind Twitter) name was thrown into the ring. However, after six months, Microsoft found the heir to Ballmer's throne: Satya Nadella.

Satya Nadella wasn't one of the names often mentioned in the media as a possible replacement for Ballmer. Much of the talk from tech publications centered around the idea that the new head of Microsoft should come from outside the Redmond, Washington based company.

Nadella has been with Microsoft for over twenty years and before his appointment as CEO was head of the company's cloud services division.

The big thing about Satya Nadella's appointment is that it signals the end of an era: the age of the over-the-top, loud-mouthed tech founders is over. Humble and soft-spoken is the new it thing for tech companies. And for a Microsoft that has weathered Steve Ballmer's public tirades and Youtube-able moments, Nadella will prove to be a breath of fresh air.

However, will he be able to bring Microsoft back to the front of the pack in the tech world? The company has been leap-frogged by Apple, Google and even Amazon in the mobile and web services industries. Expect Microsoft to be more cohesive among its offerings, making convergence between phone, tablet and computer the norm.

Satya Nadella has a lot of work to do. But he's just the right person to get it done.

Linux: So Unsexy

The unsexy Linux mascot, Tux

Let's face it: Linux is not sexy. It's nerdy. Linux is almost synonymous with "nerd in the basement." To many people, the Linux operating system is the command line and all the "wget"s and "sudo fdisk -l"s. (I know what you're thinking, and if you've never looked at a Linux command line, those commands don't mean a thing.)

I've always been a fan of the Ubuntu "flavor" of Linux. There are several Linux operating systems, from OpenSUSE to Fedora, from Debian to Ubuntu. To me, however, Ubuntu has always been in the forefront of those, mainly due to the original tagline of the OS: "Linux for human beings." It was easy to get into, easy to install and the original desktop interface (which has since changed to the mobile-esque Unity interface) was pretty analogous to what I was used to with Windows XP.

I was looking at the Ubuntu website this last weekend and I noticed something:

There was no mention of Linux. Anywhere.

The world's leading Linux operating system does not (any longer) market itself as a Linux operating system. (New tagline: "The world's most popular free OS")

And it was then that I thought...Linux isn't sexy. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, knows this. To catapult Ubuntu's popularity out of the Linux nerd-dom and into popular culture, it has shed the Linuxness to appeal to the masses, to the end-user.

As more and more people become disenchanted with Microsoft and the direction they've gone with Windows 8, the more Ubuntu hopes to draw those people in.  It has to be said; Ubuntu is much more user-friendly than Windows 8 -- but that's another discussion altogether.

Ubuntu One advertisement

See that image to the right? It's a banner ad from Ubuntu's website, advertising their Ubuntu One service. It's Ubuntu's version of iCloud. That image conveys a hipness, that Ubuntu is used by cool people. It doesn't scream "nerdy Linux." It calmly suggest "this isn't Linux. This is Ubuntu. And Ubuntu is cool."

Linux isn't sexy. Canonical knows Linux isn't sexy, so they are distancing their product, Ubuntu, from those un-sexy origins and marketing it as fun, hip and cool. (and did we mention free?)

As Don Draper would say:

"If you don't like what people are saying...change the conversation."