Nine inches but not quite performing for me

9 01 2009

I am now the proud owner of a Dell mini. I have been hankering after one of these beauties for some time and when Dell announced they were launching their own I waited eagerly to get my hands on one. I have been using it for about three months now having bought it in October (brilliant purchase experience see my post on the Foviance website)  and so here are my initial impressions.

You complete me mini-me

You complete me mini-me

In a previous blog post on mini-laptops (31st August) I suggested they would change the world but now I am not so sure. At least they won’t change it yet, nor for the reasons I initially thought. They may however for different reasons.

I wanted to buy the Dell mini with the Ubuntu operating system that Dell offer which is Open Source Software (OSS). One of my original thoughts was that due to the price point of the overall package and the anticipated use of the device people would be prepared to try an OSS operating system and this in turn would alter their purchase behaviour when buying their “main” PC/Laptop. However, the purchase options pushed me toward the XP machine because it had more solid state storage (16Gb vs. 8Gb) and minimal price differentiation (£30 difference) and so I ended up with the XP.

What I have discovered after three or so months of using a mini is that my ideal or dream of what mobile working would be like is far from the reality. The device in itself is very good – if a little slow at times. I loaded Skype on to it and initially when the configuration had it launching at start-up I could literally go away and make a decent lunch (and probably eat some of it) before it was ready to be used. First lesson: load as little software on to it as you can get away with it is not designed for that.

The mini is designed for accessing the Internet. In the US, Dell promote a relationship with Box.net, an online storage company, and bundle 2Gb of internet storage with the mini through a special deal. And Internet connectivity is where my problems start.

I can’t fault the mini as in itself it is fast, has good graphics, acceptable keyboard size (it’s small but so is the laptop) lots of USB ports, an integrated SD card slot (I have an 8GB card on mine bought from Amazon for £9.99 and interchange them for music and movies) and high quality web-cam. The problem is what is between my mini and the Internet.

I commute in to London every day and so anticipated using the mini on the train to blog and work online. I have a Vodafone USB Internet dongle to make the connection and here is a bit of ethnographic research for you about my trip home trying to get online.

  • Get on to train at 19.13 ready for the departure time of 19.18
  • Power-up laptop (which I keep on standby and it take a few seconds only to come to life) and plug in USB dongle (to be clear I have already installed it)
  • Train is now on the move
  • 19.20: see connection box appear and press connect
  • 19.22: connection is made so launch browser
  • 19.24: browser home page appears so select WordPress to access my blog
  • 19.25: start writing.
  • 19.26: connection is lost, WordPress tries to autosave and hangs
  • 19.28: I can start writing again but continue to get connection problems throughout the journey and give up after managing just 150 words

My dream of connectivity is ruined. I naively believed that using the Internet effectively on the train would be possible and it simply isn’t. I add to my dissapointment using Skype on the wireless network in my office for a call with the US. We had to resort to the landline, partly driven by the unexpected launch of video that brought everything to a halt. I hadn’t expected the video to launch – having a built in web-cam means this is possible but the internet speed meant it was in fact impossible.

None of this is a huge surprise, the UK’s Internet speed has been the butt of jokes the world over and late last year Ofcom, an independent organisation which regulates the UK’s broadcasting, telecommunications and wireless communications sectors, carried out research to identify the actual vs. advertised broadband speed. The results, covered by independent broadband analyst “thinkbroadband.com” illustrate that UK broadband users are not even getting the speeds they are paying for; the average UK consumer broadband speed is 3.6Mbps. I raise the issue because it is hard to separate the connectivity performance of a device designed with connectivity in mind, from the device itself.

If I had written a review of my mini after just a few weeks of ownership I would have likened it to a glorified iPaq – great for movies, music and a bit of work stuff around the edges.This would have been entirely unfair but is an important area for device manufacturers to be aware of. I observed identical behaviour to my own in China recently where Foviance conducted research into mobile phone usage. Users complained bitterly about their devices when what they were actually unhappy about was the connectivity. If users cannot separate one from the other – and in the future that will be increasingly difficult, device and software manufacturers need to consider how they sign-post performance lags to consumers.

Now I have learned to work around the frailties of the Internet connection I am much happier. I have installed OpenOffice, which means I can work offline and then copy work up when I have a better connection. Openoffice is surprisingly good. It looks and acts like MSOffice and my positive experience of using it has resulted in me loading it on to other PC’s around the home – most notably my kids laptop. I would seriously consider using it at work; unthinkable only months ago.

So perhaps my mini laptop will change the world a bit by driving the adoption of OSS applications at the desktop level. In some ways I hope it doesn’t and that my dream of connecting “any time, any place, any where” is delivered within my commuting lifetime.


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Categories : Brands, Customer Experience, Mobile, Social Networking, User Experience

Ready, steady, don’t go

9 12 2008

I visited Shanghai recently during a large International research project Foviance was conducting for a client in the mobile sector. It was the first time I had visited any part of China and I found the cultural experience fascinating. The differences between East and West are so apparent when you see them first hand and there was plenty to take in and admire.

One idea I really liked was the way the traffic signals work in Shanghai. The simplicity and practicality of the idea reminded me of the first time I visited Florida and experienced the ‘turn right on a red light’ phenomenon. For those unfamiliar this would translate in the UK to allowing motorists to turn left (and therefore not cross the traffic) on a red light providing that there aren’t any vehicles coming. It seems a safe way of reducing queues to me but seems never to have caught on over here. I did hear that London’s Mayor is considering allowing cyclists this privilege so maybe there is still hope for the rest of us.

The right information at the right time

The right information at the right time

 

Back in Shanghai, what they have done is add a countdown to the lights. Although the photo I took shows only how it benefits pedestrians it is actually in operation for motorists as well. What I observed was people either rushing to make sure they crossed in time or waiting because they realised they wouldn’t have time to cross. The result was traffic moved away from the lights more quickly because no dare-devil pedestrians decided to risk it.

I would be interested to learn about other features and functionality provided in cities that provides benefits to pedestrians and motorists by making technology easier to understand or communicate a more valuable message. Please let me know if you see any and if you send me a photo I’ll put it in a later blog post.


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Categories : Customer Experience, General Comments, Multi channel, Usability, User Experience

Shanghai #2 November 2008

28 11 2008
There was nothing across the river 15 years ago

There was nothing across the river 15 years ago

One of the first things you notice on the drive in from Shanghai’s international airport is the number of VW and Ford motor cars on the road and very few other brands. VW’s are locally made and servicing & repairs are easier as parts are available – a valuable facility given the negligible use of indicators or concern for other motorists (or indeed passengers as far as taxi’s were concerned). “The Chinese manoeuvre, signal and then mirror” my local contact tells me. As a result nearly all the local taxi’s are VW and despite the economic downturn there are a lot of them with a typical fare costing less that a decent Latte in London.

In the papers Tuesday morning the two major stories were the US bail out of Citibank to the tune of $25b and the Chinese government’s rescue of the bean producers. The price has dropped so far that local farmers may stop planting which could lead to shortages down the line. Ironically, US bean growers stand to gain as imports will have to rise – an unsatisfactory outcome which at least everyone agrees on. The difference in the measures taken illustrates perfectly the wide variation in issues caused by the economic downturn although building work doesn’t seem to have abated. The entire city looks like one big building site and the pace of change is phenomenal. I was told that 15 years ago there were no buildings on the other side of the river. Now it is home to some of the most breathtaking skyscrapers in the world.

I am in Shanghai on business representing one of our customers in the mobile, or should I say ‘cell’ phone sector. Is the UK the only region to continue refer to these devices as mobile rather than cell? We seem never to have got it right and I remember getting my first ‘car-phone’ back in early 90′s! Maybe one day we will finally catch up.

The research is interesting on a number of levels and not least because our client has asked us to test a prototype device that uses a different input mechanism. Radical design and risk taking are seldom seen in the mobile arena and since the launch of the iphone everyone seems to have become a follower. A radical departure this may not be but at east it is challenging current thinking which can only be a good thing.

Of great interest was the market and perception differences between what in the west we are told about the Asian market, and what is in fact the reality. Connectivity for calls and text messaging was a big issue. 3G is an aspiration for most of the people I heard talking – who ranged from people working in Financial services to Teachers. The service delivery was a constant feature of the conversation and clearly there are issues with local providers. Although I experienced excellent connectivity via my Blackberry for email and picture messaging it seemed that none of the research participants had the capability or if they did, they didn’t use it.

Where Shanghai and London are similar is in the impact the economic slowdown is having on the sector. I heard plenty of stories of budget cuts, projects being delayed and a general concern over the medium term future. However, out to dinner at one of the nicer Chinese restaurants on Monday night I noticed there were more Westerners dining than Asians. Economic slowdown there may be, but Shanghai still offers plenty of opportunity and it isn’t just the local businesses that are making the most of it.


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Categories : Economy, Mobile, User Experience, Web


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