Home Networking - Now with More Wires!
Here's a prediction: As soon as I get off my butt & configure a wireless network in the house, this will become ubiquitous.
posted by Brian at
10:36 PM
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
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About the Blog The thoughts and theories of a guy who basically should have gone to bed hours ago.
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5 Comments:
Right, because it'll take you nearly five minutes and fifty dollars to set up your wireless. Such an enormous sunk cost to be obsolesced.
Man, if I'm the only guy who ends up surfing on your back porch on these beautiful days, that'll be a tragedy. If you had a dorm fridge and a Starbucks samovar out there, I'd have never left.*
*Deliberately leaving this open for the first Steve Walsh comment....
By
jeff Porten, at 8:17 PM, June 01, 2005
Heck, I don't even have a web page (anymore), let alone a blog, and I've had a wireless network since the week that 802.11g standard was approved.
I think Brian may be missing a key user need - a second computer! Networks are kinda overkill if you only have one PC in the office. Does Sherry have a separate PC, or do you share the office? Heck, does Avery have a laptop yet?
First, get a laptop.
Then you'll be dying for a wireless network to share broadband access.
Then, you'll begin cursing the battery life on your laptop.
FINALLY, you'll realize the last thing you want is to hook up to a power outlet/electric utility broadband - cutting cords is much more fun than replacing them with new cords.
By
Steve Walsh, at 9:31 PM, June 05, 2005
When Avery gets to kindergarten (this September), I'm considering giving him my PC and buying myself a new one. That's probably overkill (more about me wanting a cool new machine than anything else), but by first grade, it will probably be necessary.
As for the laptop thing - Jeff's recent visit to Scotch Plains whet my appetite for a laptop, but if I go that route, I'm thinking of one of those tablet-based Toshiba's. I had a work laptop for 12 years, and checking e-mail from the couch (even while network-disconnected) was just not as comfortable as doing it from a desk. Web surfing, though, which doesn't require too much keyboarding and, with a tablet, wouldn't require much mousing, could be enticing.
Most likely scenario remains that I check out the prices of the tablets, find out how much more computing power I could get for the same money in a desktop, and wind up with two desktops. At that point, the wireless network will be purely to allow us to share Internet access, and possibly a printer (although they're so cheap & he'll print so much more than me, that it might not be worth that either).
Also, the benefit of allowing me to learn about how wireless networks work...
By
Brian, at 12:05 AM, June 06, 2005
Gotta say, the lack of a Steve web page is definitely depriving the planet of some choice entertainment. Weinmayr too, for that matter.
As I was overjoyed to discover, Brian is already wired for power on the back porch, so low battery life need not be an issue. I'm not sure why you're so set on tablets, though -- trackpads are really quite simple to learn, and in my opinion are more ergonomic than mice since you can use your thumbs and keep your hands on the keyboard. Ain't no position in the world more comfortable for email than a laptop and a La-Z-Boy. (And you've already had kids, so that's one less thing to worry about....)
Re networking, it's either ridiculously easy or ridiculously hard. Easy: let the router do the work, and set everyone to talk to the router. Hard: network security and secure tunneling. Printer sharing is dead simple on a Mac, dunno on Windows. Feel free to invite me back for a training seminar, it's as good an excuse as any.
Re Avery's first computer: I understand the idea of retiring your desktop to him, but considering recent developments I'd suggest an iBook or Mac mini set up in the kitchen or living room. Advantages: you can set up multiple users for everyone in the house. You can monitor his usage, and be sure he's not using it when you want him doing something else. OS X has gotta be more kid-friendly, and definitely has good parental controls. And then he learns OS X, which means in a few years he can be on a machine where -- when he hits the prepubescent geek phase that you know your kids are going to go through -- he can follow along on OS X, Windows, or Unix as he sees fit. Educational opportunities abound.
(God, I'm going to feel awful if he Waybacks this page in ten years. It'll definitely be freaky to find your Dad's friends talking about you.)
By
Jeff Porten, at 4:34 AM, June 09, 2005
Ah, the recommend Mac anywhere crowd. Gotta love 'em...
First things first: giving him my current computer is 100% free. That trumps all other logic, especially if I'm doing it while buying a new computer for myself.
As for the features: WindowsXP has multiple logins too, including separate software installs for each user. So, for instance, I can install Outlook (which he already knows how to use) on his user account and then set it to only accept/send mail to certain lists, while leaving mine free to receive various & sundry forms of pr0n spam (oh joy...)
As for parental controls, call me old fashioned, but I'm pretty sure the most effective parental controls aren't written into software - they're what happens when he turns the computer OFF.
By
Brian, at 10:21 PM, June 09, 2005
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