What’s New

Well, it’s that time of the year again. The spring semester is about to start and that means two things. One is that high school students will be making the decision as to which college they will be attending in the fall. It also means that the latest crop of freshmen will be facing the consequences of the decisions they made prior to setting off to school this past fall. It is in the second semester that the new-ish students have to face “computer reality.”

Future college students, and parents, too, can learn from the current student’s success and failures.

Here are some tips and observations that may come in handy:

Before you buy a computer, check with the college that your student will be attending to see what their requirements and rules are. Many institutions require that all student computers meet very specific specifications. Some even insist that all student computers be purchased on campus. A few schools actually provide the computers.

Why is this?

Surprisingly, while most students can “operate” a computer (turn it on, write a paper, play a game) few know how to maintain it. They end up at the campus IT help desk requesting assistance with virus problems, networking setup, and more. It is much easier for the IT staff to work with a very limited number of computer and configuration types. It also means that the school will have the students use proper anti-virus software. This keeps problematic machines off the college networks.

If you buy a non-approved computer your student may not be able to use it on campus.

Don’t by the biggest wide screen laptop on the market. Sure, that 19″ computer looks great in the store. I bet you have already heard the excuses about why that is a great choice. Your student will be able work faster, work better, etc. In reality, what the new student is really thinking is that he or she will be able to write papers now and then, but play games and watch movies from Hulu at all hours of the day and night.

Unfortunately, life for the college student doesn’t work that way unless they are attending Doonesbury’s Walden. There will be surprisingly little time for game playing and movie watching. But more than that, most colleges are unprepared for these monster laptop computers. The desk space in the typical dorm room is too limited for these machines. They need a lot of surface area, as do the books (yes, libraries still have books) and the desks in the dorm are too small.

In fact, the desks in the classrooms are also too small. Most students will want to take the computer to class, but lugging around the 19″ monster (even a 17″ computer is often too big) is backbreaking. By the time the tonnage arrives in class the student has severe back trouble, and discovers that the computer won’t fit on the desk.

Another problem is that unless a college building has been built within the last 5 to 7 years it is probably woefully under powered. Older buildings, especially those built prior to the “information era” don’t have enough wall sockets for students to plug in their computers. Big screen gaming computers won’t last though a class on battery power alone. Study sessions in the library are often cut short when the batteries drop dead and all the wall sockets are being used. Battery life should at last at least the length of a typical class, and big screen computers won’t make it.

Don’t buy a “clown computer,” either. What is a clown computer? Do you remember the itty-bitty cars in the circus that somehow hold 42 clowns? That is what a clown computer is. They are the latest fad and have tiny screens and minuscule keyboards. The idea is that they are small and light and can be used anywhere.

The trouble is that these dinky comedy machines are intended for use on an airplane, back in the cattle car section, and nobody in their right mind is going to try to type a term paper one one. The screens are barely large enough to read text on, and totally inappropriate for graphics work.

Worse yet, many of the tiny computers don’t have hard drives or optical drives. Users are expected to work “in the cloud.” This also means that you can’t add new programs that might be necessary for class. We have (at a certain unnamed university) seen too many students who are disappointed to discover that their new mini-computer is worthless for class because they have no way to add programs.

Oh, and for those of you who see the crew on NCIS: Los Angeles using these tiny computer, well, notice how they use the gigantic screens when they do real work. The machines look cool, but are really just paperweights.

But the computer that does the job, not the one that looks cute. It is important to understand that certain brands of computers are not suitable for “real work.” We won’t mention any names here, but cult computers often do not run the programs necessary for the work required in specific majors. Find out what programs a student will need for a particular major, and then make sure you equip the student with the hardware to do the job.

While nearly all graphics programs, such as Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and even Dreamweaver are available for any operating system (ignoring, of course, Linux). Engineering programs, on the other hand, will probably only run on PCs. Although most office suites, which are necessary for paper writing, presentation making, spreadsheet construction, and similar, are available in a variety of tastes they may not be 100% compatible with each other. This can be a big problem with presentation software. ‘Nuff said.

It is important to make sure the computer is appropriate for the course of study. Music majors will find a particular brand an operating system to be best, while business majors will be better off with another.

What’s the best computer? We can’t tell you. It is a combination of factors. I recently purchased a 15″ notebook “entertainment” computer. Why that one? A 15″ notebook is fairly light and easy to carry around. It fits under the seat of an airplane nicely, and is easy to carry. In fact, it even fits on the typical classroom desk as I found out last summer at Plymouth University. The “entertainment” part means that the computer is optimized for music, video, and other “entertaining” things. But, it also means that it has the processing and graphics power to handle gigantic Photoshop files. In fact, it does a really good job of running all of my processor-heavy programs.

There is one drawback to this computer. The battery life is short. Of course, I expected to work mostly from mains power, but now and again I have preferred to work from the battery. But heavy-computing tasks suck the life out of the battery to quickly.

How does this apply to a student computer? Well, as in my case, selecting a computer for a college student is a series of compromises. There is no perfect computer. You just need to get one that comes as close as possible to doing the most important job well. And what is that job? The job is to be a good educational tool and help get those A’s!

We are a few days into the new year and if you are like me, things are hopping. As you can see by the most recent posts, it hasn’t been particularly quiet over the holidays. We have had several new site launches, and other projects that involve “behind the scenes” work. My prediction for 2010 is that things in the business world will improve and that the World Wide Web will be even more important than ever.

Normally I do not make resolutions for the new year. But this year I have made two. Neither one is particularly complicated. The first is to avoid flying through Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. At the very least my goal will be to avoid Terminal C. My most recent experience was actually very smooth, which was not true for a lot of other fliers over the last month. The problem with Terminal C is that it really is an unpleasant place and it really revolves around the weakness in the design. As an example, the so-called “food court” is obviously a gate that somebody decided to “re-purpose” into a cramped and unfortunate cafeteria. That is only the beginning.

Why make a big deal about an airport terminal, and how does it apply to a Web site? Like airports, Web sites are really intended to serve the needs of the visitors. We can learn a lot by studying alternate forms of design. The principles of one are often applicable to another.

Perhaps later we can discuss Art Deco automobile design and how it applies to graphic arts.

My second resolution is to keep up with my Google Adwords. As you certainly know, Adwords is an excellent Web advertising service. You can create campaigns that are very specifically targeted and tailored to your budget. The trick is that for Adwords to be successful you have to monitor the campaign and make adjustments as necessary. That is my plan for 2010.

You plan for 2010 should be to make sure your Web site is up to date. When was the last time you updated your site? Remember, to get good positioning on the Search Engines you have to have an updated site.