The Night the ‘Office’ Went Dark

Two weeks ago, Microsoft’s Office 365/Microsoft 365 cloud-based services, which include the online Office apps, went down for as long as five hours in some parts of the United States, Western Europe and India. As of this writing last week, users were still reporting sporadic outages of some services. So far, our clients have not been affected, but It’s a fluid situation.

No matter what happened and what might happen, you can protect your data by backing up your files in more than one place. The outage hit Azure, a Microsoft platform, that we use for our backup for Microsoft 365, which was known as Office or Office 365. Microsoft 365 is built on Azure. It wasn’t the first time it was hit by an outage, and it won’t be the last. In its most recent outage, Azure and Microsoft 365 were affected by what was reported as a major Azure Active Directory authentication issue. In practical terms, users got kicked out of cloud-based applications, such as Office, Outlook, Exchange, Teams and SharePoint. It lasted from roughly 5 to 10 p.m. on Sept. 28.

Microsoft said very little but referred to an update in their network structure – and then said they rolled back the changes to an older version. It was all automated, but because of the authentication issues, some administrators couldn’t see the changes. Over the course of two weeks, problems cascaded worldwide – and randomly. Despite what Microsoft reports, we haven’t seen any satisfactory explanations of what happened and how it was fixed.

In this case, we don’t know of any data losses, but if you can’t access your files, they’re as good as lost until the service comes back. That’s where multiple backups are valuable. As a small business or home user, you may still have a computer with a version of Office installed. If you can pull a file from another storage site, such as Mozy (one of our partners) or Dropbox, or from an external hard drive, you may be able to work with your file. You also can store files on your computer’s hard drive.

One of the problems with an outage such as the one that hit Azure, you never know when it will hit. We reported on an outage two years ago, and we did have at least one client who was affected.

At the time we were affected, we were doing a setup at a client and needed to get a big file from Azure. When I logged in to get it, I got no access; I just got a message they would send a text. I had an external hard drive with an old version of the file, and that was not suitable. Transferring the file remotely from my office computer would have taken too long. We solved the immediate problem by transferring the file from my computer to my Dropbox account and then downloading it from there. We and our client were fortunate that I had the capability – files stored on a computer I could access and Dropbox – to initiate a solution.

Azure solves recovery issues for us because it works seamlessly in the background with Office 365, including Outlook and its PST files for your email. For some, backing up email may be more important than backing up files.

As an IT professional, I like Azure’s ability to generate reports – with more capabilities coming online all the time. Microsoft constantly uses customer feedback to add more power to the platform. That gives us the ability to go back into our clients’ backup records to trace incidents and to restore files after a catastrophic event. That’s critical because it can be 90 days – sometimes longer – before a hack or data loss is discovered by a client. When that happens, we can go back in time through the power of Azure to find data files that help us help you recover.

We can help you with continuity during various service outages, but it all starts with accessing your data.  Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your backup and file storage options. The cost of a workable redundancy system may pale in comparison to the loss you could suffer from the loss of data or the loss of access to your data.

iPhone 12: It’s Here

iPhone 12 has arrived, and it could be in your hands (or mine) in less than two weeks. As with every Apple product rollout, this one is shrouded in secrecy and pierced by leaks. You can get the official info from the online presentation – Hi, Speed – from Apple Park.

By the time you read this, you may have already seen the presentation, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. Regardless, here’s what we’re zeroing in on from what we’ve seen. iPhone 12 pre-orders could begin this Friday, and the first shipments could happen on October 23.

Rumors suggest the 6.7-inch iPhone and one 6.1-inch models will be higher-end devices with triple-lens cameras, while the 5.4 and 6.1-inch models will be lower-end iPhones with dual-lens cameras and a more affordable price tag. All iPhones in 2020 are expected to feature OLED display technology regardless of price. There were rumors that 120Hz displays could be included within the high-end iPhone 12 models, but more recent rumors indicate Apple will wait until 2021 to unveil the feature.

Reports indicate that Apple will take the plunge into 5G capability, but it’s possible that only one model, the iPhone 12 Pro Max will offer the fastest possible speeds. That makes sense; its 6.7-inch size will be able to house the antenna and slower-draining battery to provide the performance. iPhone is likely to have several ranges of 5G service with all the modems in the phone coming from Qualcomm.

With 5G still early in its development and deployment, we’ll need to wait to make better use of it, but the new iPhone 12 will be ready for at least some of it. Another futuristic twist will be LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). It uses lasers to judge distances and depth, and it’s big news for augmented reality (AR) and, to a lesser extent, photography. One can only wonder what it might open for new experiences on iPhones and iPads – and Apple Glasses.

But so much for the future. For the here and now, let’s review the expected specs and pricing for the four likely versions of the iPhone 12. All will have the new A14 processor and a minimum of 128GB storage, which is critical for all the apps we expect to use and high-image photos and videos we’ll want to take.

  • iPhone 12 mini will be considered the entry-level iPhone 12 with a 5.4-inch OLED panel with a rumored resolution of 2340×1080 pixels and Y-OCTA technology, which means that the touch sensor is integrated directly into the display. Like the iPhone 11, this model will rely on dual rear cameras, losing the telephoto in the Pro versions. It comes with 4GB of RAM. Estimated price: $699
  • iPhone 12 with its 6.1-inch will have the larger screen and battery size, and its OLED panel will have 2532×1170 resolution. It also has 4G of RAM. Estimated price: $799
  • iPhone 12 Pro is expected to have a 6.1-inch flexible OLED screen and could be the first phone to feature 10-bit color support with its 2532×1170 resolution along with Y-OCTA technology. Its screen may support a 120Hz refresh rate. It comes with 6G of RAM. Look for storage options up to 512GB. It could have three rear lenses, highlighted by a 64MP main sensor, plus a LiDAR time-of-flight sensor that will improve performance of AR apps. Estimated price: $1049
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max will be the same as the iPhone 12 Pro with a bigger 6.7-inch OLED screen and higher resolution at 2778×1824 pixels. A 120Hz refresh rate is also possible. Estimated price: $1149

We think the specs for each of the new iPhone 12s should hold pretty close to rumor reports. We’ve already seen some of the new features through the recent release of the iOS 14 operating system for iPhones and iPads – which coincided with the new iPad Air and 8th Generation last month. The pricing may be different. There will also be variations based on the storage capacity you choose.

If you drop down to 64GB on the iPhone 12 Mini or iPhone 12, you can save $50, which is probably false economy. Moving up to 256GB will likely add $100 to the base prices, and it may be worth the money. For the Pro and Pro Max models, going to 256GB will add $100, and going to 512GB will add $200.

While we’re on the subject of Apple upgrades, we’re expecting an upgrade to macOS Big Sur. It could be part of today’s announcements. The current version of macOS Catalina (10.15) is supported across every model line of Mac laptop and desktop, but only going back as far as 2012. With the release of Big Sur, Mac users will still see plenty of Intel-based Macs supported, but not as many as Catalina. It’s one of the big questions we have because many of our clients use Windows-based Microsoft 365 (Office) on their Macs. It’s likely that newer devices, like the iMac Pro and the MacBook will see all models supported, but products with longer legacies, like the Mac mini and the MacBook Air will see a lot of products missing out on support for Big Sur.

Releasing the new OS for Mac along with the new iPhone rollout would make a lot of sense, especially leading into the holiday shopping season. Apple already rolled out the new iPads and Apple Watch, along with OS upgrades for those products, the iPhone and Apple TV+.

Watch our social media for comments on the new Apple devices and operating systems. We can help you with OS updates and custom-configuring both the new operating systems and new devices. Once we see each of the new phones’ properties and prices, we’ll be able to guide you in selecting a new phone that’s right for you. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to talk about it.

Disinformation Wars Scaling Up

Disinformation is as old as the homo sapiens species. But the ability to create misleading information and deep fakes continuously gets better and more vicious, and the speed at which it can spread gets faster. It’s easy to say, “get your news from trusted sources” and “use common sense,” but the deceptions are sophisticated.

Disinformation is the blend between misinformation and malinformation. Misinformation can be simple or significant unintentional mistakes such as an error in statistics or translations. Malinformation can be the purposeful change of private information for personal, business or, as we’ve seen in this election cycle, political interests. Disinformation is the deliberate changing and manipulating content to spread rumors, conspiracy theories and propaganda.

Disinformation is difficult to distinguish and anyone is susceptible, including professional TV and radio show hosts. Even when news organizations discover disinformation or malinformation and edit or retract their stories, fire journalists etc., there are far-reaching consequences.

We applaud the efforts that social media are taking to call out and remove the deliberate dissemination of lies and distortions. Because anyone with the technical ability can game the algorithms used by social media, we do need humans to make some judgment calls. Those humans work for the social media companies, but you are also a human who can apply intelligence to judging the truth of any social media post or news item.

The consensus is that some 3.5 billion people worldwide engage through social media. Facebook is by far the largest social media organization, but with many social media organizations claiming hundreds of millions, if not billions, of users, it’s clear that we all visit several every day. Some 500 videos are uploaded every minute to YouTube.

With that said, here are some fact-checking tips and tools, starting with the tips.

  • Consider the source of the information. Is it legitimate or proven to be reliable? You don’t have to agree with the source’s point of view, but you should respect its integrity.
  • Read past the headline. Don’t assume the entire story is true, especially if the headline is worded in a way that catches your attention.
  • Check up on the author. Reputable news organizations use bylines to identify who reported and wrote the story. Reporters often have bios at the end of a story.
  • Don’t assume information is correct just because it confirms your beliefs.
  • Check the date. Information from the past can be manipulated into looking like up-to-date facts.

If you assume that everything you see on social media or on any news site needs some fact-checking, here are some sites you can visit.

  • Politifact is a fact-checking website that verifies elected officials’ statements. It has its most recent posts on its home page, but you can find extensive links to check out just about any specific candidate.
  • FactCheck.Org aims to reduce the level of deception in U.S. politics. On the right side of its home page, you can select specific topics for investigation, and it also has a “misinformation directory” organized alphabetically of websites that have published misleading information.
  • Snopes is one of the oldest fact-checkers on the internet.
  • The Daily Dot put together a list of fake websites that appeared on Facebook. While the link dates back to April, you can find current information once you get on the website.
  • Google Fact-Check Explorer can tell you if a fact or claim has been investigated by a fact-checking organization. Its home page is wide open. You’ll need to enter a name or phrase to get the fact-checker started.
  • Media Bias Fact Check can either confirm your suspicions or enlighten you. Use the search function to enter a specific news outlet. You can also learn a bit about the website’s methodology.

With less than a month to go before Election Day, you can expect more disinformation on the internet, especially in social media and on websites designed specifically to spread false information. We hope you find the websites we’ve mentioned useful in helping you make up your own mind and in deciding what to share. If you have similar sites to share or tips on evaluating information on the internet, we invite you to leave a comment or post it on our Sterling Rose Facebook page.

PC vs. Mac: Burned at the Stake?

Religion and politics have not been the only subjects to generate intense discussions, if not outright arguments. The choice between a PC and Mac has generated the same feelings, but in actual experience, we’ve seen more détente – or ecumenicism. Many of us have PC computers and Apple mobile devices. Heck, many people even use Macs to run Windows programs. Are they about to be burned at the stake in a high-tech holy war?

The short answer is: Probably.

Way, way back at the dawn of the personal computing age, Apple and DOS (disk operating system) were the technologies that drove desktop computing. Within a few years, Apple established itself as both an operating system and a line of products. Microsoft used DOS to establish a line of software products (that evolved into Office and other business applications) that could be used with computers made by various manufacturers.

Both computing systems developed personae. Macs were graphically oriented and cool. PCs were no-nonsense and businesslike. Apple held tight control over its software and hardware. Microsoft and the rest of the PC world that developed were more open source, allowing in more hardware manufacturers and software developers and letting users customize systems to meet their needs and wants. Cool artists used Macs, and the wheels of commerce were driven by PCs.

Only problem was, businesspeople wanted to be cool. The industry gave them that ability. For many years, Macs had Intel processors that enabled their users to run Windows-based programs. It not only enabled people to have either a PC or Mac for doing work, it also enabled PC users to have cool iPhones and iPads that they could sync together.

This, of course, was a boon to developers. Apps like Parallel sprung up, and everyone could go merrily along the path of their choice.

But all this may be about to change. Apple is planning to drop the Intel chips and make its own for its products. We can speculate about all the business reasons Apple has to take this route. Besides being able to control its costs better (though that could be arguable), it would be more cost-effective to have the same chip for Macs, iPhones and iPads. It would make it much more efficient in so many ways to share apps and technology across all those devices and provide better security and customer service.

It could force its cool business customers to choose between being cool or getting down to business in a Windows environment. You may not be able to run those great PC programs with Parallel or a similar app. It may force business app developers to revise their code to fit the Apple system – and you can guess who’s going to pay for that. Once upon a time, Apple had its own word processor and spreadsheet programs, and it could decide to have them again.

We don’t know how things will shake out in this “holy war” between these two monolithic systems or if the shakeout (or shakedown) will happen. If you are one of those people who are attached to the Mac computer and Windows-based apps, you should talk to us. We can assess your needs and help you decide on a technology path that minimizes your risk of being burned on somebody’s technology stake. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us for an appointment.

Pants on Fire

Whether it’s business or politics, there’s a tendency to point fingers at other parties or make excuses. Some people will do anything to avoid responsibility. Yes, stuff happens, especially with technology and especially in these times, with so many people using more technology for work, school and entertainment. We believe this places a premium on being honest and upfront when dealing with tech issues.

I’ve been doing IT work for 30 years, and as I’ve built my own small business to serve other small businesses and home users, nothing has become more important than honesty and a let’s-get-it-solved attitude. In today’s daily-life environment, many of us feel we must be our own advocate, and technology has given us the tools. We can research anything on the internet to provide our supporting information; it doesn’t matter if we haven’t asked the right questions to get the right answers. And we can tell the entire world how we’ve been wronged; again, it doesn’t matter if we’re right or wrong.

In my IT world, life gets ever more complex. We have the capability to do so many things for work, school or entertainment because of technology. We invest money and emotion into putting technology to work, and we don’t leave a lot of margin for error. With small margins and little wiggle room, one could easily reason it’s better not to hold any responsibility. When that happens, honesty suffers.

A recent example of how this fits into our business occurred during a perfect storm. Have you ever seen the message telling you that firmware is updating and telling at the same time not turn off your computer? There’s a reason for that: it kills the computer.

In our case, we were in the final process of setting up a computer for a client. We were going through the last reboot – and we knew not to shut off the computer. What we didn’t know was that the computer hadn’t been plugged securely into the power outlet. When I moved it, the plug fell out, which was just like shutting off the computer. It no longer worked.

I told the client what happened and how we would fix the problem. I called Dell and told them what happened and got a replacement. I could have said it was a defective unit and gone through the long paperwork process of getting a replacement. I could have said the update was bad. Because the old computer was still in the office and working, we got the old one ready for work, and when the replacement new computer came, we completed the project.

Another time, we had scheduled the installation of a new server right after we returned from a trip. Normally, we don’t do major system work during business hours, but the problem the new server was to solve kept getting worse.

We came in on a Friday afternoon, and after assessing the situation presented the options. We said we could spend hours trying to fix the problem, but we weren’t optimistic about a good outcome. The other option was to shut down business and do the data migration right then and there. The client left it up to us to make the decision.

We did the migration over the weekend, and then we committed to be back in their office Monday morning to make sure everyone in the office could access all the information they needed. We could have just told them to call us Monday if they had a problem, but that would have meant more downtime for the business and a lot more tension and aggravation. When would they know they were having a problem, and how long would it take for us to get there? We knew what questions to ask and would know how to fix the problem.

By being upfront about everything in these examples, we and our clients understood the value we provided for each other. That helped us get on the same page and provide a timelier solution. If you or someone you know is tired of getting the runaround from an equipment supplier or another IT service provider, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us discuss the problem. You deserve to know the truth – and the knowledge to make a sound decision.

Watching TV in the Electronic Jungle

Watching TV was so simple for anyone who remembers life before cable. Today, we have more options than ever before – and more confusion. If you’re ready to go back to Square 1 and start all over again, here’s what to look at to reset your TV – or streaming content.

If you are still into watching live broadcast TV, which many do for news and sports, you could start with good old rabbit ears. That’s the term for an antenna – just in case you hadn’t known. Channel availability and picture quality depend on whether you can get a strong broadcast signal. Cable solved that issue nearly 50 years ago and gave us more choices. (Digital channels for broadcast offer more choices, though quantity should not always be confused with quality.)

Cable was simple. A cable company got the franchise for your community, and you paid – more and more without any recourse until satellite and the internet eventually gave you more options. The old cable companies and telephone carriers still have lines that carry the internet to most of America, but our “TV viewing” is changing at the pace of a revolution.

We have countless ways to get our programming because there are so many content providers and so many companies that package or bundle the programming we want to see. Even the carriers are becoming content bundlers and creators.

For this discussion, let’s focus on the systems that deliver content for viewing on a TV. Comcast’s Xfinity and Verizon’s Fios, the two major cable carriers in my area, still offer the most programming from traditional broadcasters and other producers. With more people spending more time at home, you probably want the most variety you can get to keep everyone happy. The cable companies still deliver by coaxial cable, and we know how to use their systems. You can watch content from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, etc. through your cable system, although you will need to pay for them either through the cable company or the content provider. However, convenience comes at a price. You can pay $5 or more for every cable box you have.

If you get your internet service from a cable/phone company, you may be able to stream your cable channel and – maybe – save the cost of the boxes. Why maybe? Xfinity, for example, has an agreement with Roku to stream content over TVs that use it as the streaming service. If you have a Roku-equipped TV, you can add the Xfinity channel from your Roku Home page by clicking on Add Channels. If you don’t have a Roku-equipped TV but have a TV with a USB port, you can buy a Roku connection device for as little as $30 and use your home Wi-Fi network. Your payback period is six months, and quality depends on your network.

You can get Roku boxes from Xfinity, which you pay for as with the old coaxial cable box, but we found a price break of sorts. We have nine TVs in our house, including one we carry out onto the back deck. By paying $40 per month for DVR service, we’re only paying for five Roku boxes; the rest are “free.” The advantage to the Roku boxes is that they’re not tied to a coaxial cable, giving us more flexibility.

We just installed this system, so we’ll need to get some operating experience before we can report on its success – or lack of it.

If you watch all your content on a computer or mobile device, the question of a cable box or Roku box is moot. If you don’t want to use your cable company to get cable-like viewing for broadcast TV stations and programming such as news and sports, there are numerous streaming providers.

What will work best for you? The variables include:

  • Broadcast signal strength for some live TV
  • The provider of the content you watch
  • Your preference of cable or internet-based content delivery
  • The devices you watch on and the number of devices you use at any given time
  • Your internet connection
  • Your Wi-Fi network
  • Your TV/internet budget

We can help you sort through the possibilities to put together a package that will meet your priorities, and we can install and configure any equipment you need. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your wants and needs.

Solving Surges

It doesn’t take much of a power surge to upset the delicate electronics in most of our devices. At worst, a power surge can fry their insides, and that alone should motivate you to have everything connected to an outlet through a surge protector. While even they are not immune to surges, you can reset them in many instances.

In very non-technical terms, the surge shows up in much the same way a tripped electrical circuit shows up: something doesn’t work because it’s not getting any juice. Generally speaking, you can go to the electrical panel in your home or small office building and find a circuit switch that’s positioned halfway between “off” and “on”. You can reset the circuit switch by pushing it fully to “off” and then back to “on”. Tripping the circuit is a built-in protection.

Similarly, the surge protector takes the hit for any devices plugged into it. Again, in non-technical terms, the resistors in your surge protector sop up the extra energy, and you need to release it. You can follow these steps to verify a surge protector issue and restore the flow of power to your devices.

  • Plug something – a small lamp usually works best – into the wall outlet to make sure power is flowing to it. If there’s no power, check the circuit breaker, if you can, and reset it if it tripped.
  • Plug that same thing, which you know is working, into the surge protector. If it doesn’t work…
  • Unplug the surge protector from the wall outlet and unplug everything connected to it.
  • Wait 30 seconds. This will allow the resistors to drain.
  • Plug everything back in.

This process usually solves the problem. If it doesn’t, there could be a problem with the surge protector or the device. You’ll need to go back to the source – the most basic connection – to resolve the situation. One of our clients had a number of devices, including the transformer that brings the internet into his home and his router, plugged into a surge protector, which in turn, was plugged into a battery-backup power supply – with a built-in surge protector. After going through the procedure, he determined the problem was with one of the plugs in the battery backup unit. He was able to restore everything to operation, though he may need to replace his battery backup.

Battery backup units with surge protectors can range from $50 to $150 – give or take a few bucks – depending on the number of outlets they have and whether they have USB and coaxial cable ports. Surge protectors can be had for $35 and up, and nearly all have multiple plugs. You can also find single-outlet surge protectors which are ideal for plugging in at Starbucks or your hotel room – whenever you’ll have either option.

Contact us by phone – 973-433-6676 – or email to discuss the best protective systems for your needs.

‘Free’ is Not Always Free

Anyone who’s known us or done business with us for any length of time knows that there’s no such thing as a free anything. If you use T-Mobile to access the Free Conference Call service, you likely got a rude – though not necessarily expensive – wakeup call about the fallacy of free.

The problem, as one of our clients discovered, was that the dial-in phone number for Free Conference Call was not on his T-Mobile plan. He had to use the service for business calls, and it cost a penny a minute. We investigated the charge and eventually found he got a text message about it. This wasn’t a big deal cost-wise, but it was a huge annoyance. After all, he expected it to be “free.”

In reality, it’s not a free service. Your carrier may be subsidizing the cost of the call because it helps them keep your business or gives them a platform to sell you additional services. The company that provides the service may be subsidizing it as a way to encourage you to use paid services.

Regardless, it begs the question of what else are you paying for? We might get some more specific answers from the Congressional grilling that the heads of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google underwent, but we suspect the substance won’t be any different from what we’ve discussed before. In just about every aspect of our online lives, we trade privacy for convenience.

Google, Amazon and Facebook are probably the biggest beneficiaries of this trade. Google is synonymous with online searching, and Amazon turns up as the top listing (or they buy top-of-the-page ad space) for just about anything you want to buy. Facebook will display ads for products you’ve searched for on Google or other websites and will show you ads depending on product pages you’ve liked or comments you’ve made. Oh, and did we mention that if you use a YouTube video to learn how to do something, Google can send you ads for a product you may have watched in the “how-to” video, which you can buy on Amazon.

You get all of this information for free in one sense, but you’ve paid through the nose in another sense. All of them have collected information about you, which they sell to companies who want to advertise products and services to sell. The info is sold for pennies per click, but, as they say, they make it up in volume. Through cookies, they retain info on your browsing history. That helps them direct you to products and services you are interested in. That’s your convenience. But they also know where you’ve looked and used algorithms to figure out what you might be willing to pay for whatever it is they’re selling. You could wind up getting “special offers” for goods and services at higher prices.

You can decline cookies, erase your browsing history and take similar steps to protect your privacy. But you really can’t hide from everyone, and your searching will be more difficult.

Are there alternatives? Yes, there are plenty of them. You can go back to Yahoo, which used to be the search engine of choice before Google, or you can use Microsoft’s Bing or an independent such as Duck Duck Go, which claims to protect your privacy when you search. You can try to find smaller or more local providers of goods and services independently of Amazon. You may wind up with fewer choices and fewer options.

We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with other providers of searches and goods and services. Leave a comment and check back to share information. You may not get anything that’s truly free, but you may free yourself from hidden costs and know more about what you’re paying for.

Too Many Gadgets

It’s confession time. We have too many gadgets in our house, and the byte-load finally bit us by causing disruptions in service and performance. Who was the big culprit?

We fingered Google in our house, but the accusation came after a long process of elimination. We’ve had a performance issue for the past few years, noticing that even though our network showed four bars, we didn’t have four-bar performance. Over that time, we took things apart, looking at captures; that’s our technical term for what’s actually online.

We started by investigating our router and then started changing switches. Eventually, we started removing devices – all Google devices. The problem went away. We had read on the internet that a lot of people had similar problems. They all involved Google Home, Google Nest, Google Hub and Google Chromecast. Here’s what was happening. When the devices awoke from a sleep mode, they sent large packets of data through the network, which disturbed performance if it didn’t crash the network.

The weird part was that it affected our cable TV boxes. I noticed it especially while having the TV on in my office.  There would be times when the TV would simply go out. Once we removed the Google devices from the network, the problems disappeared.

The Google devices are now tucked away on a shelf, and we’re making more use of Alexa. However, we should hasten to add that our Google problem could have been exacerbated by having a large number of devices on our network. We’re a highly connected family, but we’re not much different from the norm. Many households have computers, phones and tablets for all family members, and many of those devices could have been added since the start of the pandemic as we’ve increased our online activity. We also may have added more smart TVs.

As a result, it’s easy to overload your network’s capability and impact the performance of every connected device. If you’re having a problem, removing Google devices like we did might solve your problem. But you might also need to upgrade your router and other network components to meet your needs and wants.

We can help you get the performance you need. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to talk about your network, the devices on your network and your performance expectations. Sometimes, less is more, but sometimes, too, you need to add more to get more. A smart look can make your smart devices seem like geniuses.

New Shortages Popping Up

Late last year and early this year, we warned of Intel chip shortages, which made it difficult to get new computers for those who needed them to run Windows 10. Now, we have other shortages, compounded by some Apple decisions. So, who’s coming up short? It could be Apple.

Getting Apple stuff for our clients is becoming more challenging for the more expensive, high-end devices. The wait can be up to two weeks for things we used to get right away, and some of that is because of varying store hours.

One of our clients is waiting for a Mac with an SSD hard drive and a 27-inch monitor. It’s a combination that’s out of the ordinary, but it was never a problem to walk out of the store with that system. Now, we’re hoping the wait is only two weeks.

Looking ahead, Apple is expected to start making its own chips later this year for the 2021 Macs. It’s a logical move for the company, which is looking for more end-to-end control of its systems. Whether they’ll be able to produce enough chips because of COVID-19 concerns is one thing. Another thing is that when it drops the Intel chips (which could free up chip production for Windows-based computers), we think it may become harder to run Windows software on a Mac.

This has the effect of drawing a new line in the “cybersand” when it comes to compatibility, and that could be a problem in the business world. A lot of business applications are written for Windows, but the Apple platform has been able to accommodate them. For Mac fans, it’s the best of both worlds. But unless the app developers and Apple can up with apps for the platform, there’s another issue to add to our woes.

For those of you sticking with Windows systems, you can expect Intel’s supply problems to persist through the rest of this year. That is forcing some manufacturers to switch to AMD chips to meet the demand for their products. We’re still a fan of Intel chips, but if you need a new computer, we can certainly take a look at the AMD-equipped machines and see which one can work for you.

On the phone front, Apple is beating the drums for the iPhone 12, and it’s scheduled for release in the fall. Football is also scheduled for this fall, but we live in unusual times. Since all we can deal with at this time are rumors and speculations, this is expected to be the first year that Apple introduces 5G support in the iPhone. This will allow the new phones to connect to much faster networks. While all the phones will have 5G connectivity,  we don’t know if all models will have super-fast mmWave support in all countries. Of course, if you can’t travel, you can hold on to your current phone or, if you must upgrade a phone within your family or business, you can go with any of the less expensive iPhones, which are more than serviceable, and upgrade later.

While we don’t have a crystal ball, we can discuss your current and future computer and phone needs and help you find the best solution for your needs. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to talk about it.