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Random thought:

Olympus digital cameras kick bits

Olympus has digital photography covered -- from the high end to the entry level. At the top is the Olympus Camedia E10 -- the world's first 4-megapixel digital SLR for "under $2,000" (but not much). This is the camera to beat. Nikon has nothing like it. Kodak has nothing like it. Minolta has nothing like it.

I spoke with John Knauer, Olympus senior product manager, and asked him to tell me about the camera Olympus is pushing as its entry-level digital camera (a 1.3 megapixel model at $200 that would have cost $1000 just 2 years ago) ...
REAL AUDIO 3:14 q-at all times

As Knauer noted, the E10's lens is designed to focus light to every pixel on the CCD surface.

I've mentioned before that I think the traditional camera manufacturers have done better in designing digital cameras than the traditional electronics manufacturers. It's not so much a question of optics as of getting the right camera "feel". Olympus has been making cameras for a long time and they know what a camera should look like and feel like.

For years I have had Nikon film cameras. I still have one, but it doesn't get used very much. I usually reach for the Olympus 2000 digital camera. I'd like to reach for an E10, but I don't own one (yet).

The E10's 4 megapixel CCD delivers up to 11.4 MB of image data per picture via a 2/3" CCD (2240 x 1680 pixels).

Olympus had standardized on SmartMedia, but realized the problem that caused: CompactFlash cards will probably always offer more capacity. So Olympus cameras now accept both SmartMedia and CompactFlash Type I and II memory cards. New USB connectivity works without software drivers under Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and the Mac OS 8.6 and higher.

For professionals, the E100RS is similar to the E-10, but is for situations that demand the ability to take a lot of pictures quickly. The E100RS provides the ability to shoot at 15 frames per second (and also at 7.5 fps, 5 fps, and 3 fps).

These cameras also have a 10x zoom lens.

If you're looking for a digital camera, Olympus is a brand worth looking at -- low end or high end.

For more information, see http://www.olympus.com/.

DiskOnKey, extraordinary data mover

DiskOnKey is cool and you need it. Just trust me on this one. Buy a DiskOnKey not because it's one of the coolest little devices I've seen in years, but because it's uniquely useful.

That's DiskOnKey behind the pen and in front of the computer.

Let's say you're working on a file at the office. You'd like to take the file home to work on it, but it's a 3MB file. You have a floppy disk drive at home and in the office, but the file is too big for a floppy. You could compress it, but sometimes there are problems with compressed files. You have an Iomega Zip drive at home, but not at the office. You have an LS120 drive at the office, but not at home. You could e-mail the file to yourself, but you're still using a dial-up connection and you know that downloading the file would take 25 minutes.

If you have a USB port on both computers, you can use DiskOnKey. Plug it in to the USB port on your office machine and it will instantly be recognized as a disk drive. Copy the file to DiskOnKey (8, 16, or 32MB capacity) and unplug it. Take it home and plug it into the USB port on your home machine (even if it's a Macintosh) and DiskOnKey will instantly be recognized as a disk drive. Edit the file, return it to DiskOnKey, and take it back to the office.

Nothing could be easier than this.

How it works

	Open the case and you find a USB connector. This is an example of a 16MB DiskOnKey.

DiskOnKey is currently available in 8, 16, and 32MB sizes. By the end of the year, it will be available in sizes up to 256MB - larger than the largest available Zip drive. There are other similar devices, but they lack something DiskOnKey has: an embedded CPU.

Because of this, the device doesn't need software drivers with most current operating systems - Mac or PC. (Windows 9x and below will need a driver, but not Windows Me, 2000, or XP; Mac OS 9.0 and above won't need a driver, nor will Windows CE 3.0 or Linux 2.4 and higher.)

And that's another useful feature: If you have a Mac and a PC, you can use DiskOnKey to transfer files from one platform to the other.

The first time you plug personal storage device in to your Windows computer, you'll see the "found new hardware" dialog box. After 30 seconds or so, the new drive will be mounted and ready. To remove the disk, you should stop the device (2 mouse clicks). When you plug DiskOnKey in the next time, it will automatically mount in about 2 seconds.

The process is similar on a Mac: Plug it in an it almost instantly shows up on the desktop. To remove it, drag the icon to the trash.

Once the device is installed, you can copy files from it to your computer or from the computer to it by dragging and dropping. In every way, it's just like a disk drive.

Why it's appealing

DiskOnKey is about the size of a small (82mm x 15mm x 23mm) highlighter and can hold the equivalent of 22 floppy disks (32MB size). If I have a complaint about it, it's this: DiskOnKey is so small you could easily lose it. Maybe that's why it's designed to fit on your keychain or to slide into your pocket like a short but wide pen.

At $100 the 32MB size may seem a little pricey, but it's a lot less expensive than buying two Zip drives or two LS120 drives. And it's a lot more convenient than using floppies.

The 8MB version costs $50 and the 16MB version sells for $70. Prices haven't been announced yet for the upcoming 64MB, 128MB, and 256MB sizes.

For more information about DiskOnKey, see http://www.diskonkey.com/.

Nerdly News

No, I didn't go to Mac World, but ...

Apple CEO Steve Jobs did. He delivered a keynote address on Wednesday in New York and announced an update for OS X, a free upgrade that will be available in September.

Jobs says most of the major change involve performance improvements, but there is also more "digital hub" support, more printing support, and improved network support. OS X, as I've mentioned previously, is really Unix with a Mac face.

The iTunes application (included with OS 9.1) will be included with the new operating system, too, and the operating system upgrade will support both CD burning and DVD playback, neither of which is currently supported in OS X.

The economics of broadband

Verizon paid for a study by Criterion Economics and the study suggest that the US economy would be boosted if most people had broadband (DSL or cable) Internet access.

According to The Standard, the study finds that if nearly everyone in America had broadband Internet access, the proceeds from online shopping, entertainment, telecommuting, telephone service and telemedicine could contribute $300 billion annually to the U.S. economy. If only half of all US households had broadband connectivity, the Verizon Communications-funded study says, the economic benefit would only be approximately $100 billion per year.

Colleges and universities have certainly bought in to the concept. The Standard says 90% of US colleges and universities will offer some kind of e-learning program by 2005. The initiatives will help grow information-technology spending by these schools 10.1 percent annually through 2005, when it will hit $5 billion.

Microsoft sells something

Normally Microsoft gobbles up companies. Now it's selling one. Microsoft says it will sell its stake in Expedia (about 70% of the company) to USA Networks, the cable and home-shopping operation. Those who can figure the ins and outs of these deals say it's worth about $1.4 billion.

USA Networks has wanted to expand into the online travel market and already owns Ticketmaster.com, CitySearch.com, Match.com, and HSN.com. That last one is the Home Shopping Network's website.

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